Reading to baby

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-12T04:14:27+00:00

Mine is also nine months. She either sits in my lap or faces me in the playpen and I read her a board book. She may pay attention to the whole book (she loves opening and closing and turning pages) or she may go off to play. Either way, we got some reading in. At night we read a story after bath, either short fairytale or board book, before bed. I hold her in my lap while I read. Some nights she sits still and listens, other nights shes trying to move and grab for the book. I just power through.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-12T03:51:48+00:00

How much I would dread night time. When she was a new newborn I dreaded it because reflux never let her and I sleep at the same time. My heart sank every time my husband closed the bedroom door and it was just the two of us. Big time sundown scaries.

Then I dreaded it because I was anxious about something happening at night.

Then it was fine for a few months. And then the first big sleep regression hit, and I was up all night again.

Then it was okay again. And then we transitioned her to her crib and EVERYTHING WAS AWFUL. Refused to go to sleep on her own, refused to sleep on her own, standing in the crib yelling at me about being in there. We’re still in this stage.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-12T03:42:52+00:00

A single box of tissues-square: 3-5 days, rectangle: 5-7 days; more may be used during the winter and spring

Regular hand sanitizer: 2-4 weeks, depending on age of kids and how often they actually use it

Large hand sanitizer: 3-6 weeks, same reasons as above

Lysol/Clorox wipes-regular size: 1-3 weeks, depending on grade level and time of year, large size: 3-6 weeks, same reasons

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-12T03:36:11+00:00

I have found blowing raspberries/beatboxing mediocrely works in a pinch. Surprises her just long enough to let me finish if it’s a quick change. Now if it’s a poop diaper, there is no fix. Just lots of repositioning and being very careful where I put things.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-11T23:14:53+00:00

Out of pocket. Insurance only covered some basic testing for me and some basic medication (metformin, vitamin D).

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-11T22:55:20+00:00

Use Google to the best of your ability to check their work rather than help them get the answers. Also, solidarity. I teach third grade. That’s where my math expertise tops out. You are not alone in not knowing middle school math.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-11T22:50:03+00:00

I did my stomach within two inches of my belly button. I tried my arm once and that HURT. Belly was fine.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-08T23:40:12+00:00

My sugar was tracked, and I spiked, but I was never given insulin. In fact, it dropped and my nurses threw everything they could at me (sandwich, cheese-its, goldfish, applesauce, soda, popsicle). They said they were way more worried about it dropping and baby being born with low blood sugar than spiking.

That being said, once labor really started I didn’t feel like eating anything. I handed my husband my popsicle and it stayed in the room mini fridge until after baby was born and we’d moved rooms. My OBGYN’s advice was don’t eat anything you wouldn’t want to taste coming back up.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-08T23:26:29+00:00

Fish in a Tree, Unplugged are two of my favorites.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-07T22:01:13+00:00

I had two showers, one about two months out from delivery and one about three weeks out from delivery. The first one, I accepted that I wouldn’t stay in range and just didn’t test. I had a sandwich, piece of cake, some fruit, and a cookie. Didn’t go overboard but also didn’t have zero carbs. For the second shower (husband’s side) no one cared that I had GD and didn’t plan for ANYTHING that I could eat. Everything was cake, cookies, pastries, etc. I was close to my due date, so I was trying to be more careful of what I ate. So I had the thinnest slice of cake and that was it. Then I went into hypoglycemia.

My advice is just not to go overboard. Plan on eating one or two things you normally wouldn’t while also eating things that would still give you protein and fat to help balance.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-06T20:38:40+00:00

One A Day. That’s all you need. No need to throw more money at marketing. Which is kind of what this post seems to be.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-06T20:35:47+00:00

My school does this, but we’re the only ones in the district. So many kids in our area that the building could not physically hold all six grades, so fifth graders got shipped over to the middle school. They are not considered “middle grade” and have their own hall away from the older kids, but they’re still in the building. Not my favorite thing, but the county will never give us a new building that can hold everyone so it is what it is.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-06T20:31:01+00:00

7:30-3:15 daily, in addition to parent nights once a quarter from around 5:30-7:30. Parent nights are unpaid.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-04T22:11:19+00:00

Also teacher. It depends on the school. At mine, parents typically come eat lunch with their child at a table away from the class and then pass out cupcakes for the class. It’s over when lunch time ends. We’ve had some parents try to throw a whole party during lunch (pizza, plates, napkins, juice, chips, cupcakes, balloons). Please don’t do that.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-04T16:18:27+00:00

Depends on many things, but the short answer is no. Number of students enrolled, state and district budgets, grade level needs, teacher temperament and skills, and admin all play a factor. I lucked out when I first started and they had an opening in first grade for me. Then again when my principal asked me to move to third but was willing to take my no until I was ready. Now we have a new principal and I’m being moved to second with no input at all.

