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Every time I turn around, I see toys, toys, everywhere!
Instead of leftover moving boxes, perhaps I need to invest in some sort of organization system, like this one from Ikea. I thought I left Ikea behind in my first post-grad apartment, but perhaps I should give them another look.
The Trofast is their very popular toy storage system. This low storage unit features lightweight, plastic boxes that slide in and out on grooves in a wooden shelf so your kids can get and (hopefully) put back their own things.
It also comes in a number of configurations and colors so you can find one that works best for you.
Ikea’s Trofast starts at $46.99, including boxes.
{related: how to store toys in an Expedt/Kallax shelving unit}
Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
TheElms says
Looking for vacation ideas for late June coming from the DC area. Vacation can be anywhere from 1 week to maybe 4 weeks and I’ll have my 3 year old and an approximately 4 month old. Husband can join for 1 week and I’ll likely have a family member come for any additional weeks or possibly our nanny. Pre-kids I was a pretty adventurous traveler and we did travel with my 3 year old a few times before (including internationally) and during Covid (car trips only since covid started). I’m potentially open to plane travel and open to leaving the US, depending on how Covid seems closer to the time. But I know the safer, less likely to be cancelled Covid option is a driving trip in the US. Happy to drive up to 12 hours, and would likely split that over 2 days. Not interested in going to the local Delaware/MD/VA beaches unless you think you know a secret spot. Like outdoorsy activities, but obviously ability to hike will be close to zero with a 3 year old and infant.
Anon says
need a bit more info. do you want to go some place to rent a house? hotel? do you like beach? more mountains? what do you want to do on this vacation? will you still be on maternity leave and you just want a change of scenery? it seems like it is hard to plan something with plane travel since you aren’t sure whether or not you will be comfortable, which is totally fair. some ideas are going south to north or south carolina beaches, or mountains of north carolina, or to go north to the berkshires in MA, Connecticut, Maine.
TheElms says
I will still be on maternity leave. I probably want to rent a house as opposed to a hotel because that seems easier with two kids. I like both the beach and mountains. I like good food and pretty scenery. So small towns that would be kid friendly could be a good option. I’ve probably done more beach trips than mountains but I’m open to both. I haven’t travelled a lot in the US, most of my travel has been international.
I realize this is very open, but I’m pretty much looking for folks to say places they went with similar aged kids that seemed to work well or that they enjoyed and maybe a sentence about what they did or why they liked it. I think I’m having a hard time conceptualizing what a trip with two kids could be like and what might be reasonable / possible.
Spirograph says
This seems really pedestrian, but … Rochester NY? The beach at Lake Ontario is nice, your 3 year old would love a day at the Strong museum, there are nice paved walking/hiking trails you could push a stroller on, and the zoo is a great size for young kids. It’s a short drive to the finger lakes and pretty mountains for a day trip.
Anonymous says
If you’re open to flying, I did a ~2 week trip with a 4 month old to the LA/San Diego areas a few years ago and it was great. We rented a car once we got there and spent a week in LA and a week in San Diego. We rented an apartment in LA and a cottage in La Jolla in SD. It was a great trip. We enjoyed just walking around the neighborhoods, going on scenic drives, eating good food, spent a day or 2 at the beach, went to the SD Zoo, etc. etc.
Anonymous says
Bar Harbor! We flew from DC when we went but it’s about a 12 hour drive. There are short but beautiful hikes where you can park and then just walk around (we went with an almost three and almost five year old), but also lots of delicious restaurants and fun downtown for when you want to do something else. My husband had to work a lot of this trip and I still had a blast taking kids to the local farmers market, getting coffee and snacks there, and hanging at the playground. It’s just a gorgeous area.
Anon says
Yes to this trip, especially if you are there off season. The DCA/Portland flight is pretty easy. If you are an outdoorsy, adventurous traveler, I suggest looking at northern Maine (Katahdin, which I love so much more than Bar Harbor), but it will be harder for your husband to get up/back quickly.
We spent the last few summers in the Katahdin region of Maine and Bar Harbor, and I swear, half of Bar Harbor was from DC. We met neighbors every time we went hiking!! Caveat that it was so dang busy last year that it made our favorite activities really tough. Parking at popular hikes was a mess, and eating out/parking in Bar Harbor took forever.
If you are also looking for something outdoorsy that is a little closer, highly recommend the Adirondack region. There are SO many great small towns on the lakes. I would look for a house on a lake that is walking distance to one of the little towns. Swim in the morning, walk into town for ice cream and park time, then have pizza before walking home. Try Old Forge, Lake Saranac, Long Lake, Tupper Lake, etc.
For any of these places, do your homework on what kind of cell/internet phone service you’ll have. Service is limited or non-existent in many places, especially outside of town.
Good luck – some of our family’s favorite memories are in these spots.
Anon says
Adding that I’ve done these trips with infants all the way through big kids, and the only years that they were hard were the years we had toddlers. So I guess it depends on what kind of 3 year old you have. At 3, my kids wouldn’t sit at restaurants and weren’t great hikers, so honestly, I’d lean more into a lake town than Bar Harbor. Our Bar Harbor trips consisted of hiking during the day, then food at night. It was great with babies who were happy in a carrier or big kids who could handle themselves on a trail/loved eating out. Again, caveat that I have some PTSD from being there last August, when parking in Bar Harbor took 30 minutes, it took 45 minutes to get a table, then 2 hours to get out of a restaurant where all you ordered was a lobster roll and a beer.
With a 3 year old, I’d look for a zero entry lake front house where the 3 year old can play in the water or in the sand, then walk to a local playground, get ice cream then back home. You can stick your baby in a bjorn on a dock, and hold a glass of wine/read a book.
Anon says
Parking in Bar Harbor is always a nightmare, it has been since I was a kid in the 1980s. I recommend staying in the village of Bar Harbor and walking to restaurants if at all possible (you’ll still want a car to see Acadia, but it makes it a lot more pleasant if you don’t have to drive and park every time you need to eat). Or if that’s not possible, then try to visit restaurants outside of Bar Harbor. There are a lot of great lobster shacks on the side of the main highway (Rt. 3) on Mount Desert Island, and a great lobster pound right by the bridge. All of them have their own parking lots or worst case you park on the side of the road. Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor also have some good dining options with better parking availability. There’s a decent restaurant with very scenic views in Hulls Cove called The Chartroom.
