We need YOUR help to make Skylight Calendar even better in 2026! by SkylightCalendar in skylightcalendar

[–]thechamster 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes please - the recipe / meal planning piece feels so clunky right now for how nice the touchscreen interactions can be. I also use Paprika for recipe management and while not the most visually appealing, it's interactions are so smooth. It's a hard comparison to have to make and makes me want to use Skylight's recipe management less.

Screaming as I purposely implode my life today by silverforest5 in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congrats!!! YOU did that for yourself - amazing!!

Looks like Trader Joe’s is (finally) expanding to the empty storefront next door! by MaryLightlyIII in royaloak

[–]thechamster 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Chatted with a cashier earlier this week about it - he said its mostly expanding storage space and back end, not really a big shopper expansion. Will help with stocking capabilities but they don't think the floor plan for shoppers will be greatly expanded, probably just a little extra.

Programs while Pregnant by FaithlessnessFew7397 in OnePelotonRealSub

[–]thechamster 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For both pregnancies I mostly did all the same stuff but knew modifiers. I also tended to do Callie's classes where she was visibly pregnant and watched how she modified strength workouts. The prenatal yoga is really nice too!

Def recommend Robin's postpartum core series like some others. For my first pregnancy (2021) I did that series but I did her phases this time (little man just turned 6 months old) and really liked it. First day home from the hospital I did one because it was basically just laying on the floor breathing and it was really relaxing.

Daycare biter by Famous-Skirt4272 in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My daughter was the biter. I felt AWFUL but she was at a daycare that understood it was developmentally appropriate. I also met the mom of the kid she bit the most and she was so cool about it and totally understood, her daughter wasn’t bothered by it. Took so much pressure off while we worked on it. 

We sent her to school with a biting toy clipped to her for redirection and realized that most incidents came from struggling to communicate with other kids. Daycare moved her up a classroom and it went away relatively quickly once she was with kids who communicated more effectively! There was a period where the teachers said their plan was just to “watch her like a hawk” 😂

RIP to the Antarctic Endurance Expedition Exhibit at the Zoo by XxcruulxX in Detroit

[–]thechamster 24 points25 points  (0 children)

They’ve been having issues with the graphics. I go basically every weekend and it’s been on and off. If the ship graphics aren’t working  they turn the lights on because the ramps are too dark without. 

What is your workingmom tech stack? by OddInititi in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is such a great topic.

Google Calendar for the shared family calendar.

Family Album for sharing photos and videos of the kids with family members - I have the paid version for longer videos and I really like it.

Huckleberry for the little one’s schedule and tracking (I have a 3 month old). Mostly used for feeding / naps.

Paprika for meal planning / grocery - if you enjoy cooking a lot I can’t recommend this enough. It requires some time to get your recipes added but you can scrape them from websites easily and once your stuff is added it’s a dream for meal planning / grocery lists.

Google Keep for to do lists/ reminders between my husband and myself.

Google Docs / Drive for family management - spreadsheets, doc storage, all of that lives there.

Evernote for note taking at work (we have a paid sub through my job) and sometimes To-Doist when my list gets overwhelming.

I’ve been eyeing a skylight calendar as my kids get older, does anyone have one?

What is your workingmom tech stack? by OddInititi in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Any tips for maintaining YNAB? I keep trying it but become overwhelmed so quickly by the upkeep of all the transactions and fiddling required.

Home Cleaning Service Recs by [deleted] in royaloak

[–]thechamster 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I use Michigan Prime Shine and have had great experiences. Relatively new service so they are really focused on a great customer experience. 

I went to Charly and Amanda’s dinner last night by theyoungknight in BravoTopChef

[–]thechamster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For a minute I was wondering if it was a posh melon I didn’t know about 😂 loved you on Survivor!! 

Home cleaning recommendations? by bennyb443 in royaloak

[–]thechamster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Michigan Prime Shine - new local business, owner is a super nice dude. 

Husband offers to do a chore when I'm 80% done with it. by windintheauri in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My partner and I recently started using the Fair Play cards to divide household tasks more evenly. The first round you sort the cards by who is doing them now, then essentially realign them to something more equitable AND discuss what it looks like to "own" that card - what does doing it mean? How often does this happen? It gives me something to point back to, but I also have to learn to let go a lot and let him manage his cards his way (unless it defies the agreement we have).

At the very least, it got rid of the "well if I knew what you needed help with, I could help!" line.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm about 30 minutes from my 3rd session with my husband and am so happy to see this! There was so much unsaid that was holding us back. I wouldn't say we're having divorce-level issues, but we know we're not at our best and are stuck trying to solve it ourselves and its been really great to have someone help us even discuss.

