The Parenting Thread • Page 89

Congrats!! What a thanksgiving! We’re sitting here chilling at 37 weeks getting ready for the craziness.

 

That’s where we were. This past Tuesday would have been 38 weeks, but everything changed quick.

I’ll be honest. It has been a lot more overwhelming than I expected. I was terrified to leave the hospital. I appreciate those maternity ward nurses so much.

Today has been a solid day though. Night time has been the hardest though, so we’ll see how tonight goes.

 

First 3ish months at night are brutal. It gets much much better after that. Good luck to y'all!

 

I hope so. She’s sleeping well all day and then 9pm hits and everything changes.

I don’t have a ton of leave time, so things will get tough when I go back to work.

 

Yeah that's pretty typical. It's one of those things that you just gotta figure out some sort of semblance of a routine and try to stick with it until the baby tells you otherwise haha.

I'm going through it currently too so you have my thoughts

 

Those nurses are angels. As others have said, stick to a routine as much as possible and your baby will acclimate eventually. For them night is day and vice versa and it takes a little time for them to sort it out.

 

What are you guys getting your kids for Christmas?

For my 4 year-old son:

From Santa:
Play-Doh Slime Variety 6-Pack
Beyblade Burst Turbo SwitchStrike Regulus R3 Starter Pack
Beyblade Burst Turbo SwitchStrike Tide Treptune T3 Starter Pack
Smithsonian Planetarium Projector
Crayola Ultimate Light Board
The Stinky & Dirty Show Bath Time Buddies 4Piece Set
The Stinky & Dirty The Show 5Piece Collectible Figure Set Maile
The Stinky & Dirty Show – Backhoe Loader Deluxe Vehicle
The Stinky & Dirty Show – Garbage Truck Deluxe Vehicle
Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer Battery-powered Model Train Set Ready to Play w/ Remote
Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash Track Set [Amazon Exclusive]
Hot Wheels 9-Car Gift Pack (Styles May Vary)

From Dad:
Candy Land
Chutes and Ladders
Connect 4
Jenga
??? Other stuff I haven't picked out yet.

 

My son is a climber so we are getting him this jungle gym thing with a slide that we can put on our enclosed porch that we don't use so he can do that in the winter and then we will move it outside for the summer.

He's only 19 months so we aren't spending a lot. Books, some Pooh and Muppet Baby figures, some bath time toys. We bought everything and only spent like $350. Not excited for the days when he wants ipads and video game consoles.

 

I think I am going to hand my N64 down to my son? lol

 

Yeah, I'm at about $300. Just want to get a few more little more personal things from Dad. Right now I got a bunch of board games we can play together. Everything from Santa is toy-based for him.


Anyone else in here divorced? This will be my first Christmas divorced. We agreed that she will see him from 1PM to 1PM Christmas Eve to Christmas day, and I will see him 1PM to 1PM Christmas day to the 26th. Next year it'll flip.

My concern, sadness, or whatever (if I can call it that), is that he'll wake up Christmas day at his moms. He'll see Santa's presents, open them, etc. And I know, because we talked about it, that we're getting him some of the same stuff, because whenever you ask him 'what do you want for Christmas?' it's ALWAYS "Sticky and Dirty". So I'm sad because the joy, excitement, that he'll have when he opens them will be at his moms, and I'll miss all that. And then when he gets to my house at 1, and opens Santa's presents, I think he'll be like "Dad, I have this already" or something to that extent.

How do you divorced parents handle it?

 

That’s a bummer man. On one hand, you’ll have the upper hand next year. Are you on speaking terms with your ex? Can you guys coordinate it more? Might be fun for one to get an accessory for a gift the other got, etc. we have a mix of stuff for our 4 year old this year. Dunno what’s gonna be from Santa yet but probably a toy candy cane (it’s what the kids wants!) and a large garbage truck (we donated his earlier this year and he’s regretted it ever since. Poor guy.) his grandma passed this year but we got him a couple things she would have gotten him and will remind him of her, plus we have our second baby due any day now so he’s gonna get some stuff “from him.” It’s gonna be a whirlwind month for sure.

