STM+ Dec 13

princesslockness

How far along are you? 

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?

How old are your other kids? 

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?

princesslockness

How far along are you? 6w 2d

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?  I want to be team green, but I probably can't make it happen. 

How old are your other kids?  Lachlan is 2 yo, Emmaline is 13 months.

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- Rave: 2 DAYS before I'm off for Christmas Break(not counting today)!!!!!!!  Its also my work Christmas Party, and I am excited to get to chill with friends. 
Rant: We have had a freezing fog for 3 days straight, and I'm getting sick of having to stop every 15-20 minutes to scrape my mirrors. Also, L is at my parents' house for a week or so, and E has decided she needs to sleep with momma. She never wants to snuggle, so its nice, but I JUST got L out our bed for a week and it was B-E-A-Utiful. ugh, I love her, but momma needs her space baby girl.  

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?  I think this year we are going to start a Christmas Ever box/stocking tradition. Jammies + movie + treats to be opened/enjoyed on Christmas eve.  We are also going to adopt my Dad's Christmas present to my mom. He buys Take&Bake pizzas for Christmas Eve dinner, and then we can all eat on it for the next 1-2 days so mom doesn't have to cook anything beside Christmas morning breakfast. 

lalala2004

How far along are you? 
4+5
Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?
Definitely finding out. I’d be happy with another boy because I won’t need to but much! But a girl would be fun, too.
How old are your other kids? 
DS is 19 months
Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-
DS is doing a little better about playing with things appropriately and not acting as much like a wild banshee. At least this week. 

So I guess we’re at the stage when people start looking at you weird when you refer to your kids in months? Do I just say 1 1/2? I told someone he was 19 months and they said “Oh, so he’s 2?” Umm. Nah, girl, do some math.
GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?

We are doing the Jesse Tree Advent devotional and DS “colors” a picture every night and then gets a treat from his advent calendar. 

princesslockness

@lalala2004 I never know if I should use months or years. L is 27 months, so 2 1/4, yet when his doctor or speech people ask they want months, but everyone else doesn't. Its weird. 

Firemanswife11

How far along are you? 4w5d or maybe a couple of days less. I think I ovulated late. 

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? We will probably find out. I have a feeling it might be a girl this time. 

How old are your other kids? My son is 3. 

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- I am having a lot of anxiety this time around. I definitely feel pregnant and I am having a lot of hormonal freak outs lol. My husband called the doctor's office earlier to ask them a question (after "I" had called asking them almost the same question) because my answer to him wasn't good enough, I guess. He was honestly just trying to figure out when we will be getting an U/S but I am seriously upset about it. I feel like he went over my head. He's usually very, very considerate of my feelings but he has no idea why I am upset. I am probably way overreacting. Why am I so ragey today? I also want to cry. Last pregnancy I got in the doctor right away for the doctor confirmation appointment and I'm having to waaaaait this time and then waaaaait for an ultrasound and I feel like I can't get excited. Sigh. 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? Not really. We have been changing Christmas up the past couple of years due to lovely family drama and not wanting to deal with it. We're actually doing Christmas Eve at our house this year and foregoing the drama that always happens elsewhere. So maybe it's the start of a new tradition. We will see. 

pghctwife

How far along are you?  5w6

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? we will find out this time. We loved being team green for 1-2, regretted not finding out for 3, and with this last one, having 3 boys and hoping for a girl... finding out 100%.

How old are your other kids? 6.5, almost 5, and 2.5

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-
rave: kids are handling the holiday season so we’ll!!! Last 2 years were a huge cluster of behavior issues - way too excited and just couldn’t handle it. My oldest is always the hardest one and driving force, and seems he’s gaining control over himself. Thank goodness because last year it kinda wasn’t fun.

rant: being home all day, I swear my kids create disaster at every turn. The fantastic stuff they love doing are soooo hard to contain and manage. Namely: crayons (my toddler shreds and breaks them and then they scatter the floor) and legos. Fantastic for the brain and fine motor but omg. 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?

so many things! I make a ton of cookies, including a complication time consuming family recipe that I make with my mom, sisters, aunt, and now kids too. 

Lors of special Xmas movies... 

Every year we go to a local petting farm that is so great, and they do bfast with Santa with farm fresh eggs and sausage etc... a sleigh ride with carols and of course visit the animals

mrsbubbles-2

How far along are you?
4 weeks today!

