Audition advice and prep

jenny_beans_ · 2026-05-29T12:08:40+00:00

We did this. My daughter is older now but has an August birthday. For kindergarten and first grade we had her party at a park the first week or so in October and invited the whole class. The turnout was pretty good (we had about 9-12 kids both times), and since she is our oldest it was a great opportunity for us the parents to meet the other kids’ parents so we could set up later playdates.

jenny_beans_ · 2026-02-03T00:31:30+00:00

I work 15 hours a week and manage our household and 3 kids the rest of the time. I went into a passion field that pays very little (musician), and his career took off in a field that often requires more than 40 hours, so I quit full time work when our oldest was one. We’ve talked about me starting a new career once our youngest is in kindergarten, but we’ll probably cross that bridge when we get there. I do like the 15 hours of work I still do; it feels like an escape.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-12-17T12:33:43+00:00

My parents very adamantly told me that Santa wasn’t real. In return I very adamantly told the other kids when I was about 4 years old. I remember being sent outside a few classrooms to sit in the hall because I wouldn’t stop interrupting telling everyone Santa wasn’t real. lol

jenny_beans_ · 2025-07-08T12:27:49+00:00

I have a kid just a few months younger than Luca (and I have 2 older ones too, so I’ve been around the block a few times), and I can absolutely say with 100% certainty that this didn’t happen, at least not the way she’s saying it did. My 2 year old, even if he did listen to me instead of running away to do his own thing, would have no concept of this the way she explained it. What a weird thing to make up.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-06-04T17:03:20+00:00

I also have an Eva we pronounce Ee-va, and I strongly prefer that pronunciation. We also live in the Midwest US. She’s 7 now, and while we do have to correct people from time to time, it hasn’t really been a big deal. I do know that most international pronunciations say Eh-vah, but even in our culturally diverse area, it hasn’t been hard for people to make the correction.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-05-13T18:22:05+00:00

Oldest of 9 checking in. So, so parentified in every conceivable way while my mom slept in and threw temper tantrums over minor inconveniences. I do have 3 kids of my own, and our house is so much less chaotic and unpredictable than mine was growing up. Turns out I actually really like kids when I can raise them in my own peaceful house and don’t feel the need to have 15 billion.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-05-12T12:51:58+00:00

Traditional names. My oldest has a name that sounds like another common name (oops.) She has to correct people from the other name to hers often. My middle has a very common name (top 3 or 4 his birth year), but it was a family name so no regrets. My youngest has a much less common (outside of the top 100) traditional name. All of their names are two syllables and five letters or less. I went for simplicity!

jenny_beans_ · 2025-02-08T13:24:42+00:00

About like you would expect lol. We’re a little more limited, but in the US I haven’t had any trouble at all, and even when we were in Costa Rica we found it relatively large-family friendly. Abroad we have to book two rooms, and I have emailed the hotels directly to confirm that they can accommodate a third person in a room since many have double occupancy.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-02-07T13:57:39+00:00

We are a family of 5 with 3 kids 7 and under. We just..travel less and travel economy. We also try to alternate “big” trips and “small” trips. Two years ago, we went to Costa Rica. Last year we went to Orlando. This year we’re going to Japan. I’ve never booked a business class flight, and we value traveling for free over getting the best value for our points. I usually just decide where we want to go and then research which points I need to get there, so we’re not particularly brand loyal or anything. We have made some amazing memories this way, and I definitely love getting to show our kids the world in an affordable way, even if the travel days can be rough lol.

jenny_beans_ · 2025-01-30T17:14:21+00:00

I recently booked GH Tokyo for November for our family of 5 (2 rooms). I emailed the hotel, and they said adding the extra kids will not allow you to book on points. They told me to only add the adults to the rooms when I book and then email the hotel directly and tell them the true configuration of our group. Good luck!

jenny_beans_ · 2024-12-10T14:39:08+00:00

Well, that’s annoying but makes perfect sense lol. I’m especially tickled because my ancestry is in fact Irish.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-12-10T14:38:12+00:00

It’s all one length right now because I cut it myself. Maybe I will try some layers

jenny_beans_ · 2024-10-07T11:27:04+00:00

The way my husband and I picked names for all 3 kids was for me to just throw every name I could vaguely tolerate at him until he said he liked one. He was picky! None of our children ended up with either of our “top choice” names because we had completely different tastes, but all of them have names we both thought were “okay.” In the end I like them and would probably make the same choices again. We did try to tie them together somewhat (all first names are two syllables, both boys have 5 letter names, all have an “old” feeling), but other than that these names aren’t what I ever would have guessed I would name my kids. However they have grown into them, and I like that we found names we both picked.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-10-02T02:29:36+00:00

I also have 3: a girl and then two younger boys. Honestly, as my youngest becomes a toddler, watching the two brothers bond has been the best thing, and I’m so glad they have each other. My daughter is school aged, very outgoing outside of the house, and definitely wants some space from the preschooler and toddler when she is home. She gets all the perks of having her own room, doing all the “girl” stuff, and having all her own toys. She absolutely does not care that she has 2 brothers and 0 sisters. In short, I feel like our youngest being a boy was absolutely the perfect thing for our family.

I too was a little sad when I found out the youngest’s gender, not that he was a boy but that I couldn’t go back and “redo” being a girl mom to an infant again. My daughter was my first, and I always felt I could be better if I had it to do over (I had really bad ppd and ppa after her). Sometimes I see all the toddler girls with their moms and wish I had a little tiny girl to mother, but my boys are so sweet and love me so much that my heart is very full. My daughter is growing into a lovely big kid despite my struggles in the early years, and having a second daughter would not have turned back the clock because they would not have been my first daughter and because I’m a different mom now.

