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My three week summer vacation is over on Monday. Did I get any work done on any of my coding projects or DIY projects like I planned? Not a single minute. Did I manage to complete my ambitious plan to clean up the garag and pull up all the weeds in the front gardene? Of course not.

What I did manage was to relax. We managed to go abroad for a really nice holiday despite having been too exhausted by a family crisis for the past months to plan anything. We also managed to go stay with my mom for a few days which was nice for everyone, especially now that my dad is no longer with us.

not parenting yet, but got our 20 week ultrasound today that i'm v much looking forward to

Sorry for missing last week! We had just come back from our long vacation and it just slipped my mind. Getting back into our routines again. Trying to get our 3yo to potty-train, and I think we discovered this weekend that having him in a pull-up just gives him permission to use it. We had him running around bottomless while we were in the house this weekend and not a single accident! As soon as we put him in training underwear though, he would just use it like a diaper 😤. Now we're back to the work week, and we sent him to daycare with a stack of pants and training undies, and we'll see what happens. K1 is going to camp, and I think she's still getting adjusted to the new daily schedule. She was just not having it today when getting ready... but by the time we were there she was excited to go. Just a real roller coaster of emotion.

Just commented on a different thread about teaching kids Marxist theory. It’s something I think about a lot, but since my kids are 5 and 3 it’s not like I’m gonna be talking to them about what dialectics are. But anyway, we just went on a trip to a major metropolitan, and our 5-year-old noticed a few tents under a bridge and commented on how fun it’d be to camp in a city. We talked about what being unhoused means and how we think everyone should have a home no matter what. I think the most important part of our conversation was talking about how my partner and I couldn’t have gotten a home without the support of others, like our parents, their parents, the builders, our friends, etc. They don’t have a firm grasp on what exactly money is, so I’m not sure they would have understood how wages impact one’s ability to afford a home. We do make a conscious distinction between “affording” something and “deserving” something, as those are often conflated in capitalist thought.

I think we’re doing a good job. Though it is hard to believe sometimes. My kids are very empathic. We all have different natural aptitudes, but I have to believe their empathy is the result of the work my partner and I put into fostering it. I hope it’s helpful for them in the future. My partner and I are empathic people, and it’s stifling at times. It’s hard caring, really caring about people you don’t know and will never meet.

Trip was great though!

We're finally past the Hand Foot and Mouth endemic in the house. I took the kid that had to stay home on Monday out to do some shopping and we went to a cafe after. The menu there had pictures and they wanted this beetroot and roast pumpkin thing on toast so I indulged them. The only issue was they picked up a poached egg and must have bitten into it as I was replying to a message because yolk just burst everywhere; over their hand, jumper, and the table. Then they got a little fussy eating, we went halves in it, and after I finished my drink they wanted to look at the glass and knocked their babycino cup off the table by accident. Smashed it clean in half.

Whilst that made the cafe outing a bit more stressful, I'm glad they tried something else. We've been trying to do more experiential treats for good behaviour and toilet training. We'll take them somewhere nice and the kids just ask for toasties like they could get anywhere. So at least they expanded their palate instead of getting the same thing.

The kids are also big on Ghostbusters at the moment. They like the song and still can't believe there are multiple movies to go with it. Turns out we had the original two movies on DVD already, so they're very excited about that. So that means they love Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, and Terminator 2. They could strike up a conversation with just about any 40 year old as they have the same top 3 movies.