From Lara of Minneapolis….. 

I was hounded by family this Christmas to get my daughter signed up for preschool.  She turns one tomorrow and that thought really hadn’t crossed my mind yet.  She’s still my little baby!

I think you did a post about this a while back, but maybe you can re-visit the discussion?  I’d like to get some opinions from Cribsheeters and their reviews of the preschool types, what age they began registering, what age they began attending, how much they cost, and what they like/don’t like about where their child goes.  I’d like to see what everyone has to say about neighborhood/church schools vs Montessori/Waldorf/etc.

I waited too long to find daycare, but lucked out getting a friend who was looking for a job change 2 weeks before I went back to work.  I don’t want to fall behind on the preschool bandwagon!

Cribsheet regular Tobi  wonders how much to tell her preschooler….

Our car got broken into last night (nothing stolen). 

E. was already sort of fixated on people stealing (why, how, why why why) but now he’s also super anxious.  So I thought this blog in the Times was timely — what IS the right level of “reality” exposure for little kids?  How do we explain why bad things happen? 

When (and how) do I start talking to my kids about slavery, the Holocaust, 9/11, war?  We never have the TV news on in our house, but I know E. is hearing little snippets from school and NPR.  How to protect him, on the one hand, but also create a compassionate (and not-too-sheltered) kid on the other hand?  Why aren’t there mathematical formulas for these parenting things?!?!?!?!?!?

We’re looking for suggestions.

Zoe turns five at the end of the month. Up till now, we’ve celebrated her birthday in the midst of Christmas festivities and she’s been just fine with that.

But after going to several 5-yr-old parties this year, she’s asking for her own. In fact, she’s already verbally invited her guests. Even before we said yes.

Any ideas for good indoor venues to host a kid’s party in these frigid times (temperature and economic both)? Details on price and activities would be much appreciated. We’re looking at about seven kids total. It’s a mix of boys and girls so no princess themes, please.

Today we have Darcie Gust, a Cribsheet regular, guest blogging for us. She swore she’d never be a short order cook for her family and is now finding out that trying to get her 3 year old to eat is a very tall order.

Before I became a parent, I had a lot of ideas in my head. Thoughts of what I would and would not do when I became a parent. I’d see those OTHER parents out (you know the ones!) and about and say to myself - “That will never be me!!” One of the biggest “Oh no, not me I will NEVER EVER…” issues I’m battling happens during mealtime at our house.

I swore I would never be a “restaurant” for our kids. I spent half my life working in restaurants - I wasn’t going to be serving up a different meal for every person in our house, especially when I was the one making it!! At least that’s what I thought, before I had a toddler.
Introducing solids to our little girl was a cake walk - she’d not only try it she’d eat the whole jar of whatever it was on the menu for that day - (well, except Apricots - she hated those.)
That little girl just turned three and she is very selective in what she eats. I find myself making a meal for dinner for the family - and then something for her that I know she will eat. Typically PB&J, Mac n Cheese, Grilled Cheese or some form of Chicken Nugget/Chicken Fries.
I do still put on her plate a bite or two of what her Dad and I are eating - which her little brother who is almost two will typically at least try, but she refuses…and then follows that up with -
“I can’t eat that - it makes me cough.” A step up from her telling me it would make her throw up which is what she used to do! We’ve gone the bribery route - begging her to try just one bite - I have tried the “This is all you get til morning and you’ll go hungry” approach - and she honestly would prefer to go hungry - and has…Sometimes she makes it through the night - other nights I’m lying next to her as her tummy is growling and she’s crying. How do you not give in to that and let her have PB&J sans crust yet again? Even harder yet is that both of our kids barely register under 5% on the growth charts for weights! I try not to get too wrapped up in the percentiles but I’d love for them to register on the chart at least!!

I once told a friend that I had visions of sitting down at the table eating as a family every night and was very disappointed that I was failing and she reminded me that we could still sit at the table as a family and eat, even if we were not all eating the same thing.

She’s right, and we have since started doing just that…but I wonder - how DO you get these little ones to eat without making them go hungry?

This note in our Cribsheet in-box this morning tugged at our hearts.  

(We’ve been there D.)

Today is my first day of work in 361 days. Eight weeks of bed rest and ten wonderful months of being a stay at home mom. Today I dropped my son off at day care and cried. More than I thought I would. I really am struggling with the idea that I will only see my son for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening and on weekends. I feel like I am going through some kind of custody battle. Please tell me it gets better.

Thank you

-D in Minneapolis

Cribsheeters: Empathy or advice for D. ?