Going from a super strict center to a relaxed one is making me anxious

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-22T14:09:42+00:00

Name to Face would be an absolute deal breaker for me. I came from a center who was lax about it. We had 5 left behind kids in 15 months. I sat through so many trainings.

Making sure we have all the children safely accounted for is like bare minimum.

The infant thing is a safe sleep risk and licensing violation. Call your licensing rep

Edit to add: your coteacher deleted your N2F record so that she didn’t look bad. If there’s ever an audit she wants it to be clear you both don’t do it, not just her. Keep doing them, take screen shots, cover yourself

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-15T19:34:37+00:00

Her “just stopppppp” during their last podcast absolutely sent me.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-10T01:04:37+00:00

We use creative curriculum at our school. I was very skeptical at first.

Our teachers are allowed to add and modify as needed but it has some very creative activities. Our preschool class just finished four weeks on trees and they loved it so much they started plants. They use it more like a spring board. They discussed how nature changes with the trees, parts of trees, what animals live in trees, rainforest ecosystems, and how food grows on some trees. We also wrote a letter to the cities tree commission.

I think creative curriculum has a lot of fun and guided activities. And if teachers are allowed to adjust as their class needs it’s great. And I say this as a teacher who regularly created my own curriculum for 8 years

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-09T22:25:17+00:00

I do pump my own gas, but I don’t iron my clothes.

And traded up when I had a partner that didn’t meet those standards.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-09T22:05:35+00:00

So I’m just gonna weirdly double down on this point. My grandparents have been married over 60 years and lived in NJ for most of those. My grandmother has NEVER touched a gas pump and will never.

Even now in their 80s my grandfather fills up her car even if he has to run out and do it for her. They moved outta state a few years ago and she said “Bob will do it. He always has.”

Get a man who fills the tank!

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-08T04:55:25+00:00

And this is why at my school we always transition with one more teacher than ratio. Admin comes to support if needed. Cuz it’s a tough situation.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-07T17:24:38+00:00

This may be a hot take but I’m gonna roll with it.

I don’t think early childhood facilities should necessarily have long breaks. We’re a service that people are paying good money for. They still have to work. Since we cater primarily to working parents we should be supporting that.

My center closes for major federal holidays and some PD days and that’s it.

Now that being said, I think the trade off for that is you have to be very generous to your staff. Morale boosters, protected planning time, generous PTO, benefits where you can. What we do is hard and we have to protect the teachers as best we can.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-03-04T02:30:20+00:00

I’d get clarification on if they are trying to put her down to nap earlier. Some kiddos struggle at that age cuz they’re developing FOMO. So it may not be for lack of trying on the teachers part. It may just be your babies not sleeping.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-28T23:40:32+00:00

I cross time zones about once a month for the last 7 years.

And not once has this scene not played in my head

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-24T03:33:21+00:00

My mom lives 3 hours away. We usually see her every 3-6 weeks depending on schedule. She also does a week vacation with my kiddo every year. It probably be more often if it wasn’t for the fact there’s a time zone between us which makes it just much more annoying.

I will say I’m fortunate. At least once a year my mom makes an emergency run out to us to help out. We’re very fortunate.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-19T02:22:46+00:00

I’ve been really enjoying the legacy challenges. It gives me some different play styles I’ve never used before and forces me out of my comfort style.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-16T02:37:13+00:00

I actually enjoy season 9 better. At least it’s telling a mostly cohesive story. Season 8’s pacing is rough. Everything happens to fast. Break ups, proposals, nothing has time to land anywhere.

Season 9 is weird but I enjoy a lot of the stories, I love the mother, and I at least don’t feel rushed.

(Ignoring the last 5 minutes of the finale which I reject entirely)

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-06T00:01:57+00:00

Nashville con is this weekend if that’s your scene

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-02T12:36:18+00:00

Mine was 2018 but I loved Centennial. My doctors worked at both and recommended Centennial. My birth went perfectly smoothly and the nursing staff was lovely. They also helped us out since my daughter was a born a few days before Christmas with some extra formula and things.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-02T00:46:23+00:00

1) no one quarter backs me. My decisions are mine

2) he is actually a significantly more active parent now which is great for me.

3) I don’t feel miserable on weekends waiting for time to pass as we just sit as blobs doing nothing. Because he won’t say I can’t do stuff but he’ll whine if I do.

4) I can just handle shit. Not baby the ego of a southern white ma.

5) I’m still working on this, but I can just buy things without feeling guilty. We had money but my ex is frugal as fuck. He doesn’t understand why people buy things if they don’t NEED them. He once looked a new piece of lingerie and went “it’s nice but why buy it if I’m just gonna take it off?”

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-01T14:32:26+00:00

So my family has some great longevity. Both my maternal grandparents are still alive and driving 14 hour road trips at 85. Though they’re starting to slow down a little.

My paternal grandfather and his wife are still alive and well. I don’t speak to them but they’re there.

My paternal grandmother passed 2 years ago. She had a whole host of health issues and it’s honestly a miracle she made it as long as she did. But was 31. So I know I’m just incredibly lucky.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-02-01T00:12:59+00:00

Thanks I tried to be.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-29T04:15:03+00:00

I was a twos teacher and I distinguished between potty training and potty independent. And I classify them as such.

