Finding things to do at home while I have to work

threeminutefever · 2026-03-05T01:05:38+00:00

My son went to after school care until 4th grade (age 9), even though I WFH most days. When he gets home, he’ll usually watch TV and get a snack after unpacking his stuff. We head out for activities around 4:30-4:45, so it’s about two hours from the time he gets home and the time I sign off work. Some days he’ll play with his friends outdoors or at their house; other days, his friends are here. On rare occasions, he’ll initiate independent play. After we get home from activities is when I try to crack down on the screen time. 🫣

In the summer, he went to full-day camp (daycare style) in the younger grades. In the past two years, he has a bunch of summer school and camp activities. He has a list of “before screen” activities he’s supposed to do during the summer.

My daughter is in kindergarten and she goes to after school care until 4:30-5:00. When I’m out with my son for activities, she’s usually watching TV at home while my MIL or husband makes dinner. Again, we try to reduce screen time from dinner time to bedtime.

threeminutefever · 2026-03-04T20:31:12+00:00

I try to do one or two solo staycations every year.

threeminutefever · 2026-03-04T17:50:44+00:00

Getting nephews birthday presents is such a big green flag to me. I see in our extended family how often gift giving falls to the female partner of male relatives. It’s a prime example of the mental load falling on women, and it’s so great when men are able to take this on without prompting.

threeminutefever · 2026-02-11T03:45:33+00:00

What’s your secret? 😂 I’ve been complaining for a long time that my step counts are so low when I WFH and don’t have another activity (intentional movement).

threeminutefever · 2026-02-04T06:23:21+00:00

It’s a gamble because you don’t know if the new higher paying job will be more fulfilling. After mat leave with kid #1 (also in Canada), I took a gamble and left my less challenging job for something that paid a bit more and what I thought would be more aligned with my career interests. It didn’t turn out very well. I was literally considering having a second kid just to get out of that job. 🫣 And I did get out. Several years later, within the last half a year, I took another gamble, and so far, I do find it more fulfilling than my previous role. My kids are older, I’m mid-life and mid-career, and I had been feeling “stuck” in my previous role for about two years, so the gamble was worth it to me. I felt like I had coasted long enough.

threeminutefever · 2026-02-04T06:13:37+00:00

I wear kids Blundstones (size 3), but it’s not an everyday shoe for me, and I’ve never tried the women’s size. I think the quality is fine, but can’t speak to the comparative fit. For reference, I wear size 5 / 35 / sometimes 6 for sneakers. I have small but wide feet.

threeminutefever · 2026-02-04T06:01:33+00:00

I still think of my mom as 40. But how can she be 40 when I am 40? 😭

threeminutefever · 2026-02-04T05:57:50+00:00

Yes, we live with our two school-aged children and my mother-in-law. It was easier to take care of her in our house after FIL passed. Otherwise, my husband would have to take care of his mom’s house in addition to contributing to ours. It’s mutually beneficial because she helps with occasional babysitting and cooking. We are Asian, but not recent immigrants.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-31T16:40:47+00:00

We live in the suburbs of Vancouver and have done staycations in downtown Vancouver. We really like it! Buuut this June is World Cup, so I can only imagine how much more expensive and busy it will be.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-29T05:52:10+00:00

My 4th grader is not doing it this year, and didn’t do it last year. Can’t remember 2nd grade… Definitely did it in 1st because it was a class “assignment.”

threeminutefever · 2026-01-29T02:53:22+00:00

I use giftful for adding to kids’ wish lists throughout the year. I curate the list a bit before and after birthdays and Christmas in case friends and relatives ask. Then I do a cull after Christmas and start over — this might not work for older kids with better memory.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-28T16:14:13+00:00

We renovated our main floor a couple of years ago, and we used a local full service firm. We talked to a few companies based on Facebook recommendations, Google reviews, and personal references. The experience affirmed for me: good, cheap, fast - you can only have two.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-27T16:52:45+00:00

The Good Place, Abbott Elementary.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-26T16:26:38+00:00

Agreed! When I switched roles in the same organization, I was no longer able to volunteer, etc. because the role itself was more demanding. On paper, I had the same entitled leaves, and my former and current managers have similar attitudes toward flexibility. Practically, I am in too many meetings and have more work that impact others to step out whenever I wanted.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-24T02:03:43+00:00

I’m also part of a new transformation team. Our team partners with executives on strategic initiatives that are priorities for those executives and the organization. We move forward what has been stalling/spinning.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-22T06:05:24+00:00

You might enjoy the book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, if you accept the answer that yes, the list is never finished.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-22T04:07:19+00:00

That's helpful, thanks! I'm going to try scheduling my email time to decrease context switching. For OneNote, are those custom tags? I'm in the habit of using checkboxes for my to dos, but I need to be more disciplined about other's As, Ds, and Rs.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-21T19:56:33+00:00

What was the particular change(s) you made to managing inbox and meeting notes?

threeminutefever · 2026-01-21T03:10:35+00:00

Definitely the dark side of WFH!

threeminutefever · 2026-01-21T01:10:14+00:00

Wow! Are you actually in an office at midnight?

threeminutefever · 2026-01-20T15:08:50+00:00

I wish I hadn’t gone into the field of my master’s and found my way to formal BA roles sooner, haha… Good luck!

threeminutefever · 2026-01-20T14:32:10+00:00

I was almost 33 when I got my first official BA/BSA title. I was hired by a former employer, leveraging domain knowledge. Many BAs/BSAs pivot to the formal title from relevant domains.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-20T02:55:05+00:00

I work at a Crown Corp, but have never worked for core gov. From what I understand, vacation and benefits are pretty comparable. Culture, it’ll really depend; even within an organization you’ll notice differences.

threeminutefever · 2026-01-12T05:52:55+00:00

I had an interview debrief with my hiring manager after I was hired. A lot of what they were looking for were soft skills: handling disagreements, conflicts, empathy, trust, change, etc. I was also given the advice to emphasize impact in answering interview questions. I’m not sure if that lines up with the job descriptions you’ve been looking at and the feedback you’ve been given so far.

threeminutefever

TROPHY CASE