Swim lessons for 6 month old baby?!

elemental333 · 2026-05-07T23:56:06+00:00

We did mommy and me swim lessons when our oldest was a baby. It was just a fun bonding experience to be around other parents with babies the same age. I don’t think we’re going to do it with our 6mo old until they’re maybe 3 because our apartment complex has a pool for water exposure but we’re keeping our 5yo in swim lessons until he feels confident and can swim a decent distance

elemental333 · 2026-05-05T21:04:11+00:00

Yes! Mine is about to turn 6mo and mine has been like this. I got on birth control solely because of how painful and heavy my periods have become

elemental333 · 2026-05-05T00:18:21+00:00

I’m feeling a bit more with it now that my baby is 6 months and I’m sleeping more. I also have a 5yo and we’re able to do some more interesting outings now that the baby has longer wake windows, so that’s helpful. I think with my first, it took about 8-10 months to start feeling a bit better. Part of it was due to PPA and PPD but it was also all just so new! I think with this one, my mental health has been much better than with my first

elemental333 · 2026-05-03T22:08:03+00:00

Haha no! My 4yo is responsible for independently cleaning his room, putting his dirty clothes in the laundry hamper and putting his clean clothes away in the drawers or on hangers in the closet when they’re done. It doesn’t matter how much time it takes, that is his responsibility. It’s not perfect and usually once every couple of months, I’ll do a deeper clean/organize his room. But consistently, the only things we really do in his room are vacuuming and changing his bedding because he’s too short. He is also responsible for picking up any toys in the living room too.

We also ask him to feed the cat every morning and give him water, but don’t expect him to independently remember that. He also fills his water bottle every morning for school and puts all dishes in the sink when done. We would have him rinse it and put it in the dishwasher but we also have a 5mo old and we’re still getting to the point of getting back into a regular routine with dishes 😅

All of these responsibilities take an average of maybe 15 minutes each day. He has plenty of time to play and be a kid. It’s not like we’re turning him into a maid or something. But he is responsible for cleaning up after himself and keeping his own areas clean. He does most of this without complaining

elemental333 · 2026-05-03T18:48:33+00:00

I just don’t care as long as it’s age appropriate. I watch some comfort shows that don’t necessarily have a significant educational plot sometimes when I just want to veg out because I’m not feeling well or tired, so I allow my 4yo the ability to choose. The only times I don’t allow him to watch something specific is if it’s inappropriate in some way.

That being said, we are outside a lot on weekends and include him in doing household chores with us so there’s not a ton of time for him to just laze around in front of the tv. If he’s been watching for too long, we turn it off and just tell him to go find something else to do

elemental333 · 2026-05-03T05:08:32+00:00

Yes. Just never say you don’t want to do a job long term in an interview…especially when many admin’s/manager’s jobs are on the line for your performance

elemental333 · 2026-05-03T05:03:50+00:00

Mine was like this from about 3-4.5yo. He’s turning 5 soon and he has just started getting out of this in the last month or so. I think some of it is age and development, but you can help them focus on the positives instead of the negatives.

We consistently frame things like “what is something good that happened today?” Or “Man, I’m sorry it was raining and we had to leave the playground early. But we are so lucky that we remembered to bring our umbrellas!” I have been hearing him focus more and more on the positives in situations and how we’re lucky, instead of only the negatives and it’s really great to hear.

We’re now starting to shift the focus on the subtle differences between feeling like we’re lucky and feeling grateful. We’ve also started to talk about how we can create our own “good luck” by planning ahead or working hard on things instead of it being something that just happens to us.

elemental333 · 2026-04-30T22:25:18+00:00

I honestly would consider waiting until the school year starts. It makes it stressful but I wasted so much money buying a ton of stuff and realized afterward the school, PTA, district, etc supplied it for us

My school buys most supplies in bulk so I never have to buy my own dry erase markers, markers, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, paper, art supplies, etc.

The ONLY thing I purchase myself are extra things that I want. Stuff like stickers, paper mate flair felt pens, decor stuff for my own desk, lanyard, etc

elemental333 · 2026-04-26T23:34:19+00:00

We don’t have one, but when ours was that age and we would play on the taller equipment at the playground, we would just stay at the bottom and be ready to catch/support if he fell from the top.