Anon says
I would rent a house in Provence or Tuscany if I had a month to travel in June. If you want to stay in the US, my recommendation would be Acadia National Park in Maine. It’s great for kids. We go every summer and last year my daughter was 3 and really loved it. You’ll have more options for stuff to do and see if you can babywear the newborn (because it’s not a super stroller-friendly) area, but even if you use a stroller there is nice stuff you can. Acadia is one of the best national parks for non-hikers, because there’s a lot of stuff to see by car and on short walks. The hiking is great too, but we don’t hike with my preschooler – she is not athletic and I’ve never been the “throw the kid in a hiking carrier and go” type. Hawaii could also be good since you have such a flexible schedule, although it would be very expensive to stay there for 2+ weeks. We were on Oahu with my 3 year old last summer and she had a good time. There are lots of calm beaches for kids (in summer anyway).
FP says
It’s a bit farther (looks like 15 hours vs 12) but the 30A area in Florida is wonderful for family friendly beaches and home rentals. There are a lot of home rental sites. 360 Blue is the agency we have gone through but there are so many others. The towns are preplanned so may be not as adventurous as you are used to, but the infrastructure is there for families. Watercolor is fantastic for a 3 year old – the Camp Watercolor pools are perfect.
Anon says
Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island, SC. Gentle, empty beaches, mostly residential, lots of walking paths, you can take a golf cart around the island. Water will still be chilly in late June, but much warmer than up here. 20 minute drive across the connector and you’re in downtown Charleston with all the things to do (markets, I’m sure there are children’s museums, the food is amazing).
NYCer says
I was also going to suggest somewhere outside of Charleston, South Carolina.
Another SC option… We had a great trip to Montage Palmetto Bluff with small kids, but it is a hotel. We were there for a long weekend – a month would be a long time IMO. Sea Island, GA could also be fun, but again not sure I would want to stay a month.
Further afield in the US, Balboa Island in Newport Beach, CA is lovely with kids. June is not an ideal time at the beach in Southern California (can be gray and gloomy), but you could get lucky with the weather.
In an ideal world, I would recommend a month in Corsica or Antibes, France, but logistically that probably would be harder since you aren’t sure about flying and would need to plan ahead a bit.
DLC says
I’ve done Deep Creek several times with my kids on my own. It’s not terribly adventurous, but it’s a cool (temperature) getaway and pretty easy and there’s a couple lake beaches and great state parks
Also.. check out the Maryland Ice Cream Trail.
Anonymous says
I’m biased, because we have a cabin there, but I’d say the Catskills. Cute towns, great food, lots of walks/ hiking, lots of lakes, lots of vacation houses to rent. The one thing to know is to choose your location carefully. It takes longer than you might imagine to go from one county to the next, because the mountains dictate your route. I’d maybe even stay in two places, so you can try out two different areas for a couple of weeks each.
I like Maine a lot, but for me the best part of Maine is being on a boat, and I wouldn’t want to do that with a toddler and infant.
Anon says
3 and infant are actually fine ages for boating. 1-2 is way harder. Source: family owns a sailboat in New England.
Anon at 9:44 says
Since there have been lots of recs for Acadia and Bar Harbor I’ll share my family’s list of favorite things to do around there with little kids who aren’t able to hike. We go annually and my daughter was 3 last summer.
-Driving scenic areas of the park especially Park Loop Road and Cadillac Mountain
-Walking on Ocean drive/Otter Cliffs and the top of Cadillac
-Walking some or all of the loop around Jordan Pond (depending on stamina) followed by popovers and lobster stew on the lawn at Jordan Pond House. You can often see frogs in the lake.
-Boating: there is a big schooner that goes out of BH, as well as lobster boat trips and whale watching trips. You can also rent kayaks and canoes. (Contrary to what someone said below, we have not found it especially challenging to take babies or toddlers on boats, especially big ones where there’s space for them to run around.)
-Walking the bar to Bar Island at low tide – you may seem some crabs or starfish
-Low tiding at Bartlett’s Landing on the western side of the island, also a good place to see crabs and starfish
-Playing on the beach and looking for shells at Sand Beach (be warned the water is v. cold)
-Lakewood Pond or Echo Lake for warmer swimming beaches
-Walking the Shore Path in Bar Harbor
-Agamont Park and the Village Green in BH are good green spaces for kids to run around or have a picnic, and there is also a small beach next to the town pier
-If you want to do any stroller walks carriage roads are good for that. If you want to walk on the carriage roads, the Eagle Lake area is my favorite part
-If you want to do a real hike, Flying Mountain and Beech Mountain are the easiest. I think most 3 year olds could do the former and many could do the latter, so if you could wear the baby it might be doable.
For restaurants in BH, I like the food at West St Cafe, Side St. Cafe, Cafe This Way (breakfast), Jordan’s (breakfast). Cafe This Way has a life size Connect 4 game you can play while you wait that my 3 year old went crazy for last summer. Geddy’s and Rosalie’s have good pizza. Ben and Bill’s and MDI Ice Cream for ice cream. Terrace Grille at Bar Harbor Inn has the best views in the village of BH, but food is only ok. My favorite restaurant on the island is the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor. They have a covered patio with beautiful views of the harbor, and excellent food (including better popovers than Jordan Pond House). It’s $$$ but worth it. Nor’easter Pound in NE Harbor is also good for a lobster roll. Many restaurants in Maine will griddle a blueberry muffin for you if you ask and I highly recommend ordering one at every breakfast place you go to. Outdoor dining is easy to find in the Acadia area in the summer.
TheElms says
These are all great ideas, thank you! I’m fairly certain I never would have thought of Bar Harbor on my own (or the Catskills or Rochester).
prenatal appt qs says
Coming up with a list of questions for my ob before my first appointment.
– diet
– weight gain (what is reasonable)
– air travel
– COVID precautions
Anything I’m missing?
Thank you!
Pogo says
What to do if x happens – if you have bleeding, if you aren’t sure about what medication to take, etc. Usually they have a nurse’s line or on call OB line, but knowing what to do beforehand will help if you are in a situation where you need to use it.
