Parenting Megathread

[Jimmy Higgins]

That sounds less like Daycare and more like live-in Nanny, and it is a big ask. You are effectively working a job for them.

It'll depend on how comfy you are at their place, how happy the household is when they are back at home (low stress?), how "easy" the child (children?) is/are.

Honestly, one other question they need to ask is are they good with you being there. I assume they don't live in a huge house. The convenience of being able to work will be very helpful for them, but their marital privacy is going to be shot. Not saying you aren't good company, just that certain aspects are going to be different and could cause stress.

If you are not going back and forth daily, I think you can work around the weather related things. But this whole arrangement will require a good deal of sacrifice all around. May work out swimmingly though.

 

[Toni]

That sounds less like Daycare and more like live-in Nanny, and it is a big ask. You are effectively working a job for them.

It'll depend on how comfy you are at their place, how happy the household is when they are back at home (low stress?), how "easy" the child (children?) is/are.

Honestly, one other question they need to ask is are they good with you being there. I assume they don't live in a huge house. The convenience of being able to work will be very helpful for them, but their marital privacy is going to be shot. Not saying you aren't good company, just that certain aspects are going to be different and could cause stress.

If you are not going back and forth daily, I think you can work around the weather related things. But this whole arrangement will require a good deal of sacrifice all around. May work out swimmingly though.

I'd drive up and spend their work week which they think they can arrange for 4 days/week for at least one if not both of them.

They live in a townhouse that is sufficient for the three of them (one small baby plus two parents). Three bedrooms, two baths although the second bath is in the basement and is .....not great but works. Guest room is small but sufficient. I don't need a lot.

I am most concerned about the hit to privacy, especially for them. Because the baby is so young, I am less concerned that I will 'do things wrong' according to the most up to date standards of infant care/their preferences. I'm happy enough to do things their way. I totally get that it's their home and their child. When the baby is older and more mobile and exerts her own will over her environment, there might be some conflicts, potentially. The last time I was up for a couple of days they 'complained' (not really) that I had spoiled the baby by holding her all the time. She was 6 weeks old so no, it is not possible to spoil the baby by holding her. It wasn't really a complaint--they are happy that I am so happy to just hold her, change her, feed her, etc. and hand her over when they want her back.

I'm also a bit concerned unless there are clear expectations for exactly what I will be doing. Do I go grocery shopping? Prepare dinner or other meals? Laundry? Vacuuming? I can clearly do all of those things, albeit less efficiently if I am also caring for a young infant.

Also: what's the back up plan when roads between my house and theirs (120 miles one way) are terrible? I drove back and forth to work no matter what the weather for 15 years before I retired, about 100 miles/day. Towards the end, I confess that I felt it was less and less worth it. But at that point, I was working for money. If I do childcare, it would be a)for no money and b) for my grandchild. I'd happily part with a kidney for that baby. I'm just concerned about a back up if weather were awful. I figure I could just leave some stuff in the guest room to make it easier/lighter to travel back and forth. It isn't luxury accommodations but it's fine. I'm easily entertained and have no problem retreating to curl up with a book. I think they are worried I'll be bored. I'm worried about their privacy.

The relationship is not that old: baby was a surprise. I think we just learned of the mother's existence about a year ago---and by we, I mean the entire family and friends network. I've already mentioned to them that if/when they are ready, we'd take the baby for a weekend or so so that they could get away or even do a staycation kind of thing. Something they had hoped to do before baby arrived but weren't able to manage it. It was a high risk pregnancy so they were reluctant to travel away from her doctors. Very understandably.

My husband and I were in a somewhat similar position when we first got together, with our own surprise pregnancy---not a secret to any of the now adult kids. They know we had nothing, struggled for years financially---and have been pretty happy most of the time. I won't lie and say that the over 40 years together have all been rainbows and bluebirds. They know that, as well. The advantage/disadvantage that we had is that we were young and pretty stupid and that we lived more than 500 miles from our families, so we had to figure things out for ourselves and there was no one around to either help or criticize. They are in their 30's so they are not as young and stupid as we were nor are they as poor. We're closer than any of our family ever was, but hers is quite far away so we're it for local family. She's more outgoing and has a wide circle of friends which is a good thing/bad thing for their relationship. One of her friends was living with them until about a month before the baby was born so they really have not had much time alone to figure out how to be a couple. That said, my observation is that they really do work well together. My son has even mentioned that he realizes that they work together on projects together better than my husband and I do now, after all of these years.

