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Weekend & Family Friday: Wonder Wheeler Beach Cart
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Flora says
Ladies, I’m working on weaning my 17 month old and it’s making me so sad! My husband & I are going to Europe for a week in early October for our 10th anniversary, so my goal has been to have her weaned a month beforehand. But neither of us (me or baby) really want to do it – if not for the trip I’d happily nurse till age 2, which is not something I’d have EVER said pre baby! She’s dropped feedings without much protest (just dropped pre bedtime this week so we’re down to morning only) so I think this process is more traumatic for me than her. But I get so melancholy when we nurse because I know our days are numbered. Any words of wisdom or advice?
Anon says
I don’t think you have to wean if you don’t want to – it won’t be that big a deal to pump on the trip and also at this point I think there’s a good chance you could just not nurse on the trip and resume when you get home. When you’ve been nursing for well over a year, it takes your milk a long time to completely dry up.
That said, melancholy feelings are totally normal. My 17 month old seems to be in the process of self-weaning (we’re doing “don’t offer, don’t refuse” and she hasn’t been asking to nurse very often). It makes me sad but I remind myself that she’s doing fine – kid is not afraid to express her opinions and if she were mad about not nursing, she’d definitely be making it known. The most important thing is how your baby is handling it, and if she’s dropping feedings without much protest then you’re weaning her very gently and you should take comfort in that!
Anonymous says
Agree with this! I nursed my first for 27 months (including all the way through my second pregnancy and beyond). I was able to not nurse for several days at a time and then just pick up where we left off. If you’re worries about discomfort, maybe pump once a day while you’re gone?
I nursed my second for 20 months (which means I had been nursing for 46 straight months!). I haven’t nursed him in 5 months, and I’m STILL not completely dried up!
Anonymous says
I have had 3 kids and nursed them to 8-13 months. The first time it was so melancholy! And particularly so because I wasn’t producing much, she had had all kinds of weight/nutritional issues, etc. the second just was like “eh I’m done thanks” at 9 months and that was fine with me. My third I selfishly nursed mornings and nights even until ~13 months though I knew she wasn’t getting much because I liked the snuggles :-). Turns out…she was just a crazy snuggly baby and the snuggles continue (She’s almost 2). She weaned when I had a 2 day work trip and I found I didn’t have to pump at all. So when I got back DH put her to bed for 2 nights and it was over! But I’m back to putting her to bed and we snuggle and read books and it’s very sweet.
Anonymous says
Can I ask a follow up on your second kid story – my 9mo is starting to do the same. Ah this point, did you replace with offering whole milk in a cup? I am fine with following his lead, but don’t want to mess up any nutritional needs, etc. thanks in advance!
Anon says
Not OP, but 9 months is pretty early for whole milk. Check with your doctor, but they will probably want them on formula until 12 months-ish. Pre 12 month whole milk is usually just a cup here or there for the last month or so of BF/stash rundown. I think switching to a cup instead of a bottle for formula is fine though.
Canadian says
In Canada, the recommendations are that whole milk is okay after 9 months (assuming kiddo otherwise has a varied diet).
Anonymous says
I’m the OP. I actually switched her at 9 mos to formula in a cup, then very quickly 50/50 milk and formula (dr suggested). By 11 months she was all milk.
Emily S. says
For me, knowing that the days were numbered made it so much harder and sadder. I planned to nurse Big Sister for at least 12 months, and we ended around 15 months on my schedule. With Little Sister, I let the weaning happen more gradually/naturally, and therefore, didn’t have the melancholy of the “last feedings.” She gave it up at 12 months exactly, and *that* made me sad, but that’s a story for another day. So, if you can let go of a date certain, that might help. But it is hard, and the melancholy and sadness is real.
