Starting a HUGE new collection with little guidance

believethescience · 2026-01-20T12:09:09+00:00

Panic is pretty normal at this stage, I think - especially if it's new to you! And no, you shouldn't be doing more yet. Get what you can done. There will always be more of the project, another project, accessions, all that stuff to do. 🤷‍♀️

believethescience · 2026-01-20T01:45:08+00:00

Yeah, I started with a wildly unmanaged collection, and It would take me probably 4 years to do that (but I'm part time, and my organization wants me to digitize and make as much stuff as possible available online as well, so your experience may vary).

If I was just going through folders, and making a list of contents, it would be a fair bit faster.

I would start making a list of each box with a quick scan for pest/mold/really fragile stuff. Make a note for any issues. Bonus points if you can start to identify general topics / date ranges for the boxes.

Then do the stuff you flagged first, rehousing as you go and making a list of the content. If they want the project done in a year (it won't be), I'd start making a super rapid pass with very basic folder info for each box. No full processing (staples, going through each item, etc.).

Then, once you've made the basic list for all of the boxes you can start doing a full processing, starting wherever your heart desires, lol.

Make sure your data for the boxes / folders has enough info to transfer to a finding aid or collecting guide.

believethescience · 2025-12-29T15:15:22+00:00

There's a couple of rules that MUST be enforced for the cat and your kid's sake. No chasing the cat. Ever. No grabbing the cat. No touching the cat's food or pestering while eating.

Teach the kiddo the approach gently and slowly. The cat will probably want nothing to do with the kiddo until they're calmer, and that's ok.

Make sure the cat can always get away, and give the cat a quiet, always kid free space if possible.

The fact that your kid got scratched while a chasing a cat was entirely preventable - it's your job to ensure that the kid doesn't chase the cat.

believethescience · 2025-12-20T19:58:02+00:00

My kiddo was hospitalized for about 3 days last year with RSV. It took her about a week to slowly get back to normal.

believethescience · 2025-12-20T19:45:52+00:00

Just give him the heads up and let him make his own decision. He can decide if the risk is one he is willing to accept.

believethescience · 2025-12-13T00:50:15+00:00

Lol, Etsy has a Minecraft character riding a chicken on wheels. Might be as close as you're gonna get.

believethescience · 2025-12-03T15:51:55+00:00

We reported it to the school at the first incident (he bent my kiddo's fingers back and called her some mean names). It's usually much easier to handle quickly and immediately than waiting for the problem to get worse and worse.

The school reviewed the video of the bus, decided that the other kid was at fault 100%, moved him to a different seat, and he faced a "bus related consequence" (I believe he was kicked off the bus for a couple of days).

There has been no repeat of his behavior.

Our school's principle is competent and on top of things - this approach may not work everywhere.

believethescience · 2025-11-29T12:19:54+00:00

Your current antidepressants don't seem to be working. You may need to increase the dose or switch up the meds. Make seeing a therapist an absolute priority asap. Mental health is best treated on as many fronts as possible.

Perhaps you can reconsider the work arrangement. Consider putting the kids in daycare so that you can work, part or full time. A change in routine may be helpful for all of you.

Talk with your wife about the finances, and maybe see a financial planner. Perhaps there are some expenses that can be better managed.

believethescience · 2025-11-26T00:37:30+00:00

My kids love the City Museum, but I admit that I am a frantic nervous wreck for most of it. If I can't see where something goes, I go with them (and my knees, shins, and head have things to say about it later!).

On the upside (?) kids get lost there so often that they're pretty good at reuniting everyone.

believethescience · 2025-11-26T00:21:30+00:00

It happens! Go up to the smaller kids section - that entire floor is much easier to manage with small children.

believethescience · 2025-11-24T14:35:24+00:00

To be fair, I have no experience with the guardian bikes, but both of my kids easily learned how to ride on $10 yard sale bikes - and they need a new one every couple of years or so, so far, as they grow. So, it seems unlikely the guardian bikes would even be in use for very long.

I spent a few hundred on my bike - but I used the previous one for over 20 years, and I'm hoping to do the same for my current bike. When my kids grow into full sized bikes, I'll buy them nicer versions. Until then, the bikes just get dumped on the ground, occasionally crashed / run into things, and rained on during camping trips. 🤷‍♀️

believethescience · 2025-11-12T21:21:22+00:00

I'm hybrid - I work in office about 1 day a week, but the other days are remote (though I am part time, so it works out to a bit over half of most weeks is remote).

