Haven’t been away from my kids in 6 years (their whole lives). My parents aren’t an option due to medical issues and the in laws suck so much we would never ask. It’s like a never ending unpaid internship.
Never had a "kid free" day going on close to two years. My wife was gone for a month around ~7 months and we survived. Y'all should be fine with your trip IMO. Doing a trial night/day would be a good idea.
My dad finally gets to meet my son in 2 weeks. Gonna probably try to do a day date with the wife. Pretty excited about it. Really happy my dad finally gets to come down. Was too much risk traveling with covid
Like looking into a mirror. We were slated to go to Costa Rica one year ago (when our daughter was about 16 months old) as the first big blow out vacation since she was born. COVID got in the way and we had to push it out a year, but are tentatively slated to go for a week later this month. My parents will be watching her and I'm pretty sure she likes them more than she likes us so there's no real concerns about leaving her.
Biggest issuey wife has is grandparents aren't that close. So they'll probably just be down 2-3x before the trip. But he's given to random ppl every day at daycare and is fine
It feels like a lifetime ago, but I do remember being a little hesitant to leave our daughter with my folks for a week. Since the pandemic though, my parents have gotten more than they bargained for in terms of helping us out during the work week (when daycare was closed). Just my experience, but I think your folks are probably better at taking care of kids than you give them credit for, and will be more than capable of handling the kiddo.
We did a few 4 night trips around that age. A week would be great but if you aren't used to (or even if you are) a 13-month old can be exhausing so we did the Thursday - Sunday trips starting around 6 months on. On that same note, I made Presidents Club for my company which was a free trip to Four Seasons in Costa Rica. Bad news is its canceled due to Covid. I did however get a bonus to make up for it being canceled and want to travel. The issue this time is declining in-law health, our 5 year old staying with Grandma is no an option. I could do my parents but we'd need to fly there so we are thinking about taking him with us. So the question is: What i a good trip to take a 5-year old on that is really intended for mom and dad? He doesn't have a passport and Hawaii is too far. I'm open to Florida but not touristy/trashy Florida options. My current thought Hilton Head. Maybe get an AirBnb so he can have his own room as being in the same hotel room is limiting. Palm Springs or Arizona is another option as I basically want to be able to be in a sunny, warm area for a few days. Lounging around a pool or ocean for a few days and leave the cold Chicago spring weather is the ultimate goal.
Yeah I don't think it's much the parents. And if we did it during the week mostly he'll be at daycare 80% of the time. She's just got separation anxiety like most moms. She wants to go but I think would rather do 5 days or something.
Every year growing up I'd quickly lose count of the number of Ohio license plates I saw, always baffling to me. We're going to try to go to Edisto Island in April during out daughter's daycare's spring break and because we're vaxxed up now. Hoping it's not too crazy and sad.
What part of Costa Rica are you trying to go? We did Liberia - Playa Hermosa for our honeymoon and loved it. It’s an incredible country. My only anxiety is how much shit you would have to pack and bring with you. We are looking at going to Mount Lassen in Nor Cal this year and I am already stressing about having to bring half the house with us.
I think I got lucky on the kid eating aspect. I decided to try making my own baby food a little when our pediatrician suggested to start exposing him to solid foods. I basically go to the store on Friday nights and get a bunch of veggies and then steam them in a basket in the instapot. Then I toss them in my food processor and blend them down until they are a purée and scoop them into my whiskey ice cube molds. Each cube is about 3 ounces so when we want to feed him I just pop one in the microwave and defrost it and get it room temp. The first time he tried each one he was pretty hesitant but he’s loving it now. Sweet potatoes and spinach is probably his favorite at the moment with Apple and Banana purée right after that. It doesn’t take too long and I normally get to drink beer while I make it all and it’s cheap as shit compared to the jarred baby food. 11 out of 10. Will be doing it again.
This trip would be without child, so no worries about packing. I do agree for future, having to take a lot will be tough. Especially diapers for a week+. No more carrying on. We went to a cabin maybe 6 months ago and nearly filled our SUV with shit. I want to go to Santa Teresa. It's further south of Liberia. You can fly into either airport then take a 30 min Sansa flight.
My child is about 7.5 months old. He FINALLY started sleeping through the night in the last week. It's been fucking AMAZING. Not having to get up just makes everything better.
Never realized how lucky I was that my 3 month old has been sleeping through the night after the first month.
He slept through the night after the first month? Yeah, pray to whatever god you love and thank him/her/they/them
Ours started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. He's 7 months and does 12 hours at night now. 7p-7a. My coworkers with kids get salty when I say I'm never tired because he sleeps like a rock #blessed
Ours went through like a two year period where he would eat pizza. He’s lucky he’s lived to 14 at this point.
If it wasn’t for chocolate milk, easy Mac, cheese pizza or peanut butter sandwiches My 5 year old would be dead. Those are literally the only things he consumes.
Nope. The weird thing I have seen him eat now that I think about it is a McDonald’s “hamburger” except it’s just a ketchup sandwich as he takes the meat off and gives it to the dog.
all my kids eat is shit. almost all of it comes frozen. the closest thing to an actual meal i can get them to eat are hot dogs. Right now it's a rotation of frozen dino nuggets, frozen pizza, frozen meatballs, PB sandwiches, corn dogs, or hot dogs. sometimes they will eat broccoli, peas, mixed veggies etc on the side but those almost always end up in the trash. we also pair it with grapes, apples, oranges and they will eat those. side is always Annies instant mac or uncle ben's jasmine rice. they love that shit. the goal is for them to eat enough to go to bed without asking for a snack.
If you have a youngn who spontaneously goes from eating damn near anything to almost nothing, don't stop offering vegetables, meats, whatever. Keep offering them every meal. Chance they eventually come back around on it. One thing my wife always tries to do when it's new/different food is to have at least 1 or 2 things on the plate you know they will eat. That way the whole plate isn't just a no and you'll stand a better chance of them trying the new thing rather than a whole plate of new food/food they don't like.
Any of you try and fly with your 2 year olds having to wear a mask? we have a vacation booked to Hawaii this summer and my wife is terrified about having my son fly with a mask given that he won’t be able to keep it on for more than 30 secs
thanks man this is all great stuff, really appreciate it. I am leaning against prepaid for the reason you said, will probably just add a line like y'all did. my kid barely leaves the house at this point but that will definitely change somewhere down the line so this is great info.
Yeah mines 14 and asks me if he can go somewhere but yesterday ended up like 8 miles away with some friends and it’s nice to be able to check in on him without having to call.
So we have entered the “screaming” phase where he realizes he has a voice and we react to it. I just start laughing and my wife is not happy. I am a loud guy by nature so it’s hilarious to me.
There's a spirited discussion in 1/3's softball league (12U) if a girl can use Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" as her walk on music because it has the word "damn" in it. I think she should be able to.
1) This is for the competition league, not the “everyone gets to play” rec league 2) it’s one of the team moms and a Bluetooth speaker the kids really enjoy it and it’s sooooo much better than 15 preteens screeching some rhyming cheer.
Doing tax return stuff and daycare tuition was 16k. Thank god it gets cheaper as they age. Daycare needs to be covered by the govt this is ridiculous.
Only 3k of it is which doesn’t mean much when mine is 25k a year for one kid :( or u can do a FSA up to 5k