Olivia Clark

Ben is literally the greatest person I have ever voted for three times for a race in which he was not running

@potatoslav Just went through this - honestly without sounding tacky, just ask for money to set aside. Or if anything, have people go in on a bigger gift like a ball pit or pickler triangle for development. They don’t know if they don’t get lots of gifts this birthday

the grandparents all want to get presents for baby’s first birthday next month pls send suggestions that are not just junk toys to fill my house with.

@mrsdobbins_ I do multiple books from the Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site and Little Blue Truck series regularly, and my one year old son LOVES any from the Peekaboo series.

If someone asked for books for their baby shower (for the child, not the mom), what would you buy? I have several ideas already, but I’m always looking for more!

@stoolpresidente Skip the spaghetti factory. It’s meh. Other places recommended here are better - Buca, Mama Carollas, Iozzos, maggianos, convivio,

I have an important but basic question for Indy people. I need to carb load for the Natty tomorrow night. Is Spaghetti Factory good? If not where can I get a monster chicken Parm?

@thecavemommy lol literally bought my 9 month old a whisk and measuring spoons for Christmas this year and he loved it. He got other toys from family members but honestly plays with the “real life” stuff more anyway, and I’ll just add it to the kitchen when he outgrows it

I remember watching an episode of Financial Audit and the couple opened a credit card so they could put their kids Christmas presents on it & then never paid it off. The kid was 9 MONTHS OLD????? Why tf does a 9 month old need Christmas presents. Wrap up some kitchen spatulas and Tupperware for them and call it a day. It’s a literal BABY it doesn’t know

@TiffaniMarie483 I know she feels that too. Don’t be embarrassed, you’re not doing anything wrong! He’ll get it!

@olivialuse It’s just so embarrassing and frustrating.

I’m afraid to post about this given the recent discourse on potty training, but I need help. My five yo won’t poop in the potty. He’s been going pee in the toilet for years, but no matter what refuses to go number two. We’ve tried reward systems, schedules, talking about it, not talking about it, and more. We haven’t tried punishment. He doesn’t have accidents out of the house. He waits until he’s home and hides under a table. It’s embarrassing, but I’m at my wits end with this one. Please, any and all advice welcome.

@TiffaniMarie483 Happy to send you a list that I’ve put together of 80s/90s/early-00s kid’s shows that are lower stimulation. I have it organized by streaming service. Just send me a DM!

Is there any GOOD shows for my 5 yo to watch? Something that will hold his attention but isn’t Paw Patrol or left wing indoctrination slop like Pink Fong?

@Sissa2308 Might have already bought one, but I liked my Konny wrap! Has a head support piece and is more like a “harness” where it doesn’t have to be wrapped and tied and be all complicated. I got the mesh one because my son was a hot baby and it worked well!

I have a baby carrier but my son is too little for that I’m looking to get a wrap so I can get stuff done around the house - he won’t let me put him down What wrap is really good? I hate wraps with extra fabric want something quick too Saw a momcozy brand ….

@thegenesisbl0ck Get it used or get a knock off. We had a cheaper version and our son LOVED it…we usually put it with his feet against the couch to kick off of. Maybe the brand name is worth the extra money but I think the cheap ones can get the job done too

Parents, is this worth it?

@GreatLakesWife_ The only way to do things wrong is to not care if you’re doing things wrong. It is SO hard and this is SO normal. You’re doing great, mama. Every baby has a different temperament. Newborn stage is strictly survival mode - you’ll feel her loving you back before you know it. 🩷

Just need to throw myself a pity party for a second. I don’t need advice. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like my baby sleeps less than the average newborn, cries more, takes longer to eat, and is harder to settle. It’s hard not to feel like I’m doing something wrong

@iWomansplainer We put our baby in his room at 4 weeks. I was hesitant but honestly he did great from the jump and my husband sleeps better…no reason for him to be losing sleep when I was nursing and he couldn’t help anyway. It will likely be harder on you than the baby ❤️

Baby is nearly too big for his bassinet, so I think it may be time to move to his crib in his own room. But I’m struggling! Someone please assure me it’s ok 😭

@goinggodward I had a similar experience a few years ago listening to Lauren Daigle’s version. I still have a hard time singing along to it now because it hits different when you “get it”.

