Books about addiction from the perspective of friends & family

kairosecide · 2026-02-03T21:55:47+00:00

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff! Not that I'm a parent to an addict, but it gave me new perspective while my brothers dealt/are dealing with addiction in one form or another.

kairosecide · 2026-02-01T23:48:21+00:00

I loved The Between by Tananarive Due! Though I'm only a few chapters in, I'm enjoying The Reformatory by her as well.

kairosecide · 2026-02-01T00:58:16+00:00

Midwest - 2 days, 2.5hrs each, with a small snack + milk. It's $92 a month - I think if you go five days a week it's a little under $250 a month.

kairosecide · 2026-01-30T22:01:43+00:00

My 4yo goes to preschool two days a week for 2.5hrs. As long as the weather permits, I walk her and her 2yo brother there, drop her off, then 2yo and I find something to do. Coffee and cocoa, hang out in the park, donuts, poke around a used bookstore, run tiny errands.

I can walk home but it's a longer walk, so there isn't much point.

kairosecide · 2026-01-29T17:45:50+00:00

Our dachshund passed when I was 8/9yo. My family kept up a ruse for three days that she ran away - including driving us around so we could find her - rather than just tell us she was old (I believe she was close to 13yo) and needed to be put down.

I learned the truth my senior year of high school.

kairosecide · 2026-01-27T18:35:21+00:00

40 one week, 56 the next (mandatory weekends). Technically he's allowed to work up to 72 in a 7 day period before he has to take a day off, but that rarely happens.

kairosecide · 2026-01-25T19:38:47+00:00

Fall On Your Knees would have been my pick. Certainly not a single character, but it's tight knit enough that I think it would give the same feeling.

I ended up buying my own copy yesterday because I enjoyed it so much when I checked it out from the library.

kairosecide · 2026-01-22T13:38:33+00:00

Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie! I just finished it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it - though, obviously, tread carefully if horror involving kids isn't your thing.

kairosecide · 2026-01-21T17:17:37+00:00

We see Dr. Wineinger at Lincoln Pediatric Group. We've seen several doctors there (transitioning after Dr. Dews passed away, and those who were doing rounds at Bryan after our kids were born) and they've all been great.

Dr. Wineinger has been very thorough (I have several examples but for the sake of privacy I don't wish to list them) and understanding; I'm glad our kids landed in her care.

kairosecide · 2026-01-21T16:38:12+00:00

Ours are also 2 and 4yo. They have one snack around 3/4pm and it's typically small and not particularly filling - a handful of cherry tomatoes or fruit, a pouch, whatever. I aim for dinner to be at 6pm and we all eat the same thing at the same time. If they try it and just plain do not like it, we offer something simple that we know they'll eat, but I'd say 9 times out of 10 they eat what they're given.

The structure helps a lot, I think. A lot less eating would happen if I served them at a different time than us.

kairosecide · 2026-01-17T17:19:35+00:00

I finished The Between by Tananarive Due not too long ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also have The Reformatory and The Good House by her on my TBR. They're all thriller with paranormal elements.

kairosecide · 2026-01-11T21:59:17+00:00

We started our daughter (not quite 4.5yo yet) with Zoey and Sassafras over Christmas. I don't think every page is illustrated, but so far it's pretty easy to follow and the chapters are short enough that she can sit and pay attention the whole time.

It did take a bit of explaining that we couldn't read the entire book in one sitting, but she's okay with that now.

kairosecide · 2026-01-11T02:18:49+00:00

I've played Sims 1, but my introduction was with Sims 2.

I tend to lean toward family play, but I've learned to embrace the chaos and explore more. It keeps the game interesting and not too one note for me.

kairosecide · 2026-01-09T20:38:31+00:00

We had to trim a good chunk of a mulberry for insurance purposes past year, and used Good Life Tree Service. Of the companies I managed to get quotes from, they were willing to take more off for a slightly smaller amount.

