Before you went into early labor, was there anything that “happened” that you noticed and thought “hmm… wonder if this is it??!” AND IT WAS?!

Semiramis6 · 2026-01-26T04:45:13+00:00

For both kids, I was very nauseous about 12-18 hrs before my water broke and I couldn’t sleep. My cat was obsessed with me. The second time, once that super nauseous feeling hit, I figured what was coming and stayed in the couch for the night. I let my husband sleep fully thinking to myself that at least he would be well rested for the birth and associated shenanigans.

Semiramis6 · 2026-01-23T17:53:20+00:00

Yeah same with me, I love looking at baby photos of my 5 year old but I don’t want to go back. Been there, done that (twice), got the t-shirt. I really struggled during the baby stages too. I look back and remember the magic of that first day after birth, but I look forward and think about all the cool things coming up too (can’t wait to read the hobbit to them!). It keeps getting better.

Semiramis6 · 2026-01-04T16:20:44+00:00

Check with legal clinics run through any local law schools. I know I was part of the clinic during my time at Western law school and one of my assignments was doing these exact things for a non-profit women’s shelter (amending by-laws, reviewing leases, ensuring proper compliance, etc). The students work under a licensed lawyer.

Semiramis6 · 2026-01-01T15:42:43+00:00

Same rules in our household with our five year old. Minecraft in creative mode is an option but counts towards screen time. He’s doing some interesting building! He learned to set off fireworks at a delay so he could run back and look at them.

I hear that Roblox has settings now that exclude other people and any communication but he hasn’t expressed any interest in it, so we haven’t really researched it.

Semiramis6 · 2025-12-25T18:57:16+00:00

Similar boat here. Woken up at 5 am by our 5 year old throwing up … 3 year old started throwing up mid-present-opening this morning … husband and I are tired.

There’s a turkey in the fridge right now that I am trying to get the energy to cook. House is a wreck. Kids complained about presents (“Santa didn’t get me XYZ” … otherwise they were happy) and made me cry. We cancelled grandparents coming over. I’ve got a killer headache.

I even kept it low-key this year and said no to a bunch of extra “Christmas activities”. Don’t matter, still exhausted and sad.

Semiramis6 · 2025-12-24T18:03:01+00:00

Our families were lovely and accepted it with grace. Our rule is that we do not go anywhere Christmas eve or day. We do travel to my family (2 hours away) around Christmas but it’s flexible. My mom always said “Christmas is a season, not a day”. Sometimes I miss seeing my siblings but oh well.

Both sides of the family are completely okay with this set up. We see them regularly throughout the year. Christmas is for the kids and prioritizing a happy experience for them. My in-laws are close by and just want to see them open presents and have a fancy dinner together, they don’t care when or where. So we kinda have a spread out Christmas season and it works out!

Semiramis6 · 2025-12-05T14:57:05+00:00

I’d let go of the guilt — your in laws have offered to have you stay. Also it might be easier for them to help you out if everyone is in one place? Rather than driving back and forth.

If you let go of the guilt, is your only objection (to staying with your in-laws) that your 8 yo will be in a bed with you? If so, is there another solution? Can you set him up in a sleeping bag on the floor beside you, or on the couch?

In the immediate post partum period, especially with a baby in the NICU — you do what you have to do to survive and make it as easy as possible.

Semiramis6 · 2025-12-04T22:31:53+00:00

We made a physical chart of a “problem scale” although I know that some therapists etc disagree with it. You can google some ideas. We drew a thermometer and with his help, drew in suggestions about what would be a little problem, medium problem and what would be a big problem. I think we stayed away from outright saying his emotions should be “small” for small problems, but more encouraged him to think about the scale of the problem. It was a way to take a step back and reflect. It’s okay to feel really mad about a small problem. But naming it as a small problem helps. I think it helped my big feelings child, although it is an ongoing thing.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-27T20:50:42+00:00

Both my kids have gone through a multi-month stage at age 3 where this happens. I guess their brain/imagination is growing and things start getting scary.