Anon says
+1 ensuring there’s a way to contact to ease any worries you have is huge!
Anonymous says
Whether you’ll be seeing the same doc throughout or whether you’ll rotate around the other OBs in the practice/switch between your OB and an NP/see residents. Whether there are any covid protocols you need to know about for appointments (like can you bring a support person to all or only some appts?). What to do if you test positive. Whether they’ve changed the usual schedule of appts/ultrasounds due to covid or moved some to telehealth instead of in-person.
Aunt Jamesina says
If you’re 35 or older, I would ask how that might change their protocols around your pregnancy (additional screenings, potential for induction, etc).
Anonymous says
Ask about any medications you are on.
Spirograph says
also ask about OTC medications. My OB office had a magnet with “OK to take during pregnancy” painkillers, cold medicine, etc
TheElms says
– Go over the general schedule of appointments for someone your age / risk factors.
– Go over pregnancy safe medications/ what is not considered safe (including things that might be in cosmetics like retinols – which are not safe ).
– Confirm the hospital(s) they deliver at
– Find out if they require a deposit prior to delivery or any other payment related issues
– Make sure you have the after hours contact info and know what should trigger a call (generally you can call anytime, but if certain things happen you need to call).
– Go over travel in general — not just air travel. There are still Zika considerations, long car rides can be not recommended depending on your situation, etc.
Anonymous says
If you really want to do a deep dive into diet, I’m reading Deep Nutrition and it goes into pregnancy quite a bit. But it is a little judgmental and definitely advocates for diet changes that would be a big leap for many Americans, so if that is not for you then skip it.
Anonymous says
Can you tell me more about this book?
Anonymous says
She just goes into the science of nutrition, including in different cultures. She has an MD and clearly has a good understanding of biochemistry and genetics, so she is pretty good at weaving together what the studies say, where studies are deficient, and anecdotes of what she sees in her clinical practice. She talks about what different cultures have done to help couples have healthy babies, and how that knowledge has been passed on. She also talks about what is happening to the gestating body and fetus during pregnancy and how different nutritional profiles can show up in offspring (eg, firstborns are more likely to have a certain type of facial symmetry while laterborns are likely to have another type due to firstborn usually having more benefit from nutrition stores in the parent’s body, and laterborns having the benefit of the parent’s body being more responsive to pregnancy hormones in the second round).
Anonanon says
Also highly recommend Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols – really well researched, and great recipes.
Anon says
They usually give you info sheets with things you need to know like approved medications for pregnancy, testing options (genetic testing, testing for abnormalities, etc – there is some choice involved), foods to avoid, etc.
anonn says
Depends on what kind of birth plan you want, but if there is anything you really care about, make sure the other OBs in the practice are on board as well. Like, if you don’t want to be induced, don’t want continuous monitoring, want to move around during labor, want a doula etc. My ob wasn’t on-call with my first and we had to actually fire the on-call doc. (he was an old-school OB who made his pts stay in bed on monitors) If anything, how she answers will help you make sure she’s a good fit for you.
Anon says
Maybe not at your first appointment but if you’re open to it, seeing what your OB thinks about induction at 39 weeks and the ARRIVE trial.
My OB offers/recommends elective induction at 39 weeks due to this study that had slightly better outcomes for first time moms and infants. I was totally game but we didn’t talk about it until I was 30 something weeks. I am a huge planner so would have liked to know sooner. (I wound up having a great birth experience via induction).
Anonymous says
There are less invasive and more effective methods of reducing the c-section rate than early induction. Continuous labor support from a doula and intermittent (as opposed to continuous) fetal monitoring have each been shown to reduce the likelihood of a c-section much more than elective induction at 39 weeks.
Anon says
The ARRIVE trial including new analysis from it includes more outcomes than just c-section reduction. Neither of us are OP’s OB. I’m not trying to give her medical advice and neither should you. I’m just saying I wish this was a discussion I had sooner with my OB.
Anonymous says
I am simply suggesting some other options she might also ask her OB about.
AwayEmily says
+1 to this — I have sort of the opposite experience. I am over 40, had to be induced with my last two at 40+ weeks after my water broke but labor didn’t start, and needed to find childcare for my other two kids. For all those reasons I wanted an elective induction at 39 weeks but my practice said no, they don’t do that. They did induce me at 40+3, though, and everything turned out fine. Still, I wish I would have brought it up earlier.
vacation / age q! says
What are your favorite trips you’ve taken with your family? Please include kids age at the time of trip, length of trip, and what month/season. Yay travel planning! Thanks for your help!
Anonymous says
New Orleans, age 10, Christmas.
Extra anon for this says
Haven’t taken our kids yet (except for taking my son to the early mardi gras parades when he was 2 and 3) but I grew up going there, went to uni there, and have returned several times as an adult and it really is a kid-friendly city!! And it’s beautiful at Christmastime!
I’d recommend:
-Haunted history tour (if you have older kids, it’s a walking tour of a quarter with supposed ghost stories but there is a lot of real history and it’s just a fun way to have a guided walk through the quarter)
-Cafe du monde (duh)
-The aquarium (walkable from cafe du monde)
-The French market (so fun to get overpriced souvenirs there as a kid)
-At Christmas you have to stay at the Roosevelt or at least go check out their lobby. They go all out
-Ride the streetcar uptown to Audubon Park
-I hear Mardi Gras World is fun (seeing where they make the floats, etc.) but I’ve never done it
-As I said above, early Mardi Gras parades are actually very family-friendly. They’ll throw stuffed animals to the kids, etc. I took my son a few times and stayed with a friend and he loved it!
GCA says
The zoo is great, and if you’re there in hot weather, so is the splash park (yes there’s an entire splash park in the zoo – we visited when my first was 3 and he had an absolute blast).
HSAL says
We’ve only taken one family vacation so far, but we went to South Haven last summer with a five year old (nearly six) and two (newly) three year olds. It was honestly better than I expected. We rented a house that was walking distance to one beach (though driving to a different beach ended up being easier), a great playground, and the downtown. Did a couple of activities (blueberry picking, a boat ride, and Dutch Village) and it was all lovely. We liked it so much we’re doing it again this summer.
