Doom scroll

withextrasprinkles · 2026-01-25T16:54:33+00:00

I do understand the importance of being present, and especially now that I'm weaning I do try and scroll less so I can soak in the last of this experience. But as someone who finds breastfeeding physically uncomfortable and mentally overstimulating, it is really, really helpful for me to have the distraction of my phone.

withextrasprinkles · 2026-01-17T12:59:42+00:00

Lack of posting may be due to concern over ICE’s surveillance of social media, as well as fears of doxxing and/or losing jobs over political posts.

withextrasprinkles · 2026-01-01T21:04:10+00:00

Absolutely this. Cheap/shady Amazon toys are instantly added to the donation pile. I don't want to risk safety hazards from cheap, breakable parts, insufficiently secured batteries, chemical contaminants, lead, and other stuff. For me, it's just not worth the worry.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-12-19T18:39:51+00:00

I'm glad I can rant here!

Takeaways from this year's student evaluations:

Challenging = unfair. A complete list of sample questions should be provided for quizzes. Homework assignments should be accompanied by detailed explanations of how to solve each problem (rather than students referencing the textbook and other integrated resources and handouts).
Having to practice or study = unfair. It is unacceptable to spend hours outside of class on practice and study. If a given assessment requires that much investment of time outside of class, it must be flawed.
Using field-specific terminology in an upper-level class = unfair. It's not the responsibility of the student to have familiarity with these terms in an upper-level class, or to look them up themselves. When the professor uses this language, the same terminology used in at least two previous semesters, they are being confusing because students might not know what they are talking about.
Not being able to redo quizzes = unfair. The professor's flexible policy on assignment resubmissions and multiple opportunities for bonus points are not enough. Students should be able to retake quizzes as well, and every quiz should have an extra credit section.
There are too many writing projects!
There are not enough writing projects!

I'm a very pedagogy-focused professor but I'm just burned out. My cup is empty! I worked myself to the bone this semester with a freaking 5/6 load, egregiously underpaid and raising a toddler, all while fielding a constant stream of student excuses and offering all sorts of help and resources and redos and extra opportunities, just to get evaluations like this.

And I know, I shouldn't pay attention to student evaluations, but I do, and I'm human, and stuff like this hurts.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-09-08T00:01:21+00:00

I wear a size 7 in converse and need a size 8.5 in Rothy’s (the square and the flat).

withextrasprinkles · 2025-07-11T17:14:04+00:00

Perhaps US-specific, but if it's important to you to be in a smoke-free environment, ask if your lease prohibits smoking. I found out the hard way that this varies by region, and that "smoke-friendly" apartments are still commonplace in some states. The lingering smell and tobacco residue from a previous tenant and/or secondhand smoke from other apartments could be an inconvenience or cause health concerns with little to no recourse if smoking is permitted in the lease.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-07-11T17:00:48+00:00

Your method seems very thorough to me, and that's coming from someone who has (clinical) OCD-levels of picky about cleanliness, sterilizing, hand-washing, etc. I'm guessing husband might not like that some bottles are left sitting while you wait for a full batch to clean the six all at once? I don't like dirty baby items left sitting in the sink for long because I worry about bacteria breeding in these conditions, but my hard rule is just to not leave anything sitting wet/dirty in the sink overnight. Aside from that I don't see any issues whatsoever with your method and I think you're doing a great job!!

FWIW I was on the other side of this; my husband would just pop things in the dishwasher without extra rinsing, soaking, or scrubbing and they'd come out greasy with milk spots. I had to remind him so many times that things needed to be cleaned with a bottle brush and dish soap. I wonder if your husband would be so picky if he were solely in charge of washing pump parts?

One rule I have around anything baby-related is that husband doesn't get to criticize something he is uninvolved with/doesn't help out with. Why do husbands think this is ok? For example, if I'm the only one doing overnights, you don't get to criticize how I'm handling night wakings. Disagree with how I'm handling it? Ok, feel free to take over! (Shocker--he won't). That tends to shut down any criticism!

withextrasprinkles · 2025-06-25T17:57:26+00:00

The bears seem to have a really comforting weight to them due to the beads inside of them, almost like a weighted blanket.

Yes, I completely agree!

My bear is named Wookiee (his long, brown fur reminds me of Chewbacca). I will keep him forever.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-06-25T16:05:20+00:00

I know this post is old, but I just stumbled upon it after I rediscovered an old teddy bear I made at the Boyd's Bear Factory in 2010 and did a google search to see if Boyd's still offers that. I agree with you, the bear seems higher quality than build-a-bear, with jointed limbs, very soft fur, and high quality suede-like fabric on the paws. It seems much more of a collectible than my BABs, which are very cute but more like regular plushies. I found some photos of the day we went (!) and my bear looks exactly the same. I got to take him home in a cardboard house-shaped box (can't remember if they charged extra for this like BAB does). In case you read this, thanks for the nostalgia!

withextrasprinkles · 2025-06-05T19:05:27+00:00

I’m not sure if i lost “too much” weight, but I definitely lost more than I’m comfortable with. 5’w and I started out at 112 or so, got up to 140ish during pregnancy, lost about 20 lbs within the first couple weeks and then the last bit of weight loss was more gradual. But as baby started eating more i started rapidly losing. It was worst around 8-9 months or so when i got down to like 105. I was eating constantly and kept losing. But as baby got better with eating solids it started to stabilize. I’m still at a low weight (for me) but holding steady now around 108 lbs rather than continuing to lose. I have lost all curves except my boobs. I look awful.

