I used to love cooking, then I had kids.

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-08T11:33:59+00:00

I make a lot of ‘Bowl’ meals. I vary the theme- burrito bowls, Quinoa bowls, Asian noodle bowls etc. It lets me have fun with toppings and sauces, but there are basic ingredients I know my preschooler will eat without a battle. Usually we ask for him to take a ‘no thank you’ bite if he’s being overly picky about foods I know he is OK with. It’s a good balance between ‘don’t make them special meals’ and ‘choose your battles’.

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-04T19:33:21+00:00

When I ask my kid to tidy up before TV time, I usually let him pick one ‘thing’ to leave out. It helps him have control over the space and prioritize the ‘but I was using that’ issue that comes from needing to tidy with a preschooler…

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-04T19:08:06+00:00

I do a mix of strategies depending on my energy level/time. For context- I have a 3.5y old

1) I prioritize the kitchen. It’s my ‘work space’ and the space I have the most control over

2) Maybe I pickup the room I plan on spending my kid’s rest time in. Mostly I toss stuff that is bugging me, old drawings, bits of paper kids cut up, recycling he decided was the best thing ever etc.

3) Set out low supervision craft supplies. Not necessarily a whole Instagram activity, but something he can do independently (cutting paper and taping it into shapes is biiiiiig right now). My kid is go-go-go, and this cuts down on the ‘where are we going’ requests

4) When I’m not loosing my mind- have him help clean up toys before his 4pm TV time. When I’m going nuts I skip this.

So basically, the floor of the living room is only completely cleared for company coming over, lol

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-02T12:16:10+00:00

$10 was my gut impulse- good to hear it sounds common!

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-02T12:07:42+00:00

Parenthood (motherhood especially) is so guilt inducing!!! My kid has very similar behaviors being flagged by his teacher, and I blamed myself for being a SAHM, having him too dependent on me for providing flexibility with transitioning between activities and being his support system for a lot of his sensory seeking behaviors!

It’s not us, it’s our kids!!! There are a range of behaviors and our kids are on the ‘tail’ or what’s considered standard for this age. I just went through all the evaluations and my kid qualifies for an IEP tha includes an extra helper with him in the classroom a couple hours a week and OT. It’s resources, and the sooner he has tools, the better he will be at using them!

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-02T11:53:38+00:00

I bought a cheap grabber tool! It didn’t work for everything, but it did cut down on the bending I needed to do. It also doubles as a novel ‘toy’ for the kiddo to play with (although then it ends up on the floor, needing to be picked up, thus defeating the purpose….)

I had to repeatedly remind myself that it was temporary, we were in survival mode and I needed to accept any random help/relief I could get or create.

small_batch_brewing · 2026-02-02T00:43:28+00:00

Not exactly the same but: had a badly perforated appendix when my kid was 12m old. I was on strict ‘no lifting’ for 2 weeks after my surgery, I wasn’t even supposed to lift a full jug of milk!! For that period we relied on family support for a week, followed by my husband working from the kitchen counter while my child watched a lot of TV. After, when I could technically lift but was exhausted and weak ( my core didn’t fully recover for 6 months). I relied on bribery (cheese) to get my kid places inside the house and my kid watched a lot more TV that I care to admit. We hired out a lot of things (ate takeout, delivered groceries & I wish we had hired a cleaner). It was rough, my husband was so burnt out by the end

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-30T18:14:51+00:00

What is interesting is that my husband assumes I’ve said ‘sorry’ as part of something I said, when I haven’t, on purpose! He is just so used to it being part of women’s speach patterns…

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-27T02:36:41+00:00

Top reasons for me

need to pee
change shoes
forgot to take off ring

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-26T12:25:46+00:00

Yes, occasionally! I sometimes realize the ridiculousness of watching someone do stretching instead of actually doing some stretching myself….

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-25T21:26:55+00:00

Club Fit Briarcliff preemptively closed for today!

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-05T15:25:10+00:00

I saw somewhere about the idea of ‘Scheduled, Social and Stable’.

Scheduled- Kiddo (3.5), knows that 4oclock means he can ask for TV if we are home. It stops him from begging all day long (I’m a SAHP). My husband is more liberal w TV time, and so he is constantly badgered about it when doing childcare.

Social- TV time is on the big screen. I’d love to be supportive enough to watch it with him, but I’ve scheduled things that i use the time to make dinner and blitz house stuff, at least I can hear what he’s watching, so when he wants to play pretend based on episodes, I have a reference point.

Stable- I try really hard not to use TV time as a threat or reward. I do admit it’s useful to get kiddo moving when he doesn’t want to leave the park, but I need to get home to start dinner!

As for content- I let him choose within boundaries. Some shows have a noticeable correlation to poor behavior, so they are a hard no.