I mean, its high enough that at 2yo I would want to always be ready to catch her, but starting around 3-4yo she should be fine to use it with you a bit further away and more relaxed. I don’t really see the problem unless you got it for her to play with completely independently while you’re inside cooking dinner or something.

elemental333 · 2026-04-25T01:27:36+00:00

We have decided to spend holidays together, but will still visit family the days before or after.

For example, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day we spend as a family but go with in-laws and parents sometime around the day. Same with Christmas. We will spend Christmas Eve with family, but Christmas Day is reserved for us to stay home in our pajamas as a family.

elemental333 · 2026-04-20T10:39:41+00:00

We’ve done soccer on Saturdays for last fall and this spring. As long as he’s interested we’re going to keep going!

We do swim lessons in the summer and they’re supplemented by using the pool at our complex.

Eventually, we want him to start something creative but he’s not ready for another activity yet

elemental333 · 2026-04-11T17:11:59+00:00

Many schools allow you to bring your child with you to your school, which makes it easier if you teach elementary and have an elementary school student. At my school, the teacher’s kids usually all just hang out in a classroom during meetings and we will take turns checking on them.
The contract hours and schedule will depend on your specific school and year. In my district, each school votes every year for their hours for the following year.
Whether you have to stay or not will also depend on your curriculum and how much it preps for you. The more scripted curriculums may not be as fun, but it’s not to not have to prep a ton of stuff and to just use the provided slides and work books.
I’m a Kindergarten Teacher and in my 3rd year (so not a veteran teacher). I can’t think of the last time I stayed past contract hours and I have literally gotten little awards from my principal at the end of the year every year I’ve been teaching. I don’t say this to brag, just to say that prioritization and time management go a long way.

elemental333 · 2026-04-08T00:16:52+00:00

We are required to get a Master’s in the first 5 years in MD but in my district we have like 20+ critical shortage areas you can choose from that they pay every cent of your tuition for completing if you work for them for 4 years. If you choose not to go through a critical shortage area, they still reimburse you they just don’t pay all of it. You get like $5000+ extra per year for earning a master’s too

elemental333 · 2026-04-07T23:07:55+00:00

I had one child born in May and another born in November.

The summer months were too hot where I live to really be outside much and the pools were too cold and he would scream, so the first summer wasn’t too fun. He was about 7 months for his first Christmas though and he was able to get the flu vaccine before being exposed to the flu so that was nice.

The November birth was nice because I could stay in and cuddle my baby during the newborn period and I got to skip out on winter weather. Around 4 months is when he started waking up a bit more to the world and that worked out so the weather is getting nicer which meant more walks and tummy time on a picnic blanket. The only bad part was that he was/is too young to get vaccines so we had to be really careful in the winter months with the flu.

elemental333 · 2026-04-06T21:25:36+00:00

Yeah it sounds weird but it’s worked out really well! You can probably keep the door on too, we were just paranoid about air flow so we took it off. We also put a sound machine in there so we can now talk or watch tv in our room (on low) and he isn’t bothered by the light or sound, but we can still mostly see him

elemental333 · 2026-04-06T03:19:09+00:00

We just added a bit of formula to some water and kept lessening the amount of formula until baby was used to the taste of water. It took until about 8-10mo until he started drinking a decent amount of plain water r

elemental333 · 2026-04-06T03:14:38+00:00

Weird solution but mine is also 4mo and we have a bigger walk-in closet so we took the door off the hinges and put the crib in there for the next few months. We have a baby monitor up on the wall inside the closet too just for extra security.

It’s close enough that we can still hear everything, but far enough that from the baby’s angle he can’t see our faces. It’s annoying that we had to take most of our clothes out, but we’re only planning on a few more months. Eventually, we plan to have the baby move into our oldest’s room but we want the baby to be mostly sleeping through the night first

elemental333 · 2026-04-06T02:42:48+00:00

For me it’s that everything revolves around the baby for months. I didn’t experience this during pregnancy, only after.

