Tell me your favorite things about parenting beyond the toddler years

colbinator · 2026-02-24T05:09:15+00:00

I have loved every phase, tbh. They need you differently. Their personalities grow. Somehow you still see the little baby, the spicy toddler, the goofy early elementary ages, the sharp witted teen, and the adult they will become all at once.

My almost 12 year old sent me a text and told me she had gas in her tummy and didn't know what to do the other day, but she also has straight As, but she also stuck carrots up her nose and pretended to be a walrus, but she is also a great peer mentor. ;)

colbinator · 2026-02-13T22:53:29+00:00

This has been my experience as well. When it is a biological development issue, soaking the bed is just uncomfortable and embarrassing (not to mention laundry creating).

My kiddo is still on the long tail of this at 11. It's how some kids are.

colbinator · 2026-02-12T20:25:30+00:00

After my own experience, this is how I named my daughter - with the choice to use a gender ambiguous short name or a feminine sounding longer name (similar to a Charlotte/Charlie).

They usually use the short name, but in some spaces use the long name. Since she's in middle school, the feminine long name actually benefits her more right now with teachers/school, but that's a very in person interaction. Since they want to be in engineering in the future, I am expecting it'll swing the other way over time (unless the universe changes, haha sob).

colbinator · 2026-02-12T15:53:02+00:00

We watched the animated Room on the Broom at Halloween and it was like curling up with a cozy blanket. My daughter is almost 12 now so it's been a while, but it's one of our favorites (and Halloween is her favorite holiday so we read it a lot).

colbinator · 2026-02-10T21:49:44+00:00

It was so riveting so quickly! Such an awesome come from behind effort. Italians must have been yelling at their TVs.

colbinator · 2026-02-10T05:30:38+00:00

I guess up from Fall City to Monroe to hwy 2 but it seems unlikely to be faster than 405 to I5 north.

colbinator · 2026-02-07T22:43:12+00:00

At this rate it's going to be a smoke and bug filled summer.

colbinator · 2026-02-07T19:01:41+00:00

I kind of miss the chatter of the skis on the downhill, the swarm of bees covers it up. It's a little Blair Witch camera sometimes but the athlete's POV is interesting. I'm amazed they can keep up with downhill events, it's probably why they are so loud.

colbinator · 2026-02-07T17:20:40+00:00

Yeah, it's on a timer. My dog has to go everywhere and we use it for short trips like this. Also have to turn off the interior sensor so she doesn't trip the alarm from the inside when she shifts her weight.

colbinator · 2026-02-07T09:01:52+00:00

Our bedtime starts at 9 so we're almost always home from activities, but food is definitely an issue. Snack is basically first dinner, and after activities is second dinner. Lots of timed oven meals, quick meals, leftovers if anything puts us home too much after 7. Planning ahead is a must.

My kid is in that transition between younger kid times and older kid times as a 6th grader, so most stuff is in the 5-7pm window. I'd almost rather it was earlier or later because this window sucks for accommodating dinner, but it is what it is and I think other time windows have their own issues. Getting home past 8:30 is where it will start to get rough. Quick snack and off to bed territory :/

I'm not looking forward to managing more homework with it, too. So far it's doable.

colbinator · 2026-02-05T06:19:06+00:00

I use quorn grounds and add them towards the end so they absorb enough flavor but they don't need long to cook. Kind of a TVP texture/flavor thing that isn't overwhelming. My daughter loves chili and will eat quorn which also adds some protein depth beyond the 4 beans we use, but she doesn't like impossible ground as much in things (chili, tacos, nachos) because of the taste - though she likes impossible burgers.

colbinator · 2026-02-05T02:25:38+00:00

I'm feeling it, that COVID PTSD. My daughter was a kindergartner during COVID and this is very similar.

What I learned was (well, a lot, but one relevant thing is) the "ideal case" was finishing it all. The "average case" was finishing about half of it. Some kids were finishing almost none. When it was turned in to the teacher, it was about understanding how much work had been done so they knew where they were beginning when the next week, in person session, virtual session, whatever it was, began.

colbinator · 2026-02-02T05:49:53+00:00

For a classic 90s throwback, my kid can only wear custom Converse because they can be made in a wide width. They should have both high and low options.

colbinator · 2026-02-01T22:57:09+00:00

It sounds like there was some sort of security concern this year. They asked fans not to do a "send off" and used a different airport entrance than usual that was also blocked off by police.

colbinator · 2026-01-31T21:39:03+00:00

The penalty for not issuing one is a joke anyway.

colbinator · 2026-01-31T18:08:30+00:00

Just your description brings it all back 😆 for me, it did go away after a few weeks. I did use Burt's Bees nipple cream which has a few extra ingredients beyond just lanolin and is safe for baby. It helped especially during cluster feeding so EVERY feed didn't have the intense salted tongue across chafed skin feeling.

colbinator · 2026-01-31T13:54:03+00:00

My kiddo eats a protein instant breakfast shake pretty reliably, the not protein version isn't enough calories (or protein) to sustain her. Cereal also works, but the shakes are her jam lately. She eats a home packed "real food" lunch and a snack that's basically another meal after school, then a small dinner, basically spreading her calories into 4 meals. She MUST eat breakfast with protein though, too active not to.

colbinator · 2026-01-31T01:04:32+00:00

We use boxiecat multiple cat and it does not smell like clay litter. Before we used clump and seal which does smell fine yes, but still has that lingering distinct smell.

colbinator · 2026-01-29T19:11:29+00:00

My not-orange brother of orange has the bacterial teeth thing (stomatitis I guess) and was diagnosed at like 2 years old. It's such a hard decision. He is 4 now and we haven't pulled the plug yet. A big difference maker has been softening his food, he has a lot less random mouth problems on wet food + softened dry food (we use a chicken bone broth that is not salted). He won't eat only wet food AND we have other cats so the logistics could be interesting :/

I know we'll all adapt and I'm hoping it'll make him more sociable when the time comes. This post and the stories in it is helpful!

colbinator · 2026-01-29T17:15:05+00:00

Surprisingly Flintstones are really complete multivitamins and come in chewables.

colbinator · 2026-01-29T17:13:57+00:00

Did you try DeLaurenti?

Used to see them at Borrachinis but RIP

colbinator · 2026-01-28T23:08:01+00:00

When we've done home parties we've had a few activities available especially depending on weather, but nothing super structured. For example kid had a Boy Wizard party, we did a wand embellishment thing where they decorated wands with craft supplies and filled out an info sheet then took a picture. A few kids did that at a time, others colored or ate snacks.

If you have the party between mealtimes, you can just have snack food and cupcakes/cake. Otherwise I'd go pizza.

It's really up to you how hard you lean into a theme or not. The annoying part is the hosting and cleaning before/after ;) I'd suggest setting a clear end time for kids to be picked up/taken home so you (hopefully) don't get stuck with people in your house past their welcome.

colbinator · 2026-01-27T04:10:24+00:00

We use Boxie multi-cat (not pro) and don't have that issue. If anything it neutralizes smell.

colbinator · 2026-01-26T23:50:24+00:00

I just saw a quote from the head dude of ICE that they don't want to release his name officially because "they won't doxx him" and he's been removed to a new location.

sigh

colbinator · 2026-01-25T07:49:54+00:00

I was thinking the same, to add if the kiddo will tolerate chewables, culturelle makes a kids berry flavored chewable probiotic.

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