We're all just doing our best for our [Kids]

Knob

The youngest was in the shower with the wife. In his 2 years on earth he has not had a bathroom incident in the bathtub, so I guess he figured he was overdue. He shat in the shower. He laid down what the wife described as 'a grown ass man poop'. So she removed him from the shower to deal with it, and he summarily climbed on top of the toilet and shat 'pon the closed lid. At which point she tosses him back in the tub. After cleaning off the toilet she turns to discover that he has shat the tub twice more. Then she texted her dear husband about it, looking for sympathy and commiseration.

Capt Howdy

I have tears rolling down my face at work from reading that. Best laugh of the morning.

Sympathies for your wife and all that.

Knob

There was another incident from a few months back, but the poop wasn't in the tub

Septus

I have not had this experience yet, but is there not some fortune in that it happened in a shower, and not...not in a shower/diaper?

Certainly it's gross for sure.

Knob

You will clean poop from surfaces in your house that you would never in your wildest dreams imagine could ever have poop on them.

Mojo_Jojo

And then you get to potty training and somehow it gets worse

Capt Howdy

Liquid shit is the worst, just squirts out of every opening in their diaper. And the smell. The smell.

MulysaSempronius

My 2 year old just had a bath with no poo involved for the first time in several months.
The 4 year old had some diarrhea, so now refuses to poop. I'll give it one more day before trying to make her.
It never ends..

Capt Howdy

Clicked awesome because of your 2 year old, unclicked because of your 4 year old.

Poop is life.

So It Goes

Hey does anyone use an FSA (I think that's the correct letters) to put away pre-tax dollars to pay for childcare? I'm about to run my first nanny payroll and would love it if all this money I'm sending out was pre-tax.

Knob

So It Goes wrote: »

Hey does anyone use an FSA (I think that's the correct letters) to put away pre-tax dollars to pay for childcare? I'm about to run my first nanny payroll and would love it if all this money I'm sending out was pre-tax.

Pretty sure it is, otherwise the entire FSA setup is totally pointless.

Capt Howdy

So It Goes wrote: »

Hey does anyone use an FSA (I think that's the correct letters) to put away pre-tax dollars to pay for childcare? I'm about to run my first nanny payroll and would love it if all this money I'm sending out was pre-tax.

I have an FSA and yes, it is pre tax.

So It Goes

It's pretty simple, right? I'm having husband look into it through his work (my work doesn't offer it). IIRC you do "lose" the dollars you don't spend, correct?

Capt Howdy

So It Goes wrote: »

It's pretty simple, right? I'm having husband look into it through his work (my work doesn't offer it). IIRC you do "lose" the dollars you don't spend, correct?

FSA you lose the money, HSA you do not lose the money. And if he is Government Service it is very easy to setup. I don't know how easy it is in the civilian workforce.

Knob

Yeah, most FSA and HSA contributions don't roll into the next year. There can be exceptions. The HSA I had through my last employer had no matching contributions and didn't roll, so I didn't bother. Current employer has an HSA program that rolls yearly, has a 6% matching contribution from the employer, and a direct $200 annual employer contribution. I use the shit out of that.

MulysaSempronius

I tried FSA last year, and decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
Can only put aside $5k, which was a little less than three months daycare for us. I had to wait until December to finish it off to make sure we used all the money. And it required lots of forms.
I think we saved more than if we got the tax credit instead, but not enough for the work required. Going with tax credit this year.

Capt Howdy

Knob wrote: »

Yeah, most FSA and HSA contributions don't roll into the next year. There can be exceptions. The HSA I had through my last employer had no matching contributions and didn't roll, so I didn't bother. Current employer has an HSA program that rolls yearly, has a 6% matching contribution from the employer, and a direct $200 annual employer contribution. I use the shit out of that.

I know the Aetna HSA rolls over, but yeah, I imagine it all varies by who you get it through. Combined with the rest of the pre-tax stuff we get, the FSA/HSA is awesome. Some insurers even give you money on your HSA for being proactive about your health. I got $75 tossed on there for having my yearly physical done.

Septus

My fsa admin is relatively easy, the problem is the daycare. It's a pain in the butt having them give me a statement, so I'm probably going to have to get reimbursed all at once instead of monthly (for all of 3 to 4 months).

Capt Howdy

Just realized I'm discussing HSA/FSA on the internet. At first I was sad because its proof I'm old, but then I was happy because it meant I know adult stuff and am doing responsible things for my family.