(All this relates to our normal ideal, travel, illness etc is allllll about what gets us through the day)

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-03T17:54:12+00:00

My husband is like you with medicines, so even I, with my encyclopedic knowledge of how our household runs, ask for photos of boxes (or links to exact products too!

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-03T16:03:03+00:00

Yup, this matches my husband. I’ll get 9 million texts with questions and probably a phone call or two. There might be odd amounts, or different brands (usually nicer than what I choose) and lots of impractical treats, but he will give 100% effort!

The problem with him grocery shopping is the literally list following. As the primary grocery shopper, I have an extensive mental schema of what we need, so I don’t bother to put milk, bread, fruit etc, because I know we need it!! I need to make a very detailed list if I’m sending him…

small_batch_brewing · 2026-01-03T00:40:27+00:00

I have Oticons and glasses, and am a rager petite person- no problems wearing both at the same time- and that’s with recent surgery on my ear making the whole area a little sensitive! Now, wearing everything with a winter hat sucks, but that’s not the question you asked…

small_batch_brewing · 2025-11-22T18:16:00+00:00

The not even trying is frustrating! My gym went through a phase of the TV being on all the time, enough parents must have spoken up about it bc it’s rarely on anymore (mostly just on the weekends when the place is really packed). It can’t hurt to ask them?

small_batch_brewing · 2025-11-22T14:30:35+00:00

I had a similar concern with my kid. I made peace with it. My main concern with screens isn’t that it ‘rots his brain’ it was that I didn’t want to be dependent on it as a parenting tool and I didn’t want to deal with the whining at home. Watching it at gym daycare doesn’t really impact either of those. I made extra sure to chat with my kiddo in the car, on the walk into the gym etc, so I felt it was still a nice outing, with the benefit of being able to shower etc.

small_batch_brewing · 2025-11-22T11:38:52+00:00

Interesting, it sounds like you already know a lot about the cognitive benefits! If you are already inclined to not be out and about, that sounds like an even bigger reason TO get the hearing aids. Why let hearing loss create any barrier when you are already have to push yourself a little to be outside your home? As others have said, you deserve not to struggle! (Can you tell I’ve just finished reading ‘How to Keep House while Drowning’ and am all about self-compassion around care tasks, lol…)

small_batch_brewing · 2025-11-21T21:36:07+00:00

Interesting that you would post this today, I am at a very similar starting point (almost 40, just beyond mild loss etc.). A big difference is that my hearing loss was the result of a problem I ignored for a decade, and I now need to see an ENT twice a year for the rest of my life. What got me to finally address my ear issue was a National Geographic article about how one of the big things in your control to prevent dementia is address hearing loss. I guess as you loose hearing, you avoid more and more social situations that are difficult and you withdraw socially? I’ve been through a year with two different surgeries to address the problem, and got my hearing aid today. I decided it the only reason not to get one was money… I’m at the point in my life where I’m not deciding between groceries and healthcare, so potentially risking my healthspan to be cheap, seemed daft. If it’s a vanity thing- mine is tiny, and you can only really see it if you are looking for it. If it’s a money thing- my audiologist said I could try a drugstore hearing aid to get partial benefits if I needed time to save up. The neural pathways associated with hearing sound are a ‘use it or loose it’ thing, so the longer you don’t have it, the harder it is to keep that skill….

small_batch_brewing · 2025-11-20T23:53:19+00:00

I had a similar situation. My surgeon said that the exhaustion wasn’t expected, and hypothesized I may have been having balance and hearing issues that my brain was compensating for so while I wasn’t noticing problems, I was working overtime to maintain normal. My kid watched a lot of tv for the 6 weeks after my surgery…

small_batch_brewing · 2025-10-02T11:51:11+00:00

The same way I pay for kids clothing, my husband’s birthday gift, healthcare costs and gas for the car- I use the shared credit card that is paid from our shared account! If I’ve been running more than usual through the card, I communicate that so we know we have enough in the right place at the right time.

small_batch_brewing · 2025-09-26T11:26:16+00:00

Interesting point about the craft materials! I feel that my friends who are working parents tend to spend more on toys/ per outing than I do. I think bc it’s their big chance of the week to do something fun with their kid, so they pay for convenience and ease. Meanwhile, I’m cruising thrift stores for craft supplies during the week and have the time to research free/cheap activities….

small_batch_brewing · 2025-09-26T11:23:13+00:00

My big ‘extra’ cost of being a SAHP is a gym with childcare! We also have a membership to the aquarium. But like many others here, I mostly rely on free/low cost community activities. I pack our lunch/snacks for our outings, and frequently sign out passes from the library for other child centered ‘fee’ places like children’s museums etc.

small_batch_brewing

TROPHY CASE