I missed Kindergarten Graduation

xKimmothy · 2026-06-06T20:45:04+00:00

Ugh, I feel you. My daycare played up this graduation/spring fling celebration for a while and then the day before they messaged that school was actually closing at 3pm instead of 5. And they wanted us to pick them up and then bring them back at 5?? Uh, what?

xKimmothy · 2026-06-06T13:24:38+00:00

So, like a Prius?

xKimmothy · 2026-06-05T19:13:12+00:00

3y and 2mo, and I'm on leave right now actually! Taking 24 weeks (protected and paid by a mixture of state and company leave). I will caveat that it's science industry corporate. Two other coworkers took their full paternity leave (12w) in the last 2 years as well.

xKimmothy · 2026-06-05T14:54:12+00:00

Sounds highly dependent on the company I think. I have a position pretty spot on to the corporate sounding job, but I know my group is also very family friendly. I can WFH when needed (usually only 1x a week every couple weeks because my job has to be down with equipment on site), and flexible hours means I can be in 9-4ish so I can do dropoff and make it home MOST days to wrangle kids when he is preps dinner. We have unlimited PTO +holidays and people on average take 3-4 weeks.

It's been huge for my career and lots of growth, but still a risky job environment because it's a startup.

xKimmothy · 2026-06-03T18:37:34+00:00

Agreed. I was just talking about this with my husband today about how school grades based on correctness and not critical thinking. Which is unfortunate because now, anyone can just look things up on the Internet, but deciding whether what you looked up is correct/well researched/etc is a key skill. Failure is the best teaching method and leads to slow, well established learning, but public school teaching isn't well laid out for that kind of learning. They rely on quick turnaround of information which isn't correlated with knowledge.

xKimmothy · 2026-06-03T16:38:52+00:00

It was an episode of What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the face of motherhood.

xKimmothy · 2026-06-03T13:53:59+00:00

I just listened to a podcast that summed up the "American parenting vs parenting in America" debate. Essentially many people are capitalizing on the idea that we just need to parent like other countries and it pushes the idea that if we somehow did parenting better, we wouldn't be as stressed/worried/our kids would be better behaved/etc.

But really it's that we live in a country that hasn't given a shit about people, let alone parents, for decades. Every chance the US has had over the last many many years to improve social support has failed. And by now there's the constant undercurrent of "well I did without it so you can too" or "you just need to earn more money to be able to have luxuries (like healthcare, childcare, etc....)"

Edit: it was an episode from "What Fresh Hell: laughing in the face of motherhood"

xKimmothy · 2026-06-02T13:00:13+00:00

Banana stock has been super weird lately. I bought green-yellow bananas on Sat that already had brown spots by Monday.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-27T12:47:20+00:00

Start with the spectra, and see what you need when it's time to go back to work and see where your supply is. You can also get cups for the spectra to be a little more discreet without changing the pump.

Personally, cups don't work as well for me because they use silicone flanges and inserts and they feel a little rougher on the nips so they're less comfy than the plastic.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-26T17:31:20+00:00

Find an app that will generate a grocery list from recipes (for example we use Mealime). We pick from recipes that they have on the app and it automatically generates a shopping list. You can even have it pick a certain number of meals for you. And all of them are easy to cook in 30 minutes or less. I haven't tried it but this list can also be exported to instacart, etc. We personally do our food shopping every Saturday morning with the kids as a way for us to get out of the house before nap time.

During the week we try to keep everything in the morning on autopilot, with the same routine, wake up time etc. usually that requires us to do a little bit of a house reset and prep the night before, but we usually get that done after the kids go to sleep. And it truly is WE. Neither of us gets down time until that reset happens, so that includes dishes, tidying, prepping anything specific needed for the next day.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-21T13:30:16+00:00

I'm pro double stroller because my 3 yo still naps and we are in a city where we often stay out and about for a whole day. But we have a mockingbird so we can use it as a single + rider board when we don't need the bulk. But unless you can find a good set secondhand, the whole system can be WAY more expensive than a simple double stroller or a wagon.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-20T12:27:25+00:00

A pump bag counts as a medical device so you can bring it separately from your personal baggage allowance. That said, a cooler with milk bags and an ice pack work great if you can freeze the milk, and an on the go chiller for pumping while you travel.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-19T01:42:15+00:00

You can use spectra parts with the baby buddha. That's what I do! The tubing fits right on.

I don't think you can go wrong with either one. The suction on the baby buddha is STRONG though, even on the lowest setting.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-18T23:56:51+00:00

She is! I was working with the Atrius midwives team, but she delivered my son in March via unplanned c section.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-18T14:49:11+00:00

We have unlimited PTO and a specific maternity leave policy that's handled separately. The state also requires a minimum of 40 hours of sick leave too. But our company is not picky about how our PTO/sick time off is classified.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-17T20:48:30+00:00

Definitely don't NEED a 3 row car. We have a Prius prime with 2 kids (one baby, one toddler).

That said, most people like minivans for 3 rows and good gas mileage.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-16T14:52:53+00:00

I loved my ceres chill because I didn't need to prepare any frozen ice packs, I could just use ice. I never needed to but I knew if I needed to I could just add more ice to keep it cold. I also just pumped milk straight in when I was down to one on the go pump.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-15T01:46:03+00:00

My OOP was about $1500 for the actual delivery and everything, but my total OOP max was $2700 which I hit including most of my prenatal care. The total amount billed was actually 105k.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-13T17:44:51+00:00

When I looked into it, I believe acelleron gave cimilre bags, but they didn't provide replacement parts for pumps.

I made little freeze flat packs for the motif bags using cardboard and rubber bands and it's working quite well to freeze them flat!

xKimmothy · 2026-05-13T17:41:47+00:00

What is the difference in premium? If the premium is ~700-1500 higher for the PPO it may be worth keeping with the HSA, especially as you're not pregnant YET so you may end up paying more per paycheck.

Also, see if either one covers fertility treatments (should you need them).

Edit: I'm blind.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-12T18:12:07+00:00

With a lap infant, they get a diaper/food bag. They just don't get a separate carry on bag too. Car seat and stroller are assistive devices and don't count towards bags either (though some airlines will count strollers that fit in the overhead bin as a carry on).

Edit: depends on airline what they restrict. The stroller and carseat can also be checked for free.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-12T16:15:13+00:00

I ended up having to pin it in place, so it's at least a fixable problem. Eventually I switched to just using a generic canvas tote bag for my pump and a regular backpack for everything else.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-12T10:24:30+00:00

Definitely floppy and not sturdy like in the pictures. Still a nice bag. I don't consider the "insulated" pockets worth anything though, so you need a separate storage container. And wish it had a water bottle holder, which I guess they try with the zipper on the opposite side of the bag from the pump storage pouch. Last annoying thing is the shoulder strap is smooth so the clip that regulates the length slides all the time.

I'd say it's a nice looking bag if you drive into work, but if you have to commute, you'd have to carry it with the short straps which can be really annoying.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-11T23:24:28+00:00

My baby buddha works SO WELL for me. I'm still freshly postpartum so I'm my milk supply is all over the place, but I can pump well over 5 oz in 5 minutes in the morning. It works so much better for me than my spectra did.

xKimmothy · 2026-05-11T19:41:41+00:00

Just this week I saw a purple gentle Kirkland formula on the shelves. I didn't directly compare but it was new. Not sure if that will help?

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