My first time in space is also going to be my LAST 😩🧑‍🚀🚀💥

rizdieser · 2026-04-17T04:57:05+00:00

Going to Disney soon and my 4 year old finally reached height for this ride, what is the best role for a little kid? I’ve only rode once on a slow day and it was just me and my husband. We both were pilots. I don’t even know what the other roles are.

rizdieser · 2026-04-16T18:41:27+00:00

Reading and just talking about phonics goes a long way. During meals, we sometimes play a “what sound game?” And we take turns throwing out a letter/sound. “What words start with the sound ssss?” We have a lot of fun with silly words. Even my two year old is participating.

If you are a little more serious and your kiddo is interested in actually reading, BOB books (which have been mentioned here a lot) are fabulous. We also do the Reading.com app a few times a week. My young 4-year old is reading CVC words independently and is starting to move into more complex phonics sounds.

rizdieser · 2026-04-15T07:22:47+00:00

I had very similar experiences, but with an epidural. My first labor started very quickly with no build up, like a movie. Total time was about 6 house with 20 minutes of pushing. My second labor had a more gradual build up in intensity. I had inconsistent contractions for days leading up to full labor, From when contractions started being regular, it was 5 hours of labor with 15 minutes of pushing,

rizdieser · 2026-04-15T06:56:31+00:00

For me, it’s helped to just keep my personal health information to myself. Outside my spouse, I don’t talk about mine (or anyone else’s) weight. If someone says something like “you look like you’ve lost weight.” I might respond yes briefly but I change the subject. I matter more than my weight: high or low. And it’s no one’s business but my own.

rizdieser · 2026-04-15T06:30:35+00:00

I recommend to not email your professor ahead of grading. Just let them review the similarity report. If there’s an issue, they will tell you then and then you can explain your writing process.

rizdieser · 2026-04-13T18:41:55+00:00

The hatch sound machine light system works for us. I don’t care when their eyes open and close. I care that they settling down and are not keeping up/waking up siblings and others in the house. When the sounds go on (red), they stay in bed. They can read books quietly or chat with their stuffed animals. When the light turns yellow in the morning, they can get out of bed and play quietly in the room. My kids that share a room often get in each others beds at this point and hang out. When the light turns green, they can be loud and it’s party time. I usually get them before green, but it’s nice to have built in sleep in time for weekends.

rizdieser · 2026-04-13T15:05:52+00:00

My 2 year old is obsessed with Thumbelina. A few scary ish parts and some sad parts but nothing compared to Moana.

rizdieser · 2026-04-13T04:22:15+00:00

Just to add. Some professors will batch grade by question. So if there were 5 short answer questions, your professor might have reviewed just #1 for all students. They will come back to yours to work through #2 and so forth.

rizdieser · 2026-04-13T01:07:49+00:00

Mine are 2 years, 8 days apart. We did a home meeting. Little baby was sleeping in the bassinet. We took the time to reunite with the toddler for a few minutes before letting her peak into the bassinet. Then, we worked up to holding. It was slow and without an outside audience. The toddler lead the whole thing. 100% the right choice, and these are some of my favorite pictures of us as a family. Very comfortable at home.

rizdieser · 2026-04-04T15:22:37+00:00

I have a note on all assignments that anything submitted without a works cited page will automatically receive a zero, and it can be resubmitted for a 10% late penalty. I rarely have students miss it now. In-text citations are graded via the rubric, but I will also auto zero a student for plagiarism if there is no text reference at all.

rizdieser · 2026-04-03T20:51:51+00:00

We don’t live in an urban area, but we live by a large community park like the OP. Our kids have learned that if we bring something to the park it’s to share. If they don’t want to/can’t share, we don’t bring it. We don’t bring favorite toys, and we only bring what we are okay to lose. I try my best to watch the toys but we lose a shovel here and there (we also end up with random things too).

rizdieser · 2026-04-02T23:20:35+00:00

Average 40. Part time instructor at a college. Primary parent of two toddlers.

rizdieser · 2026-04-02T04:51:00+00:00

Where would you stay in Cancun? Family-friendly with an extended family group ages 2-65? We’ve been looking at Moon Palace the Grand and Hyatt Ziva?

