I’m annoyed at my friend for how she treated my baby in my home.
I have a very active baby who is constantly crawling around and trying to interact with people.
My friend came over today to watch a show and eat. While we were eating, my baby kept crawling over to her because he wanted to interact with her. He wasn’t touching or even able to reach her food, and I was already feeding him my own food, but she repeatedly told him, “No dude, it’s my food.” I eventually told her she didn’t need to keep saying it because he’s still too young to understand.
Later, she got out nail glue to fix her nail. When my baby crawled over, she told him to stop because of the fumes. I told her that if she was worried about the fumes, she could put the glue away or move somewhere else because this is his home and he’s going to crawl around.
Then she put her food bowl on my sketchbook. I asked her to move it because the sketchbook is special to me. She said, “I’ll buy you a new one, they’re cheap.” She ended up spilling rice and oil on it, leaving oil stains, and also spilled rice on my couch.
The sketchbook cost $13, but that’s not the point. I specifically chose that sketchbook because I like the quality and it’s important to me. I was upset that I’d told her it was special and she dismissed it because she thought it was cheap.
I understand she’s childfree and doesn’t particularly like kids, and that’s completely her choice. But this is my home, and I don’t expect my baby to be confined or constantly told off for crawling around and trying to interact with someone. I also don’t bring him to her house because I know her home isn’t baby-friendly and I respect that.
By the end of the visit I was really upset and honestly don’t want to continue the friendship.
Someone gives you a hand-me down. A couple months later, they want it back. You still use it every day. Do you…
In this instance, it’s a potty. A woman I know basically forced it on me. Her kid ended up preferring to go straight in the toilet, but my child struggled with learning to use the potty. We had our own, but she insisted we take hers “you’ll do it in 2 days with this,” and left it at our house.
My child is finally getting the hang of it (took much longer than two days lol) and has weirdly taken to gifted potty and has covered it in stickers so we can’t easily give it back and get a new one, my kid will know the difference and it will be a big deal. I’ve started trying to wean away from the potty onto the toilet.
She hasn’t demanded it back yet but last two times I’ve seen her, she’s hinted she wants it back cause of an issue her kid is having now with the toilet.
I’d happily give it back if we didn’t use it, but I’m worried giving it back will be a whole ordeal for my kid.
Help - how can I get my toddler to play independently
I recently saw a video of 19 month old playing with various open ended toys, each one for 20-40 minutes.
My toddler can just about manage a few minutes before either asking me to play or giving up and moving on to the next thing. I'm a sahm so I'm with her every day but we go to at least 3 stay and play playgroups a week and she will happily play on her own.
I often start an activity but she just wants me to do everything. as soon as I stop she will walk off or if I sit on the sofa she will stop and just sit on my lap. I know I have to play with her but I don't want to spend the entire day playing with her watching and I don't know how else to encourage independant play.
We have blocks, tiles, animals, rainbows, cleaning sets, books, water table, kitchen etc. she will not attempt any type of puzzle which worries me a bit.
The only thing she will do independently for more than a few minutes is drawing. I'm having another baby soon and I'm worried she won't be able to cope without my attention.
Help 🙃
