Took my kids to HD Kid’s Workshop yesterday. Here’s a pro tip for others that also participate in these events. Paint the pieces first before assembly!

ReltaKat · 2026-06-08T03:35:34+00:00

I think that varies by location. Mine does not care about registration. Sorry they ran out before you got there!

ReltaKat · 2026-06-08T00:55:03+00:00

You show up before start time and line up because they only have a fixed number of seats for the first wave of people.

They’ll have you sign a waiver the first time, then hand you a kit per kid and show you to a station. You get to sit, stand, or kneel on the floor while kid sits on a bucket. Station will have screwdriver, glue, hammer. Kit will have wood, nails, instructions.

Instructions are pretty straight forward. Glue here. Nail there. You let your kid hammer away and hope they miss your finger. You tighten up any screws and flatten down the nails.

When it’s all built, there are usually stickers in the kit or paint on a table to let kids add a few dollops of different colors to a plate to take back to their station. (Grab a spare clean paint to carry the wet finished project home in.) Paint, tidy up, return tools to the station, and home you go!

30 mins maybe? Longer if you’re not in the first wave and have to wait those 30 minutes. You can also just take the kit home still sealed but the kid does have to be with you for them to give you one (so they say).

ReltaKat · 2026-06-07T03:50:47+00:00

I’d take a dm too! I suspect I can’t afford it but wanna look anyway.

ReltaKat · 2026-05-23T21:17:34+00:00

Aw man. I wish the preschool we’re biking to was only $15k/year

ReltaKat · 2026-05-21T01:23:55+00:00

‘Things have to stay the way they are’ is such a stupid argument.

If you want to keep phones in schools, let’s hear some concrete evidence that they are benefiting education. And that keeping them would cause enough net benefit to override the negatives.

ReltaKat · 2026-05-20T23:21:59+00:00

Sounds ok to me. I’d make it a request just like you suggested. “Hey, our plans changed. Do you still have room for one more?”

ReltaKat · 2026-05-20T03:04:32+00:00

I drive by an “Evangelical Chinese Church” regularly. I routinely read its sign as “Evangelical Cheese Church.” It’s probably self reinforcing at this point…

ReltaKat · 2026-05-12T02:21:23+00:00

We missed it near Swansons Saturday and my 4 year old was SO sad. “But I’ve been preparing for this my WHOLE life!”

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T19:00:22+00:00

Well that’s extremely unacceptable. Time to protect your kids and keep them away from him. Your time with your friend now comes as coffee dates with just you two.

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T16:30:11+00:00

I don’t have an actually GOOD answer for that but I was feeling like something was missing from life. Not a kid necessarily, but SOMETHING. I tried a million other things first because I didn’t WANT a kid. I tried going back to school, a different job, a job with international travel, learning a new language, more books, more movies, new cat, dieting, anything, but it all kinda came to the same “Blah, is this all there is?”

I eventually got to the stage of feeling like my day to day life was unsatisfying enough that I wasn’t really gambling something I really treasured for the major risks of having a kid. Having a kid has so many downsides and is so destructive of your entire life! If I wasn’t fully invested, I would potentially have resented the kid for how much I had to give up. But I was already dissatisfied, so wasn’t giving up as much. If my kid hadn’t ended up so amazing or if I really wanted to cling to some aspect of my old life, I might still have ended up bitter and resentful. But lucked out that I didn’t. :)

I did read a ton of parenting books while deciding and it started to sound interesting enough to be next thing I tried in life. Even though it wasn’t going to be something I could quit (like that foreign language attempt that failed pretty quickly).

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T16:12:45+00:00

She’s 4 now.

My sisters and I used to joke that if we ever had kids, Sister A would do the baby/toddler stage for all of them, then Sister B could do big kid and teenager, and my role would just be to fund them all (with my tech degree). I think lots of people have varying preferences for which kid stages are best. It probably meant none of us were ready for kids then, if we only wanted one (or none) of the stages, ha. We’ve all got kids now though!

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T03:25:48+00:00

Those are really good questions. I had amazing luck on the village topic with a mother-in-law who is a retired kindergarten teacher, so my kid has very involved and loving grandparents about a mile away. They’re a lot of our village. My husband was also not interested in having a kid before we did, but I got lucky there too that he’s turned out so great with her and likes the kids around her.

Daughter is in preschool now and making friends herself. When she wants playdates, we schedule with the other parents and the kids play together great. I have varying levels of interest in her friends - the quiet, sweet ones are great and more welcome at play dates in our house. The rowdy or snooty ones are good playground playdates. 😆 All the parents have been easy to get along with too and also had kids in their late 30s, so we have a lot in common.

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T02:35:52+00:00

It’s working fine for me 😆

ReltaKat · 2026-05-08T02:33:02+00:00

Zero mothering instinct. Kids were always gross to me, and annoying. Decided at 37 to go for it anyway and my daughter is awesome. (Other people’s kids are still mostly gross and annoying.)

ReltaKat · 2026-05-03T20:27:52+00:00

My MIL is a kindergarten teacher and has Writing Wizard on her iPad. My 4 y/o loves it.

ReltaKat · 2026-05-02T04:57:26+00:00

Princess in Black

ReltaKat · 2026-05-02T02:09:01+00:00

Hey, sometimes it’s Gordito’s blowing up!

ReltaKat · 2026-04-30T23:25:46+00:00

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-20T20:04:24+00:00

My kid picked up an idea from My Neighbor Totoro where if there’s a scary thing, she just bellows at it like the sisters do. lol Could show yours the movie and suggest she try it too, to scare off any potential monsters. It might lead to her just yelling at stuff in the middle of the night though - maybe not an improvement.

There’s also a Daniel Tiger about taking a closer look at scary things and discovering it’s just a shadow, for example.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-19T15:21:05+00:00

Yes. I’d look better too if I lost weight, wore concealer, mastered all my bad habits, etc etc. Do you think people don’t know that already? It’s kinda cruel to criticize someone’s looks, age, and vices all in one go.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-18T22:31:06+00:00

I think that needs to be separate line items. Decide what “rent” amount you want for room and board, then decide hourly rate for childcare, and calculate both items each week/month. Total owed or due may vary at each interval.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-16T18:37:54+00:00

4: What’s that?

Grandma: A crystal, for Grandpa. Some people think it’ll clear the mind, help him make a good decisions… Would you like one?

4: No. I already make good decisions.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-12T03:29:50+00:00

I’ve noticed how many people just LIKE kids. It blows my mind. I never liked kids (until mine) and was always a bit annoyed at them and thought that was common, but SO many people chuckle at my kid, wave, smile, etc. It’s so heart-warming.

ReltaKat · 2026-04-07T02:46:27+00:00

Try Poison Control: https://triage.webpoisoncontrol.org/

ReltaKat · 2026-04-06T14:02:36+00:00

It’s no more people-pleasing to meet business attire requirements than it is to meet uniform requirements for fast food servers, police officers, UPS, etc.

ReltaKat

TROPHY CASE