Maternity Monday: Essentials Cotton Leggings

What’s your daycare’s current policy on illnesses? Mine says kids can’t attend if anyone in the household has covid symptoms until they get a negative test. Theoretically, this should mean my kids are getting sick less frequently, but we are already on cold #2 for my 6 month old in just over a month. The first time, our pediatrician did just a rapid test (negative) and the kids went back right away. This time, urgent care insisted on doing both a rapid and PCR test and specifically put in the note for daycare that he isn’t cleared to return to daycare. This means both he and and his big sister have to stay home for most of this week, and DH and I will be scrambling to watch both kids while working in demanding jobs that require us to spend all day on conference calls.

I’m so annoyed – I completely understand the school’s policy and that the urgent care is following CDC guidelines, but in practice this is a huge PITA because it will mean that my kids are home several weeks each month just because one of them has even mild symptoms (he just has a cough, no other symptoms). We could get a nanny, but then we lose our spots at a daycare we love and that was really hard to get into. I know we are fortunate to have a daycare that is open and jobs that are understanding, but I’m just so frustrated by the whole situation.

Looking at sending my 18-month-old to a new preschool in the fall. It follows a public school schedule but does have “camp” during the summer. However, there are 3 weeks of “summer break” and a few more holidays than the 14 days of closure a year that we have at the current daycare.

I know this is just the beginning of juggling care for my kid, but what do you typically do for care during these off weeks?

I need help and/or perspective. My husband is 37 and leaves Diet Coke cans All. Over. The. Place. Desk, kitchen, coffee table, bathroom, bedroom, and most annoyingly, my car (his car, too, but I don’t care about that). Most of them are empty but some have a little bit of liquid, which our younger child seems to be a magnet to and finds and dumps. Super fun!

Look, I will be very clear that our house is usually messy because two parents working 55-60 hours per week and two kids under 5 make it that way, but this is something small I feel we can control. I’ve gently said to him “please don’t leave pop cans in my car, thanks,” or, “can we put the cans in this bag right here so I can return them to the grocery store next time I go?” But nothing sticks. This has been going on for YEARS and now that I’m working from home until the end of time and have been for a year now I’m at a breaking point. I acknowledge he’s tired and does a lot but I am going to lose it. But also he’s a fully-grown adult and this is really, really stupid.

Do I ignore? Say something? Just accept he’s not changing and move on (sigh)?

Looking for advice. We have a 3 year old. She doesn’t sleep enough. She goes to daycare/preschool and they want her to nap there, she will nap for 2 hours sometimes if they let her but have been on my instructions waking her up after 45 minutes. She never naps at home. She has been going to bed at 9:45-10 and waking up at 6:30-7 even on the days she doesn’t nap. If it is a no nap day, I can get that down to 9:20 or so and get her to snooze on the couch with me for another half hour in the a.m.. My husband is less able to get her to go to bed on the earlier side, I think she thinks he’s more fun or something (I cannot do bedtime every night).

She just got potty trained very successfully (we put her in a night diapers but they are usually dry). She doesn’t run for the potty or anything when she wakes up. She usually wants some sort of snack after dinner + some milk, we give her a banana or crackers (something small). Kid has ALWAYS been on the low end of sleep needs (i.e. you hear 11-14 hours, my kid was barely at 11). Sometimes after dinner she physically looks tired, we have tried to put her in her bed and do her routine at like 7 and she literally laughs and me and tells me it is not nightime yet. We dim the lights in the apt and limit activity (no screens) for an hour before bed. We try to do quiet time stuff and then do routine of pjs, teeth, etc. She sleeps in a toddler bed in a dark room with a sound machine. Baths wind her up and are only 2 days a week maybe 3 in the summer, and we do them right after dinner.

i just feel this is not normal and I must be doing something wrong. my nephew is 6 months older, still naps 1 hour a day, and sleeps 12 hours at night. i know you can’t compare kids, they are different, but I worry she is not getting enough sleep. (Also – WE are not getting enough sleep!) Personality wise, she is a fairly happy kid, of course has her toddler moments, doesn’t seem super grumpy or anything. I do think she is smart, so my next step is gong to be talking about how sleep makes our bodies healthy and maybe find some more books about sleeping and how it is good (we have one, which she hates, lol). We have 3 year old checkup next week so will be asking her dr (although at the last visit, he blamed daycare and naps).

Any magic ideas?

Have you daycare’s hours changed since covid? Ours is still on reduced hours and I’m wondering if we are ever going back.

DH and I received the vaccine on Saturday evening, off a wait list. This morning, I woke up with a huge sense of relief, the sun shining through my window, and sounds of birds outside. I felt so much hope for the first time in a year.

I know we periodically talk about the children’s books we just can’t with anymore, but what picture books have you been enjoying lately? Not the ones that your kids demand endlessly, but the ones that you yourself find delightful, touching, or are generally happy to read?
For my part- We just discovered two Kenneth Kraegel books through our library- Green Pants (about a boy who only wears green pants and is faced with a dilemma when asked to be in his favorite cousin’s wedding) and King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson (about a six year old descendant of King Arthur, going in search of adventure- it makes us laugh every time).
Also – The Proudest Blue about sisters and hajibs.
What’s been making for happy family reading time for you?