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I had several maternity button-front shirts and dresses when I was expecting — they looked sharp and crisp when I was feeling blah and worked during and after pregnancy.
This shirtdress from maternity expert Ingrid & Isabel would have had a starring role in my wardrobe. Made from comfortable cotton poplin, this classic shirtdress is cut to accommodate your growing bump and features a hidden inner button for breastfeeding/pumping privacy. Add a belt or cropped jacket for definition.
This shirtdress is $118 at Nordstrom and comes in sizes XS-XL.
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Redux says
This looks like Ebenezer Scrooge’s pajamas.
Hope y’all had a happy mother’s day! Any funny stories? My kids really wanted me to sleep in, but I am not much of a sleeper inner. Instead I told my husband I would read in bed for a good long while then text him when I was ready for them to “wake me up.” I texted him at 9, but he missed it. So I lounged in bed (a little hungry honestly!) until 10 when they finally came to get me.
Anon says
I lost my mother when I was young and I lost a pregnancy that would have made me a mother by yesterday. Despite that, I’ve always preferred for the day to be a happy one and have focused on congratulating my stepmother, friends, etc. A friend texted me saying “f*ck this day, I know it’s complicated” and I changed the subject. I can’t seem to get some people to see that I don’t spend this day in bed, relate to the zillion depressing social media posts about it, or see it in a negative light (that particular friend and I have had not one but several convos about it). I’m pregnant again and hoping things only go up from here. Hope you all had a great day!
Redux says
Oh man, I’m sorry Anon. Your friend is not listening to you.
Hugs from this internet stranger and very best of luck with your pregnancy!
Anonymous says
Mother’s day has historically been hard for me, but we had a pretty good day. It was nothing special, which is kind of what I prefer. DH had the kids paint their hands on a T-shirt for me, which is adorable. And I got Saturday afternoon off to go shopping. Yesterday we just did normal Sunday routine but the twins (3) kept wishing me happy Mother’s Day: they thought it was a hilarious joke.
Anonymous says
Years ago my aunt thought it would be cute to do hands / feet of all the grandkids on a shirt for my grandmother for Mother’s Day. There were maybe 11 kids. NOTE: toddler feet are adorable. 11 year old boy feet look like you are kicking grandma in the chest. There was also a medium sized hand that was definitely “groping” grandma!! Definitely NOT a pinterest outcome….
Anonymous says
Woke up to a kid with a stomach bug, so most of the morning was spend on laundry (I feel like cleaning up the stuffed animals is always the worst part). But the afternoon was nice, we brought cookies to a park and had a nice time outside. Then DH left for a work trip and I watched Bravo and went to bed early.
Anon says
Solidarity from a mom running a load of puke stuffed animals right now
Anon says
I have older kids, and we went out to eat last night. I was showing them pictures of Mother’s Days from their baby and toddler years. We laughed that I did ONE attempt at a fancy brunch with a toddler (with the requisite picture of my husband trying to smile while clearly clutching a wine glass in one hand and toddler who is about to bolt in the other), and then it was a series of photos from backyard BBQs, after we figured out that brunch with little kids is the worst (the WORST) — at least our kids, who still rarely sit still and never were the toddlers happy to quietly color at a table waiting for their food to come. It was really nice — my oldest is a thoughtful kid, who picked a present out for me and had it shipped to the house using her debit card, so I was legit surprise to have something to open (husband and I agreed to “no gifts” a long time ago). My second, who tends to be very non demonstrative and not super affectionate, told me like 15 times that he thought I was the best mom ever, and gave me lots of hugs, which *crying emoji.* My oldest helped my youngest pick out a card and colored it, and we were laughing so hard we were crying at this dang dumb card. It was simple, sweet, and perfect.