It's a bit premature. I'm heading up for a few days and it may be that there are more talks.

Bottom line: they know I will step in if/when needed, and will fill in gaps in care if needed.

I'd be less like nanny and more....Granny?????

There are other things being discussed but they are longer range. Hubby has been dead set against ever moving but last night mentioned that it is possible that we could move closer to them. Also she'd like to live in our community because it's quieter and there's more nature/less day to day noise and stress around. Of course that would mean both of them changing jobs, selling their home and purchasing another home, with the potential to temporarily live with us if necessary. That's a LOT with a brand new baby. And I'm writing this as someone who has relocated across state lines twice with young kids, twice with a year old baby to places where we knew no one and had no friends/family. Also during the days before there was an internet so it was not fun looking for houses to rent or buy.....but we did it. I think we just never considered not succeeding. Stupid? Lucky? Probably both.

 

[Toni]

Just for some context: This is our first and we are assuming only grandchild.

Both parents are struggling with the idea of leaving the baby with non-relatives, emotionally plus financially, although they might be able to qualify for subsidized child care.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If you are up to it, it is worth a shot. As you note, boundaries on responsibility need to be established up front and across the board. Not as a Gandalf, none shall pass thing, but more of a 'this is the understanding among us all'. It must also contain the caveat that if any of the parties think it isn't working, it can dissolve and no one gets angry about it. Like I said, it is a big thing to get used to. This is on top of a new child.

If the SO is new, that could become an issue, as you are less familiar with the person and the compatibility. Personally, I figure we could have managed this sort of arrangement with my Dad or my MIL, but not my Mom or my FIL. Compatibility will be a key to this working and that is two-way triangle. Brining up finances could be tricky, but I'd suggest that they need to bank some of the money they are saving.

Again, regarding weather and roads, just be open to the fact you might be staying there for two straight weeks at some point.

 

[Toni]

If you are up to it, it is worth a shot. As you note, boundaries on responsibility need to be established up front and across the board. Not as a Gandalf, none shall pass thing, but more of a 'this is the understanding among us all'. It must also contain the caveat that if any of the parties think it isn't working, it can dissolve and no one gets angry about it. Like I said, it is a big thing to get used to. This is on top of a new child.

If the SO is new, that could become an issue, as you are less familiar with the person and the compatibility. Personally, I figure we could have managed this sort of arrangement with my Dad or my MIL, but not my Mom or my FIL. Compatibility will be a key to this working and that is two-way triangle. Brining up finances could be tricky, but I'd suggest that they need to bank some of the money they are saving.

Again, regarding weather and roads, just be open to the fact you might be staying there for two straight weeks at some point.

Yeah, I figure I could be staying a couple of weeks at a time, which doesn't thrill me that much simply because I've become accustomed to having my own time at my own disposal, at least part of the time.

 

[rousseau]

We've had our first session with the new private clinic. His new speech therapist (the one with 18 years of experience) was fantastic. I actually laughed out loud when she got him to make both the s and z sound within a few minutes of the session starting. She's using a process called cognitive reframing which is teaching him how to make the sounds without telling him that's what we're doing. When we actually prompt with 's' he always does it the wrong way because it's so engrained.

The real relief is that we've found a clinic that can get the job done. So we take him to this clinic until he's done, and I don't have to worry about finding a new therapist.

 

[Toni]

If you are up to it, it is worth a shot. As you note, boundaries on responsibility need to be established up front and across the board. Not as a Gandalf, none shall pass thing, but more of a 'this is the understanding among us all'. It must also contain the caveat that if any of the parties think it isn't working, it can dissolve and no one gets angry about it. Like I said, it is a big thing to get used to. This is on top of a new child.

If the SO is new, that could become an issue, as you are less familiar with the person and the compatibility. Personally, I figure we could have managed this sort of arrangement with my Dad or my MIL, but not my Mom or my FIL. Compatibility will be a key to this working and that is two-way triangle. Brining up finances could be tricky, but I'd suggest that they need to bank some of the money they are saving.

Again, regarding weather and roads, just be open to the fact you might be staying there for two straight weeks at some point.

Yeah, I figure I could be staying a couple of weeks at a time, which doesn't thrill me that much simply because I've become accustomed to having my own time at my own disposal, at least part of the time.

