Current Events > **Parents and Expecting Parents- The General part 2**

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I know this mine be a bit of a personal or sensitive question for some, but how picky are you guys regarding food ingredients for your kid? As in dye, organic, etc.

emblem-man posted...

I know this mine be a bit of a personal or sensitive question for some, but how picky are you guys regarding food ingredients for your kid? As in dye, organic, etc.

My wife was always very picky as he seemed to have some food sensitivities, we feed him basically anything now but she still prefers to buy organic for everything

emblem-man posted...

I know this mine be a bit of a personal or sensitive question for some, but how picky are you guys regarding food ingredients for your kid? As in dye, organic, etc.

Not much now honestly. First year yeah, I was buying organic everything and dye free, etc but now I just feed her without worrying so much. All I care is that shes eating well and as balanced as possible, though were not doing great with veggies.

Another daddy daughter day at the mountain and another cleaning day for mom. I could have gone but I had strep throat last week and had to work as well (too many critical things I couldnt miss). I dont feel fully recovered and dont want to risk getting sick again.

But the house was such a mess I couldnt sit. Ive been keeping it clean every day but while I was sick my husband had to work and do all the child care by himself so he couldnt keep the house tidy. I have spent 9-2 doing laundry, picking up all the toys and books on the floor, dishes, cleaning counters and cabinets, vacuuming and mopping. We have a cleaning service that does the deep cleaning stuff every other week but Im ready to fire them because the floors were nasty and they just came last Monday. Our usual cleaning crew quit the company a few months ago and the owner has been coming instead and shes just not very good. I dont feel like she really scrubs all that much, just runs a rag really fast. The house always still feels dirty after she leaves. After doing deep cleaning myself today and seeing the difference Im done with them. We are spending $325 a month and its not worth it anymore.

Me and the wife are on about having kids. Weve only had unprotected sex once a week ago and shes got morning sickness symptoms after a week. Im sure its a coincidence but imagine the chances of getting pregnant on the first go.

TheGoldenEel posted...

My wife was always very picky as he seemed to have some food sensitivities, we feed him basically anything now but she still prefers to buy organic for everything

Cleo_II posted...

Not much now honestly. First year yeah, I was buying organic everything and dye free, etc but now I just feed her without worrying so much. All I care is that shes eating well and as balanced as possible, though were not doing great with veggies.

Yeah, my wife has been pretty strict about the dye stuff mainly.

Baby is going to be turning one in the next week though, so we've started giving her milk instead of formula. I was looking at the milk section and gosh. So many freaking options and I'm like, what's the difference

emblem-man posted...

Yeah, my wife has been pretty strict about the dye stuff mainly.

Baby is going to be turning one in the next week though, so we've started giving her milk instead of formula. I was looking at the milk section and gosh. So many freaking options and I'm like, what's the difference

We do organic grass fed whole milk only

the other day I got store brand (organic, grass fed) from Kroger and she thought it was great so I guess thats the go-to now

my wife has come so far with being super worried about what we feed him

took him to a bar thats closing next week that we had gone to pre-baby

some strangers had a pizza and they offered us some

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/5/3/AAW8UqAAEMyZ.jpg

emblem-man posted...

I know this mine be a bit of a personal or sensitive question for some, but how picky are you guys regarding food ingredients for your kid? As in dye, organic, etc.

I am very picky. No artificial colors or flavors. Mostly organic. No HFCS ever. They dont drink soda ever (and they are 11 & 13). Anything that goes on their bodies need to be paraben, phthalates, sulfates free; sunblock also must not have oxybenzone or octinoxate.

emblem-man posted...

Baby is going to be turning one in the next week though, so we've started giving her milk instead of formula. I was looking at the milk section and gosh. So many freaking options and I'm like, what's the difference

My kids never drank milk. We just didnt have it in our house, they went from breast milk to no milk, just water, no juice. Didnt bother their growth any. The 13 year old girl is already 58 and her 11 year sister is 54.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

I am very picky. No artificial colors or flavors. Mostly organic. No HFCS ever. They dont drink soda ever (and they are 11 & 13). Anything that goes on their bodies need to be paraben, phthalates, sulfates free; sunblock also must not have oxybenzone or octinoxate.

My kids never drank milk. We just didnt have it in our house, they went from breast milk to no milk, just water, no juice. Didnt bother their growth any. The 13 year old girl is already 58 and her 11 year sister is 54.