Anon says
I wrote in last year about by in-laws taking over my first mother’s day and am happy to report that yesterday was a bigger success. We kept in pretty low key with coffee and pastries from a favorite coffee shop and a trip to our favorite park and neighborhood. DH got me flowers, a beautiful vase and a cute card (LO is too small to do anything, although I go a cute handprint card from her daycare). No one made any unexpected appearances, hopefully the conversations we had about boundaries are helping.
Anon says
Oh I remember that! Glad it was better this year!
Anon says
I got a homemade waffle with chocolate sauce in bed, which was lovely, and dinner with my parents, which was not as lovely. Kindergarten also sent home one of those fill-in-the-blank mom books and my daughter’s answers were very sweet but when I commented that to her she said “Yeah other kids wrote more accurate things like ‘my mom always says clean up your room’ but I knew you wouldn’t like that so I wrote something very nice.” Not sure how I should feel about that…I liked the book but her comments about it made me feel a bit Tiger Mom-y.
Based on my FB feed, there were a ton of studios with dance recitals yesterday?! A kid’s birthday party is bad enough, but at least you can send your partner or drop off the kids if they’re old enough. Having to spend Mother’s Day doing hair and makeup prep and then sitting through a recital would have been super annoying. I feel like I need to send our dance teacher a thank you note for always picking a different weekend, even though it seems obvious to me.
Anon says
My mom STILL talks about how much she hated when we had softball games on Mother’s Day. A dance recital — which is a presumably a one time event with lots of flexibility on scheduling — is so much worse. My kids wouldn’t want to miss a dance recital, and I definitely wouldn’t want to spend my Mother’s Day at a dance recital.
anon says
My high school graduation was on Mother’s Day, and that is STILL A THING where I grew up. My poor mom. Throw together a huge once-in-a-lifetime party on what’s supposed to be Your Special Day!
Anon says
At least graduation is something most people only have to do a few times. Dance recitals are every year if you have kids who dance.
Vicky Austin says
DS took his real first steps yesterday! It was the cherry on top of what was a really nice day. I required a picnic with DH and DS, and a long bath alone, and I got both. Plus DH gave me a book I’d been wanting, and now apparently books for Mother’s Day are a new tradition. Can’t say I’m too fussed about that.
Hope everyone had a lovely day <3
Anonymous says
Looking for helpful input from this hive. My husband is depressed, he will not see a therapist. This is impacting our marriage as he is constantly tired, cranky, and can be abrasive at times. Wondering if anyone has any tips on how to work with him. Thanks in advance!
Anonymous says
Have him see his PCP for drugs. Therapy is overrated and good therapists who actually help are almost impossible to find.
Anon says
+1 that medication is much more helpful than therapy for me. It’s a chemical imbalance, even with an awesome therapist (which are so hard to find), you often still need drugs to fix the imbalance.
anon says
Yeah, I’ve found the same thing. You need the brain chemicals to be working right before therapy is going to do anything.
Anonymous says
If the depression is situational (e.g., toxic job), support him in getting out of the situation.
Anonymous says
I think you simply gently but firmly say no. “Oh, please don’t speak to me like this. It is upsetting when you’re abrasive.” “Oh, it’s a shame you are tired. The kids still need to get ready for school and that’s your job.”
Don’t smooth life over and make things easy for him.
Anon says
I’ve been there! It led to divorce in my case, but a few suggestions I learned along the way:
– Second the suggestion to see a PCP for drugs. The drugs helped a bit and got him in the headspace to pursue therapy. (Then he abruptly quit both and everything went to ****, but hopefully that won’t happen to you).
– Draw your own boundaries. If he doesn’t want to do anything or go anywhere, go out on your own, with friends, whatever. Ask calmly but firmly not to be spoken to like that. Depression is contagious and it can be really hard to fight that.
– My EXH wanted it to be a secret, and I respected that. We got into a weird spiral of secrecy and shame, and no one really knew how bad things were. People were in shock when I started talking after the divorce. I know it’s easier said than done, but try to have people who know what’s going on and can help, and encourage your husband to do the same.