Just to update: The parents have opted for full time daycare. Hopefully they will get through this first year and next year their costs will come down. The choice was part time grandma/part time day care center and they thought a consistent daycare choice was better in the long run.

Hubby is planning to retire within the next year and there are discussions of potentially moving nearer to them--or potentially them moving closer to us. A move within the next 6-12 months is not very likely but possible. For us: we like our house, having spent a lot of money and time and effort addressing electrical and plumbing issues and functionality by renovating kitchen and bathrooms and even adding a bathroom and addressing the aesthetics of some of the choices former owners made in the 70's....I recognize that midcentury modern is a thing now but a)it did not fit this Victorian house and b)having grown up during the mid-century era and having lived with mid-century decor, all I can say is that it wasn't that great. Re-locating nearer to them would mean more money for a smaller house and still would likely need updates. So.....not as appealing plus moving after living in one house for more than 30 years is pretty daunting. Not that we should not move to a smaller home at some point, despite what hubby says. 2 stories plus basement laundry will not be ideal when we are in our 80's. On their side, moving would mean both finding new jobs and selling current home which he bought 4 years ago so not tons of equity and finding a new home they could afford and liked in our area, which is not as cheap as it used to be. So, beyond what they are prepared to tackle with a new child--and who can blame them.

 

[rousseau]

An update on our therapy. He can now make the S and Z sound repeatably after two (!) sessions. So all the planning and precision pulled it off, now we just need to practice a lot until it's natural. We're pretty thrilled as this is hopefully the last piece of his Cleft Palate. When we're finally done speech sessions for good I will be celebrating.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

My daughter is doing well. She was apparently having issues early in the day, but shifting medicine times cleared that up. It is nearly unbelievable the difference the medication has. I messed up today, gave it to her later, and she messed up this morning. Her impulse issues are 7 year plan, but I want to get that worked on now. She has limited mental block on impulses when not medicated. But it isn't all or nothing. It isn't as if she is reckless and without any sense of control.

Got her report card, had highlights, lowlights. She bumped into some adversity in one assignment and just dropped. Unfortunately it was a large assignment, so it effectively cost her a full grade. Need to work on that, but I feel the teacher probably needed to involve the staff member that sees to her support for this case. The teacher isn't seeing Cordi as a special needs student. But the teacher is communicating and fully, which I appreciate and the teacher isn't being unreasonable. Cordi is just a particularly unusual case. The stubbornness which can occur, it is out of the blue and and can be mistaken as normal stubbornness. It isn't normal with her.

 

[gmbteach]

My daughter is doing well. She was apparently having issues early in the day, but shifting medicine times cleared that up. It is nearly unbelievable the difference the medication has. I messed up today, gave it to her later, and she messed up this morning. Her impulse issues are 7 year plan, but I want to get that worked on now. She has limited mental block on impulses when not medicated. But it isn't all or nothing. It isn't as if she is reckless and without any sense of control.

Got her report card, had highlights, lowlights. She bumped into some adversity in one assignment and just dropped. Unfortunately it was a large assignment, so it effectively cost her a full grade. Need to work on that, but I feel the teacher probably needed to involve the staff member that sees to her support for this case. The teacher isn't seeing Cordi as a special needs student. But the teacher is communicating and fully, which I appreciate and the teacher isn't being unreasonable. Cordi is just a particularly unusual case. The stubbornness which can occur, it is out of the blue and and can be mistaken as normal stubbornness. It isn't normal with her.

I’m glad she is doing better.

 

[Toni]

My daughter is doing well. She was apparently having issues early in the day, but shifting medicine times cleared that up. It is nearly unbelievable the difference the medication has. I messed up today, gave it to her later, and she messed up this morning. Her impulse issues are 7 year plan, but I want to get that worked on now. She has limited mental block on impulses when not medicated. But it isn't all or nothing. It isn't as if she is reckless and without any sense of control.

Got her report card, had highlights, lowlights. She bumped into some adversity in one assignment and just dropped. Unfortunately it was a large assignment, so it effectively cost her a full grade. Need to work on that, but I feel the teacher probably needed to involve the staff member that sees to her support for this case. The teacher isn't seeing Cordi as a special needs student. But the teacher is communicating and fully, which I appreciate and the teacher isn't being unreasonable. Cordi is just a particularly unusual case. The stubbornness which can occur, it is out of the blue and and can be mistaken as normal stubbornness. It isn't normal with her.

