Accessory Tuesday: Ashley Huggie Earrings

Hi wise ladies – I’m flying out for an interview next week and going in and out the same day. Do you guys have any tips? Even on maybe what to pack and what kind of bag to take? I’d be nervous anyway, and this traveling element is really adding to it.
Thanks a lot in advance!

I feel like such a failure and someone my kids won’t be proud of. I’m a FTM to twins, getting ready to return to work in 3 weeks. My maternity leave will be 14 weeks total, partially unpaid which I realize I’m very privileged to be able to do, but I never could’ve gone back at 6 weeks or 8 weeks like some people do- at that point I was still crying multiple times a day (I’m getting help). I will be returning to work part time and with my paltry salary we will be paying for me to go to work. DH is the breadwinner and out earns me. Again, I feel very fortunate to be able to do this, but on some level feel very spoiled. I’m not a doctor, or a high powered exec or a big law attorney like many of the women on this site and sometimes feel like who do I think I am that I get to live the life that I live and feel like such a weak person in comparison to the ppl on this site bc I never could’ve gone back to work so quickly, cannot imagine returning to a 50+ hour a week job, I can barely keep it together as is. I feel like I’ll be setting such a bad example for my kids. All of you are such supermoms!

I’d like to incorporate my 5-year-old twins into the cooking process more. They stir things every now and again, but I’d like to try some recipes where they can be more involved. Any suggestions?

Help me figure out which activity might be better for my kid at this stage.

I want my daughter (age 3) to have a physical outlet in the fall/winter. For the past 12-18 months, we have enrolled her in group swim lessons. TBH, she’s not doing well. She clings to my husband, screams whenever her teacher comes near her, refuses to independently jump into the water, flails and shrieks when it’s time to do things like floating on her back and/or get water in her face. We had hoped that a solid week with a pool back in April might have changed things for the better, and it sort of did, but it was still tough. She’s going to have another solid 2 weeks at the end of August with a pool (although with grandparents, so probably not daily). She seems nowhere close to being able to swim, let alone independently.

I feel pretty strongly that she needs to learn how to swim for safety reasons, but it’s just a slog right now. I’m willing to keep up the good fight and enroll her again for the fall, but I’d also like to try something new that’s also potentially fun for her/me. Any suggestions? I was thinking gymnastics. My kid is generally physically cautious, but responds well to teachers, likes the trampoline, loved watching DH do a cartwheel, and might be willing to try basics like forward rolls.

Wise mamas, talk to me. What parenting books would you recommend for a first-time mom?

I was an only child who grew up in a completely sterile, adults-only environment – think Emily Gilmore’s home – with a benignly disengaged mother. My husband grew up with a million cousins in a really idyllic environment and is awesome with kids – thank goodness! We are so happy to start a family, but I realized this weekend when interacting with some toddlers and preschoolers that I have literally no frame of reference for HOW to parent. (This question brought to you by trying to referee who gets to play with the puzzle next.) The things you’d learn from watching your parent/aunt/uncle deal with another child or from, um, actually being parented as a child, I just don’t know.

So far from reading the comments here, I’ve read Bringing Up Bebe (loved) and How To Talk So Kids Will Listen (my library’s copy was a hilariously outdated original 1980s copy, but good material). What other books would you recommend to a blank slate mama-to-be?

Hi all, I am currently pregnant and will be resuming anti anxiety medication immediately following the delivery of bebe. Unfortunately, the SSRI I typically take is one of the medications that is transmitted most easily through breast milk so I am considering switching to a different medication. I am under the care of a psychiatrist and she has told me that she does not find the information regarding the amount of the medication transmitted in breast milk that concerning (as in, she doesn’t think it is enough to be harmful to the baby) and she thinks there is a lot of value in me going back on the medication that has historically worked for me. Even with her very supportive and helpful advice, I am finding the decision very difficult to make and I am wondering if anyone who has been in this situation would be willing to share how you decided what to do medication-wise. To be clear, I have already decided to go back on anti anxiety medication and this is purely a question regarding what specific medication to go onto. Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to share her experience on what is a pretty personal topic.

Hi ladies, seeing recommendations for vacation destinations with young kids. Mine are currently almost-3 and almost-1, and I’m interested in long weekends from DC, and week-long trips for next summer. Husband and I really prefer destinations that have lots of options for entertaining young kids and are generally low-stress (so not a ton of planning to make it fun). We had a great time in Paris (lots of playgrounds, kid-friendly restaurants, walkable/public transportation-friendly city), and love being in DC (museums, metro). Beach vacations, per contrast, are not fun for us– too much work to get everything packed up and having to be “on” all the time watching the kids near the water.
What’s the best place you’ve been with toddlers/young preschoolers?