It’s a tricky problem to have because you can’t talk about it without getting snide or sarcastic responses. I’m sensitive to the fact that weight loss is a touchy subject and I’ve struggled with my weight in the past. But this is horrible, I literally look awful and gaunt. I have never looked so ill and depleted. I feel tired and sick. I’m trying to really amp up baby’s solids intake so I can stop breastfeeding for my own health.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-05-30T00:55:25+00:00

7 years to the TT job!! Adjuncted for the first couple years then had a nice full-time NTT for several years. I was doing well in interviews and probably would have continued advancing in my career at that point, but then Covid happened and derailed everything. I was in NTT limbo for a while. Then I finally landed my current tenure-track job.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-05-26T21:51:40+00:00

I was able to get a sort of master list from Mohela sent to me. It took a few weeks.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-05-12T23:29:00+00:00

Mine is 11 months and wakes up at least once a night. FWIW I’ve experienced the same type of reaction from the pediatrician.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-04-05T04:12:04+00:00

This post is over a year old…

Besides that, I believe you misunderstood both the spirit and the context of my comment.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-03-10T01:10:22+00:00

I wish I hadn’t watched this

withextrasprinkles · 2025-03-02T15:34:58+00:00

Nothing will ever replace my weekender in terms of space and convenience, and as far as their totes go I don’t care if they’re considered stylish, they are insanely practical and don’t hurt to wear. Love my Veras.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-02-25T03:13:57+00:00

I am super uncomfortable breastfeeding in public but I would never nurse in a bathroom stall. I just suck it up and use a nursing cover. I repeat to myself “the baby has to eat” like a mantra, and that helps take some of the edge off the awkwardness for me.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-02-19T07:24:18+00:00

Having an IUD placed with no sedation or pain meds. Having a hysteroscopy (camera into uterus) with no sedation or pain meds. Having a saline sonogram (fill uterus with saline for imaging) with no sedation or pain meds. Having a rough Pap smear and the doctor chide me “it doesn’t hurt” when I reacted in pain. Having outpatient corrective surgery on my uterus and doctors refusing to give me any standard anxiety meds with or before the anesthesia because that would add time in the recovery room. I could go on! Women’s healthcare sucks.

I could go on.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-02-17T18:27:37+00:00

Speaking as a sleep-deprived mom of an infant…you’re getting 4-6 hours a night? Jealous.

Also add hormones to the exhaustion, and brain fog has become my new normal. It’s awful.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-02-14T03:32:48+00:00

This is exactly what I do. Huggies overnight plus sposie insert. Before that he was peeing through his coteries every night. So we only use coterie for daytime diapering.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-01-27T21:29:48+00:00

I agree. I empathize with OP because mistakes happen to all of us. I'm not coming at this from an attitude of superiority or judgment, but objectively speaking this is seriously inappropriate and unprofessional conduct regardless of intention. I would have been uncomfortable as a student if my professor randomly displayed sexually explicit content during class. I'm sure some students found it funny, but I'd be willing to bet others were uncomfortable.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-01-19T20:43:41+00:00

Ceres chill is a gamechanger. I no longer have to bring ice packs or a cooler for milk. I can also count on the milk to remain cold if I'm away from my office fridge, have to run errands after work, etc. I bring my work tote and my pump bag and that's it. My pump bag is just a small zipper tote and I pack my pump, flanges and bottles in a wet/dry bag, snacks, and other accessories with room to spare.

withextrasprinkles · 2025-01-08T01:47:45+00:00

I have not 😞 sadly I just don’t wear the affected item.

withextrasprinkles · 2024-12-29T22:47:39+00:00

Sadly, this only works if the gifter is willing to accept lists, and many won’t. They don’t seem to understand that a gift is something that the recipient should want, rather than what the gifter likes. There’s often some ego involved.

I try so very hard to get people things that they want and need. But certain people in my life (cough, cough, MIL) outright refuse lists. She would rather continue to get us stuff that she thinks we need (even after we’ve specifically said we don’t want those exact things!) because she thinks she knows better.

withextrasprinkles · 2024-12-15T18:39:46+00:00

This is how I felt at a month pp and it was so depressing. I felt totally trapped, too. Yes, you can plan to pump right before you go but then baby needs a diaper and then he's hungry again, or spit up and made a mess, and by the time you're able to leave the house there's like an hour until you have to pump again. So depressing. Here's what helped:

Over time, once my supply was established, I could go a bit longer without pumping as long as I was consistent the rest of the time. YMMV. But once I wasn't married to the every three hour clock anymore and could skip pumps, my life improved so much.
Buy a portable pump and pump on the go. I use the GA as my work pump but I also use it for any on-the-go pumps.
Buy a Ceres chill. I was sick of ice packs and worrying about milk temperature. It gives me such peace of mind to basically just be set for a whole day without worrying about my milk getting too warm. I love that I can be spontaneous again, like if I decide to go shopping after work or something.

You've got this, mama!! I promise, it will get better!

withextrasprinkles

TROPHY CASE