How long did you do breast milk for though?

TheGoldenEel posted...

How long did you do breast milk for though?

2ish years for both. I got pregnant with the second while breastfeeding the first and she self weaned. It was over 2 years for the second when I cut her off.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

2ish years for both. I got pregnant with the second while breastfeeding the first and she self weaned. It was over 2 years for the second when I cut her off.

Yeah theres the rub

my wife planned to do 1 year and it just became too much with him being sensitive to a lot of foods (and we couldnt figure out exactly what) so she stopped at 8 months and switched to formula and now milk

Forgot to mention, a big reason I stopped paying too much attention to organic, etc is because my husband does the grocery shopping and were at odds about that stuff. Ill put organic fruit on the list and he will just grab whatever without paying attention. I could have organic Annies mac and cheese and he will grab the KD in the pantry and make that instead. He doesnt think its a big deal. We had a few arguments in the past but Ive just accepted it. I already have too much on my plate to also take on buying groceries on and he is going to parent his way and I cant control that. @emblem-man is that a similar situation for you guys? Youre a lot like my husband lol

Oh and for milk we get Horizon Organic Whole milk with DHA and Omega 3. I dunno if the extra vitamins are a gimmick but I like to think theyre good for her and it tastes better than the other brands imo.

We like the Horizon whole milk as well but might just keep getting the Simple Truth (Kroger organic brand) because it tastes really good and is cheaper

Just had a, hopefully, final job interview. Had to have my mother in law watch him as the only day they had available was the one day my wife is working. The woes of job hunting with a child

think it went really well. They didnt have me do any coding which was a little weird, but I think my experiences line up really well with what theyre looking for

Its a great global brand to be working for too, which is neat to be able to say

I fucked up, I promised my kids if they cleaned up the mess their mess that spanned the house I would take them swimming. The got the house almost spotless in like 10 minutes.

Im so fucking tired this long weekend was so hard. She didnt sleep 2/3 of the last nights so we bed shared. Which meant she slept but I didnt because she fights ninjas in her sleep, mumbles lyrics of songs and randomly whispers at me to wake up as I fall asleep. Shes been very clingy with me all day. These are times where I so wish we had family that lived nearby that could help. We dont have anyone. Our moms live so far away and can only come a couple of weeks a year. Between working full time, toddler, maintaining the home, cooking, taking care of 2 cats and getting hit with strep last Tuesday I am just beyond dead and dont know how Ill muster the energy for work all week. And people have the gall to insist I need to have another child. We were even bombarded by the tax lady at H&R Block because we make such cute babies. My husband responded cool then you could take care of them lol

I have family telling me Im selfish. Random people asking us. Even some of my candidates insist I need a second! Like what. In some other world where my mom lived a few minutes away, or we were rich enough to pay for childcare for both kids.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Just had a, hopefully, final job interview. Had to have my mother in law watch him as the only day they had available was the one day my wife is working. The woes of job hunting with a child

think it went really well. They didnt have me do any coding which was a little weird, but I think my experiences line up really well with what theyre looking for

Its a great global brand to be working for too, which is neat to be able to say

Good luck! Interviewing while caring for a small child is so so tough. Fingers crossed for you.

Cleo_II posted...

Forgot to mention, a big reason I stopped paying too much attention to organic, etc is because my husband does the grocery shopping and were at odds about that stuff. Ill put organic fruit on the list and he will just grab whatever without paying attention. I could have organic Annies mac and cheese and he will grab the KD in the pantry and make that instead. He doesnt think its a big deal. We had a few arguments in the past but Ive just accepted it. I already have too much on my plate to also take on buying groceries on and he is going to parent his way and I cant control that. @emblem-man is that a similar situation for you guys? Youre a lot like my husband lol

Oh and for milk we get Horizon Organic Whole milk with DHA and Omega 3. I dunno if the extra vitamins are a gimmick but I like to think theyre good for her and it tastes better than the other brands imo.

Yeah, I do the grocery shopping. I don't have an issue with not buying things with dyes or whatever. And we're not big sugar people anyway. But the organic stuff I've never really been keen on just cause it doesn't seem to be a big difference. But

The horizon milk is what we've ended up picking out as well though.

We get our groceries delivered. Don't remember the last time we had a normal grocery shopping trip. Was a while before our second was born. Saves a lot of time for us to do other stuff.