CBG says
My 25 month old is down to just mornings too. In the past year I’ve left her for 5 and 3 day trips, thinking each time she would be done nursing when I got back. I’d say don’t stress about it,especially if you’d be fine nursing to 2. Don’t offer, don’t refuse and if she’s still at just mornings when you leave, take a hand pump in case you get uncomfortable and see if she asks for it when you get back? I finally stopped trying to give us a timeline and I no longer stress about it.My plan is to re-asses every few weeks.
Anon says
I definitely had all of these feelings when weaning my son! One thing to consider is that weaning causes major hormonal shifts, so you might be feeling extra melancholy because of that. I know I felt down and off for a couple of weeks when weaning – it took me by surprise, but in talking to friends, a lot of them experience it too. Just to say – these feelings are all so normal and common! Sending hugs.
Flora says
Thank you ladies! Always good to hear that others have gone through the same feeling. Maybe I’ll keep up the morning session till closer to the trip and see if she asks for it when we get back. I just really don’t want to have to take the pump along. Nursing I would love to keep doing but pumping is another story!
Clementine says
How do I get Desitin off black pants? Dish soap maybe? Tide pen didn’t work well. Baby wipe didn’t work.
(at my knee. I even wore a light robe over my outfit to keep myself clean. SOMEHOW baby got diaper cream on their foot and now I have weird white smudge all over my pants.)
Lana Del Raygun says
My money is on dish soap, but also I think you’ll have to scrub it (like with a toothbrush) to lift the cream out of the fabric vs wiping it down in between the threads.
sleep and potty training? says
We are naked-weekend potty training our twins this weekend (they are almost 3.5). We’ve got chips/juice/all the TV on hand, but I’m not seeing a lot of information about what to do for nap time and night time! We only recently switched them into toddler beds, and they usually take about an hour to fall asleep for nap, then sleep for 1-2 hours. I think if I keep going in there every 30 minutes to make them pee, they’ll never nap. Should we just skip nap this weekend?
Plus, we were hoping to do night training simultaneously with the full expectation that it might not work… I’m picturing heavier sleeping if there aren’t naps, but that’s probably not an issue. Do we just have them go before bed, then wake them up once in the middle of the night?
Canadian says
Ymmv since I potty trained at an earlier age (2), but we used pull ups for naptime for the first week or so, even though kiddo was botttom-naked the Rest of the time. We still use pull-ups at night now (kid is 4 and I don’t think she is ready to not pee all night. Night time training is more biological readiness than training)
GCA says
When we potty trained (age 2+), kid was routinely waking up dry from his nap already, so we let him go diaperless for naps. He was mostly ok except for the occasional post-nap accident at daycare. We used a pull-up at night for a good 8 or 9 months after that, as agree it’s really about biological readiness. These days (4.5) he is night trained but will often wake up once to use the potty on his own.
What are the twins’ patterns – do they tend to wake up soaked from naps, or do they sometimes wake up dry? I’d probably use pull-ups for naps until the day-training starts to click, then try them diaperless. Good luck – they may surprise you!
anon says
play kitchens. kid kraft vs. step 2? or any other recs
Anon says
Really happy with the Ikea one! Has withstood two moves and 3 years of play so far.
rosie says
+1 for Ikea. Nice accessories, too (pots and pans, food, etc.).
anon says
i like the ikea one but feel like it is a bit small for our twins to both be able to play at together? and it is a gift from my in laws who are unwilling to accept the fact that ikea makes nice stuff
rosie says
Ikea makes 2 different ones, so make sure you are looking at the larger one. But I know it’s still probably smaller than others out there (small size was an attraction for us). You could also get a cabinet from Ikea to use as a fridge and similar add-ons. But I get that the ILs may not be willing to do Ikea or to do various Ikea hacks.
Io says
Ikea makes a deluxe one. And at that price you can get two small ones for twins.
Anonymous says
We have a fairly small play kitchen (Teamson Kids, it’s fine but I wouldn’t recommend it as a gift) and it’s totally fine for my 2.5-year-old twins to play at together. They will both stand at it at the same time, but also half the fun for them is making creations and bringing them to their parents to eat, at which point a lot of the “kitchen” playtime ends up occuring on the floor nearby with just occasional forays to the kitchen to “cook” or “wash dishes”.
