We had a small somewhat-dim lamp that we placed round the baby’s feet: exactly where needed to see and the baby’s face stayed in the dark

Another far fetched change I would like to see in our society: shorter work days. I don’t think there is any real reason why we settled on 8h work days, and with the growth of productivity I see no reason why we should stay there. A shorter work day (at same pay) would allow the worker to have more time to enjoy life - and the family they chose to create.

He is learning to speak, and the latest discovery is letting me know the process of bunping into stuff (a second ago, in front of me, usually without hurting himself). He comes to me, tells me “boom” pointing at where he fell, then “aua” with the saddest face, pointing at what he supposedly hurt. Sometimes it’s even the correct spot! He often then patiently waits for a kiss on it.

My kid started hating waking up from his daily nap. I still don’t understand why or how, but at least half of the times, he wakes up so mad! And there seems to be nothing to do. At times he gets more mad if you try to comfort him. Sometimes taking in a soothing voice helps, but not always. Often giving him his pajama pants helps -and that’s the only time in the day he requires them. I don’t know if it counts as tantrum, but i can’t classify it as anything else… we usually wait it out, can take up to 20 minutes of screeching.

1.5 years old he is understanding the concept of hot, so he is learning to blow on warm food, let me know if it’s too hot and communicate this: a hand over the head is the signal for “hot”. It gets used when he passes near the oven, when I am cooking and when we serve food.

At 1.5y, diversion has started to loose its power when having to stop playing or having to leave toys. Luckily I found out that “saying goodbye” is extremely effective. It gives the kid an understanding of what is happening (we are leaving) and a moment to process the loss. So now every time we go home from the playground we say goodbye, even if there are no other people around.

“Latest hack you figured out”

As a new parent, there have been countless little hacks shared with me that really helped my life. The first one: “sometimes babies just need to cry it out” (within reason). Helped me drop the parent guilt of hearing your baby cry and not being able to fix it right away.

Latest one: if you are excited, they will likely be as well. (Experiences of potty training)

I personally feel represented in at least three categories, so I’d say it does!

It’s already a day later! You got this, the hardest part is flowing by. How are you doing?

My little piece of advice: you don’t have to think about the future, tomorrow, next week, they are all far off. Think about now, this hour, the next 5 minutes, or whatever stretch of time seems manageable. What do you do now? Cook dinner? Watch a show? Cry in the shower? The future might be scary and too much to manage now. You’ll handle it when you get to it. Now, you only have to think about right now.

Verbena tea is calming and soothing. Lavender is relaxing. Green tea for me is a calming ritual.

You got this. Maybe it doesn’t feel like it, but you only need to do one step, and you got that one step.

You can’t skim an audio file, you have to listen from the beginning to the end. Audio makes symbols that are often used in programming difficult to parse or confusing. I… really dislike this

Same here: very far from top result, and links to this same article.

A lot depends on your mindset. In particular nowadays, we are constantly focused on the future. Everything is seen as a stepping stone towards something else. So naturally, happiness becomes a faraway goal: “I’ll be happy when that happens”, but as son as that is reached, a new goal appears. To be happy, you need to live in the present. Accept the limitations of it, and thrive on the rest. Not every situation allows for happiness, but most allow for at least some happiness.

I also think that humans are social animals, so happiness should be found in the connections we have with others, friends, blood family and chosen family.

Thanks, that’s a great read!

One day, I understood that my then-boyfriend was the real thing.

Before him, I had a couple of good relationships. I was happy, but always wondered if I would have been better off on my own. The thought would pop up every couple of days, I would seriously consider it for a bit, then decide I was happier with them than in my own. Then my now husband showed up and we started dating.

One day, some three-four months into this new relationship, I realized I never had that old thought. It just never crossed my mind for months that I should evaluate the relationship. We clicked on so many levels, he made me a better person because it made me want to be better.

We got married “fast” for some external reasons and I never doubted that was the right choice. Since then, i don’t have to think about it: I know my life is so much better with him in it.

Virtual support!

Life is hard, take care of yourself!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGRhd_iWuE

I like it, definitely more politically aligned than reddit, but I still find it a bit empty. On one hand, I like that my comments don’t drown in a sea of similar comments, on the other there is rarely a lively discussion. So: mostly good, still hoping for a bit of growth

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by Tolkien

I return to it ever couple of years, always in bad times and often in good times too. Everyone is trying to do the best they can, contributing what they can. Only few characters are at all malicious. Emotions are deep and powerful, portrayed lightly. The whole story is a great collaboration where wildly different people overcome their differences to reach a single, all-encompassing goal.

I was so disappointed I just forgot of its existence until now.

I’m normally pretty good about falling asleep, but I have a bout of insomnia a while back, I’ll share what worked for me.

Make it a ritual: every day do things in the same order. Don’t make it over complicated, but some 10 minutes to wind down by always performing the same actions in the same order. Example: brush teeth, select clothes for tomorrow, change in your pajamas, go to bed.

Write down your recurring thoughts (this one was particularly useful to me): if there is a thought that you just can’t let go, write it down and assure yourself you’re not going to forget it, you are putting it aside for tomorrow. Then the next morning read what you wrote and consider it a minute.

An a bonus:

The bed is for sleeping: don’t do anything else other than sleeping in bed. If sleeping is not happening, give up, stroll around a minute, and try again in 5 minutes. (honestly, this one didn’t work for me, but maybe it works for you!)