Anon says
The easiest and most like a pre-kid vacation was when we took a 9 month old to Turks and Caicos. We had a resort (Windsong) right on a great snorkeling beach and our kid was young enough that she spent a huge chunk of the day napping so we snorkeled while she napped and played at the pool and went out to restaurants when she was awake. It was the only vacation I’ve had with a kid where it felt like the kid didn’t change our plans at all.
But as I commented above, we took my then 3 year old to Acadia and Oahu last summer during the lull in Covid. These were not like pre-kid vacations, obviously, because a kid that age has lots of opinions, but travel with a 3 year old was dramatically easier compared to our last pre-Covid trip when she was almost 2, and those are both really great family destinations.
I joke that my favorite trip is always the one I’m currently planning, but I really hope that’s true! We’re taking our almost 4 year old to Tuscany next month for spring break. We have so many fun activities planned, and I can’t wait to see her try gelato.
You didn’t ask, but by far the worst was an all-inclusive in Cancun when she was almost 2. It was a tough age for travel generally and she got sick with RSV during the trip, so she was really cranky. Room service food was horrible, and we couldn’t really eat in the restaurants because she’d get bored and start crying after 5 minutes. In hindsight we probably should have brought a tablet to entertain her, but at the time we thought she was too young for that.
Anonymous says
Most favorite (in order from greatest to least):
Lake Tahoe, summer, 7 days (flew), kiddo was 4 – kiddo was finally independent and adventurous. Could feed himself and play with cousins. We had a blast.
Flagstaff, spring, 5 days (drove), kiddo was 2.5 – had some nap conflicts with our friends and everything (including grocery store) was closed due to Covid so it was a lame trip but we enjoyed seeing our friends and 2.5 is a good age for Airbnb.
New Orleans, December, 5 days (drove), kiddo was 3.5 – this would probably have topped Flagstaff but the weather was awful (which is unusual for NOLA – pre kids we always went in Dec and it was nice). Great for kids who love walking/riding balance bike. The zoo and Audubon park were big hits.
Least favorite: Boston, Thanksgiving, 7 days, kiddo was 10 months – this was kiddo’s worst age for air travel (was before he got tubes now that I recall) and I would never travel during thanksgiving again. Boston was lovely and we enjoyed walking, and seeing real snow and real friends.
The twins haven’t been anywhere yet other than weekend trips to see grandparents. I’m debating a road trip to California over spring break (we would rent an rv).
Anonymous says
We have been pretty unadventurous and replay greatest-hits each summer for the last 5 years:
Rehoboth Beach, 1 week, rented an air bnb <3 blocks from the beach. Various extended family has joined, depending on the year. Activities: Beach days, Funland, and biking in Henelopen. Kids ages 1-8, so far.
Winter:
(2x) Rented a condo at Snowshoe, WV for 4-7 days. Skiing & other resort amenities (pool, fun zone). Kids ages 3-7.
pre-ski childcare and ski school are excellent.
Rented a house in the woods with a hot tub near Jay Peak, VT for 8 days. Kids ages 5-8. Skiing, indoor water park.
This would have been better in the summer, but we rented an air bnb on the Chesapeake Bay for a long weekend last spring. Kids ages 4-7 There was a firepit, kayaks, and a gorgeous view. We explored the nearby town a bit, but mostly it was downtime with extended family. Our crab pot was unsuccessful because it was too early in the season.
Anonymous says
Please please share Airbnb link!
Anonymous says
Eastern Shore: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/34173856?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=2f1302ea-466e-46ac-95ba-e75db8f51111
We stay at a different house in Rehoboth each time, depending on how much extended family was joining us. now that I’m thinking about it, those are usually booked through Jack Lingo or one of the other local vacation rental managers
Anonymous says
Thank you!
Annon says
Sunriver, Oregon. Ages 3 and 5. We went in June but learned the weather can be uneven (it was a little chilly when we were there) so if we went again I would do July or August to guranatee more warmth, but other than that it was great.
Anonymous says
I think Sunriver and Black Butte are definitely more fun once the kids can bike. And yes, it can be too cold to swim in June.
Anon says
I came to recommend Sunriver. Went there myself (or camped nearby) every summer from ages 6 to 18 – and have gone back with my own son when he was 2 and again when he was 4. We always went in August, but now with the annual forest fire season July would be a safer bet. Tons for kids to do in the ‘village,’ bike trails, playgrounds, breweries for the adults, and very laid back – not overwhelming. Man, I should plan another trip there right now … for those not familiar with pacific northwest, it’s about 3.5 hours south of the Portland airport. So, remote-ish but not too bad.
Anon says
You can also fly into Bend.
Which is also close enough to do an easy day trip or two while there, so you can explore both.
Cb says
Berlin, late April, with a 1.5 year old. Just a totally relaxed trip, we went to some museums, but mostly wandered around, went to cafes and had ice cream, played in playparks, went on the carousel.
Anonymous says
I’m dying to visit Berlin, Cb! Might have to wait til my youngest are four…when I’m 40.
anonn says
we travel a lot and the best trips with kids are when we’ve had other adults staying with us in the same rental. the worse was when it was just us (our kids are not yet school-aged).
Mary Moo Cow says
A week at the beach in NC in August, right before school starts, just our nuclear family. We rent the same house, right on the beach. It just gets better every year. Last year, at 6, our oldest started boogie boarding and she and our 4 year old struck up a friendship with a neighbor, so we were able to stay on the beach for several hours at a clip. Ice cream every night and grilled cheese sandwiches at the local dive for lunch every day are a-ok. It’s the best because DH and I truly are off: we don’t even bring computers. Kids get the best version of me, because the beach feeds my soul and I’m totally relaxed.
AwayEmily says
Rented a lakeside cabin in the Adirondacks for a week in August. Kids were 3 and 5. Also present were our two best friends/the kids’ godparents and my mom. Everyone had their own room/bathroom. The adult to kid ratio was amazing, we swam and read and hiked and cooked and canoed and it was the most relaxed I’d felt in years.