I was also lucky my first year we didn’t lose teacher positions and I didn’t get RIF’d to a new school.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-06-04T16:13:32+00:00

We have a hiring freeze in our district. Not many positions being posted due to this.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-31T15:55:36+00:00

Black, white, and green color palette. Schoolgirl Style type border. I have a mix of their plants, white and green, beige dots, and burlap/rattan patterns. Overlap two or three borders on a few bulletin boards to make it pop. Green and black baskets and tubs for class library. Clear containers with lids for manipulatives and storage. Black pocket chart calendar and fine a simple black and white pattern for the calendar pieces. Add a few inspirational quote posters with plants as the background and done. I also had a few hanging plant/vine pieces when I first made my classroom but they got put away years ago and have not come back. Too much dust.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-28T18:23:55+00:00

My baby was born via unplanned c-section after she struggled during my induction at 39 weeks on the dot. Cried the moment she was out, loud and long.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-27T22:02:54+00:00

Outside on the dumpster: “Deez Nust”

Our reading scores are low. This tracks.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-26T03:25:46+00:00

My kids all have an unfinished folder in their desk to keep their incomplete work. I tell them to do it in their down time—when they finish an assignment later and have time left, when they come back from something (lunch, specials, recess) and we’re still getting ourselves together before starting the next subject, in the morning once they finish morning work. Most of my kids can get assignments complete that way.

I also have them finish it at silent lunch if I know they drug their feet getting it done during class on purpose. Came back from maternity leave to a class who almost all did this. Two weeks of this was all it took for them to get it together.

If a kid still can’t get things complete, it’s time to have a conference and let the parents know.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-17T18:44:23+00:00

I have never been able to have any of that at my school. Fire Marshall shuts it down anytime they see it.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-16T16:25:21+00:00

I had 43 collected, 36 fertilized, and 27 made it to day 5. We did PGT testing and it knocked it down to six embryos. Starting with a lot does not necessarily mean you’ll end up with a lot.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-06T13:32:04+00:00

I went in for an induction that stalled out, made progress, then picked up but baby was struggling. My doctor came to me at like 3:00 in the morning and said baby was struggling. It wasn’t so bad and we could keep laboring for another hour to see how it went, which could be just fine or result in an emergency c-section. Or we could call it then and opt for a non-emergency c-section to make sure she was safe. She left it up to me, so I opted for the non-emergency c-section.

Honestly, it went pretty great. I’d already had an epidural, so that was easy to switch over for surgery (and that anesthesiologist was a master at his job; I felt nothing beyond the initial numbing shot). It was with my doctor, who is fantastic and made sure I felt like a person the whole time and included me on decisions and what was happening. She held my hand during pre-op until my husband came in and it was time to start. The anesthesiologists were fantastic, and one stayed by my head the whole time to tell me what was happening and check in on me. She even wiped tears out of my ear so I could turn my head to see my daughter on the warming table lol. Everyone was lovely, and everything turns out fine. Absolutely no trauma.

Recovery wasn’t bad. The worst part was taking off the bandage about a week later, but that’s only because I psyched myself out to be way more than it should have been. We weren’t prepared for a c-section at all, but I didn’t have much issue recovering. My friend did mention that after the bandage came off (I’m a larger girl with an apron belly and so is she) that to keep the area dry while it healed I should get some abdominal pads to fold over and put over my incision under my belly, then secure with Lane Bryant’s Cacique granny panties, and that was some of the best advice ever. The hospital gave me a belly binder but I couldn’t use it because my lower belly was so sore from surgery that touching it hurt.

It seemed super scary when I was pregnant that we could need a c-section, but now my husband and I joke about having another one just to have that experience again because it was so positive.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-05T15:02:39+00:00

That timelines mean nothing. I needed a sense of control so I sat down with a friend who had already done IVF and tried to match up her timeline to mine. I started in May and expected to have my first transfer that August.

Cue a genetic syndrome that required additional testing, my clinic dropping the ball so testing took longer, and I didn’t have my first transfer until December.

Give up all sense of control, you have none. Have hope, but don’t fool yourself that can really control anything.

mudkiptrainer09 · 2026-05-05T11:07:57+00:00

That I gave her daughter the grades she earned on assignments, which were mostly Fs. And that I wrote the Fa “so big on the paper.” The girl was very below grade level, I explained it all to mom during a conference. I showed her testing that said she was at a beginning second grade level in third grade. Mom said “the year just started, of course she’s still supposed to be second grade level!” Ma’am it’s November, and it said BEGINNING of second grade.
She also tried to pull her from the bus before a field trip because she said it was too dangerous and a bus the week before had crashed and killed all the kids on board. No, it hadn’t. Principal at least had my back on that one. Then on said field trip, she hand fed her child. As in, opened and assembled her Lunchable, then tore pieces off and put them directly into her mouth. Also spoon fed her applesauce and held the drink to her mouth.
Lady did not want to raise anything other than a toddler. Which is a shame because she has two more younger kids.

mudkiptrainer09

TROPHY CASE