– It’s not your job to cure him. Unless it’s purely situational, like a terrible job – encourage him to change jobs – depression is a illness that will not be cured by all the love you have to give. I spent so much time trying to plan fun things, say loving encouraging things, cook the right foods, plan workouts together so he would work out… None of that worked unless he wanted to help himself (which he did for a brief period and it helped). I got massively burnt out in the process. Put your own oxygen mask on first, and get as much help as you can.
Anonymous says
As someone who has had multiple family members with serious mental illnesses, I strongly disagree with the advice to share the diagnosis. You don’t want to become the “broken person” socially. Maintaining normal social relationships is an important source of support, and people will get weird if they know that your husband is depressed and you are struggling. If the news gets out it may also impact your children’s friendships (because parents are unwilling to have their children spend time around your husband) and future employment prospects for both your husband and yourself.
Everyone has their own burden of suffering. Strong, classy people with sound judgment bear it privately. Think about the people you know who broadcast all their physical health or mental health or marital struggles. They are always the discombobulated people with poor judgment who also make a big deal out of normal everyday stresses. I guarantee that you know many other people who are going through these struggles but you’d never know it because they have discretion.
Anonymous says
Future employment prospects for her if she lets close family and friends know her husband is depressed? No I’m sorry that is wild speculation.
Anon says
+1 – This is a wild take. So you further isolate yourself from others that you love/trust by not sharing what struggles you are going through and NOT getting support? No one says to broadcast it, but pulling in close friends and family to support OP while her DH is going through it isn’t unreasonable.
If people really take this approach, it makes me understand why so many here are often lamenting the dearth of IRL friends/warm relationships in their lives. Sharing the tough times AND the good times is what makes relationships grow and deepen over time.
Anon says
As a child forced to hide my parent’s illness, I fundamentally disagree with this. It’s one thing to not share it wildly with every person you interact with. It’s another to ask your family to hide it from their closest friends. When a person is struggling or dealing with a family member struggling, it’s so hopeful to be able to share with your closest friends.
And I have never judged my friends for something like this. It’s not the 1950s anymore. Haven’t we reached a point of accepting that mental health is just like any other medical issue
anon says
Umm….I think there’s a big difference between broadcasting things publicly and relying on your support network and having honest relationships with close friends/family. “Classy” doesn’t mean you can’t talk privately and honestly with select individuals (ie use discretion). I think this is really unhelpful. We can all have different opinions about how much we want to share with others, and that is fine, but to imply those who are honest about their struggles as weak and unclassy can be damaging.
Anon says
I’m the Anon OP for the comment above. My ex’s family was very much of the opinion that “classy people bear it privately”. So they had no idea about how much time their son spent in a mental institution, including the times I had him forcibly committed because I was afraid for his life. They had no idea that for months I packed up the kitchen knives and put them in my car when I left for work. My ex was the life of the party in public, and he was deeply troubled in private, and the burden of it all caused me, the only person who actually knew how bad things were, to eventually leave him because I was going to break. It’s not a healthy or “classy” way to live. I’m not saying you need to broadcast it on social media, but you should be able to share with your close family and friends.
Anon says
I’m the Anon at 10:15 AM, and thank you for sharing this, and I’m sorry you had to go through what you did.
You were incredibly helpful when I was going through it earlier this year (and my case was much milder than what you went through – appreciate your grace), and I want you to know that I thought of you often.
I’m so glad to hear you are on the other side.
Anonymous says
There is a difference between telling his parents and telling your friends!
Anon says
@Anon @ 11:28am, thank you so much for your message. I’m happy to hear things are better for you. My life is definitely better on the other side, and when I think back to those times, I’m still a bit in disbelief that this was actually my life for a few years. My ex and I are no-contact, but I occasionally see him appear on social media and have run into him twice in the street, and every time, I let out a little sigh a relief at the knowledge that he is still alive.