I know how….impossible it was for my kids’ school to recognize or be willing to address learning disabilities in bright children who seemed happy, came from supportive homes. My oldest almost certainly is dyslexic to a small degree. I cannot say for certain because the school refused to consider having him tested. He was doing well enough in school, but also was a typical adolescent male so they just assumed his inattentive tin to detail, misreading of schedules, tables, etc. was that. But hey he was passing! And they had all sorts of kids with ‘real’ problems, who did not have university professors for parents and doesn’t every parent think their kid is really smart???

He’s probably your age, put himself through law school and…I honestly do not know how he manages to keep track of his schedule.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I wish I was better at it. She need to atone for what she did at school by doing a constructive kit. She gets frustrated and it back builds with me. I'm the adult, the parent, I'm supposed to be the wise calm one. But my Id doesn't want to be calm. It wants to tell her that this is how it will be! I wonder where she gets it from.

I have to tell my Id to shut up, which isn't neurologically pleasing. Yelling would be much more pleasing... but umm... dreadful ineffective and awful. So... stress. I'm glad she has much better resources available to her at this school. But as you say, there can be propensity to take stubbornness a certain way. Heck, it took us years to figure out what was going on. Teachers see so many students, but the outliers, not as many. And some can be quite unique.

And oh... what in the heck is with all the standardized testing?! They are going to be doing it again shortly. The kids are going to graduate high school knowing only how to take a test!

 

[gmbteach]

I have an ADHD/ASD child in my room who, for the first three term, would only get relief from the Chloe’s that was the room when Support Hub staff came and so he equated them arriving with HIM getting the attention and no one else. Umm hello? There are 4 other ‘hun kids’ in the room, you gotta share the love…. It took two weeks of me explaining that others need help as well. He also tends to RUSH his work to get urgent feedback…. Again, it took a couple of weeks of patient ‘training’ to get him to realise that it’s not all about him.

I recognise that this is a classroom setting, however, his mum has said that he isn’t as demanding at home and has calmed down heaps,,,so it is spilling over into his whole life, not just 6 hours at school.

We do a range of assessment items here. This term I have done a math test, a persuasive writing task, a reading comprehension tasks and a mixed assessment HASS task. These are set by our state curriculum body, but can be adapted to suit our students and adjustments are made for those with special needs.

We do standardised testing twice a year - spelling and reading terms 1 and 3, which informs our spelling and reading levels.

Apart from that, we have NAPLAN.. a nationwide test for numeracy, reading, writing and language conventions. This is only done in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I tire of losing my cool with my daughter. I'm stuck between understanding what she can and can't do and her need to mature and take on responsibility. When I was her age, I was washing dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, any number of outdoor chores. I'm struggling on getting her to wash dishes and not do stupid things in the bathroom. At times she is like a toddler. It piles up. I don't have that mindset some others have, which they just wade through everything as calm as still body of water. I keep jerking back and forth between "it doesn't really matter" and "but she needs to learn responsibility". I think I need to change up how these things are presented. I think she needs checklists. But I fear her getting stuck on checklists.

I have an ADHD/ASD child in my room who, for the first three term, would only get relief from the Chloe’s that was the room when Support Hub staff came and so he equated them arriving with HIM getting the attention and no one else. Umm hello? There are 4 other ‘hun kids’ in the room, you gotta share the love…. It took two weeks of me explaining that others need help as well. He also tends to RUSH his work to get urgent feedback…. Again, it took a couple of weeks of patient ‘training’ to get him to realise that it’s not all about him.

Sounds like my daughter. And she still doesn't quite get it.

She is struggling on one project. She often gets to a bump and she'll just pause permanently on it. The issue this time around is, I'm uncertain what the teacher is thinking. She is asking the students (sixth grade) to research online, a complicated subject on biology, and then put things into their own words. But they are sixth graders, whose own scientific vocabulary is very limited. So she is stuck on something I'm not certain is reasonable to be asking these kids. I asked the teacher for a little follow up and what she was expecting. But I didn't get anything back.

Also, the whole, look it up online?! You do a search on what she is looking up and it pulls up PubMed stuff I don't get the feeling they taught them about quality sources or how best to do a web search, as that is a skill in itself.