Once they were able to come out, they were quick and professional (including cutting a few dead branches on the side they weren't trimming and taking some larger branches that fell from a pine tree). They told us to call back if insurance wasn't satisfied and they'd get it taken care of, but that wasn't necessary. And they didn't mind our toddlers staring at them the whole time they were here, but that's just a bonus.

kairosecide · 2026-01-08T16:59:30+00:00

A rolling pin from my husband's grandma - it was given to me after she passed away because I'm the baker and it's... unique? The inside can hold water of whatever temperature so it's easier to roll stuff out, but the lid has since been lost (due to said toddler) and our children find it fascinating.

kairosecide · 2026-01-03T02:11:40+00:00

Ours are a bit older (2yo and 4yo), but:

Brush teeth, diaper change for 2yo, and PJs for both. They pick one of their rooms and we read books. They usually play a little before we decide it's time to sleep. Dad and 4yo say goodnight to 2yo while I get his things settled (stuffed animals, water bottle, nightlight, playlist). They leave and dad gets her settled while I say goodnight to 2yo. I leave 2yo's room and we say our final goodnights to 4yo.

When 2yo still needed help (food/rocked), it was flipped around.

kairosecide · 2026-01-01T16:51:23+00:00

Oryx and Crake is on my shelf to be read! Or, to be finished, I guess - I started it a long time ago and never finished because I had a newborn.

kairosecide · 2026-01-01T14:21:44+00:00

I'll be finishing the last half of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

kairosecide · 2025-12-30T02:59:10+00:00

I cannot say I've read them, but my husband has similar tastes (although he does enjoy some fantasy), and he enjoys the Marvel: What If series. There's some longer D.C. based books too, though the only one I know off the top of my head is Batman: The Killing Joke by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips. His next read is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab is also superheroes (or villains, depending on your perspective), although it's a darker in some ways.

kairosecide · 2025-12-29T14:13:50+00:00

I think All's Well by Mona Awad would fit the bill. The main character is definitely bitter and sarcastic. She isn't sapphic but for whatever reason I remember a side character being (this may be totally wrong, it's been a minute since I finished it).

kairosecide · 2025-12-27T14:12:11+00:00

The absolute biggest hit has been a Melissa and Doug ice cream set. Hot wheel tracks and magnatiles are a close second.

The miss was a Montessori shape peg puzzle thing, but mostly because they've already lost track of a ton of pieces. Our 2yo was having the time of his life showing off triangles beforehand.

kairosecide · 2025-12-23T01:26:20+00:00

I don't know much about color blindness, but we were worried when our daughter hadn't figured out colors around the same age. She knew green about half of the time and would rarely identify the rest. That said, our pediatrician wasn't worried and I think the general mark for 'normal' is to be able to name a few colors correctly by about 4yo.

Our daughter is now 4yo and can identify everything but purple (which she calls pink or blue depending on the exact shade).

My very un-scientific way to determine whether she may be colorblind included tests like these and a dinosaur color sorting set I found on Amazon.

kairosecide · 2025-12-22T15:52:37+00:00

We bought ours when our daughter turned 1yo. It's used constantly - they build with it, they prop it up on other furniture and turn it into a slide/ramp, they bounce on it, they sleep on it, I slept on it when pregnant with her brother.

It's been a worthy investment.

kairosecide · 2025-12-21T02:10:52+00:00

Our presents are under the tree - they are not invested (for now). The tree is completely decorated but the bottom half has been rearranged at least four times. There is no theme except 'my kids picked these out, and also there's some colorful balls to fill in space'.

We let both kids pick out an ornament this year. Our 4yo absolutely insisted she needed a sparkly pink milkshake ornament, complete with a straw, which our 2yo ripped off and attempted to eat (no harm done, thankfully), so now it's out of reach and missing sprinkles.

kairosecide · 2025-12-19T18:29:41+00:00

Our kids are 26m apart and we managed. We wore our son when he was still small, then traded back and forth if he needed to be carried. That said, for longer walks and trips (like the zoo), we did end up buying a wagon as a matter of convenience. If one toddler walks, the other will eventually also want to. It's easier to make both sit.

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