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?
I want to be team green - DH is such a planner that he needs to know

How old are your other kids?
DS is almost 16 months and DSS is 12

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-
We need to finish the bottle to sippy cup transition and I reeeeealy don't want to! DS gets a bottle when he goes to bed and if he wakes up in the middle of the night. They are such a comfort to him that I'm dreading switching to all sippy cups. We've tried a few that have the nipple-like spout but he doesn't seem to fall asleep with those the same way he does with the bottle. Any advice would be awesome! I think we just need to bite the bullet though.

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?
We get a tree from our local farmer's market every year. They have this whole Christmas Village set up so we make an afternoon of it to shop, find the perfect tree, then order take out while we decorate!

mrsbubbles-2

@princesslockness - YAY for only 2 more days!!!!! I hope they fly by! Sorry about the fog - I read somewhere that if you treat your windshields with vinegar it helps them not freeze over??? Although that might be a Pinterest fail...

@lalala2004 - that's great that your DS is playing better! I always just assumed that people switched from months to years at 2, I think I would only side-eye someone if I asked how old their kiddo was and they said 53 months or something like that.

kindbytealikat

@lalala2004 for general people I stopped doing months at age one. Doctors will stick with months just because of developmental markers. But ppl without kids especially won’t get the months right off. That said if you want to use months I say you do you.
How far along are you? 
5 weeks as of Thursday 

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?
We’ll be finding out, I really want a girl but will be happy with a baby either way.

How old are your other kids? 
J(DSS) is 19 A(DSD) will be 16 in January and C just turned 3

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-
Rave: Looking forward to this weekend, Friday A has a Christmas Show Choir performance that should be fun to watch. Saturday my bff and her husband will be in town and we’re going to dinner and Star Wars. Sunday C and I are going shopping for Christmas gifts for his friends and getting stuff for the Christmas party we’re doing Tuesday.
Rant: Symptoms have picked up today and I feel super lousy. C is in a musical mood today abc him drum banging isn’t helping. I’m also feeling super ragey and short with DH today. He asked me if I slept ok because I was saying I was tired. And it took Everything in me not to yell I’m pregnant and dealing with a toddler what do you expect. Instead I resigned with, you need to understand right now I’m just going to be tired sometimes.
GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?
I love Christmas, and lucky that most my immediate family is here. My sister does a large Christmas Eve brunch every year for family and friends. We do gifts with immediate family after and then come home and do gifts with our kids before church. Christmas Day is pretty chill usually end up at my parents to play cards.

SmashJam

How far along are you? 7+6

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? We'll find out. We kicked around team green but I don't think I can be that patient.

How old are your other kids? 2.5

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- This week, potty training is going pretty well. We have woken up dry from almost every sleep time (except this morning) in the last two days. 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? Chinese food on xmas eve, reading of the Night Before Xmas, and pjs for DS.

@lalala2004 I think at 2. I think before 2 if you stuck with months people would know like, oh, under tw, especially since clothes are still in month sizes at that point. But after that people start getting confused when they have to do the month math. 

@pghctwife I would love that farm breakfast with santa thing! I am so jealous.

@Firemanswife11 I get being annoyed with DH over that, I would feel the same way. Like, I don't call your doc to get you into appts sooner, why are you doing that to me?

princesslockness

@Firemanswife11 I have never been seen before 8 weeks. I think it truly depends on your area and what your insurance allows.  My first US hasn't been before the AS at 20-22 weeks. It sucks, but I think its actually pretty standard treatment.

@pghctwife Have you tried magnetic blocks? I am doing them instead of legos, and they are a bit larger so they don't go everywhere for eternity. We got 3 of this kit for me+H+L to play with. It was around $100 on eBay. 

@mrsbubbles-2 We are in the same transition with E. I just can't seem to break the habit. She also only likes warm milk in her bottles, so sippy cups might just not be possible for her bedtime/nighttime needs. 
@kindbytealikat That sounds like  packed weekend! I'm jealous, as we never do anything and its starting to feel like a rut. Hopefully it all goes smoothly and everyone preforms well. 

pghctwife

@princesslockness Santa is bringing them magnatiles  

but they looooove legos so I hate limiting them but... yeah. And my older 2 are LEGO age. 
Andvthe crayons! My middle is sooooo into coloring but his brother just is toddler destructo 

kindbytealikat

@princesslockness and @pghctwife I love the duplo LEGO’s C is theoretically old enough for regular LEGO but I feel these are easier to manipulate and pick up 

pghctwife

Yeah my oldest is in
1st grade... I hung onto duplo as long as I could but that ship sailed! Honestly they are a fantastic toy. They love building kits and using that part of the brain and then creating too, and playing with what they make. The fine motor skills too!

i just wish they weren’t so hard to contain.

