I would cut off a body part to get independent play. That might be a slight exaggeration, but ENJOY IT. It’s a critical skill and not one that all kids have. If he needed more from you, he’d request more from you. It’s not like you’re ignoring all his bids for attention. You’re honoring his desire to do deep work and become absorbed in play. That IS good parenting. It’s like being a good manager- knowing when to stay the hell out of the way is a huge part of it.
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and you are both fabulous parents.
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Anyone have resources (books, articles, accounts) on gentle potty training they can point me towards? We did “Oh Crap” for kid #1 and it like… scarred her. Almost 2.5 years later and she still has hangups around going to the potty, though she does seem to be finally getting over some of them. Maybe it’s just her personality and this would have happened regardless, but I want to try something different for kid #2. But I don’t know what to try!
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I haven’t done the course personally, but rooted in routine keeps advertising her course and she says in all of her content that it’s not a three day method and relies on following the child and stuff. Maybe look more into that?
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Benevolent neglect is amazing, LOL!
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Thank you for the kind words @Bracken_Joy and @rocklobster - I don’t know how I missed the updates from this thread. I will for sure just be happy that my kid played with a fidget spinner for like 20 minutes today while I assembled furniture.
I have yet another random question maybe a gutcheck more like?
So my almost 3 year old (3 weeks!) has a great pal in his Pout Pout fish, his lovey. He takes him everywhere. We are week 3 of preschool and he takes him there in basically every activity. He’s had a lot of change - new home, loss of interaction with lots of familty, new daycare. So the fact that Pout Pout is there for him is great! And I know his attachment to his lovey is just a way of him continuing his attachment to us while we are gone, so it’s perfectly healthy.
Right? Haha. Like some articles are saying “well limit it to bedtime.” But … Why? He’s happy. Why stress him out? No one is going to make fun of him, and if they do, well, I trust his teachers and he has us to support him through the very universal experience of kids learning to be good people and sometimes fucking up. Doesn’t seem like I need to step in and cause unnecessary anxiety???
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People just want to limit it to prevent losing it or having other kids abuse it I think, and if it’s paired with finger or thumb sucking, to prevent speech delays from that combo.
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Oh yeah and some people are worried about the germs side of things I think. (I recently learned some people wash ALL of their and their kids clothes after every single wear. Ummm so there’s a big variation there lol)
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This probably won’t work since he’s older now, but for Latte we have THREE of her lovey. And she knows they’re different. We have Coral at home (and sometimes walks, sigh), Car Coral for trips out; and a coral at grandmas house.
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Well I just bought every single pout pout on Amazon (ok there were 2) so let’s hope it does!
He fell asleep ok without it today…when his dad forgot pout pout was in the car. 
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We have a variety of stuffed animals and Duckling definitely took his along to daycare sometimes at 3. There’s no need to ease off unless it’s interfering with him doing stuff. I like the multiple toys method but Duckling’s favorites both came from overseas so I just hope another toy will stand in if they’re ever lost.
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TFW your baby starts crawling and you realise your floors are disgusting.
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I sometimes took my stuffies to elementary school. And definitely to university. They are in a bedroom drawer right now but belong on the dresser. Unfortunately someone can reach the dresser.
I have had one of mine expressed mailed to me from my aunt’s house in England to my grandparents in England to ensure I didn’t miss a flight.
The daycare I really want to get my kid into suggests sending second tier stuffies as the daycare one, so they aren’t responsible for loss or injury. But they don’t ban it
Peppa pig has a book about her holiday to where the police keep having to return teddy.
There are risks involved in taking out your most prized bff. But huge gains too
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I wash all of my kid’s clothes after a single wear! Record longest since starting solids was 48h! Some clothes make it less than the time it takes to put them on.
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I think BJ meant people who also aren’t getting dirty are still washing their clothes after one wear?
I can wear mine several days (unless a milk leak) but Ponder can only wear a shirt once or it stinks.
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I know. I’m being a silly. I have to do pyjamas and they are dirty twice a week. Day shirts are stinky for me every day. G lives his best toddler life and can wear things for like 72 hours or until 
gets him dirty.
I am starting to try and dress my kid for certaim outings now though. I’ve even figured out, months before Christmas what I want his dressy outfits to be.
But my random question is. … people who don’t daycare, and maybe people who do. If your kid is not into clothes or accessories, when do you start steering them into little outfits instead of clean enough/activity appropriate enough? (Noting above that my kid often wears the same thing for pyjamas as daytime and sometimes I buy thrift store stuff and later someone tells me it’s pyjamas)
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After the Baby Stage of life, we always did Day Clothes and Night Clothes, but my kids always got dirty? We went outside a lot.
I personally cannot wear clothes for a day without needing to wash them - yesterday I canned tomatoes, worked in the garden and helped dh cook dinner and I was pretty grubby.
I would wash anything that has been worn to daycare or school, on the grounds that I spent a lotta years in a classroom, and know how germy they are. Ugh.
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My kid doesn’t care about clothes or accessories. I only put him in an “outfit” (like, the colours all look nice) if it’s a special outing or I feel like it.
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We change the toddler clothes every morning when she wakes up. Sometimes she likes to choose what she wears and sometimes not, but I think it helps her to differentiate between daytime and naptime and just generally have a routine. Often the clothes are the same ones from yesterday or whatever, and I don’t fight her if she decides she wants to stay in pajamas, but most days she gets dressed.
If she goes outside then all those clothes get washed after one wear, but that’s because it’s really hot and humid here and she sweats a lot plus playing in dirt etc…
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We grew up in a wash every day household because my grandma kept everything pristine including us. Now, we wash when dirty. For me shirts get dirty every day. I’m just a sweaty person hahaha
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