Spirograph says
We have the Kidkraft Uptown one, and picked it because it was taller than most of the other models. It was a bear to put together, but it has held up well for the past 3 years. I did remove the paper towel rod because the kids kept repurposing it as a sword.
Spirograph says
oh, and I’ll add that one of the things I like about ours is that it has lots of space in the cupboards and fridge. We got some little shopping baskets and a dishrack that fit in those spaces, so all the accessories can be put away inside the kitchen.
Anon says
Hijacking this to ask how old is old enough for a play kitchen? My 17 month old’s pretend play is getting noticeably more elaborate (she’s going through our linen closet and finding washclothes to use as “blankets” for her stuffed animals, etc.) so I thought she might enjoy one. Should we wait until the holidays/her second birthday? Or do you think she would get something out of it now?
Anonymous says
I’d wait. Ours was the Christmas present from Santa when my kids were 23 months and 3.5. To me, a play kitchen is a wow gift that I prefer to deploy on a holiday. Also, we told other relatives that we were getting a play kitchen and suggested that they could get things to go with it as their presents. So we bought the structure, but were gifted food, dishes, cookware, aprons, etc.
My 6 year old was playing with it last night, so you aren’t missing a tiny window of playtime by waiting for the holidays or her birthday.
Callie says
Ours (the ikea one) was a Christmas gift for my son at 15 months and he was delighted. Admittedly it started to get a lot more play starting maybe 6 months afterwards, but still going strong at 4 (and my younger one at 2 1/2 loves it too and probably has played with it since 15/16 months herself).
Anonymous says
Ours was a Christmas present at 21 months and they didn’t start really getting into until 2 (and by age 2.5 it was a daily toy), so I’d say waiting is fine.
rosie says
My toddler got hers around 18 months and has used it from the start. Obviously how she plays with it has evolved. But I also think just having something to stand at and tinker with at that age is fun, although no harm in waiting if that works better for you. And once she has it, there will be many add-on gift ideas (shopping cart, different food, mixer, etc.).
fsafsa says
We got one as a handmedown at 12 months, and she loves it. Mostly she obsessively opens and closes the doors. She also puts things in the oven closes the door (mostly dolls, in a macabre twist). My point is that your kid may not play with something in the intended way if (s)he’s but can still really enjoy it.
Anonymous says
We have a Step 2. Mostly because it fulfilled my own childhood dreams ;) I love look of the KidCraft/Ikea ones, but when kiddo played with one at a relative’s house, she just didn’t seem as thrilled by it.
shortperson says
we have the pbk chelsea sink and stove. not cheap but i treated it as a furniture purchase — will be in our kitchen for 7+ years with daily use. want it to look nice and last. 4 years in and it is serving its purpose. it is large enough for two preschoolers to use together and holds a very extensive supply of food and tools.
Anon says
DH and I have been trying to move from our HCOL city to a more affordable city for close to 7 years now. In that time, we’ve started our family and established a wonderful network. We love our daughter’s daycare like family, including the other families there. We also just had another LO. Well we finally have the chance to move to the lower COL city and while I’m excited, i feel really sad. I know we can’t realistically afford to stay here long term, but I’m so sad to leave our wonderful daycare and network. Now I’m questioning everything even though we’ve been working towards this. I know part of it is likely being 2 months postpartum and not anxious to go back to work in general, but it just seems so overwhelming to start from scratch in a new place (even though we have some family there). I find it especially sad to leave DD’s daycare, where she’s gone since she was an infant. Not sure what I’m looking for, but this is so hard!
Anonymous says
I hear you. I’ve lived in my HCOL area for 10 years now, always thinking it was temporary. But now when I think about the actual reality of moving away from the life we’ve built here… it’s tough. We have great friends, neighbors, communities around our hobbies, like the kids’ school. It’s sad to leave a good thing, even if you have good reasons to think the new thing will be even better.
