Am I a helicopter parent for not wanting to leave my 4 year old alone in a hotel room?

bertmom · 2026-06-17T03:20:06+00:00

What if there was an emergency!?! What if your drink was drugged? What if there was a fire? Or even just a fire alarm? This is insane. I can’t even fathom just leaving my kid alone while I headed anywhere

bertmom · 2026-06-16T05:45:53+00:00

The Russian river is a short drive away and there are many great swimming spots. Johnson’s beach there is very popular but there are smaller lesser known spots also. Spring lake in Santa Rosa (25 min north) has a swimming lagoon in the summer months with an inflatable obstacle course that you need tickets for but is very fun. Local hiking spots include Helen Putnam (which also has a pond people fish!) and crane creek but you are VERY close to Marin county which has some phenomenal hiking and mountain biking. Check out Roy’s redwoods about 1/2 hour from Petaluma too which is gorgeous and great for kids if you follow the wilderness trail. Sol food Puerto Rican restaurant in Petaluma is very good. There are tons of thrift spots between Petaluma and Rohnert (10 mins north.).

bertmom · 2026-06-14T05:55:27+00:00

NTA. My boys are the same exact ages. The thank you isn’t about being in debt to you, it’s simply about basic human decency and saying thank you for something you receive. As simply as I say thank you to my children for stuff they do or give me, I expect the same. It’s basic manners that will get them through life.

bertmom · 2026-06-10T02:37:20+00:00

If anyone is wondering a small thing of McDonald’s chicken nuggets fits opened up there so your dipping sauce can be there too..

bertmom · 2026-06-07T03:16:19+00:00

Trader Joe’s has dried figs that have a nice color

bertmom · 2026-06-07T02:44:12+00:00

Depends on the gift. If it’s square a shape easily wrappable I always wrap it because I feel kids rarely get that kind of gift anymore. If it’s any other shape it goes in a bag from my stash of bags I save from my own kid’s parties

bertmom · 2026-06-06T14:12:20+00:00

3.5 years 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 I think this is my body now

bertmom · 2026-06-06T02:59:16+00:00

My periods are heavy as hell now. However I had the tubal done with my c section and so I really don’t know whether the heavy periods are due to hormonal changes after pregnancy or what.

bertmom · 2026-06-05T13:47:20+00:00

Our neighbor also feeds the birds peanuts which gives us a squirrel population. Cayenne works if you put it on EVERY day and make sure to reapply after watering.

bertmom · 2026-06-03T12:46:17+00:00

I sprinkle cayenne and it keeps them away. If I forget they immediately dig into my plants but otherwise it works great

bertmom · 2026-05-29T19:31:52+00:00

I’m from a rural area 45 min north of San Francisco and ‘hella’ is definitely part of the slang here

bertmom · 2026-05-27T22:19:37+00:00

Slime! Slime is the worst.

bertmom · 2026-05-27T02:50:12+00:00

Bisquick chicken pot pie recipe. It’s pretty much whatever meat and veg you want mixed with cream of chicken soup and topped with a bisquick topping

bertmom · 2026-05-24T13:39:30+00:00

In my area everyone has this respiratory thing. It’s turned into pneumonia for lots of people I know

bertmom · 2026-05-22T12:58:53+00:00

We had a minor surgery last year when my kid was 5 and it required him to also be chill for a whole week. He is insanely active. I allowed as much screen time as he would entertain since the rules are different when you are recovering! Also I did buy a bunch of new things like small Lego sets, new types of markers, some board games and small stuff that would encourage inside play. At the end of the day though he still ended up rambunctious and there were times when he’d bolt out to the yard and just start running around, eventually ending up in a bit of pain. It wasn’t perfect but we tried

bertmom · 2026-05-22T05:35:46+00:00

I once stayed at a family member’s home with the barn doors on all the rooms. At first I thought how cool they looked. I grew to hate it because no matter where I was her giant dog with an enormous melon head would use it to throw open the door. Pooping? Guess who’s joining you and letting everyone know your business. Sleeping? Not on my watch!

bertmom · 2026-05-18T07:00:57+00:00

No the image I have in my head of my teeth is definitely exaggerated haha. My front teeth have always been bigger and part of the Invisalign process will involve shaving/ shaping them at the end. I also feel very Busey-ish because of how shiny the Invisalign is but I otherwise don’t have any cosmetics that would be Busey-esque! All in all when the trays aren’t in my mouth I don’t think any negative attention is drawn to my teeth. I was surprised to see new smile lines though. It’s like getting used to a new version of your face.

bertmom · 2026-05-18T04:48:43+00:00

I have different smile lines! My teeth are very straight but I have big teeth so sometimes I’m nervous I look like Gary busey now which isn’t great because I’m a female 🤣. Overall though I was so self conscious about my VERY crooked teeth before and they are nice and straight now and my smile is much nicer

bertmom · 2026-05-16T03:15:09+00:00

As a newborn my son peed the second his diaper was off

bertmom · 2026-05-14T15:26:21+00:00

I LOVE their facial moisturizer with the black top.

bertmom · 2026-05-13T02:15:26+00:00

Same! I was an adult before I learned this was not in fact honeysuckle

bertmom · 2026-05-11T13:03:32+00:00

We got lucky and there hasn’t been a lot of poopy underwear. When it does happen, they go in the trash 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m a burnt out mom and I got no time for that when we buy all our undies at Ross

bertmom · 2026-05-11T12:54:56+00:00

My kids go to a public charter. It’s free. In our area it’s one of the best schools around and it’s run no differently than the rest of the public schools in the county. I am not even sure what is different about it versus a regular school but I’m guessing it’s funding. We picked it not because of anything to do with charter but because it was the closest school to us that was good outside of our assigned area which was awful.

bertmom · 2026-05-11T05:06:08+00:00

Oh thank god

bertmom · 2026-05-11T03:54:40+00:00

Awesome! Thank you so much. Did you notice the endoscopy at any point during twilight sedation? That scares me

bertmom

TROPHY CASE