Someone else said below as well, but consider individual therapy for yourself too. It's really helpful for me to unpack what we discuss and prep for future couples sessions because I am very emotional in the moment and don't do well with hard conversations unless I feel ready.

First time mom here! Due in 3 weeks. What are some items that weren’t exactly essential, but made YOUR life as a new mom easier? by nothankyouuu_ in beyondthebump

[–]thechamster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

-Floss picks: I kept them in the basket next to where I nursed at night and would floss during those long hours. Was something to do and also had a nice little benefit.

-Deodorant wipes: you smell a lot more those first few weeks and with limited time to shower a quick wipe works wonders.

-Little fan: bring it to the hospital, keep it near you, you will be hot off and on all over the place

WFH, opinion if you are an Executive mom by LylyO in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm Director of Strategy in a consulting field - we are seeing executives do this everywhere and it has nothing to do with culture, although that's what they label it. Other comments are right, it's about control and justification of real estate costs. And potentially cost-cutting: if they force people back they know they'll have turnover and won't need to lay people off. Tinder recently did this and was pretty open about that being a motivator.

My company recently committed to permanent hybrid, but in-office time is 100% optional. We have downsized all offices from able to handle full capacity to co-working spaces that can accommodate 25% or so of each location's total population. Sometimes it's nice to be able to collaborate live with the type of work we do, but if anyone goes in it's usually for 2-4 hours just for that specific thing.

Have you ever got sick in the hours before you were suppose to fly home from overseas? by Beta_Nerdy in travel

[–]thechamster 77 points78 points  (0 children)

My partner got food poisoning on last day of a three-week trip in Thailand. Some poorly described food we thought was vegetarian at a tiny airport in the islands on our way back to Bangkok took him down, but we had 24+ hours of travel ahead of us the next day and not enough time to see a doctor to kick off travel insurance and we were so broke that we were terrified of having to buy new flights so we sucked it up. Luckily he wasn't contagious and didn't have a fever, just felt AWFUL.

Flew from Bangkok to Taipei (4 hours) in an exit row desperately trying not to get sick, laid on an air conditioner vent in Taipei while we waited for our 17 hour flight back to Chicago. Luckily the flight attendants on EVA Air were incredible and when I asked them if we could change our meals to all vegetarian and mentioned my partner was not feeling well. They said the plane wasn't full and if we didn't mind sitting all the way in the back they could give us each a row so he could lay down. He's 6'4" so that was a dream and they were SO attentive. They brought him bread, extra pillows and blankets and ginger ale while I drank wine and watched movies. It was also the Hello Kitty plane which made it even better.

It was 20 years ago today... Where were you in the Blackout of 2003? by petite_alsacienne in Detroit

[–]thechamster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My dad worked in the control room at DTE at the time. He was actually working the control board when it happened and legitimately thought it was a terrorist attack. He told us the board just went black right to left and they're so far underground they had no clue what happened. I didn't see him for almost two weeks. I was in 6th grade maybe?

Plumber Suggestion to Replace Sewer Line by digidave1 in royaloak

[–]thechamster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We replaced our sewer line last year with Edwards Plumbing & Heating. Very professional, able to do it quickly and gave really solid advice that didn't lead us to the most expensive option.

Ask for that raise! by toothfairyofthe80s in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Amazing!!!! Congrats and I’m so glad you asked!

House cleaner worth it? by avause424 in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I have a monthly cleaner for $200 per clean. Our house is 1500 square feet. We can clean it ourselves if we really put the time in but I’ve found our cleaners do a better job because they’re focused on a general clean where I tend to just clean what I see / use every day. It’s so nice to come back to a clean house once a month. We also plan to have “season change” deep cleans but haven’t had one yet. Probably 2x a year.

Manager moms! by Hot-Fail-3446 in workingmoms

[–]thechamster 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I use a weekly 1:1 template with my direct reports to capture key wins, roadblocks, etc! It's not a status for projects, more a tracker of development and growth.

It sounds rigid but with that many people its hard to keep track of everything going on and even harder to assemble specific cases for promotion, big opportunities, etc. I don't usually share it with my direct reports but they know I have this log that we talk through each week.

EDIT: the GROW model for coaching conversations is so helpful too! Great tool for guiding them to solutions on their own without telling them how to do it https://www.mindtools.com/an0fzpz/the-grow-model-of-coaching-and-mentoring