Bethany- the cost of daycare is so high out there, but then again- the cost of living there is higher. If I had to pay $10 an hour, well- I only make $11/hour anyway!!
And, I gotta ask- why don't you drive? I'm being totally nosy, and if you'd rather not say then tell me to shut my yap.
I don't think I could be a SAHM long-term, it's just not me. What I'd like is someone like, ahem, Bethany, to come watch my kid. But not for $10/hour, because I can't afford you.
I always cut my friends a deal on babysitting rates....too bad it's such a long commute between our houses!
I'm used to the "why don't you drive?" question...comes up a lot, especially in CA where everyone is ADDICTED to their cars. When one of my friends couldn't drive for a month because of a new prescription drug she was taking, she was just paralyzed. Didn't know how to get out of her house without her car...but that's another story.
No, I just don't like driving. Actually, I hate it. Totally stresses me out every time, so I finally just said forget it, I'll figure out how to live without this. Some of it is that I'm very short (4'10"), and cars in the US are not designed for us shorties, so I'm always uncomfortable. Some of it is that I get stressed trying to take in and process a lot of info at once, so paying attention to everything on the road takes a lot of energy for me. (also why we're probably only going to have 1 kid - hard enough to keep up with me + Owen + DH, much less adding one more critter into the picture!
)
Anyway, it's not been too much of an issue since I've mostly lived in places with at least some sort of public transportation and taxi service. There have been a few times when I've lived in rural areas and needed to drive or carpool, but I realized that the stress of driving was enough that I should live in a more urban environment where I can get around without it.
DMIL really thinks I'm a weirdo because I don't drive (heck, most Californians agree with her!
), but I think after 5 years she's finally gotten used to it. DH sometimes wishes I would drive, and I've told him that I'll get a license again if it would make him feel better. But he knows I hate it, so he's fine with me not driving. I know how to get around, and in an emergency I'd just call 911 or one of our neighbors - we know 15 families within 4 blocks of our house and over half of them have a SAH-parent. So it works...
Nicole, one of my nephews had something sort of like that with his baby teeth. I don't remember exactly what the issue was, but his dentist did x-rays and discovered that roughly 1/2 of his baby teeth had not formed correctly. It was an extreme case from what I understand, but I guess sometimes one or two teeth don't get shaped right or come in funny, and it isn't an indicator of long term dental health, but just an isolated issue.
I don't know if that's what's up with Izzy, but it sounds like you're doing the right thing by sending a pic to your dentist.
Hi ladies sorry I've been MIA this week but we leave for WDW next week and of course Noah and I are now both sick. We took him to the doctor on Monday and they said it was just a cold. We'll Tuesday we got the call from daycare and he had a fever so we picked him up. Yesterday we went back to the doctors and saw the one we like at the practice and she looked him over and said he has the beginnings of a double ear infection. Just lovely so now he's on antibiotics. I've got some kindof cold so DH ended up taking yesterday off too since I felt really bad and he stayed with Noah so I could rest. I had to come to work today since I have a project to issue and with me leaving it has to be done today.
Bummer on being sick!
Hope you both get better in time for your trip and your DH doesn't get sick!!
How do people afford to have more than one kid in daycare? I mean, we don't qualify as "low income" but there is not enough surplus in our budget to do daycare for 2 kids.
I think that is a major reason for people switching to having one parent stay at home, because sometimes 1 income goes directly to daycare!
SIL & BIL both have to work because he makes more money, but all their benefits come from her job. Really stinks, because they have 3 kids all in daycare/after school care and it costs them a bundle. I wish they lived closer to us - I'd watch their girls in a heartbeat for less than they are paying the center - but they're almost 3 hours from us in regular traffic (5-6 hrs in rush hour!
).
I have to say that I think it's great that everyone is able to make the choices for childcare/SAH-parent that works best for your family! I just hate it when people get pressured into doing something that doesn't fit because everyone around them thinks it's the "best" way. One of my best friends is NOT a SAHM type, but her DH might do it someday if they ever have #2. I nannied for them for their DD, and we used to joke that the logo for my childcare should be "I stay home so you don't have to!"
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So I'm really bummed...Owen has been weaning himself from nursing and I don't want him to!
I have tried everything, talked to friends, our Ped., a lactation consultant...and nothing is working. The kid just isn't interested in nursing anymore. Our ped. says sometimes babies are like that and he might get over it, but he's been getting worse over the last month instead of better. I can get him to nurse for maybe 2 or 3 minutes, but then he just wants to wiggle away and is annoyed that he can't sit up and nurse at the same time.
I called a local breastfeeding helpline, but they just layered on the guilt and told me that a normal baby would be so comforted and soothed by nursing that he wouldn't want to give it up, so clearly I must be stressing my child out and that's why he won't nurse. Seriously, people, I'm really a mostly calm person, and I love breastfeeding him, so I don't think that's it.
I totally miss having him doze off in my arms and getting snuggles from him when he's done. We've had to supplement with formula all along, and now I've had to switch him over to formula bottles for everything. I still try to nurse him, but he always gets wiggly and loses interest. I know that I could pump every few hours to keep my milk supply up and at least give him breast milk for a few bottles each day, but with my childcare job I don't see how that will work. These kids are nosy and need a lot of supervision - I can't just lock myself in a room for 15-20 min a couple times while they are here.
I know he'll be fine on formula, and it's not the end of the world, but I'm sad that he's weaning himself off nursing so soon.
That is obnoxious and unhelpful. Obviously you've been doing it a while so it's not like you don't know what you're doing. 
Holy crap how uneducated of a statement was that!? It's almost funny....
He's not my prefered candidate, but good grief!
Of course I live in George Bush country too, so that doesn't help. 
