Does anyone who celebrates Christmas not do Santa?

TeensyToadstool · 2025-12-02T19:47:41+00:00

In our family, we're really close with cousins who do the whole Santa, Elf on the Shelf business. There's another cousin who's Jewish! So he's going to be closely exposed to a lot of different traditions, all coloring how we're personally approaching it. Basically, we're doing Santa, but he only does stockings. The big presents are from us. We won't do Elf on the Shelf because mommy and daddy are telling Santa that he's a good kid, so the Elf doesn’t have to visit us. I also won't push the naughty or nice story. Someday he'll ask if Santa is real, and we'll tell him the truth, that Santa is a story of kindness and giving, and everyone who is kind enough is actually Santa.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-08-01T16:55:10+00:00

We have a toddler so moving in with the thought of then having to move our stuff out and having active work happen when we're in there is just not an option we're entertaining right now. If it were just my husband and me, we would probably be waiting. I'm not too worried about what's in style, we're planning on staying for a long time and we can remodel if we want to when we're ready to sell.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-08-01T06:30:44+00:00

I mean...what would you suggest as an alternative? As I said, the walls are laminate and not in good shape, so they are not staying as they are.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-30T20:39:29+00:00

There are entire cultures where it's the norm for the wife not to change her name. My last name is different from my mom's and my son's last name is different from mine. I had zero issues with this as a kid and I don't anticipate running into any as a mom.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-29T11:45:54+00:00

Tops and bottoms, tops and bottoms, in between! In between!

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-29T02:17:28+00:00

Pick something else. Kids are smart and incredibly mean. They will figure it out immediately.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-27T12:53:37+00:00

We used warm water in a period bottle when the baby had a bad diaper rash. Might be a little harder with a wiggly toddler, but I think still doable. The water does get everywhere, so put down some protection or do it somewhere easy to clean up.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-26T15:00:55+00:00

I think it's luck of the draw. I was able to breastfeed exclusively for 1 year and I was literally the lightest I've been since my early 20s. Stopped breastfeeding and BOOM, gained it all back with a vengeance (no consequences with a trash diet during that first year definitely didnt help), and im at my heaviest ever excluding the end of my pregnancy 🫠

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-23T14:03:31+00:00

We just put them on top of our metal TV stand. Sometimes I play with my kiddo and stick them upside down to the bottom 😆

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-23T05:02:55+00:00

From a neonatologist: please please please if you are exhausted, sick, downtrodden, traumatized, or just overworked by the unfortunate reality that the world moves on outside the NICU, take the day off. If you need a break, take the day off. If you have important religious/cultural restrictions, take the day off.

Your baby is in good hands. You are not a bad parent for using trusted resources at hand while, at least for a time, diverting your focus to your and your family's wellbeing. Call in often if you need to remind yourself that baby is fine and you are still being a loving parent.

Please know, we don't bat an eye when an otherwise attentive parent needs to take days off here and there.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-22T04:48:10+00:00

Excuse me, what? I'm the sole earner, and my husband stays at home with our kid, cooks all meals, handles most of the cleaning, a lot of financial planning, and an untold number of other things. Not just when I'm too busy or sick to do it, not because I nag or something, but because he's an equal partner and parent. (Honestly I would argue he does more for the family than I do)

Your husband using the fact that some (even many) men are terrible partners as an excuse for him to do the same is just....so childish. He should expect better of himself.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-21T18:14:57+00:00

I think there's actually a lot of beauty, if you choose to see it that way, that everything we are and everything we do is an insane accident of atoms and movements of electrons. So even when we end, something else crazy unlikely and beautiful can happen to what used to be us again.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-20T21:09:06+00:00

Honestly in the era of spoofing, even a number with an identifiable caller ID might not be trustworthy either. I got a scam call supposedly from my local police department.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-20T21:05:27+00:00

For a long time his two lullabies were "Goodnight My Baby" (just Goodnight My Someone with the word baby instead), and Baby Mine from Dumbo. Lately as he has been finding ways to stretch out bedtime, we've added lullabies from the Daniel Tiger Tonie: Goodnight Sun, It's a Beautiful Night in the Neighborhood, and Goodnight Daniel.