Firemanswife11

@princesslockness my doctor does pretty early US for their dating purposes. I'm over it now lol. 

mrs_drc_rn

@lalala2004 I think I stopped saying months after DS turned two. 

@kindbytealikat ugh, I hear you. I rage-texted DH today because there’s laundry still in the dryer from Sunday. 

@Firemanswife11 I would’ve been annoyed at him too! I’m also feeling a little less excited; like, I don’t think it’ll feel real until my appointment but that’s not until the 4th. DH was looking at baby names last night and I just eye-rolled. 


How far along are you? 5+2

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? Finding out.

How old are your other kids? DS is is 3.5

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- DS’s preschool does “zones” according to their behavior: green means you’re being good, red you’re being bad and yellow is somewhere in the middle. He’s been having a lot of days where he ends up in the red zone lately and I don’t know if it’s just his age or what. He hangs out with this one kid who is just being a total monster whenever I see him and I hope it’s not rubbing off on him. 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? We go to the same tree farm every year to cut our tree down. This is my second year in a row working Christmas so we’ll probably do another quick breakfast Christmas morning. 

princesslockness

@mrs_drc_rn I have done that. I have my top 4 girl names, and am trying out middles with each. We already agreed on a boys name.

westphilly

@lalala2004 I got so confused between 18m and 2yo. I just started saying he's 1-1/2 or almost 2. And followed it up with a "he's between the age where he's months old and years old." It's like that part of your pregnancy where you go from weeks preg to months preg (no one says I'm 17.5 weeks!). 

@Firemanswife11 That really sucks that your DH did that! I'm sure it feels like he didn't trust you, even though he's probably trying to be helpful or more engaged in the pregnancy. He might be feeling as anxious as you are, but not know what to do. And how frustrating to wait. Especially with these ragey hormones. Yesterday I got legit mad at my stepladder because I couldn't get it set up right. I mean, it's not it's fault. It's mine. But i have no. patience. at. all. 

@pghctwife The farm tradition sounds so lovely! 

How far along are you?  6+6

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? SURPRISE all the way!

How old are your other kids?  Will be 2 in 2 weeks! (Dec 30)

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- We're going through some kind of phase. DS is waking at night all of a sudden. Doesn't want to go to bed and really fights us at bed time. And, when I drop him off at daycare, he's suddenly very clingy. Is this just a 2yo regression or am I missing something? Anyone else have something like this around 2?

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? This weekend I'll bake cookies and I've started to get my son into baking, so he'll 'help' which will be fun. We also do a first present Christmas Eve which is always new PJs. I got my son little elf PJs from Children's Place, and I can't wait to see him in them!

lalala2004

@westphilly I always stick with weeks pregnant because months is confusing.

But I think I’ll start saying 1 1/2 unless it’s clearly another mom asking!

ssthomps

How far along are you?  It sure I need to do the calculations. 

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? I really don’t have a preference. 

How old are your other kids? A four year old on New Years Eve.

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- None 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? By a snow globe with the year every year this was the first year we did a ginger bread house and it was not as easy as it looks. 

pghctwife

@mrs_drc_rn ugh. Behavior zones are AWFUL globally. Totally ineffective (hello - positive reinforcement?! They are totally negative) and I’m super not into shaming children in front of their peers. 

And to uset in preschool???? For a 3.5 yr old boy?! Omg. Talk about setting up for failure. My oldest would have been on red like every day at 4. Because 3-4yo boys struggle. I’d be putting it back on the teachers. These systems are self defeating for kids. They feel labeled and that becomes self fulfilling. Personally I’d challenge the teacher in the system. If you don’t want to do that, at the least I’d be asking the teacher what they are doing to help him(not punish!!!!!) is he getting enough motor breaks? Need to be separated from certain kids (my oldest did)? Maybe he needs to be given specific direction on play and tasks- my son would be at loose ends without structure and too many options for example. 

As a first grader now he gets notes home sometimes and they are more on him to correct but not at 3!!  And even now I’ve partnered with his teacher on how to help him better manage himself (he gets bored so giving him extra assignments etc). 

They need to set him up for success. Give him things to do to shine - be a leader or do something he’s good at. Earn rewards with a chart as opposed to being docked and labeled for being ‘bad.’ So far my sons 2 public school elem
teacjers have been vocally opposed to those charts so I don’t think I’m too far off. 

ecwk

How far along are you? I don't know, I think four weeks and change 
 
Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? Team green!  