Callie says
I think this is normal. We’ve moved a few times and recently even turned down a great job opportunity (in his hometown) for my husband (but one that he hadn’t sought out, it just sorta presented itself to him) that I would have never dreamed we would realize we didn’t want after several years of figuring we’d move back there eventually. I think we might eventually make it back there (good opportunities in his field there–although not as many as the HCOL city we’re in now; family; much lower COL), but not yet.
One thing that I’ve always held on to (as someone who has moved several times in my life both as a child and as an adult, is that OF COURSE you’re going to have things you miss about everywhere you’ve been AND also things you’re thrilled about in each new place. And wouldn’t it be even more sad if you didn’t? I’d hate to think I’d lived somewhere for several years and had a community and a life there and didn’t desperately miss some things about that place.
Anon says
Are you sure you have to make this move at all? I might not be the right person to ask because we moved cross-country two years ago to be near family and still feel pretty adrift and lonely here. It’s hard to leave community and friends and start all over in a new place, even if that place is “better” in some ways.
Anon says
+1. I’d think long and hard about leaving a place you love and where you have great friends and childcare for the unknown. Can you make this work financially by living in a smaller place or moving to a cheaper suburb that is still commuting distance to work/daycare?
Anon says
This. I’m not crazy about this city I live in, but we are close to family and have made some truly wonderful friends. Just out of college, I had moved to a city where I didn’t know a single person. I lived there for 6 years and while I did make a few friends, I never felt like I found my niche there.
FVNC says
+3. We just relocated cross country for husband’s job, leaving a fabulous daycare that felt like an extension of our family. We’re one month in, and have already had to switch our 2 yr old’s daycare from the one we initially selected after extensive research/visits to a different one. If I could have delayed the move until we were done with daycare, I would have. All that said, the 2 yr old is totally fine, but the situation makes ME sad and stressed.
Al says
+3 there is value in if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
OP says
I’ve thought about this but I really do think that we can’t make it work in our current city long term as much as I don’t want to admit that. We’ll never be able to buy a house here and we are in a place that’s about as small as possible. And this opportunity is really hard to come by and if we turn it down now, we won’t get the chance again. Ughhhh!
ElisaR says
i should know this but what does HCOL stand for again?
ElisaR says
i’m guessing high cost of living
anon says
Not sure if this anecdote will help, but my school-age children went to a wonderful small in-home daycare from 6 mos-4 years. We adored the director. Another family who had kids there at the same time who are still in elementary school with my kids just had a new baby. When we were all together at a school friend’s birthday party, I asked, “Are you going to send the baby to Miss Susan’s?” And the mom said, “Yes, of course!” And the 2nd-grader sister said, “Who is Susan?” And her mom was like, “The woman who watched you from when you were a baby until you started kindergarten!” The kid had simply forgotten that ancient history. The past is irrelevant to her 2nd grade life.
My point is that there are phases in life, which are all that much more distinct (and emotional to us parents!) with young children. If this is a phase-specific thing, then you will move into a new phase in your new place, especially if your children will be entering a new school.
ElisaR says
this is good advice
Boston Legal Eagle says
I can relate. We’re in a similar though not as extreme situation – still staying in the same general area with the same jobs, just moving further out into the suburbs. I love love love our current town, my current commute and our kids’ daycares but it’s just so expensive here and we can’t afford the space that we want here. I know once we settle into our new town, I’ll be happy, it’s just hard to transition everything we know, even just a few miles over!
It’s funny because I moved around a lot as a kid and even 10 or so years ago, I was happy to move across the country. But now, I crave stability and routine and moving feels so much harder. We’ll still be in a HCOL area and while I can see the benefits of moving to other parts of the country for better COL, I would just feel really sad to start everything over.
Anon says
I’m making the same move now and having some similar mixed feelings. It helps when I think about all the ways our quality of life will be better after this move; I live in NYC, where simple things like doing laundry or getting somewhere outside my neighborhood on the weekend are just more difficult, which wears on you with two little ones.
