Wednesday Open letters

[supertrooper1]

Go!

[supertrooper1]

Dear landlord,
I'm sorry I had to share bad news this morning that the sewer line is backing up into my showers. But I really appreciate you bringing over samosas.
Signed,
I promise I'm not a bad tenant

Dear New York coworker,
Thanks for making the conference call interesting today. But I don't think it's appropriate to ask if "whipping people's butts as a dominatrix" should be nominated for an award.
Signed,
Never met you but I already think you're a nut.

[rere]

Dear DD,

I hope and pray that this is just maybe a teenage, start of puberty, mood swing that will pass. Your ups and downs on the class trip made me want to call in a priest when we visited the Basilica Cathedral.

Signed, These next few years should be fun

Dear DH,

In the middle of the above mentioned mood swing, yelling, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO SUCK IT UP!!! just makes it last longer.

Signed, work with me here.

Dear DS,

I am so excited that you have to read all of these leadership books for your officer position. And you will be flying without me to DC on a leadership trip!! Which makes me so nervous. I hope you don't end up in Seattle, which I envision you somehow doing.


Signed, whatever that mom's name is in Home Alone 2.

[k3am]

Dear WPs,

I had dinner with the CEO of a prospect last night. The guy let me know he has 8 children and travels out of town/country 90% of the year.

Signed,
Still can't wrap my arms around his wife's mental state

[2chatter]

k3am - they surely outsource at least some childcare with him at that level. If DH could fund 8 kids I could totally do it with the right salary. If we had 8 kids I would need DH to be gone 90% of the time so I could get it all done!!

Dear Work,
If we meet about something in February you can’t pretend in May you weren’t involved and know nothing.

Does this really work for you?!

[traveltheworld]

Dear Nanny,

When I said sure, you could take an extra week off in the summer, I meant you could take 2 weeks off in total, not 3! Now I'm going to have to scramble and try and find coverage. Ack. On the other hand, this gives me more money to put towards summer camps, so it may not be a good thing overall. Also, I'm so jealous that you are going to Ireland! Your trip already sounds amazing.

Signed,
Envious

Dear Company HR People,

I'm going to be a bit bummed if DH doesn't even get called for an interview.

Signed,
Not sure how I feel about it all

Dear Landscaping Guy,

Thank you for coming up with a reasonable quote for planting everything. DH was convinced that if the quote was "too high", he'd do it all himself, which would have been a disaster.

Signed,
Relieved

[k3am]

2chatter, I can barely handle 2 kids. The idea of 8 just baffles me. The idea of 8 while essentially being a single parent leaves me crazy. Even with outsourcing. Just thinking about the amount of screaming my two kids do and multiplying that... I'd give myself two weeks before I was institutionalized.

[186momx]

Dear School
Not everyone can rearrange work schedules to give you had for an hour in the morning. I know for a fact this event was planned at least 4 weeks if not more. Waiting till the day before the event to ask for parent help doesn't work when the parents work.
What professional can function like this?
Me who plans ahead.

WPs
Am I weird because I plan things ahead and can't add things in last minute?
186momx

[2chatter]

k3am - I am already freaking out at the idea of DD leaving for college in three years as just two kids argue more than three kids. I don’t know why. I’m hoping middle grows up a LOT in the next three years or it will be hell.

I can’t imagine the logistics for 8 but with C suite money and no demanding career of my own I bet I could figure it out! Logistics for five about kills me some days - today it was that DH thought SD was coming home one day but I said another - I was correct - but had already shifted some things in case DH was correct. I bet it would be ebb and flow -
Some days you would be certifiably crazy and others would be fine.

All bets off if those 8 are close in age!

[k3am]

The 8 kids have a 7 year spread and 5 are special needs - no idea how much assistance those 5 kids need or what the special needs are.

[waverly]

Not weird to plan ahead. I have1500 cogs going through wheels right now (is this the right analogy?) all very carefully planned. One wrong step and it feels like it will all come to a grinding halt. This isn’t actually true because we’ve done just fine over the years, but the polar vortex did totally shut things down in every aspect of life.

I can’t imagine anything child related times 8. Pregnancy, Labor, newborn stage, potty training. DH’s parents are both 1 of 8. What I noticed is that the oldest 4 do OK but then the parents stop parenting and the older kids parent and the results are that the youngest 4 are not doing well. Actually more than 4 are not doing well now due to getting older and health issues.

The podcast I listen to she has 2 nannies during the week 8-8 every day, but still nothing about 8 kids is appealing to me. She only has 4 kids and both parents travel for work. Nanny will sleep over.

[mustardseed2007]

k3am, five are special needs? Did they adopt? From that it sounds like maybe they (or the wife) felt like she was good at caring for special needs kids and so they started adopting them...

[k3am]

May 15, 2019 15:40:20 GMT -5 mustardseed2007 said:

k3am , five are special needs? Did they adopt? From that it sounds like maybe they (or the wife) felt like she was good at caring for special needs kids and so they started adopting them...

Yep, this exactly. But I still can't get past EIGHT kids. I mean, she obviously knew what she wanted when she signed up for those kids. I still can't get my arms around that. 