FVNC says
Since the pandemic, we’ve embraced long-weekend trips within a few hours of where we live. Our family relocates often due to my husband’s job, so we try to stay very local to really get to know our temporary homes. We currently live in PNW, which we’ve found to be a wonderland for kids. Favorite recent trips have been:
– Olympic National Park in spring (4 days, kids ages 7 and 3)
– Astoria, OR and surrounding state/national parks in May (4 days, kids ages 7 and 4)
– Bend, OR in summer (4 days, could have spent much longer to explore a larger area; kids ages 7 and 4)
– Vancouver BC over Thanksgiving (4 days, kids ages 8 and 4)
Anonymous says
I was considering Olympic with a six, four and one year old this summer! Would love more details if you can share.
FVNC says
That would be a fun trip at those ages! We stayed at an airbnb in Port Angeles, which is a cute little town. You could also stay in the park itself at various lodges. Favorite activities were exploring tide pools (seriously, we could have spent an entire day doing this!), Marymere Falls hike off Crescent Lake, and a few other short hikes. We did not have a chance to visit the Hoh Rain Forest/Hall of Mosses but that is on my list. It was too cold to swim when we visited but I think there are a lot of water activities on Crescent Lake in the summer. You could add a visit to Sequim (pronounced “squim”) and the lavender farms there.
Anon says
Maui when we only had one kid, age 2. It’s a reasonable flight from where we live in California and we stayed at an upscale but still very family friendly hotel. She took 2+ hour naps each day, which helped give us some adult downtime, and we mostly stayed/ate/played on the property, which made it really easy. We also brought some childcare with us, so having an extra set of hands and being able to sneak out for a date night or two really helped.
DLC says
England- York and London for a week at the end of December with a two year old was pretty fun.
Japan (Kyoto and Tokyo) for five days at the end of December with a four year old was also great, but kind of hectic.
San Diego for a week end of December (there is a pattern here… we usually do family travel in the summer). Air bnb on Imperial Beach with a 7 year old and 2 year old. We just chilled, went to the beach and slept in most days/
I also really love camping in the summer. About five days is my limit, though. Kids were 9, 4 and 1 last summer. We usually go to a state park in Western Maryland.
I’ve also been thinking of travel lately and i think i’m in a season of life where I’ve started to move away from bucket list type trips. I’ve realized (maybe this is pandemic or just having young kids) that what I want out of a vacation is just to be somewhere different and surrounded by nature and not too many choices to make. So we’ve booked an air b&b in Tennessee, for April, no where on anyone’s bucket list, but near the smoky mountains with room for everyone to spread out and a hot tub and I think I will have as good of a time as any star destination.
Anon says
Ha, the pandemic has made me feel the opposite way. I want to check everything off my bucket list NOW even if I know the trip isn’t as fun as it would be with an older kid. Even at the height of the pandemic, we were able to do road trips and stay in Airbnbs so I have zero interest in doing that while it’s safe enough to fly and stay in hotels. We booked four international trips this year because who my attitude is who knows when the next variant is coming and I want to get all the exciting travel in while I can.
SC says
Last Memorial Day, my family (DH, myself, 6 year old) drove to Chattanooga for a few days. I wanted my son to see a mountain, and Lookout Mountain was the closest in driving distance. We stayed in Chattanooga for about 48 hours. We did Rock City Wednesday afternoon, walked across the pedestrian bridge to Coolidge Park and rode the carousel and played on Thursday morning, rode the Incline Railway on Thursday afternoon, and did Ruby Falls on Friday morning. I wanted to hike a nearby waterfall Friday afternoon, but the weather did not cooperate. We had a great time! We were especially surprised that we found several excellent restaurants! It wasn’t supposed to be a “foodie” trip, but DH and I love food, so that was icing on the cake for us. I would have loved to combine Chattanooga with renting a cabin outside Gatlinburg, but it wasn’t in the cards that trip.
We’ve taken two Disney cruises, when Kiddo was 4 and 5, and those were excellent vacations in every way. I’m not so sure that my perspective on cruises will be the same going forward.
Anonymous says
The Disney cruise we took just before the pandemic was my favorite vacation ever. I was very surprised because I didn’t think I would be a cruise person and my husband is most definitely not a Disney person, but it was so relaxing and we have never had so much fun. I was hoping to do an Alaska cruise next, but like you I am having a hard time seeing myself get back on a cruise ship.
Pogo says
This is just a vent, I don’t know the answer, but does anyone else get sick of being called upon for culture and DEI initiatives constantly? As one of a small number of women at my level, I’m always leading various conferences, events, panels, teams… and my white male peers do not have to do the same.
I can imagine it is even more pronounced for WOC.
Anonymous says
What makes me mad is that my colleagues and I keep getting asked to work on DEI and racial justice initiatives where the goal is clearly just PR. We are social scientists who study this stuff and we are not allowed to use any of our knowledge or skills to make evidence-based recommendations for actually addressing the problem. We are just there to paper over the problem.
GCA says
Oh, that’s infuriating.
jz says
Isn’t that the case for most DEI initiatives? PR?
EDAnon says
Not me so much, but I get sick of my employees of color getting called upon CONSTANTLY to be on search committees, panels, teams, etc. because no one else can figure out how to hire and retain people of color.
Pogo says
ha, same. I looked over some retention brainstorming stuff our senior leadership did and it was like “why is [Boss]’s team so diverse?” Well, maybe because Boss is a POC, and he has two women reporting to him (and our teams are collectively > 50% POC). If you have a bunch of white men, they hire other white men. Diversity breeds diversity. It was so obvious senior leadership couldn’t figure it out.
Anonymous says
This. What is extra annoying is that I appear to be a female POC. But (for those who have bothered to get to know me) my upbringing and therefore “culture” are 100% white Anglo middle class American. But everyone assumes, based on appearance, that I am deeply vested in, and knowledgeable about, all things DEI. I want to remind someone that judging people’s interest in DEI based solely on physical appearance is, actually, very dangerous stereotyping.
EDAnon says
You could be me! I appear to be a POC and I am not.
No Face says
I don’t get sick of being called on because I am very comfortable saying no! I have never served on any formal DEI committee or initiative and never will. I am happy to mentor and give advice informally though, because then I can be honest.
