Organizing Thursday: Gorilla Ties

Does anyone used an ok to wake clock but as an alarm clock? Or any other preschooler alarm clock recs? 3.5 yo insists on getting herself out of bed in the morning but she stays in bed until pretty late even though I’m sure she’s awake. Thinking a light or some sort of prompt would help her get up.

Normal 4 year old behavior or something more? My nearly 4.5 year old has been getting very very frustrated when he can’t do something perfectly (in his opinion) lately – i.e. drawing letters, hitting the ball at just the right angle, taking his clothes off or putting them on. He starts crying and yelling and sometimes gets physical with us (although less than when he was 2-3 for the physical). I myself have anxiety and am a recovering perfectionist so I don’t want to project too much on him but I also want to find coping mechanisms for him at this young age. We tell him that it’s ok to get frustrated, and that he should take a few minutes to calm down in his room after. I don’t want to avoid all triggering activities, I would rather he ends up a little less hard on himself. But I don’t know if that’s something he’ll grow into or if we should be doing something more now.

Thank you to everyone that commented on my potty post from yesterday (about the 2 and 4 year old). I think we have two separate issues- constipation causing pain, and potty requests at bedtime being used to procrastinate. We are working on upping the pear puree, peach puree, and flax to address the one and setting a “you get one chance” limit at night to address the other. Really appreciate everyone’s perspectives, it helped a lot to clarify the problem and potential solutions for me. If anyone has other suggestions, particularly for the constipation, I would love to hear them! We don’t want to do miralax yet until we talk to the doctor, so focusing on foods that will help for now.

Any thoughts about taking a step back at work? Or really not a step back, but more like a pause at my current level.

I have some opportunities to get more recognition for some things at work but it involves joining a program that just seems like more work with pressure to do certain high visibility things. While it is a great opportunity, I also want a break and do not in any circumstances want to work more than 40 hours a week. I had a baby last year and I think I’m going to be trying for another soon and I’m planning to take extra time off on top of that, which I fear will complicate my participation because there’s no way some of my work will be waiting for me when I come back. There’s a strong push to get more women involved in leadership (in a company where the numbers are frankly pathetic) so there is support if I want to pursue it but also why can’t I just wait a year or two? I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to get me to advance more quickly than I maybe should, and I say that not because I have imposter syndrome but because I just don’t see a need to race to the top. My peers all have a good 5 years of experience on me. I’m looking at the application for this program now and I just don’t feel like filling it out. But at the same time, I’m worried that if I don’t do it now they’ll write me off and I won’t be able to do it later on.

My 3.5 y/o is so excited for Halloween and I’m becoming concerned that I might need to manage expectations around trick or treating (as in, it might not be happening this year). He really doesn’t care about the candy as much as he enjoys socializing around the neighborhood. Can you think of a good alternative activity that’s socially distant but still fun for littles? I suppose we could drive around and look at decorations. Trunk or treats at church are usually big but that seems worse almost (nothing against churches it’s just a lot of people).