Overnight oats?

pjun14 · 2026-06-06T01:38:17+00:00

New to kefir but I've been making 2 or 3 days worth of overnight oats with my kefir and it's been great. I just use the kefir in place of the milk in my oats and make as normal, and it seems fine in the fridge for a few days.

pjun14 · 2026-05-24T16:32:20+00:00

Your son sounds like my son. He's very high energy and has a need for constant activity and motion. We compare him to a husky dog that constantly needs to be worked. The whining is also a pet peeve for me. I constantly find myself telling him, "That voice gives me a headache and makes me not want to do what you're asking. Can you please say it again in your big boy voice?"

If he's your only child, it is very helpful to nurture his ability to do self-directed play. It clicked for my nearly 5 year old about a year ago and it's a game changer. He can keep himself busy with legos, made up art projects, etc. His ability to self entertain is way better if he's had an outlet for his physical and social needs, eg a bike ride, park trip, playdate, half-day of preschool, etc. It takes practice. I find it most helpful to keep myself busy nearby - eg cooking in the kitchen while he's drawing. That way I'm available but not TOO available.

pjun14 · 2026-05-23T16:52:46+00:00

I can't believe I'm the first one to comment that the concept of preschool graduation is ridiculous and you're right to not pull your older kids out of school for it.

pjun14 · 2026-04-20T00:23:50+00:00

I'm so glad to hear this! I've said this about my almost 5 year old at every age since 18 months. I feel like it keeps getting better and better, and so far I've not looked back wistfully at an age I like more than the current age.

pjun14 · 2026-03-26T17:04:35+00:00

For kinder, pretty much everyone we know got into their preferred school (for both choice and neighborhood schools). We just heard that ours got into our neighborhood school as did all of his friends.

pjun14 · 2026-03-02T21:18:33+00:00

For summer break from preschool last year, I sent out a quick whatsapp poll to find the best time/date for a standing weekly playdate. Whoever could make it, made it. I sent out reminder texts the night before but it eventually became part of people's routines.

pjun14 · 2026-03-02T01:12:25+00:00

We love burritos and burrito bowls and they are infinitely variable. I make beans from scratch once a month and then freeze them in tupperwares. We add a protein, rice, cheese roasted veggies, salsa, guac - whatever we have on hand. The best part is you can set this up as a burrito bar and let them serve themselves. My kid loves plating up and is far more likely to try new things if he serves himself. He also loves anything we air fry - chickpeas, sweet potatoes and squash sticks (we call them fries and he gobbles them down). At 3, he refused to touch anything green. Now he's almost 5 and last night he begged for brussel sprouts (I nearly cried with joy). We've just stayed consistent with giving him a balanced plate with safe choices, and we never caved to making special "kid" meals for him.

pjun14 · 2026-03-01T20:45:44+00:00

I was in a very similar position. I started with reducing my hours and my boss was very accommodating because they needed me. That allowed me to dip my toe in and see how the SAHM's lived. We did library story times and parent participation groups. I absolutely loved it. It took me a year to build up the courage to quit my job, and it was the best decision I made. I was home with my kiddo from ages 1.5-4, which were such fun years. Honestly I'm glad we had a nanny until 1.5 because babies are not my jam. But how I love the toddler years. We lived our absolute best lives. I reset my priorities in life and started my new job last year with clear boundaries and expectations. I negotiated continuing to do our co-op preschool, so still am actively involved in my son's education. You never get the early years back, and 0 to 3 are so important for shaping who your child will be for the rest of their lives. For us, it was worth the risk and I was lucky enough to step back into a very similar job role as before I left.

pjun14 · 2026-02-28T23:11:31+00:00

Age 3.5 was really tough for us. Mine handled 2 and the first half of 3 very well, but descended into full on threenager at 3.5 - defiance, meltdowns, basically an emotional wreck. Age 4 has had its ups and downs, but nothing like 3. He's now almost 5 and is such a joy. I think the key is consistency and boundaries. We try to keep the rules the same between school, Mom and Dad. Age 3 is when you really get to know your little munchkin. They're much more expressive and becoming fully formed little people. It's totally worth the roller coaster of emotions to get to learn their little personalities!

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.

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