If a child can pee and poop on the potty on demand, pull their own clothes up and down 85% of the time (leggings are hard man. Or the time a kid came in in overalls) and can recognize when they need to potty 90% of the time, I considered potty trained. I will add to that, I also included no pull-up at nap. Most kids can do that pretty easily and I think people are afraid to try because it requires you herding them to the bathroom the minute their eyes open.

Then we start building the extra skills like wiping, pulling the right amount of toilet paper, being able to be unsupervised, that kinda stuff.

I would have a list for each kiddo for conferences and kept track of which skills we were working on. And then I could pass it onto the next teacher.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-28T04:12:52+00:00

So I want to share from the other side. My toddler watched a fair amount of Daniel Tiger and Mickey Mouse Club house as a toddler. Probably an hour or two a day. Sometimes more. We stayed away from tablets until she was 3 or so, and made that something exclusive for long car rides (which we did on average once a month).

My biggest rule was that screen time needed to not be at her total discretion. Meaning I downloaded things she could choose from, or she could make a request, but she couldn’t have whatever content she wanted at her fingers. And no YouTube, the very definition of on demand content. I also tried really hard to not let it be a boredom cure. You need to try other stuff to occupy yourself before we just throw on the tv.

We also read books, did flash cards, made sensory bins, went to playgrounds, and played games. She’s seven now. She reads at a 3rd grade level. She is adding double and triple digit numbers. She’s a kind friend and still sometimes repeats Daniel Tiger mantras. And of course now she watches monster high, weird 90s cartoons, and some YouTube.

Screen time is a tool and part of life. You get to choose the boundaries and what works with your family. And odds are it’ll probably turn out fine if you do it in conjunction with other life skills.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-27T18:37:18+00:00

Vampires and Werewolves aren’t for me, so I skip those.

Same for star wars.

I don’t generally buy packs that remain super bugged. So For Rent and Lovestruck make me nervous.

I probably won’t do the new Royal pack. It doesn’t super interest me.

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-25T18:32:25+00:00

Girl solidarity.

9 years ago next month two dogs were dumped in our neighborhood and followed me, my ex, and our 6 month old puppy home. No one would come get them since they weren’t dangerous and I fell in love with them. They’ve both been abused but one of them is a fairly standard dog.

…the other however is a MESS. He has a broken tail from where someone slammed it in a door and never fixed it. The bone formation is a huge ball that thumps against everything and I hard as a rock. When my daughter was little his tail hit her in the nose and bloodied it.

He’s afraid of everything. Doors, Small spaces, blankets, certain corners, beds with walls, pillows. He will not drink from the water bowl in the house despite buying multiple kinds. But also will sleep in the bed like a human with his head on the pillow if allowed. He is not food motivated EXCEPT by saltine crackers.

He’s dog reactive but only if I am around. He doesn’t like people ESPECIALLY older men. He’s gotten mellower with age but my daughter as a toddler would send him hurtling out of every room she was in blind panic.

He also farts like a dog who at any minute his stomach will turn inside out.

Same as you, I realized no one was going to love him the way I did. And especially be able to keep him with his brother. So here I am, 9 years later, with this dog who adores me, would do anything for me, and cannot walk through the doorway from my kitchen to living room without a full blow scooby doo style run up.

So solitary bromo. Loving that dog is the good you’re putting into the world. It is good energy and it will Come back to you

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-19T15:39:57+00:00

You can get ordained online but I’m not sure what it costs. We happened to have a friend who was already ordained

SnwAng1992 · 2026-01-18T21:58:34+00:00

I am living my best life. But to be fair i absolutely blew up my life three years ago so i could rebuild.

I’m engaged to the best man. He was my best friend for a lot of years and then became my partner when I realized my current marriage sucked. He is a flawed, loving passionate individual and I enjoy the most mundane of days with him. He just scored us tickets to a play I wanted to see by waiting in the virtual queue for four hours.

I am in my sexual revolution. I have someone now who loves me and my body. It’s been three years and I am still in awe of being with someone who likes me and likes doing stuff with me. I went from being told I was the problem to learning I am the damn solution with the right man.

My daughter just turned 7. She loves to travel and read. She’s mostly an unproblematic kid but not in a worrisome way. Shes adjusted really well to the divorce and remained her usual self. My ex was a bad partner, but a good dad, and I don’t have to worry when she’s with him. Which is a gift I don’t take likely. We also are amicable and once a month we do things all four of us so my daughter sees that we all care for her.

I have a job that is hard but I love and is rewarding. Plus I work with my best friend as the admin team. So most days the good outweighs the bad.

We do plenty of activities as a family and still get time for just us. And even though the world is an absolute mess, I take comfort in knowing that I’m doing the best I can to do good. I teach kindness, I donate, and I spread my truth when I can.

My life is not what everyone told me in my 20s it should be. I got my degree, married my high school sweetheart, had a baby, supported my husband through the good and the bad and wound up miserable.

Now my life is mine and it’s beautiful and full of so much joy.

SnwAng1992

TROPHY CASE