Every week, you send us your parenting highs and lows and we publish several here. It’s a way to step back from data and remember the importance of stories. Stories are a shortcut to connection and community — two things that parents need and can feel lacking in our busy lives. So if the stories here make you feel something, then say something! It might be what someone else needs to hear.
And at the bottom, we have another reader question for you to answer about throwing food. All tips are welcome.
Waiting to feel like parents
—NICU Blues
I had my first baby in an emergency C-section last week. He is healthy, but stuck in the NICU for monitoring. It hurts that we haven’t been able to bring him home or really feel like his parents yet.
(Ed note: You’ve got this! NICU parents: what helped you get through this hard time?)
Eye win
—Bikkuri!
My 2-year-old daughter recently had an eye infection and was prescribed eye drops that need to be administered four times a day. The telehealth doctor we talked to said that I would just have to “fight with her a few times a day” to get the drops in her eyes. When I got the drops, I told my daughter that they were “WOW!!!” medicine for her eyes. I asked her to lay her head in my lap, and each time the drop went in we screamed “WOW!!!” and ran around for a bit. She then administered her own (fake) WOW!!! drops to her stuffed animals and is now requesting eye drops over the course of the day. In the end, instead of fighting to give her eye drops, we are fighting to only give the drops four times a day (her stuffed animals get unlimited treatment!).
Matching smiles
—Smile or Else
I wanted to take a cute last-day-of-school photo of my 4-year-old twins. However, after being prodded into collared shirts and humoring my inane questions like “What do you want to be when you grow up?” they were less than enthused about holding hands on the front porch. Sensing grumpiness, I immediately employed reverse psychology. “Whatever you do, DO NOT hold hands! No way, nope, no hand-holding allowed on this porch! Hey! Did I say you could hold hands??” They couldn’t stop giggling, and I got my photo!
This week’s reader question
Our nearly 2-year-old son still throws tons of food on the floor at every meal — even food he likes, once he’s had enough, and a lot of food he won’t even try! This gets very messy. We’ve asked him to hand food to us or let us know when he’s done, but he seems to get joy from throwing it. Teachers say he does the same thing at day care. Anyone have tips?!
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