It's funny with a second kid. You just sort of have to get out there and deal with it for the sake of your first. In a weird way it ends up making it easier since the baby somehow seems to know they don't have all of the attention compared to the first. But sometimes we just have those bad days where we didn't have the nap timing down or it's a bit longer between feeds. But overall it seems to go okay.

It's a weird adjustment overall. Looking forward to when we go down to two and eventually one nap a day though. Maybe we can handle having a dinner out in a month or two again lol

I dunno how you guys who both work full time do it (or single parents for that matter). We've been quite lucky where my wife stretched out her maternity leave for a year (and goes back part time) and I work from home 4 days a week.

emblem-man posted...

Yeah, I do the grocery shopping. I don't have an issue with not buying things with dyes or whatever. And we're not big sugar people anyway. But the organic stuff I've never really been keen on just cause it doesn't seem to be a big difference. But

The horizon milk is what we've ended up picking out as well though.

Yeah were not big sugar people either. She doesnt eat a lot of junk. But yeah he doesnt think organic fruit matters so he just wont get it and its just not worth fighting about anymore.

Punished_Blinx posted...

We get our groceries delivered. Don't remember the last time we had a normal grocery shopping trip. Was a while before our second was born. Saves a lot of time for us to do other stuff.

It's funny with a second kid. You just sort of have to get out there and deal with it for the sake of your first. In a weird way it ends up making it easier since the baby somehow seems to know they don't have all of the attention compared to the first. But sometimes we just have those bad days where we didn't have the nap timing down or it's a bit longer between feeds. But overall it seems to go okay.

It's a weird adjustment overall. Looking forward to when we go down to two and eventually one nap a day though. Maybe we can handle having a dinner out in a month or two again lol

I dunno how you guys who both work full time do it (or single parents for that matter). We've been quite lucky where my wife stretched out her maternity leave for a year (and goes back part time) and I work from home 4 days a week.

I used to use instacart since Covid began and got whatever I wanted, but the cost of groceries has gone up so much and my husband insists on being my shopper lol. I make a list for him. But if he was a real shopper hed get 0 tips because he forgets a lot of things or wont get the right thing or if I forget to specify an exact quantity I get a whacky number of items.

Yeah I think if one of us stayed home or had family nearby, I would love a second. But right now I cant wrap my brain around it. Both of our jobs are demanding. He works 5am-2pm and I work 9-5 every day. We both wfh at least. I wake up at 6 am to shower and get ready for work (hes never on camera but I am for all meetings), get her from 7-8:30 am (change her, get her dressed, teeth and hair brushed, face washed, make her lunch, get her water bottle ready and labeled, jacket and shoes, etc) until he drops her off at daycare, and then I clean the house until 9 and then log on for work (dishes, pick up toys, wipe her toddler table and chairs and our counters, run the roomba). He picks her up at 3 pm and has her until I finish work at 5. Hell often get groceries at this time. Then I make us dinner and we sit and eat around 6. I then have her until 8 pm and play with her. He then takes her up and does the bed time routine and puts her down by 8:30. I pass out by then. Rinse and repeat every day. Weekends are chores and errands. I could no way add a second child to the mix.

Were flying to Florida tomorrow with the little guy

hopefully its not too much of a disaster. The flight there is right around nap time and a 3 hour direct flight. We havent traveled with him yet so not sure what to expect

Good luck. We traveled by plane with ours at 4 months and at like 9 months and it was thankfully fine since she just slept. And a 16 hour drive at 10 months. She's a good car traveler, but that one was pretty difficult at times. I hope we don't have to travel anyways this year cause she's way to active now.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Were flying to Florida tomorrow with the little guy

hopefully its not too much of a disaster. The flight there is right around nap time and a 3 hour direct flight. We havent traveled with him yet so not sure what to expect

Good luck! Weve flown twice with her. Once when she was 5 months and it was so easy because she was still in potato mode and she was great on the flight. Second time she was 15 months old and she was a lot more difficult. We had a layover though so it was a pain because she didnt want to sit in her stroller and cried until we let her out and walked around the whole terminal for a couple of hours until our flight. I think if it was 3 hours direct it would have been fine.

My first post in one of these topics, and it's funny how you don't think you'll be one of those dads but I feel like I gotta show him off because he's been so great the first two months we've had him (he makes 2 months on the 28th). I feel like we're gonna get interest when he gets to the toddler stage because that's how it goes right? But he's slept through nights well, we have to actually wake him up to feed him most of the time whether it's the wife nursing or me feeding him from the bottle she's pumped. But he's been so...perfect so far. Too perfect. It can't last that way right?