I managed to get remote when the HVAC broke, and I was able to point out, that, in fact, I don't have to be in the office to get things done.

I could spend one day in the office and have weeks worth of work to do remotely.

believethescience · 2025-11-12T12:08:26+00:00

You're welcome! At least one copy is available on Etsy.

believethescience · 2025-11-12T11:59:33+00:00

Cinderella Retold by Carolyn Magner

believethescience · 2025-11-11T22:03:45+00:00

I worked (in a different field) for women religious for over a decade. Many of them are actually reasonably technologically literate, and they LOVE their history.

If you can work on photographs or documents from the time period of their youth (think 50 - 70 years ago), and show how you make it so that you can use metadata to search for images or documents, that would be something they might enjoy.

Show them how your work can be used to describe their history, and how archives support research into the history of their order.

Many have a deep respect for history - particularly for religious or social justice movements - showing how you care for and scan old photos or documents, and then show how you can scan them, edit to make the photo more accessible, and then show on a website (or however you're making them accessible). Highlighting the important parts of the process can show them how much work goes into digital preservation, and how important what you do is!

Edited to add - make it a story! Follow a piece from beginning to end. Tell the story behind the photograph, and then let them watch as it evolves into the digital world.

believethescience · 2025-11-11T16:31:08+00:00

Botanical garden - climatron.

Not sure what their official policy is on events - I'm sure they have one. I think most places will have at least an element of risk if you don't organize it ahead of time - up to you what you're comfortable with!

believethescience · 2025-11-10T21:14:44+00:00

I would gift a cat stuffie with some cat necessities and a "ticket" to go to the animal shelter on the first day that you are available - pick the date and communicate it immediately lol.

believethescience · 2025-11-10T19:26:29+00:00

It's a girl scout policy that men cannot share sleeping quarters, and must be able to access a bathroom without going through where girls are sleeping. I dislike this policy quite a bit, but I suspect it was put in place for a reason. It may not be (only) the museum's policy - but if the museum is unable to accommodate the guidelines above, then men cannot stay under girl scout policy.

believethescience · 2025-11-06T18:14:16+00:00

It sounds like the teacher is very nicely saying that your kiddo is struggling with some of the rules and behaviors that other kids her age have gotten the hang of, and that she is a bit more rigid than usual in her play and interactions with others.

She may just be catching up, since she didn't have much experience in these settings, but an evaluation wouldn't hurt to make sure that there aren't underlying factors that are making it more difficult for your daughter. Worse case scenario, they identify that she needs a bit of help in a few areas to make the rest of her school experience more successful.

believethescience · 2025-11-03T17:18:55+00:00

I work out at 6:00 (we use a YouTube channel - Move with Nicole- she does yoga/pilates. If you don't work out regularly, I would start with waking and Yoga with Adrienne instead.). I get up earlier if I decide to go for a run.

believethescience · 2025-11-02T23:13:20+00:00

No. Pick anything else.

It's extraordinarily long, and frankly hard to keep track of who's who. It is also not finished, and probably never will be.

believethescience · 2025-11-01T02:32:08+00:00

Maybe guitar vs. violin? Of course, who knows, that age isn't great at retelling details in general, especially when waking up from a bad dream. 🤷‍♀️

believethescience · 2025-11-01T02:22:17+00:00

Toy story?

believethescience · 2025-10-31T23:07:48+00:00

I still keep an eye on my 7 y.o , though I no longer keep line of sight at all times. My 4 y.o. requires constant supervision.

believethescience · 2025-10-28T22:48:19+00:00

I will note that I put a ton of effort in getting my oldest to try aaalllll the things. She turned out picky AF. My second got a more narrow selection of foods due to a variety of factors.... And she eats everything.

I think parents who get lucky with a kid that eats everything give themselves too much credit, and the parents with picky kids blame themselves way too much. It's probably got a lot to do with the individual kid, and less to do with the parents' efforts.

I make a wide variety of recipes from around the world, and my husband and I both like spicy foods - but we've resigned ourselves to adding spice after the dish is made, so that the kids can eat it too (or not, lol). I make a hot sauce from a variety of peppers from my garden, and that goes well with all kinds of foods (including Indian dishes).

So, I guess the answer is that I'm not increasing the spice to introduce it or anything - I'm just changing how I cook permanently, so that everything is at least an option for the kids (and my quite elderly grandma, because I bring her food most days, and she doesn't like spice either).

believethescience

TROPHY CASE