How old are your other kids? DS is almost 21 mo

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-

its neverending, as I know you all know. Work, pick up kid, make dinner, clean, maintain house, walk dog, shower at some point every now and then, laundry etc. Throwing a newborn into the mix will be fun!! 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? Nothing out of the ordinary! 

laufisch

How far along are you? no idea, I'm breastfeeding so I could be anywhere between 4 and 7 weeks..

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? Definitely finding out but no pref

How old are your other kids? 11m

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- I'm just exhausted and nervous. I need to wait until mid Jan for an ultrasound because they want to make sure I'm far enough along buy this wait is killing me.

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions? We make ordiments every year. Since DS is so young my plan is to fill a plastic ordiments with glue and close it up with some glitter and let him shake it so he can actually be part of the process.

msmonalisavito

How far along are you? 
6w6d

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?
We are absolutely finding out.  A boy would be fun but if we have another girl, that'd be amazing, too.

How old are your other kids? 

6 and 2.5 years.

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-

My youngest is hardcore in terrible twos.  Is it bad to say that I don't like her much recently?  

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?

We do Elf on the Shelf and the girls are much more aware of him and finding him every morning.  We also cut down our own tree every year and Christmas Day, we never shut off the constant replaying of A Christmas Story on TBS.   

lalala2004

@pghctwife I hate those systems, too, and I have no idea why they are still used. I do worry about when DS is in school, because as a teacher I have a lot of opinions and if he doesn’t have a one I mesh with I’m gonna struggle. But that’s a problem for a later time!

pghctwife

@lalala2004 I’m not a teacher remotely and I feel strongly about that stuff, so I can’t imagine how hard it would be as a teacher!! Lol. 

mrs_drc_rn

@pghctwife thanks for the info. I really haven’t looked into it because it was never an issue until recently. We had a conference in October and his teacher said he’s never in the red zone, but lately he has been. Now that I think about it, the last few times have been during nap time when he doesn’t want to nap. And I do see the labeling coming out because he had mentioned to me that two girls told him he couldn’t play with them because he was in the red zone. We’ve asked his teacher to reach out to us to discuss when he’s in the red but she really hasn’t been, which leads to my next issue with his class this year: his teacher is only there half of the day! The teacher and aid are there in the morning, the teacher leaves around lunch and a second teacher comes in, then the aid leaves shortly after that. And if I pick him up after 4:30, he’s in the gathering room with another set of teachers. So there’s never anyone there to talk to at the end of the day that’s been with him the entire day to tell me what’s been happening and you know how hard it is to get a straight story from a three year old! 

knwarren15

How far along are you? 
5 weeks 4 days

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise?
I would love either! With a girl buying all new girly things or with a boy not having to buy anything because we already have it lol

How old are your other kids? 
My son will be 1 on the 23rd:)

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)-
I’m so nervous. This wasn’t planned but I’m blessed. I’m worried about my first born being jealous and it changing just from the three of us to four in a short time. 
GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?
we drive around and look for Christmas lights in the nice neighboorhoods and then get ice cream

Secretstapler

@lalala2004 I have some friends who are both professors of education.  They have been known to bring journal articles to their kids’ teachers when they have concerns about how they teach.

Also, I started to feel funny saying age in months when DS was about 20 months, so I switched to saying he’d be 2 in December.

@firemanswife11 Honestly, I’d be pretty pissed, too, whether or not I was pregnant.  But I tend to be sensitive to people not believing me and thinking I’m wrong.

@westphilly My almost 2 year old sounds pretty similar.  Bedtime is fine, but getting dressed is a whole traumatic ordeal.  And at daycare, I can never guess from day to day whether he’ll walk away without a look or if he’ll cling to me and scream bloody murder.  I’ve found that taking him to the blocks and playing with him for a minute helps him settle in and let me walk away.

How far along are you?  4 weeks 3 days

Boy/Girl/Team Green/Surprise?  I’m pretty sure we’ll be finding out.

How old are your other kids?  DS will be 2 in 4 days!

Rants/Raves/Questions-  I have two questions:

1. How similar (so far) is this pregnancy to your first one?  I have almost no symptoms right now, and I just can’t remember if that’s how it went last time.  I definitely remember feeling thoroughly exhausted before I even got the BFP last time, and I think the nausea kicked in right after.  I’m trying so hard not to worry about my lack of symptoms, especially when I’m only certain that I’m missing one.

