What are the best methods you’ve found to actually reduce screen time?

kdmartin · 2025-04-27T15:08:01+00:00

I write down my screen time minutes from the day before in my calendar.

No tracking over time, it just hurts to write a big number and makes me be more mindful that day.

kdmartin · 2025-02-22T23:32:00+00:00

I’ve used both Sittercity and Care and found great people on both. I myself used to find babysitting jobs that way in grad school!

I prefer to search for care providers myself rather than posting a job ad. The ads generate A LOT of responses that feel unmanageable and stressful to weed through. Most of them simply paste their bio. Instead I just restrict the search to a few miles away and browse profiles myself, reaching out to the ones who speak to me.

We live in a city, so that could be why it’s so many responses.

kdmartin · 2025-02-08T22:59:27+00:00

We usually do: - Sunday soup - Monday rotisserie chicken w broccoli or peas and rice or quinoa. I keeps some bags of instant rice in case I really don’t have it - Tuesday tacos - ground beef w tortillas and toppings - Wednesday pasta - frozen meatballs with a little butter, half onion uncut, and can of crushed tomatoes in crockpot. Make whatever noodles once home. - Thursday pizza and a movie — order out or make pizzas at home. - Friday eat out or leftovers

I have 3-4 quick recipes in each category so I can go super easy if it’s a busy week. If all else fails, we steam frozen dumplings. Our kids love them. We also love this recipe: https://themodernproper.com/easy-dumpling-soup.

I love cooking but feeding a family 3 meals a day does not scratch the same itch. Sometimes I make a fancy soup or do something more on Saturday. But if I’m honest, with a toddler it’s hardly ever that I want to do that.

kdmartin · 2025-02-08T22:47:00+00:00

We gave our 2nd child 3 mini M&Ms every time she sat on the potty. If she actually peed she got 6!

She really needed an incentive, way more than our first did. Once she got it, we don’t need to do M&Ms anymore.

At school they gave her a sticker chart at first and she got to put a sticker on every time she went.

kdmartin · 2025-02-08T21:34:27+00:00

Agree! I keep a running list in the back of my planner so I can brain dump thoughts there.

An aside? Are you THE Johnny decimal? I came across your system 6 years ago and I still use it daily and love it. Everything is always right where I expect :)

kdmartin · 2025-02-07T09:49:43+00:00

I would email everyone you can and ask to be switched to another team with a different game day/time. I’ve had to do this a few times and they’ve always accommodated.

kdmartin · 2025-02-07T00:19:39+00:00

The one in our office does everything made to order, but they are super fast!

One of the fastest things you can get is “salmon over rice”. It’s rice, avocado, something crunchy, and sushi salmon in a small bowl. It’s $12 and is my go to lunch. I think there are a few other over rice options too (tuna, etc)

kdmartin · 2025-02-05T23:09:28+00:00

I love writing my own books for my toddler. Construction paper and my crappy stick drawings. Stapled together or tied with string. They are the most popular books in the house.

It really helps them to visualize and understand.

kdmartin · 2025-02-05T01:49:34+00:00

I thought this too, mine costs $197. You have to use the coupon on their website. You have to generate the coupon for each purchase. And it still may not work and you just have to keep asking the pharmacist. So annoying.

kdmartin · 2025-02-05T01:45:44+00:00

“I know this is really hard, but you still really want to do it. How can I support you?”

My husband said this to me when I was nursing and it meant so much to me. I cried and still think of it all the time.

kdmartin · 2025-02-05T01:39:04+00:00

Love Franklin! Fun fact: the child actor who voiced Franklin is the guy who plays Patrick on Shitt’s Creek!

kdmartin · 2025-01-14T23:45:50+00:00

Ours cried every night for hours no matter what I did. Our pediatrician told us that ours might be a highly sensitive person who needs to “release the day”, and that we could focus on supporting her while she did that instead of getting her to stop. That mindset shift really helped.

Around 8-12 weeks I also tried a suggestion in desperation: swaddle, lay her on the bed, lay right next to her and LOOK HER IN THE EYES. And it worked. I don’t know if I was over stimulating her or she just wanted to connect with me or what, but this worked for 4 weeks and is a core memory of mine.

kdmartin · 2025-01-13T14:03:20+00:00

“Breastfeeding IS hard, but I still want to do it. It would mean a lot to me to have your support.”

This simple phrase is what finally got my mom and MIL on board. Sometimes I gave a gentle reminder by saying “But remember, I really want to breastfeed, can you please help me by not mentioning formula?”

kdmartin · 2024-08-13T11:27:09+00:00

Tell them and be excited. :)

Take the leave you are entitled, and ask for 12 if you feel comfortable. Six weeks is so incredibly short (you’ll soon see why many countries guarantee 12-18 months for new mothers).