Woman with energizer preschooler says
Hello. Thanks everyone for the advice yesterday about how to handle husband who excites toddler before bed.
Yesterday kiddo went to the park, had dinner and I started his bath. He immediately started protesting because dad was around and he wanted to watch tv (I don’t let kid watch tv anymore) and dad took over bath. I got kid dressed for bed and he went to sleep around 7 and woke up at 6 on the dot. Have some laundry to do (small man had an accident this morning) but still quite promising!
Husband is out this evening so everything should be right in schedule tonight.
Thanks everyone.
Following up says
Last week I posted about how kiddo was upset at Grandma and going through a ‘I only love mommy!’ phase.
Well, we talked about how it was age appropriate, Grandma reassured me she knew it was a phase, and I gave Grandma the okay to let him watch extra TV and go with some ‘looser’ rules when they were together.
Last night at dinner (Grandma came over), we asked kiddo, ‘What was one thing you really liked about today?”
“GRANDMA. I love her so much and she makes me so happy!!”
So that one worked out.
Emily S. says
Yay! Love updates like these.
avocado says
Awww! Thanks for updating us. It’s always nice to hear the happy stories.
lsw says
This is awesome!
IHeartBacon says
So happy to hear this update!
Anonymous says
I love when people give updates, so I wanted to let you all know that I am the poster whose kiddo was going to be left behind when all of his classmates moved up at daycare. Well, they shuffled some things around and he’s moving up, too! I appreciated your advice. I wanted to share that I think one thing that helped move them along was asking them to sit down with me and my husband to discuss what we should say to our son about the decision – how would they recommend we explain it? Rather than answer that email, they made it work! I think asking them to help us explained it helped them see the situation more from our perspective.
Anon says
That’s great news! I’m glad it worked out and I think the advice about asking them for advice about how to explain to your kid is genius – you make your point without coming across as overly aggressive.
Nan says
Oh, I’m so glad to hear this! I was so frustrated on your behalf. Thank you for the update.
Anonny says
DH and I are expecting our first baby girl in December. We’re going shopping for a glider for the nursery this weekend. What are some features of a glider that you enjoyed (or conversely, hated)? Is it better to get one that has a separate ottoman as a footrest, or one of the La-Z-Boy types where the whole thing reclines and extends by using a handle on the side? Price is ideally less than $600. TIA!
Anon says
Congrats! We have the Babyletto Kiwi. I LOVE it. It doesn’t come with an ottoman but reclines really far, almost fully flat. It rocks gently but not dramatically, which I like. It also has a USB charger, which was super useful for charging devices while nursing. It’s just above your pricepoint – $700. I’m no longer nursing but we all love to use it for reading and family snuggles.
ElisaR says
i have a glider in one son’s room and a traditional (18 years old) la-z-boy in my other son’s room. I like both of them. The main difference is that the la-z-boy was easier to sleep in (which you’re really not supposed to do but desperate times call for desperate measures) by reclining. The glider we have has a matching glider ottoman. Both work pretty well.
Ashley says
Reclining was a huge benefit IMO! I ended up sleeping in the recliner more often than I’d like to admit. Also cushy armrests at the right height for b-feeding if that’s your plan. I never needed a boppy or any of that because i’d just use the armrest to prop my arm (and thus baby) at the right height.
Anonymous says
+ a million. Hubby also wanted a chair (and strongly a recliner for the above reasons) where he could rest is head on the chair back. So any that stopped short were automatically off the list. He was right!
Anon says
I didn’t like the hard arms on wooden gliders–too easy to hit baby’s head during nursing sessions.
Consider whether the glider is wide enough for a boppy, while narrow enough to support your elbow.
Watch for gliders that will easily pinch toddler fingers.