We definitely had it worse than most people. But when it started, he was a pretty normal guy – smart, handsome, university-educated, had a good job, had friends. He always had a little bit of a fragile side, and I was incredibly young and naive and thought love would help with that. It wasn’t enough, and things got really bad. I’m not saying this will happen to everyone else in this position – I certainly hope not! But in hindsight there are certain things I wish I would have done differently and think maybe it would have helped, and the extreme isolation and living a double life of sorts is one of them.
Anon says
“Strong, classy people with sound judgment bear it privately.”
Mom is that you? LOL. Seriously though, the idea that “classy” people keep quiet about struggles is such a boomer take. Younger generations are a lot more open about mental health. And no one is suggesting she tell the whole world, but telling a few close friends can help a lot without everyone knowing.
Also where do you live that people don’t want their kid around a depressed person? We know a few people who mentioned anxiety and/or depression diagnoses (it’s so common, not this weird thing you seem to think it is) and I have zero qualms about my kids being alone with them. The only thing that would give me pause is if there was evidence the person had been violent to themselves or others in the past, but ” tired, cranky, and can be abrasive” sounds like a far cry from that. And even then we would try to find a way to facilitate the friendship between the kids in a way that was safe, e.g., meeting at our house rather than theirs.
Anon says
I was in your shoes earlier this year. I had never seen DH so down and withdrawn. For him it was a combo of things (work, feeling friend-less/lonely, death/illness of loved ones, weird family dynamics with parents, etc.) after a really hard year that just brought him to his knees. It was really hard, because at one point he was blaming me/our marriage in part for his depression – and no one deserves to hear that. This board was very kind when I shared some of what was going on.
Instead, I encouraged therapy which he thought he didn’t need (he did). I also just, made myself more available in subtle ways to listen to him talk/vent about what he felt like he needed (it was mostly about work); a lot of his general feelings were that he was alone and unsupported during a really tough time.
I also leaned HARD on my family and friends for myself. I upped my therapy from monthly to bi-weekly, made sure I had “fun” things on the calendar (for me and for me/DH), etc. After several LONG weeks, I saw something clicking in DH where he was feeling better, and we had a conversation about where he was. Things have been much better since then. I know this approach would likely not work for many on the board, but every situation/person is different.
OP, take care of yourself.
Anon says
My health insurance UnitedHealthcare offered a free program called AbleTo where you can receive 8 free virtual therapy sessions if you have depression. I tried that after getting a medication from my doctor and it wasn’t working. AbleTo felt doable because it was a limited time frame and part of a set program, plus convenient and free. It lowered some barriers for sure. Just mentioning in case he might have access. I think it helped me a lot.
Anonymous says
The only thing uglier than a shirtdress is a maternity shirtdress.
Anonymous says
Love shirt dresses and love this one
Anonymous says
Yeah I don’t get the hate. I like this.
Anon says
It looks incomplete. Like there should be pants
Anonymous says
Nah you’re weird bro
Anon says
Agree — I actually think this would be super cute with white leggings and a pair of tretorn sneakers. Or maybe white birkenstocks? I think the pumps are what really throws me here.
Anon says
I don’t like it either. It’s not flattering.
anon says
Agree. This is almost TOO basic because it looks like she’s walking around in her husband’s shirt or something.
Anon says
I think this shirtdress looks like she needs some pants, but there are some great ones out there.
Anonymous says
+1 I think it’s styled poorly but could be very cute.
Anonymous says
I like shirt dresses but think they benefit from some kind of structure, otherwise they look a bit like the old “I threw on my boyfriend’s shirt on top of my underwear” look in movies. For a maternity dress, that’s something with an empire waist, and for non-maternity I like a structured dress that hits at my natural waist, or I add a belt.
Anon says
I think this would look great with a belt above the bump!