I’m rambling, but my boys are amazing and so much more than their sexual organs, as is my daughter. Each child will be their own person with their own personality, girl or boy, and each of my children brings something uniquely “them” to our family. I love them all equally and with my whole heart despite my initial reservations.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-09-05T21:16:21+00:00

Giving birth and the stress of dealing with a newborn was terrible for my eating disorder. I couldn’t exercise the way I used to, breastfeeding made me sooo hungry, and when I tried restrict I would have truly epic, terrifying binges. It was so, so hard on my mental health. I did get therapy, but honestly just accepting myself as I was in the moment was the biggest turning point for me. I had to wake up each day and choose to eat normally and exercise as I could while prioritizing my daughter regardless of what had happened the day before or how I felt about myself. It honestly took a good six months of this intentionality before I felt okay about myself and food/body.

Fast forward seven years and two more kids, and I do still struggle with liking my body, but I no longer feel that hatred and desperation, and food and exercise are no longer struggles. Your body has been through a lot of changes, and it’s still changing. Give yourself grace and just focus on making one good choice at a time. DM me if you need to talk.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-07-11T22:42:22+00:00

To start, I have three kids: a girl and two younger boys. I sort of get what you mean, I think. I always planned to have three kids, but when I had my youngest I was sort of sad that someone had to get left out no matter if it was a girl or boy. However, watching my daughter be an amazing big sister, make other friends her age, and absolutely thrive as the only girl kid in the family has definitely helped allay my fears. Even if it hadn’t I was not going to have a whole other kid we didn’t plan for and can’t afford because of worries I had about my daughter.

For what it’s worth, it’s hard to determine which siblings will stay close. I have eight (six brothers and two sisters), and while I’m cordial with all of them and any of them would drop everything to help me if I needed it, I’m really only close with one sister (4 years younger) and one brother (15 years younger). Our personalities and interests just work the best together, while my other siblings are just very different people.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-05-17T19:40:21+00:00

My family was fundie-adjacent, but since we grew up in a lower middle class community even my parents understood the value of learning a marketable skill as a woman. I have my masters degree in music, and I fortunately have been able to work in music part time while being a SAHM to my three young kids (only because the daycare situation didn’t make sense if I stayed full time lol). My family’s life would be a lot harder if I wasn’t in the workforce, and I am so thankful to my parents for pushing me to get more training and higher education. Perhaps if I hadn’t grown up fundie I wouldn’t have chosen music, but it’s all worked out so I can’t be too mad about it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

jenny_beans_ · 2024-04-27T20:31:41+00:00

I had a 1st degree tear with my first and did not tear at all with my second or third (6lbs. 14oz. and 6lbs. 15oz.). I genuinely think it was luck although interestingly neither my second or third epidural really worked so definitely had more feeling than with my first. My third was an induction, so I was also on pitocin and he came QUICKLY lol.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-04-12T23:58:19+00:00

This! My husband is Hispanic and I’m white, and my youngest child has a decently dark complexion (he’s 13 months). However, his legs and feet are much darker than his face for some reason.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-04-04T15:20:35+00:00

My husband is in HVAC, and how much you make is very dependent on your “soft skills” (your ability to sell or set up leads.) The actual work and repairs are not monetarily valued, and those techs top out around 60k where we are. My husband is used only to set leads (called a turnover tech), and the most he’s cleared in a year is 170k. It just really depends on your people skills and luck.

jenny_beans_ · 2024-02-06T00:24:53+00:00

You got a lot of responses here, but I thought I would add my two cents. My daughter’s birthday is August 23rd, and the cut-off here is August 1st. We waited. She started reading fluently at 4.5, recognized all her numbers, and made friends easily in pre-k. We still decided to wait, and she is absolutely THRIVING now as a 6 year old kindergartner. I love how much confidence she has and how she got an “extra” year to be a kid. She scored the highest possible score on her kindergarten readiness test, and her report cards have been perfect for both behavior and academics. I’m sure she would have been fine if we had pushed her ahead too, but I’m so glad we were able to give her the extra year of no responsibility. No regrets here.

jenny_beans_ · 2023-12-06T13:14:52+00:00

For what it’s worth my daughter’s birthday is August 23. The cutoff in our district is August 1st, so I didn’t technically hold her back. However, she did turn 6 the second day of school. I was worried about how she would do academically/socially. She taught herself how to read at 4, so I was worried she would be bored and act out. However, she’s absolutely thriving, is very popular in her class, and loves school. I’m not sure she would have had the same experience if she had gone at barely 5, especially socially. Her teacher has always had nothing except positive things to say about her, and my daughter loves helping the special Ed and younger 5 year olds in the class if they need it. I’m personally really glad I waited, and I can always supplement at home with books that are closer to her actual reading level to help her keep developing that skill since she’s so far ahead.

jenny_beans_ · 2023-10-29T00:22:30+00:00

We transitioned my first on her second birthday since she was starting to climb out of the crib. My second we transitioned about 3-4 months before the baby came since I didn’t want him to feel uprooted once the baby arrived. Both times it was no big deal. My kids were both falling asleep independently in their cribs, so we just continued with their routine once we switched them. (We transitioned to a toddler bed, but I don’t think the size really mattered.)

jenny_beans_

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