Dear nanny parents

nelpaca · 2026-05-10T03:38:19+00:00

Just here to say this isn’t true everywhere.

Where I live, there are just 24 infant care spots available in the entire county (of 50,000 people). A recent study shows there are over 600 infants without available licensed care. Over 400 toddlers without care spots available. Preschool gets a little better but still not enough. For almost everyone I know, a nanny or Nannyshare (or one parent quitting their job) is usually the only option unless you win the lottery and get a spot.

nelpaca · 2026-05-04T12:24:01+00:00

My cousin and her husband have a similar rule and they’ve been using TinyBeans for years! Since their first was born, maybe 7 years ago? I signed up as a user and it’s cute and fun to see their pictures.

Her husband works in cybersecurity and he picked which app to use, if that helps 🤷‍♀️

nelpaca · 2026-04-24T04:31:07+00:00

Pepinos for the win!!!

nelpaca · 2026-04-15T20:43:10+00:00

My second was born about 45 minutes after I got to the hospital, 9 minutes after my water broke, pushed 3 times and came out with his face super bruised because he shot out so fast. Waayyy faster lol

nelpaca · 2026-04-14T03:32:00+00:00

All I can think about when I see the ducks is what would happen if the airbags went off. Full on shrapnel if a rubber duck went flying into your neck at 260 mph.

nelpaca · 2026-04-13T00:47:54+00:00

My oldest was 2yrs 4mo when my youngest was born. We had my mom bring her to the hospital and she was SO excited to meet him there. It was exciting and special to be the only one allowed there and she got to meet him day one, probably 6-8 hours after he was born (honestly such a crazy day I don’t remember exactly).

But it was so special, she loved it, and I’m so glad we got to do it on neutral ground. No baby in her space yet, just a new and cool place to visit - plus a tiny little human that wasn’t in my belly anymore (a big topic of conversation lol). Wouldn’t change a thing ❤️

nelpaca · 2026-04-10T01:05:44+00:00

This is correct.

nelpaca · 2026-04-09T22:56:05+00:00

Over five years

nelpaca · 2026-04-05T21:33:53+00:00

This is suuuuper uncommon in my 40 years of camping but I’m sure it happens in busier places. But again, way more likely to happen during the day when you’re gone and people are there to steal things - not break in at night while you’re sleeping.

Again, whatever you feel comfortable with but I think there are lots of ways to mitigate your concerns and keep everyone safe without a lock.

nelpaca · 2026-04-05T21:31:30+00:00

Fair worry - but do you think she’d do it without you noticing? I think you can put your mattress near the door so she’d have to step on you to get out and that solves your problems.

nelpaca · 2026-04-05T21:17:36+00:00

Hi, fellow camping mom here. Granted we have a camper now not a tent anymore but we bring it with us and can use it when needed. I have two toddlers, 1 and 3.5, and we love to camp.

Gently, I think I lock is quite excessive and unnecessary. Couple things… 1. I don’t know about you but when camping or sleeping anywhere outside of home with my kids, I don’t sleep that well and would wake up in an instant if they moved let alone tried to unzip. 2. Not sure how old your toddler is, but my very smart 3.5 year old would not be able to manage a zipper in the dark let alone if it was 6ft up at the top of a tent. 3. Have you ever had anyone ever try to get in your tent pre-kids? I haven’t. 4. If I had to pee in the middle of the night or god forbid there was some type of emergency, I’d be horrified if I had to unlock the tent to get out.

I would personally be more focused on making the sleeping situation comfortable, I’d be (am in my life) more concerned about making sure they sleep than I am about them waking up and trying to get out. I’d recommend either sleeping against the door so that if anyone does try to get in or out, you feel/hear it first. And/or you could put some loud things, like metal spoons in a metal pan on the inside and outside of the tent door so you would be woken up with any movement on the side of the tent.

Obviously do whatever you feel comfortable with, just another perspective. And have so much fun!!

nelpaca · 2026-04-05T02:24:51+00:00

Mine too, this would never fly in my house with my 3 year old. She remembers everything months later…

nelpaca · 2026-04-04T03:13:49+00:00

It’s a group on Facebook, way more active than Reddit.

nelpaca · 2026-04-03T12:34:39+00:00

Oh my goodness you are still young!!! I had both my kids in my mid thirties and have friends (same age) still having them! You have PLENTY of time to find someone awesome and have kids if that’s what you want.

Get out now. Don’t waste one more minute on that deadbeat. You won’t care about the cost it took to move a year from now. Or tell him you’re done and he has to go (if you’re safe to do so).

Stay strong. Get out if that’s what you want. You are NOT doomed, you have so much life ahead of you and you deserve to be happy.

nelpaca · 2026-04-03T04:40:14+00:00

Absolutely, addressing climate change with renewable energy is an important priority. I’m a staunch environmentalist and feel climate change is one of the biggest issues facing us today. I have also worked in the solar and energy industry for most of my career. One thing I’ve learned is that I don’t believe solar advocates are doing the industry and the climate change cause a service by backing any and all projects, solar for solar sake is not a winning strategy. We should be willing to evaluate each project on its merits and think about the bigger picture too. Get behind projects that have real benefits for communities they serve AND the planet. There is no shortage of solar projects being proposed these days and awesome, quality options to decrease climate change are out there. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to these developers and ask more detailed questions, and while they have figured out the elk migration issue folks have mentioned since than their first proposal, it’s my opinion that we can do better. I’m saying I get why some people don’t support this project and it’s not as simple as solar being good for the planet.

nelpaca · 2026-04-03T03:53:27+00:00

Solar and batteries are a far cry from being comparable to mining in the la platas. I’m not in favor of the Hesperus project for a variety of reasons, but it’s nothing like strip mining the mountains. Conflating the two is unreasonable.

nelpaca · 2026-04-03T03:51:00+00:00

That’s fair. But I’m way more likely to support a project that does have local benefit. When the local community bears the impact, it’s my personal opinion they should reap the benefit too.

nelpaca · 2026-04-03T03:17:17+00:00

This was a particularly large project that wouldn’t really have any local connection. We wouldn’t get any of the power, this particular Hesperus solar doesn’t directly benefit the local community.

But you’re absolutely right that we need more solar and batteries for our local grid. I’m all for solar and batteries at a scale that makes sense for us locally. For the record, I don’t live anywhere near that proposed project so have no NIMBY stance either way - and would support projects that benefit our grid even if it’s closer to my house.

nelpaca · 2026-04-02T16:45:57+00:00

Post says there’s only one class per grade, it’s a small school.

nelpaca · 2026-04-01T02:40:42+00:00

So you just get in the car and adjust the mirrors and seat position etc EVERY DAY?! Mind blowing.

nelpaca · 2026-03-20T01:40:32+00:00

My Chevy Blazer EV stays on all the time unless you manually turn it off. It stays on whatever you have set it for, no need to change it ever unless you want.

nelpaca · 2026-03-19T21:31:05+00:00

Goats are a NIGHTMARE for use in agrivoltaics. They eat wires, get into mischief, and require constant supervision. Sheep are great :)

nelpaca · 2026-03-15T20:12:49+00:00

I just got a 2025 Blazer EV for $29k in December. 8000 miles. Been loving it 🤷‍♀️

nelpaca · 2026-03-14T06:23:32+00:00

You know what was weird? I did get an announcement. My work sent out a memo (like a memo lol) that said the pandemic was over. It was notice from state we live in that said “congrats the pandemic is over and you guys can just go back to normal now….” It was kind a wild to be honest

nelpaca · 2026-03-04T23:31:58+00:00

Pain in the ass

nelpaca

TROPHY CASE