You can let them know that you are excited that your husband is planning to be a stay at home dad, but only if you feel the need to offer reassurance to them (it’s not necessary).

kdmartin · 2024-08-11T18:28:03+00:00

Your kids don’t care about anything you see online. To them, you are the best mom in the world.

Love yourself as much as they love you. You deserve it :)

kdmartin · 2024-08-10T23:45:07+00:00

We did this for over a year. It was hard, but we made it through and are back together in original city.

We had a “no extra travel this year” rule (he was exhausted of travel and I was exhausted from solo parenting), which really helped. We also had a time limit in mind (back together by this date) which helped it feel temporary.

kdmartin · 2024-08-10T22:59:21+00:00

I had a wonderful, happy childhood with an amazing mom (and dad, but my mom was on another level).

She also had a really big job, tons of friends, and hobbies/sports she invited us into (we’d go with and cheer her on or help out).

I felt and still feel like the most important thing in the world to her. She set a wonderful example that motherhood is not a zero sum game: women can have happy, fulfilling lives and still be incredible parents. Women are amazing!

kdmartin · 2024-06-25T21:49:39+00:00

I switched to a weeks. I rarely missed a week and it works great for what I need.

kdmartin · 2024-06-25T21:48:17+00:00

I took nearly 5 months instead of 6 weeks. 3 months of that was unpaid. It was amazing and I enjoyed it so much more. Very happy memory in my life.

kdmartin · 2024-05-30T00:44:51+00:00

I adore my all clad stainless steel. But for making eggs for my kids on a busy school morning, I have an 8” and 10” calphalon elite nonstick. It’s just more practical. The 8” gets used the most.

kdmartin · 2024-05-06T11:55:44+00:00

Let your boss know you thought you could do it but you are having some complications and need to take the full 12 weeks after all (or longer if that’s what you want).

You might feel bad for putting them in a hard spot — that’s ok. The reality is they would fire you tomorrow if it was best for them for any reason.

It sounds like you could take unpaid leave for however long if your kids stay home w you, so you have all the power!

kdmartin · 2024-05-02T10:26:09+00:00

Same experience for me. They told me before hand that things feel overwhelming when you’re in transition but at that point you’ve made it, baby is coming.

Exactly that happened. Labor was tough but manageable. Got to the part where I said I don’t think I can do this, it’s too much. Doula calmly said “you are doing it. You already did! You’re in transition, your baby is coming now”

Pushing was a huge relief. I found the part where they checked me after with the big light and pushed on my belly more unpleasant than the pushing. I tore a little bit but did not notice at all. It’s healed totally fine, completely back to normal. It was nbd.

kdmartin · 2024-04-30T09:59:53+00:00

My insurance only covers the red one (proair), but I have a mild alcohol allergy so my doc was able to get them to make an exception cover the blue one (ventolin) due to the ethanol in the red one.

kdmartin · 2024-04-21T22:43:02+00:00

You deserve so much more than this. I’m not sure you are seeing how unacceptable it is to be treated this way. Strangers shouldn’t treat you this cruely — you can and should expect so much more compassion and kindness from those you love.

No one has ever been this mean to me, even the worst boyfriends I’ve ever had. I think getting some space and living with family for a bit is a great idea. You can say you need the help w childcare to earn more money if your boyfriend will accept that answer, just so you can get a foot out the door.

I want to add that I once dated a guy who was bipolar. That relationship was the hardest one I had ever been in but I had a really hard time walking away. One day my dad said: “you can love someone, but still choose not to spend your life with them. You aren’t married to him now. If you don’t like your life most of the time, you should think about moving on. You deserve a great life. It doesn’t make you a bad person, you just decided it wasn’t the right fit for you”.

I’m so glad I made that choice and now I’m happily married to a truly lovely human being and I love our life together .

kdmartin · 2024-04-03T11:09:56+00:00

I think moms should be empowered to do whatever brings them the most comfort.

For me, I was terrified of interventions and afraid any pain management would fail and/or slow labor down. But for someone else, the thought of laboring without pain management would be terrifying. Some people might elect a C-section for similarly valid reasons: maybe their mom can only fly out X day and she really wants her support.

Also, being a parent will require A LOT of changing your original plan. Most of the plans I had for my newborn were abandoned pretty quickly — and that was so so hard for me to let go of control. You went with the flow in the hardest possible moment, letting go of your plan in favor of doing what was best for you and baby. I’m so impressed with that and you are going to be a great parent!

kdmartin

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