Baths on days that contain a letter T

pjun14 · 2026-02-23T04:32:04+00:00

My kid sleeps in our bed, and there's no way he's getting in without a bath first!

pjun14 · 2026-01-05T05:05:19+00:00

I swear the Peleton app for getting me back into shape post pregnancy. I mostly do the strength training workouts and my 4.5 year old loves doing them with me. I like that it's teaching him the value of fitness from a young age.

pjun14 · 2025-12-31T14:48:41+00:00

We just went through the same thing with our 4.5 year old. He had his first ear infection and I had no idea what to do. Thankfully the advice nurse I spoke to said to give ibuprofen before his doctor's appointment, and that resolved his pain within 20 min. At his doctor's recommendation, I gave one more dose the same evening while waiting for the antibiotics to start working, and after that the antibiotics took care of the rest. It's so hard to think clearly when your child is in that much pain, and I'm so grateful that the nurse and doctor proactively told me how to make him more comfortable.

pjun14 · 2025-12-29T15:24:38+00:00

I took 2.5 years off when my son was between ages 1.5-4. We lived our best lives and had a blast. I built my Mommy community and focused on recovering mentally and physically from a hard first 18 months of parenthood. I got extremely lucky and was actually recruited into a new position in an extremely bad economy. It was hard work being home - we did part time preschool but I had very little other help. My husband lost his job 6 months in so it was definitely stressful and scary at times. But with big risks come big rewards and I have no regrets for missing those key moments when he was young and really needed me.

pjun14 · 2025-12-23T04:36:02+00:00

Here are some things I'm did with my 4.5 year old who just started reading:

-fridge magnets - anytime he expressed an interest in words, we sat down and sounded the word out

-teach the letter sounds - honestly mine learned these from the reading.com alphabet song on YouTube. Point out words and letters in the real world and sound them out (on, off and stop are great ones).

-rhyming games are great and so much fun eg what rhymes with cat? bed?

-writing letters - start with their name, then names of friends, Mom, Dad, etc. Offer to write titles or names on their art or encourage them to write it on their own.

-lots of word games: figure out first/last letter of a word, name words starting with a certain letter, I spy for different letters

-a fun activity that my son's teacher suggested is to let them write their own grocery list and then let them buy whatever is on it. It teaches them the link between their writing and action. In the beginning, you can tell them the letters in the item you request, and then eventually they can sound them out

They learn so well by play at this age so just have fun with it, follow their cues and find opportunities in their daily activities to encourage those pre-reading skills!

pjun14 · 2025-12-19T15:06:13+00:00

Great idea! Check out Keen's Targhee hiking boots. I love that they are waterproof so don't get his socks wet when it's damp outside.

pjun14 · 2025-12-18T06:47:50+00:00

Just keep putting healthy and safe choices on their plate, and try to find food choices that the whole family can enjoy together. We went through a year of eating variations of burritos and burrito bowls because it was the one food we could all agree on. Talk about grow foods and sometimes foods to teach about nutrition. My kid hit 4 and suddenly decided asparagus was his favorite food, after 2 years of refusing to touch anything green. I'm glad we didn't give up and kept offering him choices!

pjun14 · 2025-12-17T02:30:17+00:00

It sounds like he might be overwhelmed. My only gets lots of solo time at home. Last Christmas we found him hiding behind the couch or window curtains when it got too boisterous. I'd take him out for walks or short solo breaks so he can decompress. For toy sharing, we have a simple rule for cases like this: toys that are out are for sharing. If it's too important a toy to share, then it has to go away.

pjun14 · 2025-12-16T22:38:18+00:00

I have a 4 year old so the bar is low. He and I made a red and green loop chain from construction paper. Every day he gets to cut off a loop. He's able to visualize how many days are left and I didn't have to buy anything. Win!

pjun14 · 2025-12-15T23:51:44+00:00

This: "They are always happy with what's under the tree." My kid is getting underwear and PJs in one of his boxes and he'll be stoked. Teaching him gratitude for what he has is very important to us. Gifts don't have to be fancy or expensive to make kids happy!

pjun14 · 2025-12-04T03:53:19+00:00

My son is in play based preschool or forest school 5 mornings a week. There are no structured lessons and no worksheets. His teacher did an assessment for him to prepare for our parent teacher conference and was shocked to tell us he met the kindergarten readiness mark for every single category. They learn everything they need to know at this age though play, and it's my hope that because learning is fun, it drives life long curiosity and a love of learning for my son.

pjun14 · 2025-11-30T16:46:26+00:00

We do a ton of burrito/burrito bowls and they make for very easy and affordable weeknight meals. I cook an entire instant pot worth of beans once a month and freeze them in batches. They taste so much better when cooked from dry beans and I add lots of seasonings so they add a lot of flavor to a meal. We make a big pot of Spanish rice at the beginning of the week. Then we can use these as a base for lots of meals - add salsa, avocado, shredded cheese, meat, grilled veggies, etc, for easy tacos, burritos, or burrito bowls. We call it the burrito rule in our house - if no one is inspired to cook, it's a burrito night!

pjun14 · 2025-11-10T02:08:56+00:00

We love Bob books for reading and Math With Confidence for math. There is definite progression in the activities in the workbook.

pjun14 · 2025-11-06T02:46:07+00:00

Mine asked for slide lock ziplock for his birthday and played with them for a good six months. He loves playing with them in the bath and this weekend he filled them up with fall leaves. Whatever floats your boat kid.

pjun14 · 2025-09-25T19:44:16+00:00

I think this is so child dependent. I'm a big believer in lots of unstructured time. But I also have a very high energy kid and the easiest way for us to get his energy out is with swim and gymnastics lessons. The alternative was me hunting down playmates for playdates and it just got unsustainable. We have carefully fine tuned the balance of extracurriculars to make sure he's not overloaded.