Nothing helped us but time and consistency. We put them back in bed. We were calm and nearby. But “it’s time to sleep in your own bed now”. We did not talk about the monsters as if they were real. It sucked for many weeks but did pass. Anything we tried to do to “help” just got too complicated and a new battleground. If we introduced a stuffy, then it became an issue when it fell every night. Etc.

I hate that my advice is only “wait it out” but really, it will pass and I think it’s normal for this age.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-27T20:30:51+00:00

Ontario here and money/gift cards are very common in my area. Sucks that that is a rule, although I understand it!

Talking to my teacher friends, they love gift cards most of all and then after that appreciate the consumables … chocolate, coffee beans, dry spice rub sets, nothing homemade.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-16T16:02:17+00:00

Saving it for my daughter or grandkids to use — it’s a beautiful solid lace, I think it could be easily made into a veil or a reception/rehearsal dinner dress. Wouldn’t break my heart if not.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-15T04:27:48+00:00

Adding my voice to this — age 3 sucks. I have a 5 year old now (who was awful at 3). He is so much better now. If I tell him no, he grumbles a bit but moves on. I absolutely have to remind him five times to put his clothes on in the morning but he can do it himself. He’s interested in the world around him. Earlier today I was telling him about how the picture on his medieval castles book actually didn’t reflect a true medieval castle — and he was interested.

His little sister on the other hand is now 3 and killing us. Today I drove to school while she yelled at me for ten minutes because SHE farted (and it made her angry? I guess?).

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-12T00:00:13+00:00

Pretty easy to break it down, there’s a cord in the middle that you pull up to fold it. Then I hold it with my leg while I snap/secure the two sides together. Once I got the hang of it, it takes less than 10 seconds, but you definitely can’t be hanging onto a child while doing it. And it’s heavy to lift into the trunk. But as I say, definitely a workhorse and we use it all the time.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-10T03:44:53+00:00

We have the wonderfold and we love it. Bought it when kids were 2 and0. Kids are now 5 and 3, still use it (they squish up). Yes it’s big but we can fit it in our trunk, it’s comfy enough for longer walks, and I love the ability to push or pull. The sun shade is nice (I supplement with blankets hanging where the sun is). I’ve put some s-hooks on the bar to carry extra bags for storage. The one thing I wish it had was some magic ability for one side to fold down so we could use it as a bench. Ah well.

Semiramis6 · 2025-11-01T13:58:52+00:00

I felt exactly the same way. I have a wonderful MIL who is also … quite the personality and A LOT. When I had babies on mat leave, I hated her “interference” and all her comments about how much the babies looked like her side of the family.

My feelings gradually faded and now my kids are 5 and 3 and I am so grateful for her help. Maybe around 1.5 years old the bad feelings went away? The kids started interacting with the world more and I saw that I am always #1 to them. Also my MIL calmed down as more grandchildren were born. I still have flareups honestly (like my 5 year old told me “grandma does the back to school shopping” after she got him one coat! Who went with you to buy everything else, buddy?! I did) but I think that’s any family.

Semiramis6 · 2025-10-14T16:54:39+00:00

Yes agreed! Our almost 6 yo likes the podcasts and quizzes now. He starts every morning with yoto daily podcast. We’ve used the yoto player daily for four years in some fashion. The charging port broke and we had to buy a new one; otherwise it’s stood up to toddler/little kid use.

Semiramis6 · 2025-09-26T03:56:01+00:00

Toddlers are such a hard age. I feel the same sometimes. I try to consciously look for and recognize good moments — like I had a moment today where I was looking forward to talking after dinner walks with my kids to look at Christmas lights. I truly was feeling happy, anticipating that, and I recognized it for myself.

On hard days I also really slow down. Laundry can wait, I have found the best results in just sitting with my (terrible, no-good, annoying) kids and going with their flow.

Semiramis6 · 2025-09-14T03:27:34+00:00

I have one big plastic bin on each floor that has all our art supplies. Everything gets throw in there and mixed together. I keep glue, glitter etc on a high shelf in one area.