Consider buying used in case you aren’t happy with the purchase; that way you can resell and repurchase without guilt. There are tons of options that are very lightly used on the resale market. We got ride of our rocker after our kids switched to a big kid bed, so we can still read bedtime stories in their room, in order to make room for toys like a play kitchen.
Anonymous says
It was important to me to be able to touch my head to the headrest – lots of gliders are weirdly short.
Irish Midori says
I had a glider with my first two and always hated it and nursed on the couch or in bed. Finally gave myself permission to give it away. Now expecting again and don’t plan to replace it. Not saying don’t get a glider–obv some people love them. Just that you don’t HAVE to have one if you’re just looking because all the nursery furniture ads show them in nurseries.
Buddy Holly says
I’m the same and our glider didn’t get much use. And I would add, IMHO, it is much safer to cosleep intentionally in a bed that has been set up with cosleeping in mind than to fall asleep in a glider or even on the couch where cushions and things haven’t been set up for an ideal sleep situation for the baby. It might be nice to have a reclining glider to sleep in the baby’s room when you want to be close to the baby and there is no other place to sleep, but sleeping *with* the baby is much better on a nice, flat bed.
anon says
I hate our glider so much! the back is too short, and it doesn’t recline. I didn’t realize how essential reclining is for nursing or holding a baby in general, I swear it’s given me a hump back. Also our ottoman glides too, which is dumb and unhelpful since you need to push off a stationary thing to glide in the first place. Yes big recliners are generally ugly, but they feel like heaven when you’re nursing. Now that my daughter is 2, I like that it’s wide enough for her to sit next to me for story time.
Ms B says
We used DH’s bachelor rocking recliner in The Kid’s bedroom. It has a head rest and a footrest, fully upholstered arms, and reclines almost to flat. I have slept in it several times when The Kid was sick or having sleep issues. As a bonus, it remains wide enough to hold The Kid and a grown up for bedtime reading well into the grade school years. La-z-boy makes many similar models.
Tweeter says
Please help me with language for a “no gifts” bday invite. My friends used this one and I liked it and think I am going to use it to but want to ensure it’s benign and inoffensive, but also gets the point across. “Please, no gifts. [Name] has everything he needs.”
BTW I am the poster who asked about confirmation to def not bring a gift to this party after receiving this invite. I didn’t and if others did, the parents kept them tucked away. It was a small party with good food and a pool – it was a blast!
Anon says
I think that’s good. My main pet peeve is “no gifts required” – I find that 1) sort of offensive (gifts are never “required”) and 2) confusing – gifts are not required, but are they welcome? It does’t really tell people whether or not they should bring a gift, just that they don’t *have* to. Your language makes it very clear not to bring a gift, which is good!
FVNC says
Ugh, I still kick myself for putting this exact message on my daughter’s 4th bday invite. I was super sleep deprived from her little brother who was an infant at the time, and for some reason “no gifts, please” sounded too “cold” (?) or something. I sent the invites and afterward realized what I had done.
rosie says
I think we just wrote “Please, no gifts.” Short & simple. I wouldn’t include the “[name] has everything he needs.” Agree w/Anon above on “required” not being right.
ElisaR says
agree with rosie
AnotherAnon says
+2
Tweeter says
Thanks all, much appreciated. Glad I ran it by here.
Irish Midori says
Not that you have to do this, but I loved it when a friend recently did “No gifts please, but if you want to bring something, Birthday Girl is collecting donated animal food and supplies for local animal shelter and would love to add to the collection.”
After the party, the mom took Birthday Girl to the shelter to deliver the goods and see the animals, and said it was her favorite party of her birthday. It also helped those of us who feel weird about showing up to a party empty-handed, but respect the no gifts sentiment.
Tweeter says
Totally going to do this when he is older! (This is for his first bday). We do a regular drop off at the shelter now and want to keep this as a part of his life. A big donation for his bday will hopefully be thrilling for him when he is older and “gets” it.
