Hellobee Boards

Hi there, Mrs Tea here! I drift in and out every once and a while to visit the "Bee". I think some of the bloggers have posts waiting to be published but I am not sure if there is anyone active on the blog end of things to edit and push them through. I am sure I am not the only one who visits, maybe someone else will know more? Sorry if that isn't much help.

I'm still here, though it definitely seems the blog is done, there has been no movement on the internal blogger board at all and no responses from the Bees to any questions that folks had raised there.

Me personally - my kiddo is almost 8, which seems crazy since I started writing here when she was just about 2. We sold our condo in summer of 2019 and moved to a house in the suburbs and had just enough time to get acclimated before Covid hit. Really thankful for having the space and neighborhood to ride out the pandemic, rather than doing so in a 2000 resident high rise.

Parenting-wise, overall kiddo is pretty low maintenance. We are still dealing with sleep issues that I documented robustly on the blog when she was younger. She still has a very hard time settling down to sleep and doesn't go to sleep until 10:30-11 on average. She sleeps normally (I think) and typically wakes up without issue around 8 AM, but man, she hates mornings, so sometimes I do wonder if maybe she's not getting enough rest. It doesn't seem to affect her in other ways so it kind of simmers as a curiosity in the background. I do wonder, which I've brought up on the boards, about whether there might be some attention deficit issues. She's doing really well in school, and even handled virtual really well, but her extremely high energy levels and constant body in motion type of behavior is a question I do linger on, especially given that ADD shows up differently in girls.

Big picture/family wise, what I think about a lot is community and building community. We didn't get to know people well before Covid hit, and we really don't have a support system or even really people we could call close friends. Given that kiddo is an only and will be an only, I really want that cul-de-sac running around with kids type of community for her but man, I suck at forming relationships. I'm trying to be involved in the PTA (and even considering running for a leadership post in the PTA) and once school is back to in-person being involved more that way too, but this is something that weighs on me quite a bit.

Always open to advice and ideas and hope to hear from others too!

@wrkbrk: this is really interesting! What prompted you to try the iron gummy? Our almost 7 year old has a hard time settling for bed also so I’m curious!

@wrkbrk: interesting! Will give it a try!

I agree! I know Mrs. Starfish has posted a few times, but I'd love to hear from Mrs. Gumdrop on her health journey, and from Mrs. Dolphin about moving and adding #3 to Lion and Panda. And from all the others, but those two I've specifically wondered about.

I love it if the bloggers posted their posts here on the boards, even if they are super outdated now.

@Mrs. Carrot: Thank you so much for the update!

@jennlin821: Agree! I'd also love to hear from Mrs. Chocolate because I believe they added a 4th and Mrs. Snowflake's health journey (after the probably final blog post).

Hello! I was thinking of doing another blog post on the boards but wasn't sure if it would be worth the time. Now I'm thinking I may take a run at it. In the meantime...

We are quickly rounding the corner on Lilly and Audrey turning five. I don't think I've felt so emotional about a birthday since they turned 1 - something about five just feels so big kid to me.

The big change with my kids is that one of mine suddenly took off reading really fast shortly after she turned 4. When I say fast, I really mean it. One day, she was suddenly reading entire paragraphs and books, even picking up my novels and reading an entire page independently. It was like she had entirely skipped over phonics and sight words and sounding out words. At first we thought it was some insane memorization skills but eventually realized she was truly reading. It was amazing but also somewhat stressful because of my other daughter - we had complete melt-downs because she was feeling left behind and super frustrated that she couldn't also read like that. All that to say, I'm somewhat lost on this. I've tried reaching out to the school and the response has been, "Your daughter is teaching the other kids to read - be proud!" And I'm like.... okay, great, but what are we doing to keep her challenged?!!! Also, is my other daughter behind?!!!

The other big development for my kids is that they picked up pedal biking this past weekend. I mean, wow, I will forever recommend balance bikes because they picked it up so fast. It was incredible!

On the non-kid front, we really have settled in to Lexington nicely and we love it here. No massive complaints on the marriage or career front. We had some nanny drama in February that felt so huge and awful at the time, but in hindsight really worked out for the better.

As for other bloggers, I'd most love to hear from Mrs. Dolphin and also get an update on Mrs. Gumdrop's health!

@Mrs. Starfish: So nice to hear an update! FWIW, my daughter (now 8) didn't start to read until the end of kinder (5). Her teachers never commented that she should be reading sooner. She's now in 3rd grade, reading at a 6th grade level, and proudly calls herself a book worm. So, I doubt your non-reading daughter is behind. But, I'm sure that it is so hard on her to see her sister accomplishing something that she's not. Good luck & thanks again for the update!

@Mrs. Starfish: My daughter is an only but tends to compare herself to other kids all the time. She would get super frustrated because she couldn't draw like other kids or do certain sports, etc. Honestly the only thing that helped was time and talking with her regularly about what she can do well, like building, crafting and rock climbing, and showing her how even grownups can be good at some things and not others. I think over time it just became less of an issue for her in general but she still seems to carry the message with her that not everyone is going to learn things the same way. My mom recently made this ridiculous comment how all girls love and are good at art and kiddo told her without prompting "Not all girls, Bubbie. I don't like art that much but I'm good at building!"

Chiming in to say, I also love hearing the updates from the bloggers even if its just here in the community section.

@Mrs. Starfish: My oldest DD will be 5 in a couple of weeks and she is not reading yet either. It's really great that one of your girls is, but the other isn't behind in that regard! My DD is getting really good at writing and sight words, but, she's not reading yet at all.

I feel like 5 is going to be such a big year! She's such a "kid" now and not at all toddler. so many emotions lol

@Mrs. Starfish: wow reading like that at 4 is way above the norm! My son is in K this year and since we chose to do virtual it’s been really interesting to witness more of it. There is a huge range of reading ability in his class. Here in TX there’s a ton of holding back and the top reading small group is all those kids who turned 7 already or will soon - so I bet there’s a group for your early reader when she gets to K! But my son would not have started reading before K if I hadn’t decided to take it on when covid started, and lots of kids don’t read at all to start, and a lot of that evens out over a couple years. You don’t sound too worried but just throwing it out there! I know the comparing is hard!

Hi there old friends! I still pop on the boards occasionally but not like the old days!

K & D are 9 & 7 now! D finally got his feeding tube taken out permanently, although the hole didn't close on its own and he had to have surgery, which then got infected, so he spent another week and a half in the hospital over his 6th birthday. It was a total nightmare for all involved, but thankfully after that, health wise has been smooth sailing for him. He actually weighs more than K now and looking at him one would never guess his prior health problems (unless looking st all his scars) - which is a total miracle!

Personality wise, they both love reading, riding bikes, video games, and playing with our quarantine rescue puppy (who is now 1yo and 50lbs ish). We still live in MD, kids are going to stay virtual through this school year.

Not sure if any of the "chronic mamas" are still around..?