Family Friday: Light-Up Glimmer Sneaker

What do you do when your kid breaks something expensive by accident (but an accident that could have been prevented if they were behaving)? My preschooler “tossed” my phone at me (yelling “CATCH!”) but I was 1) not prepared (holding the baby) and 2) his aim was completely off – and he hit the flatscreen TV. He has of course been told many times we don’t throw things in the house. And we don’t throw phones. And we definitely don’t throw phones AT THE TV.

Quick google searches and calls to the manufacturer leads us to believe the thing is totalled (you can replace the screen, but this costs almost as much as a new TV). Amazing, homeowner’s covers it so we’re only out the $1000 deductible.

The natural consequence would be, you can’t watch TV (which… you can’t. the thing doesn’t even turn on) but he prefers his iPad. So we took the iPad away. But like, for how long? And is that the right call? We want him to understand how serious it is (he apologized immediately but suggested we “use the other TV” or “try to tape it”). I also feel very privileged that, while annoying, $1000 is in the end not that big of a deal but I can imagine that many families wouldn’t be able to replace something of that value. So part of me wants him to understand that, but maybe that’s too much to ask of a preschooler.

I need some advice of older parents here. Our son is 2 (26 months). He has a level of physical rambunctiousness that’s very exhausting i.e. climbing out of his crib for 2 hours in the middle of the night last night, pulling all the couch cushions off to use as a trampoline, just being a little energetic, adorable but exhausting tornado. Also, he doesn’t seem to care to please / want to follow the rules / show empathy for hurting us physically (we also have a 4 year old daughter and she was not this way at age 2, but of course kids are different). He cries in timeout, but then just does whatever he was doing again i.e. touching the tv, bothering his sister, throwing food. I have to carry him a lot to the car and into stores etc because he just tries to break-away from me. I do all the BLF type strategies and it’s worked great for my daughter, but he just doesn’t have that intense emotional outbursts (yet), it’s more the physical energy. It feels like we’re still stuck at how I remember 18 months being with my daughter. Is this just age 2 for some kids or is there any larger issue here?

I posted a while ago about my mom gifting a Fire Kids Pro10 to my 5 year old. I’ve gotta say, what a complicated mess that thing is! I wanted to like it, y’all sold me on the parental controls, etc. but its SO confusing! The constant switching between parent profile and kids profile and having to enter your pw over and over again . . . I also don’t really get the content. Previously my kid had been using an old Mac book which we have opened to a browser window with Netflix. That’s all the content she ever accessed. Sometimes we’d switch to Prime via the browser and we did have DIsney+ for a while, too. Now there’s this overwhelming amount of content on the Fire and it’s hard to even figure out what is a book, what is a random video, what is an actual show or movie, what is a game–she’s 5 and just learning to read so it’s not like she can do it on her own. I really want to like this thing, but what am I missing? I wish one of you could come over to my house and walk me through it because I just can’t figure out how to make it not a frustrating experience.

Seeking the experience of this group – for those who transitioned to full time day care at a slightly later age (my son is 27 months and just started full time care this week, previously at home with a nanny), how long did it take for your child to learn to nap at school?

This week was the first week where we had no nanny (who had been with us for 2 years) and started at school. The rest of the school transition seems to be going okay/normal. We have had a grand total of 15 minutes of a nap this week at school, (even on Monday and Tuesday, which were half days and he was home to nap, he didn’t nap at all).

At home with our nanny, our son had a specific pre nap routine – read two books, sing a song, get in his sleep sack, get put in his crib, turn on a stuffed animal that plays music, turn on white noise, fully dark room….. I do not, and have never expected, that his school would have the same nap set up in any way, shape or form. At school he has a nap mat, a blanket, and a dupe of is lovey from home (we actually sent the OG lovey to school and the dupe now lives in his crib at home). He is usually pretty good about napping, but there is occasionally times where he just doesn’t nap.

We have been lucky that on days he doesn’t nap, he doesn’t have a melt down, but we usually just get him in bed a bit earlier. However, he’s never gone 4 days without a nap like he has this week. Is this normal because of the transition to school? Any suggestions?
(I mean, personally, I also would not want to nap on the floor in a room full of strangers, but I also know that he’s happier child when he sleeps.) Thanks!!

Looking for tips and tricks to handle 3 kids (7yo, 2yo, newborn) in the car. Right now we have a Jeep Grand Cherokee (so, only one row in the back), and a GMC Acadia with captains’ chairs in the middle and two seats in the way back. We’ll have three carseats — a bucket, a convertible and a booster. Eeek.

The Jeep seems to be — as narrow seats as possible, 7yo in middle, 2yo and newborn on the sides. Acadia seems to be 7yo in back. Any other brilliant ideas? I’m really struggling with getting my husband on board of not getting two GIANT cars, we do not need two cars to tote around the family — one big car for everyday use and one regular car seems to suffice. But noooooooooo, he wants a minivan AND a three row SUV and I’m just wondering if he thinks cars are free now?

Going anon for this one. There is a situation that happened in my extended family and it’s making me look at my own family and bringing me worries. I have a son (17) and my sister has 2 daughters (18 and 22).

My oldest niece is starting a T14 law school this year. She interned in DC for elected officials and has plans for a political future. My youngest niece graduated high school this year. The plan was for her to do undergrad in a science field and then to attend Stanford doing a dual JD/MD degree. She was due to start at Cornell this semester.

Last week she dropped the bomb that she wouldn’t be going to Cornell. She didn’t confirm to any of the schools she was accepted to. She told her parents she got a job as a utility worker for water out in Colorado. Unknown to everyone she quit her job as a tutor last year and had been working in a garage instead. She said college or school isn’t in the cards for her and utility workers don’t need education and it is a recession proof field so she chose that. Her job is government and unionized. She also said she’s talked to national guard recruiting about a job repairing generators.

This bomb was completely out of the blue. Everyone is shocked. I guess I’m thinking and worrying about my son. He says he wants to do the JD/MD program at Stanford and we are getting ready for undergrad applications next year. He has given no indication he changed his mind but my niece never did either. I don’t know if I’m projecting or I should be worried or what. Should I talk to him or just leave it alone. And what I can I do to help my sister? She’s still reeling a bit.