Anon says
just got back from having lunch at school with my twin kindergarten daughters who are in separate classes. one walks to the table wearing a bracelet which her sister noticed, carrying an extra saying another girl in the class gave it to her, and she also had one for her sister, who proceeds to want to show it to every other kid (not in a malicious way, but she is a talker who likes to tell people about everything and anything, like her teacher knows every detail of our lives…lol). we talked about how some kids might feel sad that they didn’t get a bracelet and that she should try to not tell everyone about it…but also why must a parent let their K aged daughter bring bff bracelets to hand out at school. it seems totally unnecessary and exclusive, especially at this age
Anon says
I also have a girl in K and I think you’re overthinking this. Kids are allowed to have friends and want to give their friends things. My kid and her friends are constantly bringing in small trinkets for each other, and even if parents put the kibosh on bringing things from home, they would still be writing each other notes and making drawings. Other friend groups do it too, and she has told me things like “Nora brought Charlotte a new pencil today” and didn’t seem bothered about not receiving one. Unless someone is bringing a bracelet for every girl in the class except a small number of girls, it’s not mean or exclusionary, and your girls aren’t doing anything wrong by being excited by the bracelet and showing it to others.
Anon says
+1. This is part of childhood and it’s OK. It’s a GOOD thing for kids to learn how to see other people’s exchanges and deal with minor disappointments.
Anonymous says
+1
Anon says
I agree…and the friend couldn’t have been acting that precious about the bracelets if she gave your daughter two to share. I bet having twins gives you a keener sense of equality & fairness, since it seems to have an outsized consequence compared to other sibling dynamics. As hard as it is, I try to butt out of peer relationships until someone is truly getting hurt. It’s how they learn to be in a community, the good and the bad.
Anon says
My almost 3.5 year old still drools, and it flares up he is dealing with any cold/cough type symptoms. Typically it’s never a ton (e.g. it doesn’t roll down neck, t-shirts don’t need to be changed) and generally is pretty subtle. He’s in speech therapy for a mild expressive language delay/articulation help, which is going really well overall.
The therapist doesn’t seem concerned about it – she said his oral motor awareness continues to increase, and he often wipes it off himself. Any other speech therapy parents have a similar experience?
sf says
I also have a 3.5 year old drooler. We recently got him evaluated by a speech therapist who said he wasn’t a tongue thruster or sat with mouth open. so her only advice was to remind him to swallow. solidarity in unsatisfactory specialists.
ENT says
A feeding therapist and speech therapist suggested we get an ENT eval because of the drooling, feeding issues and turns out he had huge tonsils. That was about 9 months ago and after realizing he also snores terribly we had them out last week.(he’s just past 3) He’s still drooling a lot, but we’re hoping once the pain wears off he’ll be able to swallow better and breathe through his nose. Interestingly, he was able to say some words better within hours of the procedure. TLDR, get an ENT consult.
OP says
Thanks! We got a ENT consult and hearing test around 2.5, before starting with a speech therapist, and no issues there at the time he was seen. No feeding issues at this time, either.
I’ll definitely keep this (and getting a second ENT opinion) in mind as things can change!
Anon says
Some kids are just drooly. My 6yo still kind of is, as is my 3yo (and I think my husband was as a kid). My younger had his adenoids out with an ENT and his tonsils are fine, fwiw. I don’t know that everything needs correcting.
OP says
Thanks for this. FWIW I’m kind of drooly, and one of my parents was, too — so I’ve also been leaning towards this as the “reason” but have had the misfortune of going down some google rabbitholes today.
Anon says
My 3 year and 9 month old just recently stopped regularly drooling. He still does a little when he’s congested or has a cold, but at least isn’t soaking shirts wet. He’ll also still drool occasionally when really focusing on a task. He has no speech delays or other developmental delays, we regularly see an ENT due to ear infections and kid doesn’t have enlarged adenoids. Pediatrician, dentist and ENT all have no explanation other than he’s just a droopy kid and will grow out of it. My sister is a speech pathologist and said some kids are just drool and have to learn how to manage their saliva (which sometimes just takes more self awareness/maturity). I saw a huge improvement right around 3.5, so hope you’ll see some improvement soon. It really bothered me for awhile… but I realized it was totally just on me and that both him and his peers didn’t notice at all.