*Looks at kids playing games together, yelling at one another over who gets to play as Luke Skywalker*

"You're welcome, you little ingrates!"

Hardtarget

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Holy shit Mallory has suddenly become such a freaking brat. She turns 3 in less than a month and lordy lordy lordy the threenager phase has come screeching in. She won't listen anymore, and when we threaten her with punishment for not listening and then follow through she screeches at the top of her lungs and won't stop.

And God help you if you don't give her exactly what she wants right this second.

3 and a half is worse, prepare youself

MNC Dover

Hardtarget wrote: »

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Holy shit Mallory has suddenly become such a freaking brat. She turns 3 in less than a month and lordy lordy lordy the threenager phase has come screeching in. She won't listen anymore, and when we threaten her with punishment for not listening and then follow through she screeches at the top of her lungs and won't stop.

And God help you if you don't give her exactly what she wants right this second.

3 and a half is worse, prepare youself

No, please don't say that. My little "angel" is just over 2.5 now and has turned the attitude meter up a few notches.

Hardtarget

MNC Dover wrote: »

Hardtarget wrote: »

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Holy shit Mallory has suddenly become such a freaking brat. She turns 3 in less than a month and lordy lordy lordy the threenager phase has come screeching in. She won't listen anymore, and when we threaten her with punishment for not listening and then follow through she screeches at the top of her lungs and won't stop.

And God help you if you don't give her exactly what she wants right this second.

3 and a half is worse, prepare youself

No, please don't say that. My little "angel" is just over 2.5 now and has turned the attitude meter up a few notches.

listen, if you want people to lie to you about how great having kids are you're in the wrong forum

it sucks, it gets worse (isaac turns 4 next month and julia is 1.5 right now, kill me), but they give you a big hug and say they love you and it's all worth it

MNC Dover

@Hardtarget I just had to lie about my dog's name here. You can lie and say my girl won't be a bigger monster in the next 12 months. It's cool.

Hardtarget

realtalk: I actually really dislike how much people pretend child rearing is all roses and perfume. Everybody always lies "oh ya, we're great, no issues" and it sets up such bad expectations for future parents.

It's hard and it's ok that it's hard!

Capt Howdy

MNC Dover wrote: »

@Hardtarget I just had to lie about my dog's name here. You can lie and say my girl won't be a bigger monster in the next 12 months. It's cool.

That was important, it was about a dog.

Knob

Once when I was small, I was given a horse for my birthday. I was asked to name the horse. I named the horse "Pock". I was summarily informed that this was no name for a horse, and my horse's name was actually "Princess".

So on his 5th birthday, my son is given a dog. The Pock Fiasco is still festering in the back of my mind, so I have resolved to accept whatever strange name comes tumbling out of his mouth. I will not be a monster like my parents.

"What should her name be, son?"

"...Ghostbusters"

Oh no.

"Are you set on that one? Does anything else come to mind?"

"Well she's the same color as a penny, how about Penny"

"THANK THE CHRIST, WELCOME HOME, PENNY THE DOG"

Smrtnik

Hardtarget wrote: »

realtalk: I actually really dislike how much people pretend child rearing is all roses and perfume. Everybody always lies "oh ya, we're great, no issues" and it sets up such bad expectations for future parents.

It's hard and it's ok that it's hard!

Anything worthwhile is.

Capt Howdy

Parenthood, wherein you sit and ponder if your toddler made that noise or could it be that a rabid chimp somehow found it's way into your toddler's room.

MNC Dover

This last month has been rough on us. The typical night time variation is:

• Boy won't go to sleep until 1-2 am
• He wakes up at 4-5am for feeding
• Girl wakes up at 6-7am and is tired but refuses to rest or nap
• Girl is a fussy mess around 2pm
• Girl falls unconscious at 8pm (bedtime)
• Boy won't take long naps through the day unless someone is holding him

Long story short, we are tired from getting little sleep at night, with me getting 4-5 hours on average. The boy is hitting 12-weeks old on Thursday, I'm hoping his sleep schedule will work itself out and he'll take to sleeping in his crib soon.

Muzzmuzz

Alright... first night in the big girl bed.

A few times we've had to go into her bedroom to 'persuade' her to go to sleep.

Now it's been an hour of silence, so I carefully take a peek.



Yes, she is sleeping sandwiched between the comforter and... the pillow.

