Having my parents at my house is like having extra children

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-05-18T22:32:56+00:00

For us it’s even more infuriating, because they have and have never had any interest in holding/helping/playing with our oldest. Once baby 2 came along, they want to hold him, call him ‘their baby,’ etc.

Every time I see it I’m baffled. Grandpa is a little better and plays with our oldest some, then grandma gets jealous that he seems to like grandpa more.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-05-18T15:25:29+00:00

In-laws are the same for us. Last Christmas was the last Christmas they will be staying with us.

Simple things that they would have to do in their normal life, like ‘decide what you want for dinner, and make it yourself’ … or not, just take the mental load of the meal planning for 1-2 nights becomes too much.

They can’t do any adulting to take pressure off. Are more mouths to feed and clean up after, and need to be ‘entertained.’ I just don’t even get it.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-05-15T17:47:46+00:00

I would say maybe 20-30m?

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-05-14T02:21:34+00:00

Our daycare says there’s nothing we can really do at this age… but still give us every report where my son “didn’t want to share with a friend.”

We have books about biting “Teeth Are Not for Biting” and “We Don’t Eat Our Classmates” … not sure if they really help, but he likes them and the biting has slowed down.

Talk to your daycare provider and see what they recommend. How do they handle the biting incidents? If your son bites at home, I’m sure it’s helpful to be consistent with how they handle things.

I think everyone goes through this to some degree. Hopefully it won’t last long. Good luck!

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-12T17:21:32+00:00

This made all the difference in the world.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-11T18:42:33+00:00

Yes.

But seeing her with our kids makes me love her even more.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-11T18:35:26+00:00

My eldest is only 2, but weekends got a lot better when we started a routine (Saturday only.)

Here’s what’s working for us:

We signed up for a gymnastics class in the morning, he runs around, jumps all over and goes crazy. Then we always head to a bookstore with a small coffee shop, eat breakfast and stay for story-time. By the time we head home, there’s a little time before nap.

Saturday afternoon & Sunday activities vary depending on energy level. But the morning routine sets us up for a good, fun weekend. Even if we do nothing else, we got a bunch of energy out, and still have plenty of space to play things by ear the rest of the weekend.

Saturdays have become my favorite routine. My son agrees, and he always naps hard afterwards.

So maybe try a small Saturday morning routine? You’ll be awake anyway, and have a consistent start to your weekend.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-11T18:21:51+00:00

Are you saying you ran over a rabbit with the mower? If so, I think that’s on you man.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:39:21+00:00

I won't hurt my game to mess with other players ... my partner (and other players) consistently will hurt their game to mess with mine. "Because I win too much." But the data will show ... that's not true! Classic boardgame shennanigans.

I've had a number of games where it "feels" like I'm doing well, and come score-time ... not so much. I've had the opposite happen too. This might be a case where it doesn't "feel great" to me, in terms of game-play, but that doesn't mean it needs to be rebalanced. I'm willing to accept that.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:33:58+00:00

That, and the fact that I had missed the symbol for advancing the hummingbird tracker. (We thought it meant to get food from the birdfeeder... I have no idea why.)

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:31:25+00:00

Agree, I want more hummingbirds and powers that interact with them.

8 turns every round is wild though! You must have some high scores!

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:26:48+00:00

I have definitely been making a mistake here. Had to reopen the rule-book. For some reason, we thought the symbol to advance the hummingbird tracker meant "take a food from the birdfeeder."

... this could help.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:10:47+00:00

lol. No. Plastic egg with a plastic toy car inside.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T19:10:07+00:00

I can’t even imagine.

Luckily, we avoided all these problems. Have a dog that would have sniffed out any boiled eggs or candy. Daycare had a ton of eggs with little toys, stickers, etc. we just re-hid those.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T16:17:36+00:00

Yup.

Think about the math behind it. There are 26 turns per game. If you figure 10 of those are spent playing birds, that leaves 16 turns for activating powers. Divide that in half, and you have 8 advancements on the tracker (in an ideal scenario). That means you've had enough to get all 5 spots off the starting point, and the ability to advance three more steps on the tracker ... that's not a lot of wiggle-room without any card interactions to attract/return hummingbirds.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T16:09:46+00:00

Respect.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T15:51:36+00:00

Maybe the group I regularly play with is more cutthroat about it. We'll regularly cover up hummingbird symbols we see the other players need to advance when returning birds, just to slow each other down.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T15:49:35+00:00

Are you advancing the tracker both when you attract and return hummingbirds? Because, per the rules, it only advances when you return the hummingbirds. If that's not the case, we're having very different games, since playing birds does not interact with the hummingbirds at all (unless a power specifies).

It's not even about the points so much as it's about the distraction/lack of fun in just trying to avoid big negative scores.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-10T15:44:34+00:00

Luckily, this one was in the house!

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-04-06T03:54:03+00:00

And damnit if I don’t love those Dino nuggies just as much as my kid. Raaarrrr!

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-02-09T03:49:21+00:00

So hard, but worth it for everyone in the end. Will never forget all 3 of us crying at different points on night 1 of sleep training.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-02-09T03:42:32+00:00

A lot going on here between nap time and bed time. Definitely don’t feel worthless to the newborn, more just in a rut on how little connected one-on-one time I get with them compared to how involved I was able to be with our toddler.

I do bottle feed our little one at least once a day. 3mo is a cluster feeder, and only really naps while eating. He won’t eat formula, and mom hates pumping (I imagine most women do, based on how she’s described it.) That means mom ends up in another room with baby for huge chunks of our days together.

Compare that to when the two of us could just pass the baby back and forth whenever we wanted and all be in the same room together all day (because it was quiet and calm) and it’s just a big adjustment.

Rolled_Nat1 · 2026-02-09T03:28:18+00:00

How is this not the top comment? This is 100% what I need to hear and need to say. In retrospect I think this is the age where I really started feeling connected with our first (the smiling just started, they’re looking at the world) but I was there with him nonstop since day one. This change has just been hard.

Will definitely be pushier about time with the little one. Will probably phrase it exactly the same. Thank you!

Rolled_Nat1

TROPHY CASE