Paging parents of eldest child ADHD-ers says
For those who have a child with ADHD who is the eldest – how did this impact younger siblings?
We have been a year+ long journey to get our 6yo help and it has been life-changing. He is doing SO much better and his behaviors are under control between meds and therapy (he also has anxiety and sensory processing disorder).
My younger kiddo, I’m pretty sure is neurotypical. However. He, like all toddlers, is testing boundaries and also mirroring behavior he sees. So while his meltdowns look nothing like his brothers ever did, he will repeat words/phrases he hears older brother use and act out in ways he has seen (throwing and hitting, primarily). Totally par for the course with all younger siblings, but our eldest was, at one point in time, off the charts in terms of these behaviors, so consequently his behavior is pretty extra as well.
Trying: 1:1 time w/ him (I think that’s key), 1-2-3 magic for discipline (and trying to be consistent – you throw something once, you take a break for 2min or whatever). Would love any success stories or good vibes.
Anon says
My middle is 6 and recently got diagnosed with ADHD. His 3yo brother mimics his behaviors, too, so I get what you are saying, but my mom sense knows there was something extra about my middle, while my younger is a toddler. I suspect my oldest is also ND, but maturity has helped him and we only have so much money to throw after evaluations each year!
I’m a little unclear as to your question – meaning, how do you get your younger to “behave” when he has an unregulated example? To an extent, this is just what it means to be a younger sibling, ND family or not…I remember reading a statistic that younger brothers of boys are more likely to end up in jail than older brothers because of exactly this dynamic, and as a mom of three boys it stuck with me, lol.
For me, I remind myself that it is developmentally appropriate for a child under 5yo to act out, melt down and have trouble following rules. (That is why we waited until age 6 for a eval.) Maturity takes care of a LOT. And fair doesn’t mean equal, so you may have slightly different rules and strategies for each kid. I honestly lean into connection more than correction in the under-5 group, although things like throwing and hitting definitely get a related consequence, too. One of my biggest regrets as a mom is being too harsh on my little ones, and spiraling out that if we didn’t nip things in the bud at age two my kids would be delinquents.
Anonymous says
I have Thoughts on this, and no time to write coherently today, but will try to catch up tomorrow. but hugs to you, parenting multiple children is always a balancing act, and the oldest setting non-stellar precedents definitely doesn’t make anything easier.
Parenting is Hard says
Help me with a real life situation in kindergarten. I have a 6-year old K’er. She has a Highly Disruptive peer in class (we’ll call him P) who, by all accounts including some information we’ve gleaned from an over-sharing para in the classroom and knowing his family as they’re neighbors, has some deeply under-serviced need.
We’ve just sort of co-existed in class together this school year though P’s been problematic since day 1 in the K classroom. DD comes home and talks about his antics but largely we’ve been directly unaffected. Antics are disruptive at best and physical at worst. I know P had another boy in class in a headlock recently and physically injured the other boy.
Well, DD reported that last week P was “pulling my skirt” at multiple times during the school day. The teacher saw it happen once, according to DD, but it apparently happened a lot more times. What would you instruct your daughter to do or say in that moment if it keeps happening, apart from the obvious “stop” or get the teacher? Like, literally swat away the kid’s hand? I have no idea. I’m all for talking it out but also grabbing a girl’s skirt crosses a major line for me. Thoughts?
Anonymous says
Yell “Stop” and “Let go of me!” and run away. Getting up and running across the classroom during seat work will get the teacher’s attention. She shouldn’t swat the kid’s hand away or get physical other than wriggling away because that will get your daughter in trouble.
anon says
Yes, a loud yell of “Stop touching me, P” and getting away is the answer here. In addition, I’d loop back to the teacher via email/app/written comm
“DD told me P is pulling her skirt. We want her to be confident his actions are unacceptable, I told her to loudly yell ‘stop touching me’ and to get her body away from him. Flagging so you’re aware.”