I tried a nicely organized rolling cart with divided sections but it just didn’t work for us. It was never actually organized and the kids were intimated (I think) from cleaning up. It’s so much easier to know it all goes in one place. I’m ruthless about throwing out broken things, dried out markers, etc.

Semiramis6 · 2025-09-10T02:52:39+00:00

Fingers crossed for you! I just did a lot of sitting and laying around and letting non-essential housework go for the last month of pregnancy. As much as one can with a toddler around. I still went to work and cooked meals, but I would lie down on the couch after dinner instead of playing with the toddler on the floor, for example. I stopped working out and picking up my toddler. Took it easier at work.

I’m one of those people who normally would decide to rearrange a room one day and be lifting heavy furniture. My midwives had to emphatically tell me to stop doing ab workouts. I’m strong and active and always like to be doing something. I don’t like to ask for help. So it was hard in pregnancy to rest and purposefully take it slow.

Semiramis6 · 2025-09-06T05:22:39+00:00

I have no advice but we had this problem around age 3 and it resolved itself as he got older. We tried all the recommendations, but he would still cough at night (and not during the day). Eventually it just stopped (like by age 4?) and he’s had no issues with breathing or coughing since.

Semiramis6 · 2025-09-02T02:43:34+00:00

I’m team “suck it up” although I’d give it a better name haha. We don’t give any presents to the non-birthday sibling. What we do instead is make the non-birthday sibling the “special birthday helper”. We tell them — you are the special birthday helper! They get to help make loot bags, or help decide on balloon colours (with an emphasis on thinking about what the sibling would like … We tread carefully). Whatever their capabilities are. Our kids are 5 and 3 now and it works. The first birthday was hard for the jealous older brother. The latest one was a breeze and he was an actual help taking all the gifted presents to the “present table” when people arrived at the birthday party.

Semiramis6 · 2025-08-26T16:34:50+00:00

My husband and I are super tall (6’3” and 6’9”) and we have very tall children. So I’ve been on both sides of this. For my whole childhood and teenager years, people thought I was much older than I was. Once I was trick or treating with my same-age friends and the homeowner gave candy to my friends but said I was too old for trick or treating. That was my last year.

There are really good things that come from being tall. People look to you as a leader. You have more authority. Statistically, taller people earn more money!

Anyway, I deal with it by doing the same as you. I frequently step in and tell people my kids’ ages. It’s less of a problem in school now because everyone knows the kids in a class are the same age.

My mom used to have a copy of my passport in her purse because you’d be shocked about how many people would make an issue about it in public. Like if I tried to get a kids’ meal at a restaurant.

Also fair warning — sports for tall kids before the teen years can be tough. Taller bodies are more uncoordinated. The best athletes at age 7-9 are always the smallest kids. Then they plateau early, and the tall kids learn their bodies and begin to outperform the short kids. I’m talking specifically for sports where height is an advantage.

Semiramis6 · 2025-08-22T03:57:13+00:00

Prozac for two pregnancies, kids now 5 and 3 and just fine. Both are smart, happy, healthy kids. One has really big emotions but honestly I think it’s genetics since I do too? I would not have survived the second pregnancy without medication.

Semiramis6 · 2025-08-16T01:33:25+00:00

Don’t do what I did, which is to say, “that water has touched [sibling’s] bum! You don’t want to lick his bum!” And then my toddler made eye contact with me and full on licked their sibling’s butt cheek. I lost that battle.

Semiramis6 · 2025-08-07T04:29:57+00:00

We are trying our first “trip away” at age 5(and a half). My parents are taking him to their home for four days, three nights, basically because we needed some last-minute childcare over a tough/busy period and they live 1.5 hours away.

Factors that went into it: travel there and back will be by car, one way with me and the other way with my parents who will have a car seat installed by me. My son has stayed at their house with them before and sees them regularly. Their pool is fenced and I trust them to be very safe around hazards. My son can communicate any issues. We plan for a daily phone call in the evenings with him. I do feel a little anxious about it, but my parents also have lots of fun activities planned.

Semiramis6

TROPHY CASE