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Just saw this as a topic.

My wife and I have two kids, soon to be 5 year old daughter and a 1 year old son.

We both work full time cause thats what society requires now and it still sucks.

My wifes mom watches our children during the day, she lives 5 minutes away. We pay her $600 a month. My daughter is in preschool which is $970 a month for 3 full days.

raising kids is a tough job. I did the stay at home thing for almost 6 months and had a couple of break downs and still suffer from anxiety when I have them both alone. My daughter is easy mode, has been since shes like 18 months.

My son is a complete MFer.but in a good way. Completely different kids. He really drove me to the edge (nothing BAD fyi) when he was an infant.

New parents or soon to be parents - one piece of advice I can offer. Dont be ashamed or afraid to just put your kid down and walk away when youve exhausted every option. Some children just are fussy and may not be in any pain or discomfort.

Dont let it get to you, dont tear yourself down. Youre doing great and youre a great parent.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Were flying to Florida tomorrow with the little guy

hopefully its not too much of a disaster. The flight there is right around nap time and a 3 hour direct flight. We havent traveled with him yet so not sure what to expect

Leave him a bit hungry before the flight. Feed him when your ears start to pop. He wont know how to pop his ears, but sucking will pop them.

I have a work trip next week. Going to have two nights at a hotel though Im thinking of extending that to a third because of some happy hour stuff the last night and I dont know if I want to drive (its an hour and a half commute)

Im so excited! No cooking, cleaning, childcare, cat care, husband care. Just me. Room service. Cleaning service. Eating good food and drinking good drink. And Ill interact in person with adults and get to meet my team. I already am friends with a few from a past job together so it will fun to hang out. My last work trip, I was new and my team wasnt very welcoming with me. This will be so much better.

I have another work event next month as well where Ill be gone all week.

Cleo's about to wild out!! (In bed by 9pm after 2 glasses of wine).

emblem-man posted...

Cleo's about to wild out!! (In bed by 9pm after 2 glasses of wine).

Pretty much LOL but at least Ill have my own space for a little bit!

went to sea world today

my whole family (grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles with 5 cousins plus mine)

man, thats a long day

went on his first rides today (other than a carousel). He had fun! Cant believe they let him ride some of them haha

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/4/AAW8UqAAEN0M.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/5/AAW8UqAAEN0N.jpg

Lol, that second pic is crazy

TheGoldenEel posted...

went to sea world today

my whole family (grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles with 5 cousins plus mine)

man, thats a long day

went on his first rides today (other than a carousel). He had fun! Cant believe they let him ride some of them haha

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/4/AAW8UqAAEN0M.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/5/AAW8UqAAEN0N.jpg

Omg what was that second ride? So funny

Cleo_II posted...

Omg what was that second ride? So funny

It was one of those little drop rides. He was mostly indifferent to that one but he didnt cry or anything. I think if hed been able to see better he would have liked it more.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/4/0/AAW8UqAAEOGk.jpg

Daughter turns one today!
So insane

Made it to the hotel last night. Hung out with other coworkers and got drinks. Went to bed at 11:30 pm which is shocking for me. And yet I still woke up at 5:30 am because my stupid body is used to it.

I miss my kid so much. This time was harder. Last time I had a work trip was about 6 months ago and she wasnt really talking but this time she cried sooooo much when I left and for a good 30 minutes before like she somehow knew. She kept hanging on to me and basically had to be ripped away. Made me want to cry.

emblem-man posted...

Daughter turns one today!
So insane

Happy birthday to her!! Welcome to toddler hood! The 12-24 month range has been so fun, youre in for great times!

11 weeks in, just got the blood test back checking for defects and sex. Everything came back as no or low risk as expected, and we're having a girl :D

finally got a job offer, from a place that a recruiter reached out to me the day I was laid off. So its been a long process and there were two times I thought I wasnt going to hear anything again because it was taking so long, but its a substantial jump in pay, much higher than I was expecting, and higher than what I had asked for at my old job just before they let me go, so Im pretty happy with it

so I get 2 months off with my kid and a big raise, it was all worth it

littlebro07 posted...

