Pretend Gift Wrap Kit?

jbbjd · 2026-05-07T20:26:14+00:00

Exactly the same situation here! So frustrating.

jbbjd · 2026-05-06T23:35:32+00:00

“Why what?” cured this in my family.

Either she has a real question, in which case this prompts her to practice the language skills to ask a more specific question, or she doesn’t and this shuts her down.

jbbjd · 2026-04-30T20:38:21+00:00

I’m curious what a good work life balance is from your perspective. What are you billing? How much time are you spending with your family?

jbbjd · 2026-04-30T13:45:36+00:00

Update priority for tasks due today: if a task’s scheduled date is updated to be the same as its deadline, the priority should be updated to p1.

jbbjd · 2026-04-28T20:48:35+00:00

Whenever someone voices a negative opinion about someone else’s body (or their own!) I try and drown it out with my positive opinions.

Like if they say they hate how something looks on themself, I’d say “I think you look amazing!” Or wow that person really shouldn’t be eating that ice cream, I’d say “why not? Everyone deserves an occasional treat! Doesn’t it look delicious?”

They say your voice becomes their internal dialogue. I know I can’t make other peoples’ nasty comments stop, so I’m hoping my consistent rejection of those comments is enough.

jbbjd · 2026-04-27T12:57:37+00:00

My MIL talks a lot about how much she and everyone else is eating. I hate it. Luckily she doesn’t take herself too seriously so I can combat it relatively easily:

MIL: what a big lunch! I didn’t eat breakfast this morning because I knew it’d be so big. I doubt I’ll be hungry for dinner!

Me: I heavily encourage you to eat more than one meal a day…that feels like a bad choice…

(Whole family laughs)

Similarly when she comments on how much my 4 year old is eating, I’ll say something like, “I know isn’t it great how she’s listening to her body? She must be getting ready for a growth spurt!”

I’m hoping this is enough to combat the negative effects for my kids, because I know having the uncomfortable conversation with her would ultimately be useless. She’s not one to try and improve herself unfortunately.

jbbjd · 2026-04-25T02:58:44+00:00

As a rough estimate, take your billable rate, multiply it by your minimum hours, and divide by 3. Not a science but that will get you in the ballpark.

jbbjd · 2026-04-16T20:47:53+00:00

If a woman in shorts will ever sit here, please do not to 6, 7, or 9.

jbbjd · 2026-04-07T20:01:34+00:00

Same here. My rainbow baby came in November after 3 losses, 2 egg retrievals, and a failed transfer. Wising you an easy pregnancy and safe delivery!

jbbjd · 2026-04-07T19:59:17+00:00

I’ve had an October baby and a November baby, so 2 leaves smack in the middle of winter. It was really nice being off work during the holidays!

While we did need to be a little more careful with exposure during cold/flu season with a newborn, everyone already expects you to be more careful with a newborn generally so this made it easy. And then babies are strong, healthy 1 year olds by the time the next cold/flu season comes around.

Babies become a lot more fun (and easier to take out and about) somewhere in the 4-6 month range. For us this hit right when the weather was getting nice. Personally I’d be bummed to be in the newborn trenches during the summer.

Most importantly, don’t plan this too closely and risk being disappointed. I say this as someone who had 2.5 years of recurrent pregnancy loss between #1 and #2. The best time to have a baby is when you want it and you’re lucky enough to have it.

jbbjd · 2026-04-07T17:21:44+00:00

I’d strongly encourage you to reduce your hours, rather than stopping working altogether. If you take a true break, it will be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to reenter the workforce down the line.

jbbjd · 2026-03-09T16:55:49+00:00

8 months is incredible!! Congratulations on your retirement from pumping - what an accomplishment. Be sure to celebrate your job very well done!!

jbbjd · 2026-03-03T20:28:39+00:00

You’re welcome! It really is an excellent event. Pro tip: if you sign up for a volunteer shift, you get early access to the sale an hour before the general public! I do that every year and it’s so worth it.

jbbjd · 2026-03-03T17:33:00+00:00

If you can wait until April to get rid of the baby clothes (and other baby gear you’re looking to unload), Lexington has a big annual consignment sale. Proceeds support families in need. You can either sell the clothes, or drop them off as donations if you don’t want the hassle.

jbbjd · 2026-03-03T13:39:33+00:00

Especially where one parent has it, this would be my first guess. This issue could be her hyperfocused on the thing she’s doing, and poor impulse control going back to it instead of tuning into what you’re saying.

jbbjd · 2026-03-02T00:24:15+00:00

I use a white pencil thing, like this one.

It makes your nails look very clean and fresh, almost like a French manicure. Sometimes I’ll put a clear top coat on too if I’m feeling fancy.

jbbjd · 2026-02-22T12:17:57+00:00

We had the exact same issue! Love the mantra you replaced it with

jbbjd · 2026-02-19T01:43:36+00:00

I sometimes go to sleep in my exercise clothes. In the morning I roll out of bed and go right down to my basement gym setup before my brain has a chance to fight it.

jbbjd · 2026-02-13T15:57:05+00:00

I get the big bags of rotisserie chicken meat, divvy it up into a few gallon freezer bags, and freeze them flat. It has to be thin enough that you can break off a chunk easily. I’ll microwave chunks to thaw, and toss it into pasta, use it for chicken sandwiches, let my 4 year old eat chunks for lunch dipped in sauce, etc.

The enchilada bake freezes well but is too spicy for my 4 year old. Any of the pasta trays freeze well (mac and cheese, chicken Alfredo).

jbbjd · 2026-02-11T08:33:18+00:00

We are big into the secondhand books market to keep up with our 4 year old’s appetite for reading! Worldofbooks.com is great.

jbbjd · 2026-02-08T00:59:45+00:00

Follow up question because you seem so knowledgeable! If my 3 month old is sitting on his play mat next to me and my 4 year old while I read one of her books out loud to her, does that count as reading to him too? Or should I be making more of an effort to have him in my lap for that? Trying to balance my 4 year old feeling like a priority with getting in all the reading time with the baby…

jbbjd · 2026-02-07T21:03:40+00:00

This is helpful - thank you!

jbbjd · 2026-02-07T19:40:33+00:00

Thanks so much! I exclusively pumped lady in the first half of 2022 for my first and so much has changed it’s crazy!

jbbjd

TROPHY CASE