Sharing Notes/Info with Spouse? says
What do you find is the best way to share notes and info with your spouse for things like joint research projects so they are easily accessible to both people? For example, we are currently working on finding a before/aftercare program for our kid and both of us have talked with people at different programs about it. I’d like to have one document or spreadsheet to dump that all the information into rather than just emailing back and forth. I like Evernote but he doesn’t and Google Drive is very slow on my work computer. He likes to take notes on his iPhone, but then I have no way to see or change the note.
rosie says
Google Keep might be an alternative. Drive is slower on my Android, but Keep is pretty fast and what I use for lists and shorter notes. If you have your gmail open, you can have a pane on the right with Keep (or Calendar, or something else I cannot remember) or have it in a separate window. Easy to share between users.
Ashley says
I think you can now share Notes on an iPhone? At least I have been assuming that’s what the + symbol at the top of a Note means.
Marshmallow says
Yes, we do this. You can add each other to a note and both edit as long as you both have iPhones.
Anon says
Has anyone else had a renovation project go haywire? I’m just looking for commiseration because I feel so frustrated and embarrassed by this process. I aggressively negotiate large, complex deals at work but I feel like we’re being taken for a ride by our contractors and decorator and I have no control. We’re about done but I’m so disappointed with everyone’s disregard for our budget and timeframe.
Irish Midori says
Commiseration here. I completely botched overseeing a home repair issue and got taken advantage of. And I’m an attorney who occasionally tries these kinds of cases, so I knew better.
AnotherAnon says
My sympathy – it really does suck. Hopefully they’re not doing it intentionally. We took the time estimate give and doubled it; that ended up being about accurate. Don’t get me started on cost estimates. We stopped even tallying it.
Anon says
I’m sorry, this is frustrating. I was thinking about the same thing recently. I manage some fairly large projects at work, but DH and I cannot seem to get even the smallest project done at home.
anne-on says
I’m sorry. We have an old house and just mentally budget more time and money for anything since we just don’t know what’s behind the walls.
With the decorator are you able to stop/reign them in? Firmly – no, that is not within our budget, I expect you to come back with other options that are. If you’re no longer able to work within our budget I’d like to cancel our contract.
Anonymous says
If it makes you feel better, I literally spend my days negotiating deals for multi-million or -billion $ infrastructure projects, and this happened to me too. But, frankly, they always run behind on the $$$ deals too! I think it partly happened because we were too busy to appropriately manage the project (which we shouldn’t have had to do in theory, but…)
CCLA - nanny last day help? says
I’m way behind here on planning, but today is our nanny’s last day at work before baby starts daycare next week. Any recs for things to do to acknowledge how awesome she was? Or reassure me that current plan is good and I’m over-thinking this? We are planning on writing a heartfelt card, giving her a week’s additional pay as bonus, and probably throwing in a bottle of type of wine we know she likes. Yea or nay on pic of her and kid? We also already have a couple of date nights lined up with her so she will be back occasionally.
It was always set up to be a temporary situation until baby could join older sis in daycare, and nanny has another gig lined up starting in the fall, but she’s been with us since the new year so we’re all going to be sad to part!
Anon says
That’s incredibly generous, imo, although if you want to continue to use her it makes sense to keep her happy. Pic of her with your kid feels a little unnecessary if she’ll be doing ongoing baby-sitting, that seems like something you do when you know she won’t see your kid anymore. For reference, I got my nanny a (very much not heartfelt) card and a $25 Target giftcard but we weren’t close or particularly happy with her work, and we knew we were never going to see her again.
CCLA says
Thank you for this perspective. I am probably over-thinking this. I’m fine being generous (she’s been like a family member and incredibly valuable) and glad for another vote of not needing something sentimental.
Anonymous says
This sounds perfect and very nice of you. Yay on the kid pic. Great that she’ll continue to be in your life for babysitting!
Buddy Holly says
You are a kind person and this sounds wonderful. No need for the pic. In fact, I would ask her to write or record a quick vid on a few things about your child (favorite memories or describe child’s personality) and save for your child later.