Anon says
+1. I’ve started saying no to many of the formal initiatives and “PR” type things that are mostly just for show. But I’ve made it clear through internal conversations with other leaders and managers that I’ll gladly support diverse junior talent via informal mentorship or coaching relationships.
Realist says
YES. I recently read this article on it. Men need to step up. https://qz.com/work/1889860/why-white-men-dont-get-involved-in-diversity-and-inclusion/
Anonymous says
I can’t read past the first couple of paragraphs because of the paywall, but the thesis seems to be that white men consider themselves too busy for DEI work. I am not sure that’s the whole story. I think a huge problem is that white people, and especially white men, are not simply not welcome in the areas of DEI and racial justice. I attended a five-day workshop on methods for analyzing racial and ethnic disparities, and the instructor spent one entire day explaining why white people are categorically unqualified to study race and ethnicity (all the while reminding us that while she might look white, it was OK for her to teach this subject because one of her grandparents was Asian). I had a grant application reviewer comment that our team was not qualified because we looked too white. Etc. It’s really disheartening.
Pogo says
This hasn’t been my experience, we have always encouraged allyship in the initiatives I’ve been involved in. I mean, who needs a conversation about police brutality that’s only POC – they already get it. It only becomes meaningful when white people engage. Again, just the experience I’ve had at my company and in broader organizations for minority talent.
And because we encourage allyship, that’s why I find it so annoying that it’s almost always women and POC who lead all these ERGs and DEI events.
Anon says
Absolutely.
At my old firm I started to really resent how basically we were being tasked to spend the time and fix the very problems that we are the ones facing, while my male colleagues just got to use that time to focus on their work. There were a few that were true “allies” and helping with the work, to which I will grant an exception, but they were not the majority.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
This is not directed to Pogo at all – your sentiment is spot on. I work for a highly diverse organization, and am a WOC so this doesn’t pertain to my current situation. My boss is a WOC, my other leadership/senior leadership is a mix of BIPOC with a lot of WOCs.
I am so tired of white womxn “leading” these conversations which tend to be like, a lot of virtue signaling about one’s own progressive views and never dig in to like actual microagressions in the workplace, coded language, and the lot of sh*t that BIPOC, especially womxn, ESPECIALLY Black and Latinx women, have to deal with.
anon @ 9:50 says
I am a white woman and I am sick of being asked to lead these meaningless virtue-signaling “conversations” that result in useless recommendations and reports. My colleagues and I can actually recommend real evidence-based interventions, collect and analyze data to understand the scope and sources of the problem, etc. How about letting us do that?
Anonymous says
+1. I am so tired to having to show up for these virtue-signaling exercises when I could be spending my time actually fixing problems.
Anon says
I feel like at my org it’s used as an easy way to show leadership. So I can lead these things and use them to argue for a raise, but not really sure that there’s much meaningful change going on from them. It seems more like an employee retention initiative – looks good and provides some opportunities to achieve certain things.
Anon says
This is part of the problem. White male leadership don’t want to look like they are ignoring these issues. Have to have something for the website and recruiting and a feel good for their own egos. They also don’t want to spend any of their own precious time and resources on it. So they put white women in charge things. And not just any white women, but the ones who won’t make waves, who will corral the other women and PoC and keep them from getting too bothersome, and in exchange those women get gold stars, raises and promotions. You get to be one of the guys so long as you never ever threaten their place on the hierarchy. It works pretty well to retain exactly the types of employees they want to retain.
Token says
I am so tokenized as of late. The one senior woman above me just left and I’m suddenly inundated with things. I’m being feature on our (global company) website, nominated for some “Top women in Industry” thing, getting passed all kinds of resumes of young women who want to talk to a woman in the industry. Being token is a fulltime job it feels like.
Spirograph says
We have Trofast storage in our toys/games closet in the family room and I love it. Since the bins are opaque, I printed out color pictures of the things that go in each bin and packing-taped them onto the ends. It’s not perfect, but it does help things go back where they belong, and prevents sloshing all of the drawer contents out when looking for a specific thing.
Anonymous says
5 year old, home “sick”: can I have candy?
Me: it’s 9am. Candy is not a breakfast food.
5 year old: it’s night time in China.
5 year old: how about ice cream?
Me: still not a breakfast food.
5 year old: it’s just milk and sugar. That’s what you have in your coffee.
Me: you can’t have coffee.
5 year old: how about coffee with milk and sugar but not coffee and frozen? And with chocolate chips?
……….
Anon says
HAHAHAHA these are great.
EDAnon says
Haha
Anonymous says
lol. your kid is awesome
I also have a sick kid at home today, but it’s the vomiting kind of sick, so instead of negotiating for treats, she’s just moaning pitifully every few seconds. I feel bad for her by omg she needs to stop those noises.
Anonanonanon says
HAHAHAHAHAHA oh gosh one of my kids is like this and I’m always torn on how to respond because on the one hand stop arguing with me but on the other mad respect.
IHeartBacon says
Ha! Love this.
EDAnon says
I went to Hawaii once a LONG time ago (long before I met my husband). My husband and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary next year. I would love to take him (he’s never been). I could get my parents to watch the kids (or take them, but that sounds expensive and less fun). Any tips for when to go or how to not spend 1 billion dollars? We would probably fly out of Chicago if that helps.
The first time I went, it was Feb. and it was wonderful. We have flexibility with time of year except my parents will not come to our house between November and March (too cold). My parents live in Florida, though, so we could send the kids there :).
Anon says
I would send the kids to Florida so that have their own adventure. Many kids would be pretty bummed about missing out on Hawaii and sending them on their own trip would mitigate that. Generally Mar-May and Sept-Nov are cheaper months to go.
anonn says
Alaska Airline’s cc offers a $99 companion fair and a sign on bonus that’s enough to get you there too. that’s my only tip. We go as part of a conference and get the conference room rate, which saves a ton. Also next time I don’t think we’ll rent a car for the whole trip, maybe just a few days.
Anonymous says
Your moment of laughter for the day…Yahoo Answers queries on pregnancy set to music. My friend just sent it and I cracked up. https://youtube.com/shorts/NDvaRF4HQHQ?feature=share
strollerstrike says
WWYD: A very good friend who I text with daily is over-due with her first by about 10 days now. She has suddenly stopped texting back i.e. hasn’t responded to my last text in two days. I am starting to worry that something might be wrong… should I reach out again with a “Thinking of you”-text or should I just wait and hope that all is good?