 

We are at a point in our house where we are just overwhelmed with the amount of toys our kids have. We've actually been doing mass donations/handing off to friends/family members because we can barely store any more 'big' items. Also, we've noticed that for past holidays/birthdays...the kids will get something new, play with it for a few weeks then never touch it again and shit just sits around and takes up space forever.

This year, we're trying to do more board games and coloring/learning/drawing books (which they're already very into). My son has a billion cars, but always wants new ones so I'm sure we'll get him quite a few of those. He really wants a drum set - and keeps asking Santa for it...which we had one years ago, but tossed it because again...didn't use it much and it didn't last long anyway.

 

This is how it is at our house too. I told everyone when they asked about gifts to get them basically creativity fueling things (books, art supplies, puzzles, dress up, etc) because they love that stuff but also they always get things that we just don’t have room for. I’m also making some of their toys this year. Sometimes I’m like wtf why did I decide this was a good idea, but I get too caught up in gift buying every year so it feels a little better to slow down, plus they’ll have something maybe a little more sentimental. (But like also they probably won’t GAF about their hand made pikachu stuffed animals once they open the Mario kart racetrack from Santa so whatever lol)

 

I've been the opposite, he grew up only getting books, coloring books, puzzles, etc. so now I'm getting him some toys. We're kind of granola when it comes to some things, specifically TV/electronics. He's seen maybe 4 movies, and watches less than 3 hours of TV a week. Most of that coming on the weekend. So I'm glad he'll get that Hot Wheels track and train set.

 

Yeah this is us too. My dad and them keep asking what to get the kids and they keep getting toys with alot of pieces that just end up everywhere and don't get picked up and is annoying and I'm just like can you please not. We told them to get very similar things as you, dress up and activity type things

 

For my 2 oldest(4 and 1 1/2) they are getting a playhouse for outside. And for the baby she's getting a chair from Pottery Barn to match her brother and sister's chairs

 

So my son has not really eaten any solid food in the last week and a half. Took him to the doctor yesterday and he thinks we give him too much milk. So when he is hungry, he asks for milk and just outright refuses food.

The doctor said to only allow him to have 20 oz of milk a day and then eventually he will be hungry enough to eat food. All the while we have to supplement him with iron supplements and probiotics until he eats normally again.

Crazy how little things you do as parents have huge ramifications like giving your child milk when they ask for it.

 

100% been there. It’s tough. We give him water half the time he asks for milk and the times we do give him milk we give him half a take-and-toss cup full so he can’t complain.

 

Interesting...my 2-year-old drinks so much milk every day. She too has a limited appetite. I feel like we are going through a gallon of milk every 3 to 4 days. My son and I use it sparingly for cereal but she drinks the majority of it. I tell my wife we need to get her more water throughout the day.

 

My son is 5 and still doesn’t eat. Doesn’t drink milk either. But he will have like one day a week where all he does is eat

 

Toys from the baby registry that we missed due to age/financial constraints. It's hard to go off of when you're dealing with a 10 week old so it's kind of open season until he expresses specific desires.

Though I have already purchased these two books for him so I can start indoctrinating him into my biggest non-music interest:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966661/?tag=absolutepunk-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966688/?tag=absolutepunk-20

Muahahaha.

I'm also sure my wife has a much better working list than I do of things she'd like to get him.

 

Those books are cool

 

Epidural code word set and wallpapered so I don’t forget it. Could today be the day?! Will update.

 

Good luck!

 

If you guys haven't heard of it before, you should check out Impossibly personalized books

I have a few, but I really recommend Lost My Name. You put in your kids name, and pick a few options for each letter, and the book is about a little boy/girl that goes around talking to different animals/creatures to find their name. It's really well made and I love the illustrations. You can preview the whole book before you buy as well!