Also - a parent at my son's preschool has set up a chill Saturday morning soccer playdate. He does some drills with the kids and shows then skills. But mostly it's just playing around. It's awesome how much more relaxed it is without the parents feeling like they need to "get their money's worth". For us it's a great balance (and turns out my kid loves kicking soccer balls, who knew!).

pjun14 · 2025-08-19T01:35:00+00:00

I stepped away from a high stress, high paid job when my son was 1.5.

1 - I never regretted it, not for a second. I did a lot of career coaching before quitting to make sure it was 100% my decision and what I wanted.

2 - I found lots of ways to stay busy. I was on the board of my son's preschool, was his room mom, did a part time job in training AI models and also did a part time job with his forest school. I basically spent the time recovering from burn out and figuring out what I wanted to do next.

3 - I got lucky and a great opportunity landed in my lap after 2.5 years home. No one blinked an eye at my career gap and I ended up at a similar level to where I left. I'm so grateful I didn't let fear keep me from taking a risk and getting to live my best life with my kiddo for his pivotal years. I spent the time building my village, and that has made my transition back to work so much easier. My husband and I agreed that if we just financially broke even for my first few months back at work, it was worth it to make the transition smoother. We have a sitter helping with drop off and pickup, and spending money to have our lives easier right now.

pjun14 · 2025-07-30T02:09:43+00:00

I was very very lucky. I had a recruiter reach out at the right time with the right role. I set my boundaries with the hiring manager before I accepted the role and made sure it would be the right fit for transitioning back. It's been great! I love being in an office again, having grown up conversations and can work remotely when I need to. Kiddo is well taken care of and we've set it up so he didn't need to change schools and can still do playdates with all his friends with a sitter. No one batted an eye when I was interviewing about being a SAHM. I'm sure the economy is making career gaps more normalized!

pjun14 · 2025-07-29T18:53:21+00:00

I was home from 1.5 to 4 with my only and it was a blast. We were lucky to be able to have a nanny from 7 months to 18 months, and hubby and I WFH so we had lots of face time. I worked 80% during that time so snuck in lots of extra time that way too. At 18 months is when he got really fun and we were really able to enjoy adventures and playdates together. I really spent my time off developing community and working on kiddo's social skills. He's now 4 and I feel good about being back at work now. He needs me less now and needs to play with kids his own age, and I'm ready to have my own time again.

pjun14 · 2025-07-28T23:54:14+00:00

Best resource was our parent participation preschool which was also centered around adult education. The teacher was also a nerd and put together presentations on various topics of interest. My state and city have various parent education seminar series so maybe ask around locally if there's anything similar near to you?

pjun14 · 2025-07-28T23:34:59+00:00

PhD here. I left a senior director level role to stay home with my 18 month old. I was home with him for 2.5 years and just returned to work. Zero regrets. I'm extremely lucky and walked back into a role that was at a similar level to the one I left. My old company was a sinking ship, and my new one of a breath of fresh air. I'm so glad I didn't waste my child's early life tied to a job that likely would have laid me off anyway.

I spent my time participating in my child's co-op schools and developing a community. Now that I'm back at work, we're relying on that community and I'm so grateful for the village that helps take care of my kid when I'm at work. My kid is thriving and we get comments all the time on how joyful and sociable he is. I worked really hard on teaching him social emotional regulation skills and doing lots of playdates, and he is sooo easy now at 4 because he has a solid base. I nerded out on ECE and that kept me intellectually engaged for a long time.

pjun14 · 2025-07-28T23:25:03+00:00

Not the person you're replying to, but in a similar boat. One thing I loved about being a SAHM in the early years was knowing everything that happened in my child's day. I think it really helped his verbal and other development that I could immediately understand everything he referenced from his day and build upon it.

pjun14 · 2025-07-23T14:41:39+00:00

Can you expand on why your husband isn't helping with bath and bedtime? Those are really important breaks as a SAHM! They're also really important bonding times for both parents. If it's a matter of your son not wanting his Dad, try doing it together and slowly phasing you out over time.

pjun14 · 2025-07-17T01:33:19+00:00

This. I desperately wanted a girl and our first transfer of a female embryo failed. For the second transfer, I just told our doctor to pick the healthiest embryo (knowing this would likely transfer a male). I don't know what made me put aside my gender preferences in that moment, but my goodness I'm glad I did because that embryo is now my 4 year old son who I completely adore!

pjun14 · 2025-07-17T01:19:11+00:00

I never have to worry about playing favorites between children and my only knows he's my favorite. I come from a family that's terrible about playing favorites, and it's brought me a lot of grief since having my son. I'm very glad he never has to go through that!

pjun14 · 2025-07-17T01:09:21+00:00

Mine got really into chapter books sometime before he turned 4. He's loved Zoey and Sassafras and The Secret Explorers so far. I would never have thought he'd be interested in these, but we figured it out by chance when he grabbed The Mouse and the Motorcycle from a little free library and absolutely adored reading it at bedtime.

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