2. If you have a toddler, how often do you have to physically force them to do something?  DS is becoming pretty willful, and we’re finding ourselves spending 30 minutes convincing him to sit down in his carseat, or an hour convincing him to get dressed.  It started out that 15 minutes of persuading was faster than 20 minutes of calming him down, but it’s gotten really out of hand.  I’m starting to think we need to just draw the line and ignore the literal kicking and screaming and make things happen.  It feels so cruel to physically force it, though.

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?

We grew up celebrating Christmas, but we aren’t at all religious, so we celebrate a sort of Christmas/Solstice hybrid.  We have a Solstice Bicycle that we decorate with lights and ornaments.  This is the third year we’ve done it, and I’m really loving it.  DS is also really excited about it, but he has no idea yet that it’s pretty weird.  Also, my family usually goes to a nice restaurant on Christmas Eve, and that’s always a lot of fun.  No margaritas this year, though.

SmashJam

@mrs_drc_rn @pghctwife I am no longer a teacher but the school I used to work with started "zones of regulation" this year. While I have zero personal experience practicing it, its my understanding that in theory, that is supposed to be used one on one with a kid to discuss their actions and just make it easy to identify their feelings with a color instead of a name, if they have trouble with that. You are never supposed to call them out in front of everyone. The school i worked at was also a responsive classroom school, and RC is totally against calling kids out in front of their peers like that. Its not SUPPOSED to be for labels, it is supposed to help kids identify their behavior and talk about what can be done to get them into the yellow zone or green, or out of being upset to a more neutral place. If you yourself are describing the red zone as bad, and other kids are labeling it as "bad" then I would question how the rollout is going at your school, because its really only supposed to help identify emotions not place kids in a zone for labeling!  Also, when your child is "red" at school, just like when he acts up at home, they should be asking him what is upsetting him and why he is acting that way, not just giving consequences for the behavior. 

Again, just my understanding, I could be totally off. 

lalala2004

@Secretstapler so glad you’re here! I’m going to have I try not to be “that parent” because while I may have my opinions, I’m not a perfect teacher and I wouldn’t want some other teacher telling me how to do my job. Not that I’ve ever had many complaints 

As for the physical forcing.... If I gave DS the choice to get in the car, he would be running down the driveway towards the street every time. I physically force him to do stuff a lot. That said, he gets over it pretty quick. Not a lot of kicking and screaming at this stage. I know my son is younger, but the way I see it is if they don’t have a choice, don’t give them a choice. He HAS to get dressed, he HAS to get in the car seat. It shouldn’t be a negotiation, because the end result is going to be the same. Give him the chance to do it and then do it for him. I don’t see it as cruel, just teaching him that this is something you have to do.

As for the symptoms, I think 6 weeks is when bigger symptoms tend to start. I’ve been bloated, hungry, and thirsty, but that’s really it. I haven’t been as tired this time because I didn’t give up coffee this time. Or maybe I’m just used to being tired?

SmashJam

@Secretstapler I do a lot of forcing as well, the carseat is a BIG one for us. He went through a phase where he would kick and hit me when he went in and laugh. I would have to calmly tell him that he was hurting me, and it made me sad, and sometimes he would just hit me again and I'd have to shut the door and take a break myself. We definitely do force, but I think @lalala2004 said it right when she said its more like teaching him what has to be done than forcing, especially if there is literally no choice and the end result is the same. Willful toddlers are no joke and hugs to you! It's definitely hard!

aj1327

^^^ My son is 2.5 and a lot of that stuff has gotten much better, but I physically forced him a lot. I did give him warnings, like in 5 minutes we’re going to go get in the car to go to _______. I also explained to him what we were doing as I jammed him in the car seat kicking and screaming. Now he climbs in himself. He still hates putting shirts on, so I let him choose between two shirts, and then force it on, since I feel that he has to wear shirts in public. His tantrums about the shirts are pretty short lived. I also don’t see it as cruel. Yes, they should have choices, but there’s also things they have to do, just like I have to do things I don’t want sometimes. I do feel like within the past several months DS has gotten WAY easier to reason with. 

How far along are you?
 I’m about 6/7 weeks I think. I’ll find out for sure at my appointment next week.

Boy/Girl/Team Green/Surprise? we will find out the sex whenever we can. In theory, I’d love to be Team green, but in reality, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to find out ASAP.

How old are your other kids?
 My son is 2 1/2. He turned 2 in June.