Anon says
Practice with her so she gets used to shouting out “stop touching me.” That can be hard for girls to do, but she should absolutely not be “polite” or “quiet” about this. Talk to the teacher ASAP and demand action if it happens even one more time.
Anonymous says
I am confused why parents on this board consistently post about their children being in classrooms with violent and at time abusive students and then…just keep their kid in the class or school? Since when did it become acceptable for a child to get physically attacked or abused or have someone lift their skirt up in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
Anon says
She said he touched her skirt, not lifted it up, and imo the fact that they’re in elementary school makes it much less serious than if they were adolescents. It’s still inappropriate and I agree with everyone saying the girl should loudly stand up for herself, but calling a 5-6 year old child “violent” and “abusive” for pulling at another kid’s clothing seems like a stretch. I’m in a K classroom on a regular basis. A solid 75% of the kids have struggles keeping their hands to themselves and some pull at other’s clothing occasionally. It’s inappropriate and the teacher should be doing more to shut it down (and the parents should escalate with the administration if necessary), but painting the other kid as some kind of future r*pist seems unfair.
Also, as someone who lives in an area with limited choices for schools can I just say I hate the “just change schools” advice that’s frequently given here about daycare and school problems. Plenty of regions in the US don’t have private school options, and it’s hard for adults with jobs to pick up and move. Plus why should the girl have to leave a school environment that’s otherwise working for her? Make the school handle the problem, don’t just jump to running away from the school when you have zero guarantee that the same or worse issue won’t happen at a different school.
Anon says
Another speech therapy question. My 3.5 year old isn’t asking questions yet (also in speech therapy), meanwhile, my always-super-verbal 6.5 year old has been constantly asking questions since he was 2 (and hasn’t stopped).
The therapist, who is thrilled with kid’s progress (as our we), told me that 3.5 year old is getting there, and it’s probably something we’ll see between now and when he turns 4 and the end of this year. Kid is making longer sentences, responding to questions, etc.
Anyone have a similar experience with their kids? I know kid is curious and loves to learn new things, I guess I’m just waiting for the connection that comes with that level of communication.
Anon says
I think I may have said this before on a previous post of yours, but this may just be a personality difference between your two kids. My 6 year old has always been what I would describe as above average verbally (she’s done some speech for articulation of sounds like “r”, but has never been shy about talking and has always tested well on language skills like vocab and sentence structure) but she’s never been much of a question-asker, at least not in the typical little kid sense of “why….? how…?” I think it’s just her personality. She seems like a completely normal kid with lots of friends and loves to talk to both peers and adults, just doesn’t really ask questions the way some other kids do. (She is starting to ask questions in the give-and-take of a conversation, e.g., “what did you do this weekend?” but that is not a skill a typical 3-4 year old has, and many early elementary schoolers are still developing it.)
Anon says
Cross-posting from the main site: We have a family friend’s wedding in Italy in September, and are planning to go with our son who will be 6 months old. I am having trouble finding hotels that look decent but are also kid-friendly (or even allow us to book a room with a baby). Is this a situation where it may be worth getting a travel agent to help us navigate? We’re also not entirely sure where we want to go before/after the wedding (we have 3 nights before and 2 nights after, flying in and out of Rome but wedding is somewhere in Umbria). Any travel agent recs would be welcome as well!
anon says
In my experience of traveling with a baby that age, you don’t really need a kid-friendly hotel, just one that can put out a crib for you. High chairs are nice at that age but not necessary since they can be fed in-lap. I say book whatever hotel you want and enjoy the last couple months of this freedom before you have a walking talking grabbing little munchkin! Find a hotel you like, call them, and ask if they have cribs and high chairs.
Anon says
This. You don’t need a kid-friendly hotel at this age, you just need a hotel that will doesn’t prohibit kids (which is 99.9% of them).