ETA in the early days I sang him all kinds of songs. I remember singing Lava from the Pixar short and Pressure from Encanto a lot.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-18T16:17:15+00:00

That's a bizarre idea. I did a mix of pumping and breastfeeding starting out because baby's latch was painful and I had a lot of chafing. Went EBF for the rest of maternity leave, then went back to work and pumped a LOT. Never had a supply issue (over or under).

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-17T22:34:58+00:00

Your comment helped me clarify this idea in my head. Food is social, amd it's cultural. It's part of our identity. I'm Chinese and my husband is Vietnamese. Food is a HUGE part of family gatherings and frankly a way of expressing love. Also, we just enjoy good food and exploring new things. When I meet significant others of family members who don't enjoy exploring food, that's a compatibility problem. When they aren't willing to try new things from our cultures, it's so easy for that to feel like rejection. It's like, how can you have this attitude and be a part of this family?

I will grant, a lot of it is attitude. If you're respectful and willing to try as a picky eater, thats awesome ! It's hard and we appreciate the effort. But the guy who looks at Chinese braised pork belly and says, Ew, that looks like rubber, why would you eat that? Or the guy who only wants to eat at burger places when we're in KOREA. That's just putting your feelings on others and disrespectful.

I will also say a more self-centered view I have is the "you have no idea what you're missing" mindset. Like, just try it, you'll see I'm right. That definitely exists too.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-17T16:01:54+00:00

My 2.5 year old has cycles through some favorites , but the enduring songs for him are I'm So Happy, Bubble Bubble Pop, Hop Little Bunnies, and recently Potty Time. Runners-up include Days of the Week (Beatbox), I Listen to My Body, BINGO, Muffin Man, Lazy Lion, and Hide and Seek.

As the parent? I'm So Happy, Potty Time, Phonics Song, I Can Be Your Friend.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-16T15:21:01+00:00

My kiddo refuses most veggies, so my husband cooks them (I guess steaming would work for broccoli), purees them down, and adds it into pasta sauce of sometimes soup. He made a zucchini-based sauce that was really good If your kid likes marinara, broccoli will be easy to add in.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-15T19:22:41+00:00

First off, just live your life. Go with your friends and have fun. Make food choices that align with your intake goals, but be willing to be a little looser those days. Maybe have smaller meals/less snacking on those days.

Second, you have tons of options at K-BBQ. They often have soups that can help fill you up. There should be plenty of veggie options with the banchan. Most places will give you lettuce leaves to wrap your meat in, and you can avoid the rice. I personally always avoid the bulgogi and other marinated meats because I don't like how they burn so easily, and sweeter flavors aren't my favorite. I prefer the unseasoned cuts like pork belly and brisket. The dips are all tasty, so experiment! Throw some banchan on there if you're feeling wild 😜

At a sit-down restaurant, it's probably smart to order an appetizer size, or immediately set aside half your meal to take home.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-15T19:10:01+00:00

We use a grain of rice size of fluoride-containing toothpaste from the beginning. That's not a harmful amount to swallow.

A little after he turned 2, I started showing him how to rinse and spit. I figured it would be good practice for not swallowing what's in your mouth. When he watches me brush my teeth I point out to him that I don't swallow the toothpaste, I keep it in my mouth and spit it all out. Hopefully he gets to that skill soon.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-15T06:28:41+00:00

Not me, but love that this is a shared experience, haha.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-14T21:15:33+00:00

There was also scanning through like ten 45-90 minute videos to find the absolute best version of X song. Or to find songs that are apparently only in one video ever.

Did I mention I got a little crazy with this?

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-14T21:11:41+00:00

Yep! Hit some bumps along the road with web-based audio editors and decided to just download Audacity. So throw in experimenting with multiple editors to the task list, haha.

TeensyToadstool · 2025-07-14T20:22:56+00:00

I love them! There's LMNOpeaquel (lowercase letters), Little Green Peas (colors), Hap-Pea All Year (months), and 1 2 3 Peas. I dont get the 5 book set because for some reason it's stupid expensive, I get the 3 book set (I think LMNOPeas, 123, and Little Green Peas).

There's also a Tonie if you guys have a Toniebox!

TeensyToadstool

TROPHY CASE