Anonymous says
send the “thinking of you” text
Anonanonanon says
100% agree.
Anon says
I’m guessing she had the baby and is just preoccupied by that? I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that something is wrong. I don’t know that docs let you go tooooo much longer than 10 days so that seems the most logical.
Nothing wrong with a text, I would go for it. Even if something did go wrong it never hurts to hear from good friends.
strollerstrike says
Thank you, I guess its my own pregnancy anxiety kicking in, I was such wreck always jumping to the worst case scenario during mine.
Anonymous says
Definitely send a thinking of you text. Depending on situation, I might also be reaching out to her SO, sibling, mom, mutual friend, etc. If she is a good friend that you text daily, you are a pillar in her support network and you need to find out if she needs her support network activated.
I hope everything is OK. It could be an intense and long labor with a happy and healthy end and just no time to do things like texting friends for two days.
Pogo says
+1 if this was a very close friend I would text her partner or a sibling.
Anonymous says
+1 I have the number of my best friends mom. She had complications after birth and while OK, could not even use her phone for 24hrs. I checked in with her mom. She’s probably just in labor haha
Aunt Jamesina says
She’s probably in labor or had the baby. I know I got slightly annoyed by all the “just checking in!” texts the last two weeks (and at ten days overdue, she’s probably gotten a lot!), I’d wait for news :-)
strollerstrike says
Me too, so annoyed by all the text. That’s why I asked here to find out if I was the only one…
Aunt Jamesina says
… although a “thinking of you” text with no expectation of reply would work just fine!
NYCer says
I disagree. I have very friends who I truly text with daily, so that could be coloring my judgment, but if this were one of those friends, I would be sending her a text at this point. Heck, I texted with my bff while she was in labor! But I guess this is a know your friend situation.
NYCer says
And tbh, I would probably reach out to her husband at this point too.
anon. says
Was going to say the same thing. I would have texted the partner by now
Macaroni says
I don’t know about that. If something was wrong I would want to give a friend time and space to share when she is ready.
NYCer says
Oops obviously meant very FEW friends.
Anon says
i’d reach out to the husband, g-d forbid something went wrong
Mary Moo Cow says
I’d give it one more day. A friend recently texted me on Saturday to say, Baby was born early, last night! Then she didn’t respond to my reply until late on the third day. I was holding my breath and thinking the worst. All is well; she was just recovering. Hopefully your friend is in the same position.
Anonani says
I am surprised that everyone would reach out to SO’s or other family. Would you not want your friend to share a worst case scenario when she is ready to share? What do you do with the information when the SO tells you about “worst case”?
NYCer says
If I got worst case news from her partner, I would text my friend and tell her I love her and I am here for here whenever she needs/wants to talk. I only suggested texting a husband because this sounded like a bff level friend (which for me, is the only type of friend I text every day). For a more casual friend, I would proceed differently. YMMV.
Spirograph says
Not to be a huge downer, but childbirth is not without risks for the mother. I wouldn’t send more than one text to the SO, but I don’t think it’s wrong to reach out after no contact for 2 days if that’s unusual. “Hi, I haven’t heard from Susie in a couple days; was just thinking of the two of you and I hope everything is OK!” doesn’t demand a reply, but is an opportunity to share whatever the partner is comfortable with.
After that, though, I think you have to give it another few days and just wait for a response from one of them.
Anon says
well i would then ask the SO what would be most helpful for the family. does the wife want people to reach out, can they use food or anything else, etc.
Anon says
I mean, how can you help in a crisis if you don’t reach out? And people going through a crisis are often too overwhelmed to ask for help. If this was a friend I texted with near-daily, we’d be close enough that obviously of want to do whatever I could to help.
Anonymous says
She’s having the baby. Pretty obviously.
Anon says
I guess a lot of us have vacation on the brain! I’m in NYC with a 5 year old and 3 year old. The last few years we’ve rented a house in the hamptons for summer vacation time. We’d like to branch out and try something new, but my kids are insisting on a house with a pool. I’ve looked at lots of destinations in New England but it doesn’t seem like houses with pools are a thing there. I found one place in the Catskills with a pool, but worried about not finding a lot to do since my 3 YO is too little to hike. Recommendations?
Anon says
what about somewhere in CT? I know people in Westport who have pools who have rented out their homes in the past. My in-laws have a house in the Hamptons with a pool and we love going there in the summer with the kids. Are you looking to rent a house to spend a week? a month? to go to on the weekends? houses in the northeast aren’t as likely to have pools since it is cooler there. i think depending on how long you plan on renting the house for impacts how much other stuff you need/want to have to do
jz says
There are a lot of options for homes with pools in upstate ny and in the summer time there is plenty to do for littles and even if not, my kid and family’s kid ranging from 2-10 are content to just hang by the pool mostly. You can do farms, berry picking – it’s a lot less stressful driving 20 mins to a farm versus doing a day trip with an hour plus drive from the city. there are also often carnivals in the summer time which are fun. Often times the orchards also have adjacent restaurants which have wide open fields which are a lot more fun than outdoor dining in the city (if you still care about that).
NYCer says
You can find houses with pools on Nantucket (though a fair bit without as well, that is true). Litchfield or Washington, CT? Further away, but at the same time a very easy flight, what about Kiawah, SC? (Can be very hot in the summer though.)
Anonymous says
Would they like a lake instead of a pool? Lakefront homes are more popular I think.
ElisaR says
we rented an amazing house with a pool on lake champlain in vermont. it was super swank but it was such a treat that we did it 2 years in a row!
Toddler Proof Bathroom Storage says
Our master bathroom has an open shelf cabinet that we store random toiletries, medicine, etc in. Right now, the otc medicines and anything truly dangerous are up high and out of reach, but our toddler continues to get into stuff on the lower shelves like menstrual products, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. Things that aren’t super dangerous but we would still prefer to keep him out of. Is there some sort of toddler proof storage box we could put these items in? It doesn’t even have to be truly toddler-proof, but something to slow him down so he doesn’t run off with a bottle of sunscreen while I’m brushing my teeth. We don’t have the space in vanities or other areas to move them.
