New to Montessori

Hello! I’m a FTM to an 11 week old boy. I’m looking into activities to do with him, and I am really interested in learning more about the Montessori way. What are your favorite resources (books, websites, etc) for learning more? What made other families lean in this direction?

in our community

Toddler activities

I'm stuck on what to do in the hrs before between pick up and bedtime sometimes (4-5.30). I'm trying to minimise screentime. We live in a flat currently so not loads of room and don't have our own outdoor space. We go to the park for about 30mins after pick up and then walk about 20mins home. I don't my my little one to get bored of the park and also want interaction for the them with other kids of similar ages and other parents for me. I go to the park and don't speak to anyone. I've looked and we don't have any play cafés nearby unfortunately. Be nice to go places for half an hr to hr and then home, bath and bed. Any suggestions please?

Do I still send in or not /:

Bit stuck on what to do - my sons a anxious kiddo - he’s finding the transition for Nursery really difficult

Sometimes he wakes around 2am ish with worry for example and doesn’t fall back to sleep till 5ish sometimes 4am ish - his bed time is 7/7:30pm and his nursery time is 8:45am we live literally a walk away so I here’s no leaving early for travel

Do I still send him in?
The nursery teacher has made a comment a few times about how he’s not coping cause he ends up having extra day for the weekend (Mondays are the hardest) I beg to differ, he has separation anxiety majorly but don’t see how sending a highly anxious child who’s now overly exhausted in school for 3 hours is going to help him ?

Ambitions.

Hey moms. Just wondering if anyone else feels this way. First some background, I had a very traumatic childhood and basically been in survival mode most of my life.
I've been a stay at home mom now over 3 years. I feel safe and happy and feel like I'm doing what I've meant to do you know? And primary goal is to be a present mom and teaching my daughter and raising her right and she's my focus. I have some self care and me time ofc I'm not like over doing it that way either.
Anyways so my husband is like saying he feels stuck in his job and working to provide for us and he keeps asking me like what are my ambitions and goals and says he misses that fire in me ... For more from life?
Idk I feel like once she's older I can maybe focus on that

Sure I want to write a book maybe or do creative things but I am not sure honestly.
Does anyone else feel this way or ...have any experiences?

Labor planning!

I did this last time before our toddler was born, but this time I’ve taken it to a whole different level 😂

I’ve basically planned out almost every realistic situation I can think of that could happen when I go into labor. I have different plans depending on where I am, where my husband is, where our toddler is, whether my husband is home, at work, at basketball, out with our toddler, etc., and whether labor is something we have time to prepare for or something where we need to leave immediately.

For each situation, I’ve written out exactly what needs to happen next. I’m going to keep those plans in my notes so that when labor actually starts, I can copy and paste the appropriate one to our family instead of trying to explain everything while I’m in labor. That way everyone knows what is happening, whether they need to come to our house, meet us at the hospital, take over with our toddler, or help with transportation.

I’m also going through the house and labeling everything so that whoever is taking care of our toddler knows where his diapers, wipes, clothes, pajamas, food, snacks, bath supplies, and other things are. I’m putting together a laminated day-to-day care sheet for him too. It has his normal schedule, how we get him down for naps, what he likes to do, how we handle reading, bath time, things that tend to upset him, what to watch out for when we’re out in public, and all the little things that aren’t necessarily “rules” but make taking care of him much easier.

I’m also getting the house set up ahead of time for postpartum recovery and the baby. I’m organizing the bathroom and shower supplies, setting up the bassinet, creating a bedside station so I have the things I’ll need without constantly getting out of bed, and setting up a pumping/milk station with the pump, bottles, storage supplies, mini fridge, warmer, etc.

Then there are the hospital bags for me, the baby, and my husband, plus the car kit and our toddler’s emergency go-bag. I’m trying to have everything prepared so that if we suddenly need to leave, nobody is standing around wondering what needs to be grabbed or where something is.

The last thing I’ll have to finalize is the induction plan. If I don’t go into spontaneous labor, I’ll make it to my 40-week induction. We don’t have that scheduled yet, so it could be at 40 weeks exactly or 40+1, depending on what gets scheduled. Once we have that date and time, I’ll make the final plan for who will be watching our toddler, when they need to come over, what they need to have, and how we’re getting to the hospital.

It probably sounds a little insane when I write it all out 😂 but honestly, planning all of this makes me feel SO much better.

I know labor is unpredictable and not everything is going to happen exactly according to plan. That’s not really the point for me. The point is that I’ve already thought through the logistics while I’m calm and can actually think clearly, so when the time comes I don’t have to make a million decisions at once.

It makes me feel more prepared, more organized, and honestly just a lot more in control of a situation that is otherwise pretty unpredictable. And this time around, knowing that I also have a toddler to think about makes having a plan feel even more important. 🩷

AITA: Am I in the wrong for demanding respect?

My husband constantly disrespects me and puts me down, but lately he’s been demanding respect from me. He says I should be submissive and that because he’s the only one working, I should respect him and take care of him.

What bothers me is that whenever I bring up the fact that I don’t feel respected by him, he doesn’t acknowledge it or say he’ll make an effort to treat me better. Instead, the conversation always goes back to him working and why that means I should respect him.

He’s also been sending me Facebook videos of a woman talking about “worshipping” her husband and putting her husband first. One of the videos actually talked about how she respects her husband, but she also described how her husband makes her feel safe and supported. When I pointed that part out, my husband said I was only focusing on what I wanted to hear.

But that’s exactly my point. I’m not saying I shouldn’t respect my husband. I’m saying I want to be respected too. I don’t believe respect should automatically go one way simply because one person is the one earning the income. Respect should be mutual.

And more than anything, this is not the kind of marriage or relationship dynamic I want my daughter growing up believing is normal—that a woman is supposed to accept being disrespected while still being expected to submit to and respect her husband simply because he works.

Babymoon ideas?

My partner just finished up a big project and we're thinking of doing a small babymoon. I'm already 30 weeks and we have a 3 year old so nothing too big. Does anyone have any ideas that wouldn't involve a flight? Any experiences with Garden of the Gods?