I confess I’ve never liked the song “The Little Drummer Boy.” The Puritan sensibilities that remain cry, “but this is not biblical!” and I scorn his story in my heart. (It’s embarrassing for me to admit this, so cut me some slack.) But this morning it was playing as I ironed church clothes, and my eyes welled with tears as I listened. I don’t know if it was the elegiac sound of Emmylou Harris’ voice as she sang or the revelation about the song’s meaning that touched me, but I’ve seen the light, so to speak. “I have no gifts to bring To lay before the King…” “I played my drum for Him I played my best for Him…” This is akin to the lines from “In The Bleak Midwinter” where the author pens she has nothing to give but her heart, and so that is what she gives to the Lord. The drummer boy can play his drum and so that’s the gift he gives the Lord. The point of the song is not about whether or not a boy played a drum for baby Jesus (who knows if he did?). The point is that all of us have talents and skills and gifts and work that we can offer the Lord, every day, and we can give Him our best, from our hearts, as an offering of praise and worship. It is all a gift from God, and we are truly saying, “and of your own have we given you” when we participate in this way. When we feel we have no gifts to lay before the King, give from the well of gifts He has already graciously bestowed on us: the best, from our heart.

@thegenesisbl0ck My husband stayed up top but honestly I wouldn’t have cared if he didn’t. He saw me wear diapers and leak from my nipples for weeks after. The birth is just the beginning of the most vulnerable you’ll ever be, don’t make it harder by being worried about hiding that vulnerability

Girl to girl, did you allow your man to be with you in the labour room? I want him to be there for support, but I don’t want him to see me (if you know what I mean). Can’t go ruining the female mystique.

@sangaldoo Happened to my best friend. Wild.

HOW DO YOU DATE SOMEONE FOR 8 YEARS AND THEN MARRY SOMEONE ELSE WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF BREAKING UP??

@oliveegger Mine (8m) has done decent stretches since fairly early on. I just let him sleep. Sometimes if I wake up engorged I’ll pump for 5 or so minutes (not all the way but until discomfort is gone) but then my supply slowly regulated. I don’t have as much extra milk now but have enough

I know night feeds are important for milk supply but did anyone EBF who’s baby slept through the night early on? We aren’t there yet and I don’t want to be ahead of myself but our nights are already kind of consolidating into bigger stretches of sleep which is blowing my mind, and I’m not sure how it will affect supply

@MikeCosper The fact that this woman works in communications for a living, and was the spokesperson of the literal most powerful man in the world is BONKERS.

This is an absolutely wild, unhinged read.

@emilykmay lol I swear I will be saying I’m postpartum for the rest of my life. “Oh, sorry, I’m 13 years postpartum. Brain is still out of whack…” 😂

does it still count if i'm 4.5 years postpartum

@garonnevik Other than the fact I’m on my first kid and you’ve raised a multitude, I swear with every post you make, I wonder - are we the same person? Summer is COMMITTED in Indiana too and I am over. 👏🏼 it. 👏🏼

October is one of our most intense months of the year. Knut got home at 1am this morning from the fields, and was up early again. School activities are full throttle. It’s the most intense typically for my work as well. We are stretched thin. Which is why this heat is annoying me. I need soup this month. Soup and sweaters are my coping mechanisms. I cannot do October with bugs and heat. I protest. I need to hear leaves crunching beneath my cute leather boots.

@garonnevik Thank you for this! Starting to tackle foods with my 6 month old now and this is great encouragement that it’s “not that deep” and he’ll be fine! 💙

With my first baby, the doctor told me that I should feed her rice cereal at 4 months. She refused it with screaming and gagging until 6 months. 15 months later, with our second baby, they formal recommendations said wait until 6 months to give your baby rice cereal. At 4 months he was starving and would only calm with extra food. Our 3rd child was a preemie, and we did more attached parenting to keep him safe from his older siblings, and he breastfed off and on, and I just fed him off of my plate when he reached for it, because I had 2 older kids to chase, and had no time to measure his food. All my kids were in the 90% percentile, so the doctors didn't care. With our 4th child, she was exclusively breastfed until about 9 months. The doctor said, "You better feed her solid food soon, or she'll reject it." I pointed to my oldest child who was along for the appointment. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson. My oldest is 6 and I missed the window with her, and she'll only breastfeed. She's rejected all food all these years." The doctor cracked up laughing at my sarcasm. I think in the later kids rice cereal went out of vogue? I literally don't even remember. The doctors stopped telling me how to feed my kids because they figured I could handle it at that point. I've had 6 kids and they have all been different--no repeats. I love the doctors we've had over the years, and I listen to their recommendations. But at the end of the day, I'm the parent. And my doctor respects that. I consult with him, and I make the decisions. Sometimes I disagree, and he says he says a mom's intuition is a significant factor, as they're subconsciously filing data about their child all day long, and it's not to be ignored. All babies/pregnancies are different, and that's ok.