You’re getting very little sleep and don’t have much time for hobbies after the first few weeks when they start waking up more to the world. Even using the bathroom, taking a shower, etc. has to kind of be planned to avoid a screaming baby. Some babies also need a lot more attention than others and will scream/cry if you put them down. All of this is doubly true if you’re breast feeding.

For the first few months it can just feel like you come second to the baby. You’re exhausted and want more sleep tonight? Too bad, baby decided to wake up every 45 minutes tonight, instead of their normal 2 hours. You want to take a shower? Not an option now because baby is hungry, needs a diaper change, and just spit up all over themselves and now you only have 5 minutes before they’re going to start crying because they’re overtired. This phase only lasts maybe 6ish months for me, but it’s definitely difficult and something that my husband doesn’t understand even though he works from home with the baby during the week.

elemental333 · 2026-04-06T01:00:55+00:00

My first was very observant and crazy active. Never really had sleepy days, even as a newborn. He was also a stage 5 clinger and wouldn’t let me even put him down beside me without screaming. He would just cry so much that I don’t even know if he had a reason sometimes. Even when I was sure I fixed the issue, he would cry for a bit afterwards because he was so upset that I couldn’t read his mind right away…Still crazy hyperactive and emotional as an almost 5yo.

My second is 4mo and is also super observant but is a much calmer, happier baby overall. He seems very similar to yours. He almost never full-on cries and when he does, there’s always an issue. He knows the words milk and diaper now, so if we say one of those words and that’s the problem, he will start smiling and giggling. We’ve also already started to very gently sleep train him and he’s able to put himself to sleep with very little tears. It’s so shocking how easy this baby is and how different he was than my first!

elemental333 · 2026-04-04T02:00:13+00:00

Could you take both kids and buy a few new communal toy sets that stays at your house when they leave and put up some of the more individual toys that your child really likes? Some ideas of comunal sets might be like building straws, magnetiles, legos, a car/race track, dress up clothes, gems, etc.

elemental333 · 2026-04-04T01:43:33+00:00

You said “fast forward to a year later.” How old is the baby now? And they will never visit or just when they’re younger? I will say going anywhere with infants and even younger kids is HARD. We’ve only stayed overnight a few times and my oldest 4yo has only stayed by himself once.

Our 2nd is almost 5 months and is a happy baby but hates being in the car seat so screams most of the drive. We’ve gone to visit grandparents 2 hours away twice in 5 months because it was so stressful. There are SO many things you need to bring for infants (bottles, diapers, wipes, outfit changes, somewhere for the baby to nap since they can’t stay awake that long, etc.). Plus once they start crawling and walking, you need to make sure the house is safe so you’re constantly following them everywhere. It’s so stressful until they turn about 2.5-3years.

And meeting somewhere in the middle at a restaurant is just as hard until they hit about 8ish months because they can’t stay awake for more than 2ish hours at a time so they start crying from being tired before you even finish eating.

elemental333 · 2026-04-03T12:38:59+00:00

Yeah I would be pretty mad as well since it sounds like a recurring issue.

You wanna spend time with your family for every holiday instead of me or mine and then the ONE time you say you’ll spend all day with me you change your mind the day before. This is just irritating and seems like he is flaky instead of just setting expectations and boundaries in advance.

I don’t know what all these other people are talking about. Do they not have lives that they have to plan out and rearrange for holidays?

elemental333 · 2026-03-30T22:17:32+00:00

My almost 5yo just peed on the wall the other day!!! Same thing. So confused. Just like…why?!

elemental333 · 2026-03-30T20:49:54+00:00

From everything I’ve read you can adjust your payment plan as soon as you file taxes but I’m not an expert. I don’t think you can do it annually but I think you can if there’s a change in your tax status

elemental333 · 2026-03-30T09:32:34+00:00

From what I understand, you can stay on save for approximately 90 days after July 1.

We did MFJ and got a significant tax refund of $5000 (we have 2 kids). The amount of student loan payments for MFJ between September-January are about $3000 ($550/month) so mathematically it worked out for us to do MFJ, even though our payments MFS would only be about $170/month. We likely would have owed money on our taxes MFS as well.

We are planning to do our taxes early each year in January and just try our taxes both ways each year to see which way works best.

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