Anon says
This is a bit outside the box, but could you add doors to the bottom shelves and make a cabinet you could lock? Maybe you could find a handyman on NextDoor or in a neighborhood Facebook group who could build them?
Anon says
yes, you can take a regular storage box, and use, a couple of childproofing things you attach with adhesives. i’ve done this with kid art supplies. link to follow
OP says
Thank you! I would never have thought of that.
Anon says
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y01D6F6?tag=mlb-cabinet-locks-20
Anon says
Anyone diagnosed with placenta previa at 20 weeks and have it resolve? Doctor said early c-section at 36 weeks if it doesn’t move by 30 weeks. Feeling discouraged as I went full term and had fairly easy vag**** delivery last time around.
Anon for this says
Oh, my sworn enemy, placenta previa. That jerk essentially c-blocked me for most of my first pregnancy. Can they tell you how severe it is? Mine was “less” severe (no bleeding) and eventually moved out of the way around 30-some weeks to where it allowed a V delivery. Are you getting more frequent ultrasounds for them to monitor? Hope this is the case for you (I am assuming you’re seeking confirmation this is possible so, yes, it is.)
Anon says
Not me, but my BFF had it until I want to say 30 weeks? It resolved and she had a V delivery.
Mary Moo Cow says
Yes, me! It was my second pregnancy. It resolved somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd ultrasounds, but I don’t remember exactly when. I had an uneventful second half of pregnancy and had a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks (second c-section delivery for reasons.)
My doctor reassured me there was nothing I did wrong and nothing I could do to “fix” it. That helped my anxiety a bit.
Anonymous says
I had it with my second and had a major bleed at 13 weeks. Like if you turned on a faucet of blood. It was full placenta previa and mine moved as my uterus grew. It’s not uncommon and I had an unmedicated v-birth with a 9 and a half pound baby! But the good news is we have modern medicine and surgery if necessary! If you haven’t had a bleed then I wouldn’t worry much.
Pogo says
I had mine diagnosed earlier (10 weeks?) when I had bleeding, but it resolved at 28 weeks. My OB was great about letting me get extra scans to check if it was moving in the right direction – can you ask if that’s an option? I was anxious to get off pelvic rest and also to travel, and she was really understanding of that.
The best thing I did was let it go. There is nothing you can do.
TheElms says
I had a low lying placenta or marginal previa I think (very close to but not covering the cervix) , so not a full previa, diagnosed at 20 weeks and it moved by 28 weeks. My OB said the overwhelming majority do move, so the odds are in your favor.
Anon says
Yes, I had it with both of my prior pregnancies. The first time it was complete placenta previa, and resolved around 28ish weeks. The second time it was partial, and resolved around the same time. I was on pelvic rest, but never had any bleeding.
Coach Laura says
Good, but not too surprising, news about benefits to baby of mother being vaxxed for covid in pregnancy. I say not surprising because some vaccines in pregnancy are also protective for the baby after birth. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/97209
Anonymous says
I wish this study had a little more information! I was vaccinated before I got pregnant, but I got my booster around 25 weeks pregnant. I’m curious how much protection that will afford my baby.
Coach Laura says
Yeah, there’s no way to tell if your baby will be in the ~60% of babies who get covid but don’t get really sick. With Adult covid, those who are vaccinated may still get covid but not as bad, not be hospitalized and not as likely to die. So I’d assume that your vax status will help your babe regardless. Probably may not help the anxiety (I would be anxious) but at least I would know that I’d done all I could.
Anon says
On the travel theme, does anyone have a recommendation for a good destination for a first trip with kids outside of North America and Europe? We’ve taken our 4 year old to Europe a few times and done a ton of travel within North America and the Caribbean. She’s an excellent traveler and handles jet lag better than we do, so we’re thinking we’d like to go somewhere further afield next year when she’s 5. We are considering Australia, admittedly because she has a major Bluey obsession which has spilled over into a general fascination with Australia and all the animals that live there. But it’s soooo far and I’m wondering if we should try something else first as kind of a stepping stone between Europe and Australia, but I’m not sure what that would be. We’re in the Midwest and fly out of Chicago for international travel.
NYCer says
Galapagos Islands would be fun with kids. Also a safari, though 5 might still be a bit young for that.
Anon says
We definitely want to do both of those eventually! I want to save Galapagos until she’s at least a few years older, because my understanding is that even if you take a cruise you want to be able to do a fair amount of walking and hiking to see stuff, and she really doesn’t have much endurance for long walks (I think she’s below average for her age in terms of how far she will walk). We’re tentatively planning safari for my 40th birthday when she’ll be 7.5. Age 5 feels a little too young to me for that too.
TheElms says
Costa Rica might be fun with an 5 year old that is a good traveler. I think Peru could also work. You don’t say where you’ve been in Europe, but Iceland could be fun if you haven’t been there. Similarly I think Croatia (or the other Balkan countries) could be a really good trip. If you want to go to Africa but not on safari what about Morocco? I would look at family friendly tour agents or group tours (Intrepid has family tours) and see where they go and what might appeal to your family. I’m not saying book a family tour necessarily, just use it as a way to find ideas.
Anonymous says
I personally think Peru is a great place to travel with kids. I studied abroad there when I was in college and my parents and 8 year old brother came to visit. We did Cusco, Macchu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley and it was great. It’s a totally different culture, and a lot of the guided tours are educational about the different textiles and use of alpacas, etc. Plus you get to ride a scenic train on the way to Macchu Picchu, which is fun. It would definitely be a more adventurous trip, but it’s in the same time zone and the flights aren’t too bad. Honestly, I think it’s just a great place to travel overall :)
Anon. says
What about Asia? Thailand is super family-friendly and safe. Japan?
Too Much Tea says
Any recommendations for teeth whitening? I would consider drug store or dentist prescribed. I have tried the Crest Whitening strips and then various toothpastes and neither showed results. Thank you from a mom who drinks too much tea!
EDAnon says
I used crest whitestrips with success. It was part of a trial when they were not yet on the market, so I had to follow the rules to a T. I think mine were the Crest Whitesrips Glamorous White.