 

[gmbteach]

I tire of losing my cool with my daughter. I'm stuck between understanding what she can and can't do and her need to mature and take on responsibility. When I was her age, I was washing dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, any number of outdoor chores. I'm struggling on getting her to wash dishes and not do stupid things in the bathroom. At times she is like a toddler. It piles up. I don't have that mindset some others have, which they just wade through everything as calm as still body of water. I keep jerking back and forth between "it doesn't really matter" and "but she needs to learn responsibility". I think I need to change up how these things are presented. I think she needs checklists. But I fear her getting stuck on checklists.

I have an ADHD/ASD child in my room who, for the first three term, would only get relief from the Chloe’s that was the room when Support Hub staff came and so he equated them arriving with HIM getting the attention and no one else. Umm hello? There are 4 other ‘hun kids’ in the room, you gotta share the love…. It took two weeks of me explaining that others need help as well. He also tends to RUSH his work to get urgent feedback…. Again, it took a couple of weeks of patient ‘training’ to get him to realise that it’s not all about him.

Sounds like my daughter. And she still doesn't quite get it.

She is struggling on one project. She often gets to a bump and she'll just pause permanently on it. The issue this time around is, I'm uncertain what the teacher is thinking. She is asking the students (sixth grade) to research online, a complicated subject on biology, and then put things into their own words. But they are sixth graders, whose own scientific vocabulary is very limited. So she is stuck on something I'm not certain is reasonable to be asking these kids. I asked the teacher for a little follow up and what she was expecting. But I didn't get anything back.

Also, the whole, look it up online?! You do a search on what she is looking up and it pulls up PubMed stuff I don't get the feeling they taught them about quality sources or how best to do a web search, as that is a skill in itself.

Any teacher worth their salt needs to provide feedback and an example of what they are after. We go through tasks often with examples using the format we expect. We also provide the marking criteria and go through what each bit means, and yes, we put it into kid friendly language using ‘I can’ statements.

If the teacher is expecting them to look something up online, they need to demonstrate that, and should provide some guiding questions to assist them. FFS year 6 here did a research project on a Natural Disaster… for three weeks we looked at cyclones, earthquakes and bushfires, and I modelled how to research by asking questions and making notes.

You cannot expect anyone to do anything unless they are shown it first! Yes, some people learn vy ‘playing around with it’ but they still need some basic fundamentals to begin with.

Can I come and punch your daughter’s teacher out please?

With regards to checklists… start small. List every thing that she needs to get down, and then encourage HER to group things together as tasks.

E.g. - washing the dishes could be broken down into rinse, wash glasses, cups, plates, flatware, pots and pans, dry dishes. This will become rinse the dishes, wash the dishes, dry the dishes. Finally it will be doing the dishes.

This way, ANYTHING she does is a step in the right direction, and hey, if she rinses the dishes, it’s a start.

I used this strategy with C, the child mentioned above, when I asked him to draw a picture of a person and a tree, he did the pencil bits first, then coloured, then finished it off. Otherwise he just scribbles crap on a page because ‘it’s too much to do’. He felt such accomplishment when he did a great pencil drawing. Then I reminded him to use at least 4 colours when colouring, and where… then it was done. But he NEEDED this level of instruction. No one had ever explicitly taught him how to do a picture!

I hope this helps. Hugs.

 

[Toni]

I detested washing the dishes as a child, a regular chore that rotated between me and my younger sister for wash/dry. Part of the issue was texture: I was extremely grossed out by the textures, not helped by lack of garbage disposal and inexpert scraping of dishes. Plus I was being made to do something I did not want to do after being at school all day doing things I did not want to do ( ie NOT having my nose in a book, or drawing or riding my bike or exploring meadows and woods, rocks, insects, interesting sticks, etc.). Plus it meant working in cooperation with my sister. I’m guessing your daughter may be grossed out by the tasks themselves —the textures, etc. Worth asking. But it was pretty much a nightly battle for years. I never won it. My parents were neither flexible nor tolerant, nor willing to give in. It was a battle of the wills. We are a stubborn clan.

I understand that the teacher is hoping to get the kids to be able to get the gist of the online explanation and to express it in their own words—an extremely valuable skill. Gmbteach is right about the teacher—she needed to be clear, give concrete examples and be available for clarification and questions. It is even possible that the point of the exercise is that it was very very difficult for most people.