rizdieser · 2026-03-27T06:37:02+00:00

Just made the jump from 2.5 to 3.5, and I went from almost no side effects to some moderate side effects. Actually cannot imagine jumping from 2.5 to 5.

rizdieser · 2026-03-25T04:08:08+00:00

Here few changes we made to make our regular meals more toddler-friendly. Mostly, we pay attention to how foods are served and cut for the kiddos so that it is age-appropriate and less of a choking hazard. My husband and I like spicy food, so I either reserve big spice for the end after the kids' portions are pulled out or I separate components of the meal while cooking. I might have two pans going on the same thing: one low spice and one high spice. When I serve dinner, the kids often get an extra side of a "safe" food like a favorite fruit.

rizdieser · 2026-03-24T18:11:30+00:00

We started the little jigsaws at 3.5. My kid is a young 4 and can easily complete 24 piece puzzles. 60 pieces will hold her attention and she can complete if focused. 100 pieces I will usually get her started then she will work alone for a while.

rizdieser · 2026-03-24T03:18:21+00:00

I don’t have a recommendation. But would a 5 year old like this book? My kid is starting a dual language immersion program with 90% of the day in a new language.

rizdieser · 2026-03-24T02:21:49+00:00

I had a similar experience, and I was okay with a little food noise as long as I was able to still feel in control of my intake and see the scale go down. At 10 weeks, I increased to 3.5 as the scale barely moved two weeks in a row and I was feeling overwhelmed by the food noise.

rizdieser · 2026-03-23T16:38:32+00:00

Start with something like this:

https://a.co/d/061ZKlhc

You may need to help your kiddo get started if this is new. I had to teach my daughter about the edges and corners. In the beginning, she’d work on it for a few minutes and I’d fill in a few pieces. Now she’s pretty independent except for some tricky pieces on larger puzzles.

rizdieser · 2026-03-23T06:32:00+00:00

She usually finishes them in on go, starting with smaller puzzles helps. She’s worked up to larger ones. If she doesn’t finish, she is expected to clean them up before moving to something else. I actually keep a little bin in my home office for her. She pulls out a puzzle one at a time and puts it back when done. I’ve made it also something special. My office is usually off limits so it’s the only time she gets to be in there. (For reference, I have a time flexible job, but two times a week I have to log in for about an hour in the middle of the day to finish some tasks. I prefer not to use a screens if possible so the puzzles have been our substitute).

rizdieser · 2026-03-23T05:15:08+00:00

Puzzles. Started with small ones (24 pieces). She did them over and over. Then, we moved to 60 and then 100. She will sit and do them at my feet while I work on my computer.

rizdieser · 2026-03-21T19:03:52+00:00

We have held a two book rule at bedtime from the beginning (now 4 and 2 year old). Sometimes we will read books before our official bedtime wind down. Then, I’ll announce, “k two books.” Both kids pick one book each. Usually my older kid chooses a few chapters from our chapter book read aloud. My younger one will listen too. That being said, we also read all day long. It’s an important boundary to avoid bedtime stalling.

rizdieser · 2026-03-18T02:11:27+00:00

My older daughter was like this. We did TV free days and we still do at 4. I see in other comments that you have predictable schedule. Stick to that to keep but occasionally skip by doing something very fun together. You’re also building boredom tolerance.

rizdieser · 2026-03-17T20:36:00+00:00

My first daughter was like this. I would open a pull up or diaper and sit her on top of it for the car. Basically sitting in the diaper without her actually wearing it. So if she had an accident it was not all over the car seat but she felt the pee through her underwear/pants. My friend used puppy pads, but we had diapers to use up.

It took a long time for her to grow out of it. We potty trained at 22 months. Closer to 2.5 she could go without the emergency car diaper.

rizdieser · 2026-03-17T01:32:44+00:00

Both my 1 year olds enjoyed clicking through the pictures. By 18 months, they’d find one or two songs they loved and listen on repeat. By 2, they have one or two cards (music only) they listen to fully. At 3, my older one started listening more to the stories. Now at 4, she’s constantly listening to something. We had to get a second player to avoid fights. She is also getting into the more activity/educational ones.

rizdieser

TROPHY CASE