11 weeks in, just got the blood test back checking for defects and sex. Everything came back as no or low risk as expected, and we're having a girl :D

Congrats!

seems like everyone chooses to find out these days. We left it a surprise. I get it, so you can prepare for clothes and nursery and all that, but it was exciting to leave a surprise

Congrats on the new job GoldenEel and congrats on having a girl littlebro!! Wow so much exciting news!

I am just glad to be home. That offsite was packed to the brim with sessions, projects, discussions, happy hours, etc. nonstop all day. Too much socializing for me and Im glad to be home with my kid. I missed her like crazy. And props to my husband, I came back to a spotless house.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to going back to working for a large company, I think. My previous place was ~75, the one before that was a globally recognizable company with thousands, and the new one will be like that. (hopefully) a much less volatile environment to work at with stronger policies in place.

The benefits are so much better for families, too. Health insurance will be less than a third of the cost of the previous with their "employee wellness" program (they have an on-site clinic and if you get a physical their once/year you get a big discount on insurance), dental insurance is free, and they offer 6 weeks paid parental leave that kicks in after 12 months. We were thinking of trying for another kid sometime in the next few months so now we just have to wait an extra month or two.

Wife is on her way for an emergency Doppler. Shes been feeling reduced movement today and yesterday. Were 25 weeks

i feel sick to my stomach, really hope our little guy is ok

lww99 posted...

Wife is on her way for an emergency Doppler. Shes been feeling reduced movement today and yesterday. Were 25 weeks

i feel sick to my stomach, really hope our little guy is ok

Im so sorry, thats so stressful. Hoping to hear good news soon. Sending you all positive thoughts and hugs.

lww99 posted...

Wife is on her way for an emergency Doppler. Shes been feeling reduced movement today and yesterday. Were 25 weeks

i feel sick to my stomach, really hope our little guy is ok

Hoping for good news for you and your family

lww99 posted...

Wife is on her way for an emergency Doppler. Shes been feeling reduced movement today and yesterday. Were 25 weeks

i feel sick to my stomach, really hope our little guy is ok

praying for you, your wife and the child my friend.

my wife went through two miscarriages.

whatever the result, you need to be there for her as much as yourself.

Anyone else with small children just sick all the time now?

really took for granted not being sick from 2020-2021

feels like were sick with something every other week

TheGoldenEel posted...

Anyone else with small children just sick all the time now?

really took for granted not being sick from 2020-2021

feels like were sick with something every other week

Not now but August 2021 I caught hand-foot-mouth from my 1 year old niece and it was the worst Ive ever felt in my life, was the first time getting sick since start of the pandemic

Swallowing even liquids felt like swallowing shards of glass and I had blisters all over my feet so every step hurt like hell, all of that on top of the usual cold/flu symptoms like headaches and runny nose. Fucking miserable

TheGoldenEel posted...

Anyone else with small children just sick all the time now?

really took for granted not being sick from 2020-2021

feels like were sick with something every other week

tbh, Id rather be sick all the time than deal with sick children.

my kids being sick is a physical, mental and emotional drain.

littlebro07 posted...

Not now but August 2021 I caught hand-foot-mouth from my 1 year old niece and it was the worst Ive ever felt in my life, was the first time getting sick since start of the pandemic

Swallowing even liquids felt like swallowing shards of glass and I had blisters all over my feet so every step hurt like hell, all of that on top of the usual cold/flu symptoms like headaches and runny nose. Fucking miserable

I caught HFM from her last December and had the same symptoms except my blisters were on my fingertips. It was the worst I ever felt. I also caught strep throat 2 weeks ago. Both times I had high fevers when Im someone who hasnt had fevers at all as an adult (except when I was in labor). And we always have a cold. But she started daycare and its expected. Hopefully over time her immune system will get stronger.

Heartbeat was where it needed to be, guess he was just in a weird spot where she couldnt feel him as strongly. Thank goodness.

Spent the day unboxing a few things and putting the changing table together

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TheGoldenEel posted...

Anyone else with small children just sick all the time now?

really took for granted not being sick from 2020-2021

feels like were sick with something every other week

Haha yes. I have a minor cold right now. Have had two stomach bugs within the last year. Used to go like a decade without having one lol

My three year old daughter had the runny nose on Saturday and I swear she was more energetic than usual. I had to play with her all day and she never skipped a beat. No relaxing at all.

lww99 posted...

Heartbeat was where it needed to be, guess he was just in a weird spot where she couldnt feel him as strongly. Thank goodness.

Glad to see it was all okay.