[2chatter]

I would be out at both a seven year spread and five special needs. DD having two appointments a week average is enough for me.

What podcast is that waverly?

[waverly]

2chatter, the one mentioned here before, Best of Both Worlds.

[sdlaura]

Yes what podcast waverly ? I feel like if I had started early enough and had unlimited funds, I would have had more kids. I think you get some economies of scale with any number of kids over 2. But that also depends on DH doing a lot. I'm sitting over here contemplating a 4th kid and we both work outside the home/travel, and our babysitter will spend the night But they all go to school/daycare during the day. And so lucky with no special needs (so far).

ETA - I didn't know she had two nannies 8 to 8?

[waverly]

sdlaura , She has one M-Th 8-8 and a Friday nanny 8-8, not 2 at the same time. It makes sense though given the long hours to have 2. And then Fri night is their date night. Having the evening coverage allows her to drive kids to different activities, and maybe the nanny cooks too? 

[sdlaura]

waverly, that totally makes sense. I like how she talks about having childcare to hang out with her kids more, not less. Like she and her husband can each take a kid to an activity in the evening and not have to drag along the two who don't have activities.

[twinmomma]

Do not want 8 kids. Holy hell.

But highly recommend multiples to build economies of scale.

[k3am]

I have a family member on my mom's side that had twins. And then had an "oops, we're pregnant" situation not long after she delivered... and that is how they ended up with 5 under 1. AND OMG WAS I TERRIFIED BOTH TIMES I WAS PREGNANT.

[sdlaura]

twinmomma, I was talking with a mom of twins the other day, and we were discussing how with twins, you need two of something (like bike helmets) at the same time, and can't pass it down to the next youngest kid. But I'm sure the economies of scale with twins definitely apply to other things - like hiring a babysitter or being able to drive them to the same activity at the same time!

[k3am]

Dear DS,

I wish I could be so happy to hear you chanting "I WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY!" repeatedly.

You did not go poop in the potty.

You went poop in the bathtub.

Signed,
Ew.

[mustardseed2007]

May 15, 2019 21:13:35 GMT -5 k3am said:

Dear DS,

I wish I could be so happy to hear you chanting "I WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY!" repeatedly.

You did not go poop in the potty.

You went poop in the bathtub.

Signed,
Ew.

ooooooooooooooooooooh nooooooo!!! lmao!! 

[rere]

May 15, 2019 21:13:35 GMT -5 k3am said:

Dear DS,

I wish I could be so happy to hear you chanting "I WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY!" repeatedly.

You did not go poop in the potty.

You went poop in the bathtub.

Signed,
Ew.

Ugh!  DS was the king of that for a while.  Something about the bath made him go.  I think I Lysoled the finish right off the tub.  

[mae0111]

May 16, 2019 9:27:58 GMT -5 rere said:

May 15, 2019 21:13:35 GMT -5 k3am said:

Dear DS,

I wish I could be so happy to hear you chanting "I WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY!" repeatedly.

You did not go poop in the potty.

You went poop in the bathtub.

Signed,
Ew.

Ugh!  DS was the king of that for a while.  Something about the bath made him go.  I think I Lysoled the finish right off the tub.  

Lol my DD2 was like that too! The tub just... relaxed her. So much bleach...

[covergirl82]

Dear SAHM I know from school and am FB friends with,

I admit it. I'm jealous. When you posted yesterday morning about a peaceful morning drinking coffee and reading a book, I really just wanted to have the ability to have that too. Maybe someday? I don't know. My income allows us to have a lot of extras and I feel it gives me and DH more of a partnership. But anyways, I just wanted to admit that a peaceful cup of coffee without the burden of work sounded pretty good yesterday.

Signed,
Mom acquaintance

[covergirl82]

May 15, 2019 17:14:01 GMT -5 k3am said:

I have a family member on my mom's side that had twins. And then had an "oops, we're pregnant" situation not long after she delivered... and that is how they ended up with 5 under 1. AND OMG WAS I TERRIFIED BOTH TIMES I WAS PREGNANT.

I can't even fathom 5 babies under 1 year old.  

My uncle, who is a twin, married a woman who is a triplet.  I am anxiously waiting to see if any of their kids have multiples...

I was a little worried about multiples as DH is a twin and then with two of my dad's siblings (uncle mentioned above) being twins, there was a chance we could have multiples.  I also know a few people who got PG a third time and then had twins.  (Which, coincidentally, was the same thing that happened with my grandma.  Her 3rd pregnancy was twins, and she ended up with 4 kids ages 3 and under.)

[k3am]

There's a woman in Uganda who has 38 living children. THIRTY EIGHT..

[2chatter]

k3am - omg. Did the last 20 or so just fall out at six months gestation? I cannot even imagine.

[k3am]

2chatter, she's super fertile. Many sets of multiples (3-5 babes!) per pregnancy.

It's actually a pretty sad story.. living in poverty, from an abusive family, husband was abusive, and she had her first kids when she was basically a baby herself...

There were articles about her recently and hopefully that's garnered her and her children some resources, but my guess is, not much if anything more than a few day's publicity.