Family Friday: Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead
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2018 Update: We still stand by this Rockabye Baby review — but you may want to check out some of our more recent stories about bedtime, including our recent post on how to get your kids to sleep.
In case you’re not familiar with the Rockabye Baby! line of CDs, they are instrumental lullaby versions of popular songs (from Metallica to Bob Marley to Björk) and many of them are available to stream with Prime (which is great if you want to have Alexa sing your child to sleep!). I’ve also gotten them from the library. One of my favorites is the Radiohead CD, which is full of beautiful, layered songs that are really cool. I wholeheartedly recommend it if you’re a fan of Radiohead. The MP3 download is $10.49 and the CD starts at $3.98 used and $11.00 new at Amazon. Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead
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Anyone have an autistic kid? We have twin three year old boys. We’ve known something was up with T for awhile. He had early intervention for gross motor delay (didn’t pull up until 13 mo, didn’t walk until 18 mo, still doesn’t jump). He also has a speech delay and has been getting services for awhile. We had him evaluated by a NP who’s a specialist in developmental disorders, in particular autism. Her assessment (after only about 15 min — we waited a year for the appointment and thought it would be more thorough) was that he had autistic tendencies but was not autistic. He makes good eye contact, loves social games like peek-a-boo, is very snuggly, is extremely easy-going with almost no problems with changes in routine, very rare tantrums (even through the terrible twos), good eater, good sleeper, and seems to read emotion well enough (reacts differently to being told “no” if it’s said gently vs angrily). But he has odd body posture, repeats phrases over and over, has limited vocabulary, and seriously does not follow instructions at all. Our au pair is on vacation so I had a chance to observe him with his preschool classmates this week during drop off and pick up, and the difference is just so clear. I mean, we know his brother is more advanced than he is, but it was just so stark in the bigger group. We have a meeting with the people from the school system next week, and the follow up appointment with a developmental pediatrician mid-June, so we’re doing all the things. But based on what I’ve found online, it seems like autism varies so widely that saying a kid is autistic is kind of meaningless (e.g., autistic people tend to do X, but not all autistic people; they also tend to do Y, but not all, etc.) Just not sure what to expect, but while we’ve been unsure for awhile whether he was “really” autistic, seeing him with the other kids made it pretty clear that there’s something really different about him.
We’re changing my daughter’s daycare next week, and I’d like to get a small gift for her teachers. She has two main teachers, but she spends a lot of time in the other toddler classrooms as well. Any suggestions? Is a gift card appropriate for her main teachers? Should I bring in something for all of the toddler teachers to enjoy – cupcakes, muffins, etc.?
I spent most of the night awake last night which is completely unusual for me. Nothing usually keeps me up, especially not work related. I had an issue with a colleague yesterday that involved her blindsiding me in a meeting and later unloading her grievances. I felt awful and kept turning it over and over in my head last night despite knowing that I had done everything I could to remedy the situation with what she gave me. I was exhausted and worked on all my usual techniques to fall asleep – reading, meditation, etc.
I’m not a people pleaser, but I am also not accustomed to having someone truly angry with my decisions or the way I handle something. In some ways, I think this is part of career progression and being in leadership roles. I knew it was stupid to be awake thinking about it, but I just couldn’t turn it off.
What do you do when you’re in this kind of situation where your hands are tied but you still just feel bad? I’m fine now after getting some other feedback and some success under my belt today but losing a night of sleep over this is frustrating. I’m proud of how I handled the front at work but I’m not happy about the emotional impact I let it have on me.
Gross question warning. Poo ahead.
I know some of y’all have talked about using a pretend magical item to help your kid ward off “monsters”, but has anyone used this to help your kid get over other fears? My daughter has been potty trained to pee in the toilet for almost six months now. But she’s really scared to poop in the toilet. This stems from some actual medical issues we’re working on with her doctor’s guidance. I’ve read the duHamel book that someone on here recommended, which was helpful too. I think at this point it’s mainly a psychological issue.
I was thinking of getting her something to hold while she’s trying to use the potty. (Specifically, I was thinking of getting a plush poo emoji, because I’m super mature and think it’s hilarious). Does this sound insane, or like it could possibly work?
Ok, I was really excited for the lullaby renditions of rock songs, but they are not all created equal. We have the Led Zeppelin one, which is good, but we’ve tried others and they were not so good. Plus, IME, they did nothing to calm a screaming baby.
TL;DR – is this a stupid time to lean in?
