Hellobee Boards

I think formula is awesome and helped my kids sleep through the night pretty much from the get go.

@charm55: I EBF both kids (so far) BUT I agree with this sentiment (I mean not the sleeping one, I have no idea, but that formula is awesome). I've read a lot of research indicating the benefits of BFing are nowhere near what people have pushed. I personally like BFing, but I hate pumping. This time around I'm definitely considering quitting pumping much sooner and doing formula at daycare, and I know my daughter would do great either way!

I'm still on the fence with this, but I'm starting to question the idea that experiences are more valuable than possessions. I saw that picture of all those climbers in a big traffic jam at the top of Mount Everest and realized that we are at "peak travel." everything has been done and all of the beautiful places on the Earth are crowded and overloved. Every national park I've been to in the past 2 years has a major bear problem because of litter and thoughtlessness on the parts of humans. Lots of travel is still really expensive for the average person. I also think as I get older that it makes it less sense to put money into travel that I could be putting into retirement. Plus I feel like a lot of people who can't afford to go abroad spend their discretionary income on experiences that are not as "educational," like theme parks or restaurants. We actually have a Six Flags membership so I'm calling myself out on this one! But I question what is more valuable: a handsome dining room table that I can serve family meals at multiple times a day and on holidays and for birthdays, or the equivalent amount of trips to restaurants or dining experiences? of course I know that most people do not go out for all meals, but there have definitely been times when I have gone to a restaurant even though it probably was not in my best financial interest just because it was "fun"! We had our 50s era kitchen remodelwd last year and part of it was to encourage us to do more of our cooking and celebrating at home instead of renting party locations or going out to restaurants all the time. But that did require us to prioritize things over experiences for a little while!

@MrsSCB: I haven’t read anything, but just decided that I feel like breastfeeding is not the golden magic people say it is. My kids are average intelligence and got sick a lot as babies. Haha. They were EBF for six months and I continued just over a year. I’m really happy to breastfeed, mainly because I feel like it’s convenient to bring the food source everywhere and not have to clean bottles.

@Mrs. Sketchbook: this makes a lot of sense!

@Kemma: yes! This is exactly how I feel. Your worded it a lot better than me. I’ll blame my newborn sleep deprived state... haha.

Had to bring this back for a new one: pumpkin patches are so stupid! I seriously don’t get it. Is it just for photos? Why would a baby care to see a bunch of pumpkins in a parking lot?!

@SweetCaroline: Lol! I live in a city where you could buy a pumpkin at Whole Foods or the hardware store if you wanted one for Halloween carving or display. Yet, people drive 30-60 mins outside the city to dress their baby in plaid and take photos in a sea of pumpkins! The pumpkins are not usually on the vine-just in a big space. And yes, all ages go too and maybe for older kids there are also activities? But the number of posts looking for pumpkin patches in my local mom Facebook group is driving me nuts!

To stick with the fall theme, I hate pumpkin pie and anything pumkin spice flavored.

I don't really like pie of any sort, but I do like pumpkin cake/cookies and general spice cake. I don't drink coffee so pumpkin spice lattes and all that are very much lost on me.

@erinbaderin: Same!
Ours has a train ride, petting zoo, hayrides, giant trampoline, food, zip lines etc. It's really fun! We don't have a photo shoot or anything, but take some pics.

@SweetCaroline: Same. I did get pumpkin cheesecake from Trader Joes and THAT was good, the cheesecake toned down the pumpkin flavor a lot. Other than that, I will not touch anything pumpkin and esp pumpkin SPICE. Grosss

I don’t like the pressure surrounding self-care. Like you must engage in self-care and regularly carve out this magically existing time/activity for yourself. I just don’t have time or energy to. Maybe one day.

@graceandjoy: @crazydoglady: @erinbaderin: hahaha Ok I guess it’s possible I don’t know what a pumpkin patch is? But I don’t think the ones here have hayrides and stuff?

@JJ2626: our pumpkin "patches" are not at all what you describe. We go to two a year. One is a huge farm that has big slides and a corn maze, a petting zoo, pony rides, hay ride, a kids train, a giant jumping pillow... we don't even get pumpkins from it. We just go for the activities. It's so much fun.

The second one we go to has bounce houses, a trick or treating trail, pony rides, kiddie pools full of corn to dig in, a hay patch to find "the needle in the haystack" to be turned in for a prize, and a hayride too.

My kids love them and the weather is so beautiful here it's a great weekend activity. Luckily ours are only 5-10 min drive but i can see why people would drive 60 mins for one.