Budget Thursday: Contrasting Bands Dress

Bullying wwyd: kid, 3.5, is back in daycare, which has been converted to a forest school. He’s generally happy but now that he is under less direct visual supervision things with his frenemy are getting a little out of control. Their usual dynamic is that this kid, 4, treats mine like a little brother, with all the teasing but also generally balanced by the good stuff. My kid does not feel as warmly about him, but hasn’t been mean about it, so it was just one of those things. But now frenemy is telling my kid that he’s not allowed to play with anyone else and my kid says he’s listening to the new rules because he’s afraid of losing the friendship. Tips for talking my kid through this? My parents were more hands off by this age but since he’s telling us about it we’ve been telling him to take what frenemy says with a pinch of salt. A complicating factor is that they are the only two mixed race kids in the school and frenemy has evidently been raised to call himself white (my kid has not) and while we’ve been firm in telling our kid that frenemy (and people in general) should be seen as whatever they ask you to see them as, so I see them being inextricably in one another’s orbit for at least a few years yet.

We’re expecting our fourth and thinking of taking the plunge and getting a (hopefully used) Suburban. We do a fair number of short road trips during the year, and it just seems like it would be more comfortable. My husband’s ready to trade his car in so the timing is good

So with small kids (up to 2nd grade), would you go captains or bench? If we had three kids, I’d say captains, but I’m wondering if the fourth means we might appreciate that extra seat on the bench row down the line!

Kind of the opposite of the question above: Does anyone have kids who are 4+ years apart and want to share stories of how that works?

Another babywearing post – I’m pregnant and also have a 18 month old. Does anyone have a carrier they recommend for around the house with a newborn?

I have a Moby wrap and a Lillebaby carrier from my first, but neither worked very well for this purpose. The Moby is way too complicated for me; I could never get it wrapped correctly and it never felt secure. The Lillebaby worked great for outings when the baby was older, but it is bulky and was a hassle to get on and off by myself. I’m looking for something in between the two – more structured than a wrap that is just a long piece of fabric, but doesn’t feel like wearing a giant backpack.

After our discussion the other day about our various miserable work from home setups in small spaces, I have officially decided to take over a corner of the basement. The kids/sitter can deal. I’m sure I won’t get 8 hours in down there until the youngest is back in daycare, but even half a workday not in my bedroom would make a big difference for my mental health at this point. Looking forward to the arrival of my IKEA shipment in mid-July!

I’ve got another unfortunate Corona-related wwyd: My grandmother is dying, very likely within the next 2 weeks unless something drastically changes. They live in very very rural Ohio (seriously like a 1 stoplight town) that is about a 9 hour drive from my home.
Assuming she does die within the next two weeks and they have some sort of very small service would you go? They are super Catholic, so I’m sure they will do something at least for close family. We would probably stay with local family in their home while there, but there is 1 hotel in town. The drive would be done in a day.
Because the situation isn’t complicated enough, I am 33ish weeks pregnant so I am pushing right up against that travel ban time. Of course when she eventually passes, assuming it does occur before I’m 36w, I would get clearance from my OB to travel first. I haven’t brought it to their attention yet because she’s still alive and there is a lot of unknown.
If I’m being fully honest, I was never that close to this grandmother primarily due to geographic separation, so I’m very torn about going to support my dad but also staying home which is arguably the much safer decision. If I was earlier in my pregnancy, I would go no questions asked, but they are testing at my hospital when you show up for L&D and have different policies for positive moms.

When people say “babywearing” is that using a sling or one of those wrap things that you tie on? And not using a baby carrier like a Kelty or Baby Bjorn? I use both when I am going for walks but I don’t use either inside and kiddo hates the sling. Honestly, kiddo is like a 99th percentile for weight and height and other than providing me with a bit of strength training, this is probably nearing an end. A 6 month baby should not be in 18 month clothes. Afraid of starting solids. Kidding. Sort of.