We recently increased the staff of our small office, and I now have two colleagues with the same title. They both have less experience in the job in general (and of course less seniority in the organization). I learned recently that colleague A, who transferred from within the organization, probably earns significantly more than me (~15%) due to our (not very good) rules of internal transfer. Not sure what colleague B makes, he is new to the role and to the organization. I have taken a leadership role in our group of three, partly on my own because they need it, and partly because our boss (also newer to this office, but not the larger company) believes me to be the most competent of the three. She has told me that she appreciates my experience and skill and that I am taking this leadership role.
In normal life, I’d take my annual appraisal – my first with her – in June to ask for a promotion and a pay bump, which would formalize what I feel as though I am already doing – providing leadership in our team, taking the lead on implementing certain projects, acting as a mentor/sounding board to my newer colleagues. But right now my 10 month old is waking up so ungodly early I’m getting no sleep, and I feel less efficient and more and more behind. And we are buying and selling a house and preparing to move, which is not only taking up mental bandwidth but also time away from work for inspections, repairs (moving from one 100 year old house to another), paperwork, and all that. So I definitely don’t feel as though I’m killing it.
I’ve been trying to kick it up a notch in this final month before my eval, but I’m carrying so much stress about not being as good at my job as I normally am. I feel that my boss is still trusting me to carry out high-priority projects, so that is good. Is it stupid to ask about a promotion in this upcoming eval when I’m potentially positioning myself for failure since I’m flying by the seat of my pants right now? Is it stupid to NOT ask and then wait for six months…a year…when I could be getting this now? Should I instead say in my eval something like, “My goal is to move into a Promotion role. How can I move towards that this year?” or is that shooting myself in the foot by not just asking for it now?
For further context, I’ve been in this position nearly three years with good success, but we haven’t had a long term boss in our office and have had a ton of staff transition, so it has never seemed like the right time to ask about a promotion.
Signed,
Overthinking and needing sleep
Has anyone worked with a professional organizer? What did they do and was it worth it? Any added value besides adding some accountability and forcing you to put in the time to declutter?
I have some kid-free time coming up when the baby starts daycare a couple weeks before I go back to work (theoretically this is for baby to transition gradually). Anyways, I was thinking this could be a good opportunity to do some kon-marie-ing (is that a verb?) before I go back. I don’t really think we need any major storage solutions or Pinteresty label-making, but it would be nice to have a more decluttered space. I realize this is something I could do own my own but when I’ve attempted this in the past I’ve run out of steam after one or two closets.
Philly ‘rettes: I just learned that work is not going to interfere with Memorial Day weekend and our long scheduled trip to Philly. Now that I know we can go, I actually need to plan things to do with our active 17 month old. I think we would all be happy going to playgrounds/parks and child friendly restaurants; any suggestions?
We are staying at the Westin by Rittenhouse Square. Thanks all!
Any advice regarding a 1.5 year old who bites others and self out of frustration? She’s not very verbal yet. Is there hope it will self resolve once words like “go away” and “my toy” are in her vocabulary?
Any recommendations for a therapist in the DC, Maryland, or NOVA area? My husband has been out of work for over a year and half. We recently moved to DC for a better job opportunity for me. To save money, our daughter goes to daycare in the morning and he has her in the afternoons. In our prior city, she went to full-time daycare and my husband was unemployed. The idea was for him to use the mornings to look for work or something that he is passionate about, then get to spend time with our daughter. We’ve been here for over 6 months and he has had one interview. He does not actively look for work. I can tell that he is overwhelmed, lonely, and depressed. He has started drinking more heavily at night. This morning he really over-reacted to our daughter being a two year-old and it frightened me and her.
Happy Friday to everyone in the office today. May your workday be short and quiet!!
So, Baby Clem’s ideal dinnertime would be 5:15. Bed is at 7, so this would totally make sense…
Except that we don’t get home until 5:45 at the absolute earliest. Currently, he gets a snack the second I pick him up from daycare (he is literally begging for food at this point). We get home and I immediately serve him the dinner I have prepared already. I’ve started cooking either in the morning or the night before so I can literally go carset-highchair-food in face within 5 minutes of getting home.
If I deviate from this at all, he feeds his entire dinner to the dog. If I feed him two snacks instead of one, he doesn’t eat his dinner. If I feed him later than 6:15, he eats absolutely nothing.
Have I already figured out the best solution? My husband is traveling for work, so there’s no backup there. Baby Clem actually eats 2 or 3 breakfasts, a big lunch, and a snack all before I pick him up, so I feel like he’s getting food.
I missed your message yesterday about pools. I think you live in the Concord/Lexington, MA area like me, and I’ve had a similar struggle looking for pools! The best options I’ve found are the Boston Sports Club in Waltham, Atkinson Pool in Sudbury, and the Waltham YMCA. Walden Pond is also an option once the weather warms up – you can get a parking pass for $65 for the season, and you can usually access it as long as you go in the morning before it gets crowded.