My suggestion for an online site would be Mayo Clinic because it offers a lot of patient friendly info. By patient friendly I mean written at a 6-8th grade level. Also you might access academic papers which would be like pub med papers.

I 100 percent get wanting to teach your daughter life skills and responsibility. That’s how I grew up. My husband’s mother did everything except chew and digest her kids food for them—which she totally would have done if she could because they did not do it right. So bear that in mind and you get the gist of every single parenting conflict in my marriage. My kids had very sparse chores because my husband would set the table, clear the table, take out the trash, etc. for them as soon as I suggested that a kid do that. Btw: zero problems getting them to walk the dogs. But my kids all grew up to be responsible adults who can do their own laundry ( from age 13–I was NOT budging on that one), clean the kitchen, vacuum, mop, clean a bathroom, do minor household repairs, etc. and hold down full time jobs.

Almost all kids hate chores no matter how reasonable their parents are. Sometimes it goes better if they do it with the parent: helping to make cookies or dinner, one washing the other drying dishes, while having friendly conversation, sharing memories or tips, etc. Not always. In this respect your daughter is 1000% normal in this respect. Yes she needs to know how to do these things. She will learn to do them albeit there will get periods of time ( long ones) where it seems hopeless. My mother never allowed us to help her cook but I still learned to make her Thanksgiving turkey and noodles, from memory and observation. And luck and dogged perseverance/stubbornness. And nostalgia and love for those turkey and noodles.

 

[Toni]

Also: of course the teacher should be more helpful and reasonable. But think of it this way: your daughter will always have to deal with people who are’t great bosses or coworkers or friends or neighbors. Sad, but true. It is not such a bad think if she learns to deal with less than ideal people and circumstances.

And it’s better for her if her dad maintains his blood pressure and gives her many many many years of being her dad.

Im writing this who still would beat the snot out of anyone who was unfair to any of my kids—in theory. I do model better behavior.

 

[bigfield]

The twins have survived outside of the womb for a year, which means that the miserable slog of caring for babies is almost over. When my firstborn became a toddler, I hit my stride as a parent. We've bonded really well and I've been able to help him thrive. It's more rewarding when the child provides clearer feedback.

One parenting skill I'm struggling with is getting my 3yo to adapt to new experiences. Sometimes it goes pretty well: I had decent success getting him to dress himself, brush his teeth, sue the toilet etc. These are things he has to do often, so we go through a lot of iterations, slowly getting better at the task, or slowly warming up to the idea. But other things just seem insurmountable: for instance he hates getting his hair cut, and he's a fussy eater. I've got some strategies I haven't tried yet, so I'm not quite out of ideas on those fronts.

Ideally I'd like to reach a level of knowledge where I can quickly figure out the right strategy to use each time I need to help the kids grow out of one of these aversions or phobias. Right know I'm doing a lot of trial and error and it can be really damned frustrating after repeated failures without progress.

*I'm not fixing "sue the toilet".

 

[Toni]

A LOT of parenting is trial and error. What worked like a charm with one kid may or may not be effective with the next child—or even the next time with the original child.

But you seem to be a loving and thoughtful dad who cares deeply about his kids wellbeing—and who puts a lot of effort into doing the best for the kids. So, this is mostly just an encouragement response: it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job.

My observation about children’s development is that a lot of it is like a pendulum: they grow new skills and strategies—and then they retreat a bit. Two steps forward, one back. Most noticeable at the early years and the teen years. So your three year old sounds like they are doing great! Some kids, like some adults, react well to novelty and change. Some do not. That’s just how they are wired. For most, it’s a situational type thing: when they are tired or sick or overwhelmed ( often by their own selves) they tend to prefer the tried and true over new. Three year olds are learning about themselves and the world so fast! It seems natural that for some things, they just want how things are, not how you want them to be. My oldest at 3 strongly disliked the necessary change of wardrobe from summer to winter and from winter to summer. He outgrew it pretty quickly but at the time! I think my husband was in his fifties before he quit wanting his new shirts to look and feel exactly like his old shirt which was purchased at least 10 years prior and is no longer available. Around that time he began to suddenly like new colors in his clothing. Hopefully your three year old will develop more flexibility as he grows up. He’s changing and to him, the world is changing and likely he wants some control.

 

[bilby]

sue the toilet

*I'm not fixing "sue the toilet"

Apparently it was one of the infant Trump's first "big-boy" achievements too