MulysaSempronius

MulysaSempronius wrote: »

My 2 year old just had a bath with no poo involved for the first time in several months.
The 4 year old had some diarrhea, so now refuses to poop. I'll give it one more day before trying to make her.
It never ends..

Update- #2 was a go. We're good.

But now she refuses to go #1. She has an issue with getting yeast infections, and will do anything to try to not go.

shadowane

@So It Goes I have a dependent care account through my work which is what an FSA for child care is generally called. As @MulysaSempronius said, you can only deduct a max of $5k for the year but it's pre-tax stuff so if your taxes are high enough, it's totally worth it. By using it, though, it means you can only deduct $1000 at the end of the year instead of $6000 (well, probably 20% of that, but whatever). I'm not sure what changes with the new tax law though.

For me, it's totally worth it since it saves me some money through the year and saves a little more than just doing a straight deduction. And since it maxes out at $5k, I usually just ask for 2 months of receipts from my daycare and do a claim for that much all at once. As I get $192 deducted from each of my paychecks for this (basically it's $192 * 26 since it's how many checks I get a year), the claim just pays out until it gets totally filled. I'll do this 3 times a year basically once I realize I'm not getting a payout from my paycheck.

So It Goes

We should probably talk to an accountant at some point. The "tax cuts" act is making everything super complicated now. Sigh.

Capt Howdy

MNC Dover wrote: »

This last month has been rough on us. The typical night time variation is:

• Boy won't go to sleep until 1-2 am
• He wakes up at 4-5am for feeding
• Girl wakes up at 6-7am and is tired but refuses to rest or nap
• Girl is a fussy mess around 2pm
• Girl falls unconscious at 8pm (bedtime)
• Boy won't take long naps through the day unless someone is holding him

Long story short, we are tired from getting little sleep at night, with me getting 4-5 hours on average. The boy is hitting 12-weeks old on Thursday, I'm hoping his sleep schedule will work itself out and he'll take to sleeping in his crib soon.

I spent quite a few nights sleeping in my recliner with our youngest resting on my chest. Its not ideal if you have bulging discs in your neck and back, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do so everyone gets some sleep.

SyphonBlue

Anybody else's kid suddenly become terrified of noises that were "too loud" at around 3 years old?

Preacher

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Anybody else's kid suddenly become terrified of noises that were "too loud" at around 3 years old?

My son has become scared by a lot of things that didn't scare him before. But he's also an emotional terrorist and so I think he's lying half the time.

DADDY IS NOT SCARY YOU LITTLE MONSTER!

Janson

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Anybody else's kid suddenly become terrified of noises that were "too loud" at around 3 years old?

Fear as an emotion starts to develop around 3-4 years of age as I recall.

Anya’s not hugely afraid of noises, but other fears developed at that age, yes.

This is why some parents find their youngsters are fine watching TV shows like Walking the Dead... at least at first.

Edit: I’m kind of talking out of my ass, fear is present at all ages but different types of fear develop at different ages.

SyphonBlue

Preacher wrote: »

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Anybody else's kid suddenly become terrified of noises that were "too loud" at around 3 years old?

My son has become scared by a lot of things that didn't scare him before. But he's also an emotional terrorist and so I think he's lying half the time.

DADDY IS NOT SCARY YOU LITTLE MONSTER!

Preacher

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Anybody else's kid suddenly become terrified of noises that were "too loud" at around 3 years old?

My son has become scared by a lot of things that didn't scare him before. But he's also an emotional terrorist and so I think he's lying half the time.

DADDY IS NOT SCARY YOU LITTLE MONSTER!

Boyd isn't scary, he's a businessman Syphon, he gives back to his community.

Prolegomena

Knob wrote: »

Once when I was small, I was given a horse for my birthday. I was asked to name the horse. I named the horse "Pock". I was summarily informed that this was no name for a horse, and my horse's name was actually "Princess".

So on his 5th birthday, my son is given a dog. The Pock Fiasco is still festering in the back of my mind, so I have resolved to accept whatever strange name comes tumbling out of his mouth. I will not be a monster like my parents.

"What should her name be, son?"

"...Ghostbusters"

Oh no.

"Are you set on that one? Does anything else come to mind?"

"Well she's the same color as a penny, how about Penny"

"THANK THE CHRIST, WELCOME HOME, PENNY THE DOG"

Pock is a great name for a horse.