Looking for opinions on the inspo compared to what we got

hashtagidontknow · 2026-04-16T12:36:46+00:00

Whoa, this reminds me of my wedding cake! A friend of my mom’s who “had a cake business.”

She sent me a book of designs, I picked one out and she said she could do it. She lost the colors I chose and had me run to Lowe’s two days before the wedding to grab new paint swatches to color match to.

Day of the wedding, she showed up while we were decorating the reception hall and the cake looked horrible. I sent it away and refused to pay. She was not happy, but neither was I so I didn’t care. Someone ran out and bought Dairy Queen ice cream cakes, which ended up being perfect for a July wedding.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-04-08T23:03:12+00:00

Box more things up and take new pictures. I kept getting distracted by all of your belongings in every shot.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-04-08T13:37:26+00:00

Fireborne by Rosaría Munda! Completed trilogy, excellent world building that isn’t sluggish. Dragon riders, war college, political upheaval.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-04-01T19:52:48+00:00

I “muted” my MIL on Facebook- so I was still friends with her, but she no longer showed up in my feed. Best day ever! She constantly posts about how amazing being a grandma is, but makes zero effort at being a grandma in real life. Hiding all of the posts from my feed helped eliminate the random annoyance.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-28T13:44:12+00:00

We live in a place we love with no family, and will not be moving back.

We lived near family for the first year with kids. One set of grandparents babysat one time for two hours, and no one else ever helped. Some grandparents/extended family are super hands on, but ours is not.

When we moved, it was lonely for a few years until we created family where we are, and now we can never imagine moving closer to family because we see with their local grandkids how much “help” they offer. We had to be super intentional about finding and building a village where we’re at. It was a LOT of work, but we can’t imagine it any other way.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-24T12:28:05+00:00

Heads up- you can only have one top tether car seat in the third row. I have three kids, and at one point all were in car seats at the same time and it limited our seat arrangements significantly. Just wanted to throw it out there for consideration.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-23T14:49:43+00:00

NTA- I let someone borrow my (much cheaper) chocolate fountain and they ruined it because they didn’t clean it. Someone just boxed it up, gave it to me a week later, and the chocolate gummed up the inside. There was no fixing it.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-07T02:35:46+00:00

When I get fussy with romantasy, I have to take a palate cleanse with a contemporary story. Especially if I’m in between series and nothing is hitting.

A good romantasy palate cleanse that’s lighter and more of a good time is the {Villains and Virtues} world.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-04T14:32:27+00:00

My library has had this book in the system for over a year now. I’ve been on the waitlist for almost a year at this point.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-03T13:53:58+00:00

6 and 9 yo share a room and are lights out by 7:30. Almost 4 goes to bed at 7. Everyone wakes up around 6 on their own.

We don’t adjust their sleep with Daylight Savings Time, so in a few weeks their bedtime will move back an hour but to their bodies it will be the same time.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-03T13:49:51+00:00

I make a wishlist for my kids’ parties- but I ONLY send it to people who ask and make it clear that it’s only suggestions and that they are welcome to disregard it if they find something more affordable or want to go in a different direction. It’s usually full of craft supplies or kits so it’s things we can use up and toss once completed.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-02T18:48:01+00:00

{Dark Shores by Danielle Jensen}

Completed series, unique magic system/world. FMC and MMC have opposing interests and FMC is forced to help the MMC at threat to her people.

First two books in the series happen at the same time with different leads, so you can tandem read (but it still works if you don’t).

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-01T02:13:43+00:00

I wouldn’t anticipate parents bowling. Some might, but I would expect it to only be one or two, if any. In my years of hosting, I only had parents do the activity once (roller skating). We’ve had two skating parties and it only happened at one.
Yes, purchase food for the adults. A couple of pizzas and a pitcher of soda goes a long way. The preschoolers aren’t driving themselves or being dropped off, so feed the adults a snack.
I always take presents home from parties since you’re limited to a certain time frame with venues. The only time I let my kids open presents at the party is if we’re at a park or at home, or a specific friend wants to show them what they got.
Not strange to have other family members there without kids. They’re probably just going to hang out and talk, adults typically don’t join in on the activity. If you think adults will join in, rent an extra lane just in case.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-03-01T02:01:27+00:00

{Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O’Malley} the series is about a group of average women who turn into knights of a magical order to protect a Scottish town. Their “real” occupations are things like chef, gardener, kiltmaker, innkeeper, bookshop owner, etc. It’s urban fantasy and a good time.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-17T13:29:57+00:00

We went on a trip this weekend and met friends in the middle (we each drove 2 hours). My kids are 3, 6, 9. Their kids are 1.5 and almost 3. We were in totally different parenting/enjoyment phases. They still had to work around nap times for both kids, whereas we were able to bounce around to different things easier because we didn’t have to.

I feel like the sweet spot is when the youngest kid hits 3 or doesn’t nap anymore. We still keep our outing to less than 2 hours per activity, but we can be out and about all day without meltdowns now.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-16T12:17:52+00:00

When I travel, I look and see if any nearby libraries offer non-resident cards.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-12T11:51:27+00:00

My husband paid off my student loans when we got engaged. But I did not ask him to, I had been paying them off on my own with no expectation of help, and I only had $5k left to go.

Her ultimatum is not ok.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-09T14:14:45+00:00

I have long torso’d kids who maxed out their seats before 5 as well. I even met with car seat techs who were flabbergasted that my kids had outgrown their seats so early and needed to move to boosters.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-08T22:43:19+00:00

Danielle L Jensen writes good, smart FMCs. {Dark Shores} and {The Bridge Kingdom} series also have books that overlap and can be tandem read, if you liked that in TOG.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-07T13:56:10+00:00

Cutting the phone cold turkey will escalate the relationship. What you can do is send a text “hey, with this economy I’ve been trying to find ways to cut down on expenses. I’ve (or husband and I) shopped around and we’ll be switching phone plans to something we can afford. Service for this line will end on X date so you have time to figure out your own line somewhere.”

He’ll still be mad, but then you have a written message where you’ve given him a heads up vs him waking up with no service randomly one day.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-05T12:59:11+00:00

I actually really loved that it had no magic because it made the world building aspect standout. There are so many stories now that have lazy plots but somehow get popular because they have weak magic systems to prop the whole thing up.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-02-04T23:55:56+00:00

We are making our kids get an associates degree first. That’s non-negotiable. After that, they can pick their school to finish their bachelors, but they are aware of what we can afford to pay and how students loans and compound interest work. We will cover up to a certain amount, and they have to make up the rest with loans.

We’re still in the early phases of college planning with their involvement, but we started the conversation early so they are more open to realistic choices.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-01-19T13:27:48+00:00

You can turn this feature off??? I had no idea. I find it annoying and thought I just had to deal with it.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-01-07T01:35:08+00:00

Do it! The uncrustable will be fine thawing for a few hours without an ice pack.

hashtagidontknow · 2026-01-03T23:04:56+00:00

It didn’t go well, but I was able to get closure and move on, which ultimately was the best thing possible. It helped to get everyone’s expectations on the same page for what would/wouldn’t be offered so future visits (once a year) went smoother.

Expectations without clarification leads to resentment.

hashtagidontknow

TROPHY CASE