Accessory Tuesday: Zen-102 Sunglasses

Shopping question: where are you buying kids sandals this year? My usual places, Target and Old Navy are falling short. This is for my 6 year old girl, size 12 which is still in the toddler section, but she feels more mature than the sweet baby styles. Not heels or anything, just fun sandals to run to the park.

My husband and I took part in research interviews on pandemic parenting and woof, it was cathartic but also, I might need a good cry now. Let us all give ourselves a pat on the back for managing the last year.

Anyone have experience with a toddler with proprioceptive issues? My 2.5 year old son transitioned back to his Montessori daycare 5.5 weeks ago after spending the past 11 months at home with me and my husband. Our son has always been stubborn (loved getting standing on his learning tower and turning the light and overhead fan switches on and off, jumping in his crib before nap and bedtime, needing to be kept an eye on during outside walks) but generally even tempered. He is not prone to major meltdowns. Before the pandemic he was very good about playing with his toys by himself and for a good chunk of time, but over the past 5 months he has become more reliant on me and dad for play, less interested in playing with toys in the traditional sense (no more imaginary play with trucks and animals, puzzles, etc.), and more interested in the “mechanics” of things (how doors open, locks, lids on his toy containers, etc.). His Montessori teacher seems concerned that he isn’t pulling the Montessori materials for himself and instead would rather stomp on the floor grates, open and close the classroom cabinets, and try to turn on and off the floor lamps. My husband and I think he needs time to transition to his classroom after 11 months at home with us, and that we need to set boundaries at home to encourage his independent play. Son has also been in Zoom speech-language therapy for the past five weeks for a language delay. Montessori teacher suggested we ask the speech therapist about proprioceptive issues. Anyone familiar with this? Part of me feels as though the Montessori teacher is being unforgiving, but I want what is best for toddler and am open to her suggestions.

Another summer shopping question: sunglasses for a 2 year old? Thanks!

Not a mother and not a regular reader, but looking for some advice on dealing with my best friend. She is a new mother (baby just turned 6 months old) and has specifically asked me if I can help serve as an “anxiety checker” because she has a history of anxiety and doesn’t want her husband (who is a space cadet) to be the only person who is aware of her tendencies and on the lookout for symptoms. I readily agreed and things have okay so far, but one thing I’m a bit concerned about is what I think may be a slightly over the top fixation (for lack of a better word) on her baby’s needs to the detriment of her own – and even to his potential detriment. The two main examples I have are that she was advised to receive general anesthesia for an important dental surgery, but the dentist said someone needs to wait in the hospital parking lot (for an hour) to drive her home (10 mins away). My friend said that she’ll do local instead so she can drive herself because her baby “is at an age where I don’t think he’d be content to wait in the car with DH.” That concerned me because she previously said that undergoing that particular dental surgery was “hell” without general anesthesia. The second example is COVID-related. She thought she was having COVID symptoms and her advice nurse said to isolate in her home, but she immediately started crying and said she couldn’t be away from the baby for that long. She chose not to isolate for that reason and when I suggested wearing a mask instead, she said no because “masks scare the baby.” Her husband is a full-time SAHD. I need a reality check – is this normal? I wasn’t that concerned about some of her jokes/offhand comments (things like how she’ll never get divorced because she wouldn’t be able to stand only having custody half the time or how she’s been crying because she moved the baby to his own room), but these two instances felt very different to me because she seemed to perceive that the baby would suffer from accommodating her health needs when really, he’d be 100% fine (but it wouldn’t be fine if he was exposed to COVID). He’s a very easygoing baby, although his life has been spent almost entirely indoors with his parents due to the pandemic. Any advice would be welcome. I don’t have any other friends with kids that I can ask for input.

Disclaimer: Not looking for snarky comments on Covid risk-taking.

Due to our circumstances with having preconditions, we pulled our preschooler out of daycare in March 2020, and were lucky enough to have one other family in our circle who did the same and were equally cautious and with who we “bubbled” through the fall and winter here in the Midwest.
Our friends have decided to send their kid to a daycare starting end of May in preparation of kindergarten in the fall. I fully understand their decision, as for them, homeschooling seemed a lot harder than it was for us.
We have not socialized with families who have kids in a daycare setting.

While numbers seem to decline where we live, it’s of course difficult to predict what will happen with re-openings in several states, virus variants that may affect kids more etc. Both spouse and I will be vaccinated by end of April, but obviously kiddo will not get a vaccine any time soon at age 5. We are weighing different options for kindergarten in the fall (in-person, virtual learning through the school if offered, or completely homeschooling).

I am feeling so sad that, depending on the situation locally and with the “kids coronavirus variants”, our kid may loose their only real-life playmate over the summer. Of course if the situation stabilizes, outdoor playdates are likely, but the thought alone that we’ll have to monitor how close kids get to each other, them having to wear masks etc makes me feel very sad for my child. (My child is great at wearing a mask indoors, but with their friend there wasn’t a need as the family was following the same precautions we did.)

Please tell me everything will be ok?

another travel question, but this time about sleeping. we will hopefully be going to visit grandparents this summer with our soon to be 3 year old twins. we rented an airbnb when they were just under 2.5 and put them in pack n plays and it was a disaster. one got so hysterical the first night she threw up. in the before times we also used pack n plays when visiting grandparents and the first time when they were 6 months old, one had trouble adjusting but then did ok. at home they still sleep in cribs, but are likely too small for pack n plays. grandparents have twin beds, we could put mattresses on the floor, etc. but is there any sort of bumper system we can buy to make them feel like cribs? both kids seem to cuddle up against their crib railings to start the night. when we rented the airbnb no one really got any sleep, which was ok for 3 nights, but we are looking at 3 weeks, and i need sleep! as do my kids