Rants/Raves/Questions
My son tested positive for the flu on Tuesday. We all had our flu shots so luckily his case was mild, but I also think I had a touch of a stomach bug I got from a friend and none of us were sleeping. This week has been BRUTAL! Luckily, I think we’re all feeling mostly better now. 

Also, I hate how unhealthy I eat in the first trimester. I know I ate the same with my son but it’s really bugging me this time around. My goal today is to get in some veggies. 

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions?
We do a Christmas Eve brunch with my brother and sister in law every year. My mom started the brunch tradition when my niece and nephew were babies and we’ve kept on doing it. I feel like it’s extra special because it reminds me of my mom. She passed away 6 years ago last August. 

SmashJam

@amac12999 my son is a June baby too, June 27 (due date was June 15)! 

pghctwife

mrs_drc_rn said:

@pghctwife thanks for the info. I really haven’t looked into it because it was never an issue until recently. We had a conference in October and his teacher said he’s never in the red zone, but lately he has been. Now that I think about it, the last few times have been during nap time when he doesn’t want to nap. And I do see the labeling coming out because he had mentioned to me that two girls told him he couldn’t play with them because he was in the red zone. We’ve asked his teacher to reach out to us to discuss when he’s in the red but she really hasn’t been, which leads to my next issue with his class this year: his teacher is only there half of the day! The teacher and aid are there in the morning, the teacher leaves around lunch and a second teacher comes in, then the aid leaves shortly after that. And if I pick him up after 4:30, he’s in the gathering room with another set of teachers. So there’s never anyone there to talk to at the end of the day that’s been with him the entire day to tell me what’s been happening and you know how hard it is to get a straight story from a three year old! 

Ugh!!! I hope you can get things figured out. It sounds like maybe the teacher doesn’t get that it’s a big deal (to HIM too!) and that’s frustrating. Advocate for him! Good luck!!

pghctwife

@smashjam that implementation makes sense and I’d have no issue with that! Anecdotally, it seems like there are teachers who do it differently, for all to see and as a negative. 

As for forcing, well sure. I mean... 2 yr olds have big opinions and try to assert control because that’s what 2 is all about but there are some things that he doesn’t have a choice in. So yes, I physically force changing a poopy diaper, buckling into his own car seat, taking off pjs and getting dressed. 

I let him have choices when he can - he picks out his socks most days (always 2 diff), and he picks out his pjs (though sometimes he flips out wanting dirty ones). 

But it I mean, I’m not mean about it and I don’t hurt him of course but I do carry him to like a sack of potatoes wailing and thrashing to change his diaper because well it’s what has to be done.

Secretstapler

@lalala2004, @SmashJam, @amac12999 Thanks!  I was pretty sure it was pretty normal to force toddlers into things, but I was a little worried that everyone else has some magic trick, and I was skipping over it to the far extreme.  My biggest problem is the carseat, since he's gotten big enough that sometimes I really can't make him get in or sit down.  But I did it twice this week, so I just need to keep trying, I guess.  And I agree, I think once he sees these things are non-negotiable, he'll probably stop fighting as much.

pghctwife

@amac12999 @SmashJam
my toddler is a junie too! 6/9/15! I don’t know either of you do I??? Are you guys in the fb group? I don’t think so... 

and! I was also due 6/15 it’ll be fun to have a few big siblings exactly the same age! 

proudparent2b

How far along are you? 5 weeks

Boy/Girl/ Team Green/Surprise? I’ll be finding out

How old are your other kids? 19 months

Rants/Raves/Questions (related to being a STM, stages your kids are going through, or anything else)- I’m so tired- some days it’s all I can do to keep alert enough through the work day. I need to start taking naps at lunch time, lol.

GTKY: Fun Christmas Traditions- we always go out for Indian food on Christmas Eve. DS was too young to try it last time. I’m hoping he enjoys it this year!

kindbytealikat

Those struggling with car seat, I haven’t had this issues but just thoughts on things to help. Helping them climb into the seat themselves and letting them do the clips so they are involved. 

aj1327

pghctwife said:

@amac12999 @SmashJam
my toddler is a junie too! 6/9/15! I don’t know either of you do I??? Are you guys in the fb group? I don’t think so... 

and! I was also due 6/15 it’ll be fun to have a few big siblings exactly the same age! 

I’m not in the Facebook group but I do keep in touch with some ladies from that BMB! I didn’t participate a ton until maybe the second trimester. 

I was due the 17th but my little guy came on the 8th!