#kids can’t go to daycare or preschool

[intelligent-space-gay]

I still can’t get over this girl I know with a whole ass psyc degree and her husband with a whole ass masters haven’t vaccinated their 2 kids. HUH. I know everyone has a right to their own choice but I’m ready to fight these parents bc those poor kids

[adorethedistance]

Baby Fever - Trevor Zegras x Reader

Hockey Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, smut adjacent content (post-sex interaction/make out), a joke about cheating, a joke about death, and semen... in that order...

Words: 2322

Requested: Can you please do a trevor blurb where him and y/n go to a pumpkin patch with their nephew and Trevor's playing with their nephew and y/n gets so much baby fever please

A/n: Hey y'all! I'm taking a break from the Jamie series of firsts with a requested fic. I kinda riffed on the request so there are some things you need to know beforehand: 1) they're not babysitting a nephew, they're babysitting Troy Terry's kid Greyson 2) I'm aware Greyson is currently an infant but in this fic he's a toddler 3) I understand you asked for a blurb but I'm ass at writing blurbs 4) therefore this is a part 1. (Part 2 coming soon ish?) Enjoy!

Troy Terry had sworn to never let Trevor Zegras supervise his son. Or at least, before I was in the picture anyway. I had befriended Dani over the course of several Ducks’ games after Trevor and I became official. We somehow managed to have the same schedules despite having vastly different lifestyles; at the time, she was a new mom adjusting to domestic bliss, and I was a senior at UC Irvine preparing for my post-grad plans. Now that I’m not overwhelmed with work as a student, she and I grew pretty close. More often than not, we found ourselves having several hangouts without our guys present. Naturally, I saw Greyson a lot, considering the fact that I would spend my time with Dani in the Terry residence.

Our latest hang out consisted of us gabbing about the latest drama with Greyson’s preschool over a glass of wine. In telling me that Greyson was between daycares right now, I offered to take him off her hands for a night so she and Troy could have a much needed date night. At first, Dani refused, not wanting to dump the responsibility on me, but I insisted. There were several pros: I love kids, Dani has done plenty of favors for me before, Greyson’s already comfortable with me, and they wouldn’t have to pay for a babysitter. Pleased with my argument, Dani agreed and the plans were set. 

This Friday, the team had a day off and rather than having the guys disappear onto the nearest golf course, Dani and Troy began planning their night off, as did Trevor and I.

“Hey, babe, I was thinking about how to spoil you and thought we could get a table at The Ranch tonight. What do you say?” Trevor asks, holding my hips and subtly pinning me against the kitchen counter.

“About that.”

“What’s up?” He asks, deviously dipping his head down. I don’t give in to whatever seduction game he’s playing, and quickly peck him on the lips.

“I kind of made evening plans.” He takes the kiss in stride and looks at me teasingly.

“Is your boyfriend back in town already?”

“Yeah, he wanted to go to The Ranch, too. I just can’t have my boyfriend and my side piece in one place, soooo.” 

“I’ve been demoted to ‘side piece’? Ouch,” Trevor laughs before sliding his hands along my waistband to clasp behind my lower back, and pull me into him so our hips touch. “Fuck. Now you’ll never pick me over him!”

“Oh, that was always the plan. Don’t get it twisted.” He laughs once more before asking,

“What’s going on tonight?” I open my mouth to answer and as I do, he slips his hand down to grab my ass, catching me by surprise.

“Hey!” Right as I scold him, Jamie walks into the kitchen to refill his water bottle. I try to bite back the smile that creeps across my features, flustered by Jamie’s newfound presence. 

“Hey Jamo,” Trevor says casually, to try and ease the awkwardness.

“You guys know I still live here, right?”

“Sorry, Jamie.”

“I’m going grocery shopping. Just try to keep it in your room, Z.” 

“Keep what in my room?” He asks, playing dumb, much to Jamie’s dismay. He merely shakes his head and leaves the kitchen. Watching Jamie leave, Trevor follows with his gaze, tracking Jamie’s movements to the opposite direction until he hears the front door open and close. After, he turns back to face me, “You were saying?”

“I told Dani I would watch Greyson.”

“What?!” I half expected Trevor to be upset, but he’s sporting the widest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Yeah, she and Troy were due for some alone time, so I offered to take him to the pumpkin patch tonight.”

“When?”

“They’re dropping him off around 5.”

“5. What time is it now?” Trevor leans away from me to look at the clock on the oven that reads 2:57. “Oh, we have time.” 

“Time for wha-” I cut myself off with a screech as Trevor picks me up and sits me on the open counterspace. He pushes my knees apart to stand between them, the dominant action in tandem with the cold countertop underneath me sends shivers down my spine. He then kisses me passionately, trailing his fingers up the length of my exposed thighs. His hands find the top of my waistband, running along the hem as he presses his hard on into my core. I hold either side of his face in my hands, squeaking once more as Trevor picks me up and carries me to his bedroom.

___________________________

Panting and still slightly sweaty, I check my phone to see the clock reads 4:43. “Shit.” 

“What?” Trevor asks curiously. He’s laying on top of the covers, fully nude and sprawled out, after having collapsed on the bed next to me.

“It’s 4:43,” I say between sticky breaths. He shuts his eyes and groans loudly,

“Give me, like, five minutes.” 

“Uh, no sir. You need to get me a towel so I can get up and pee.” Trevor’s eyes shoot open and he sits up. 

“Right. Boyfriend duties await.” His expression is humorous and I can’t help but notice the way his abs flex through the movement. If it weren’t too late, I’d have jumped him again, then and there. He rolls off the bed, sliding on the nearest pair of briefs he can find. Trevor then grabs the towel hanging on the doorknob, and walks over to where I am on the bed, propped up on my elbows. The gravity of holding myself up causes the beaded sweat to roll down my cleavage, and on to my stomach where Trevor had finished a few minutes prior. He doesn’t say anything but I clock the way his eyes are trained on my chest as he approaches me. I hold out my hand for the towel but he holds it out of reach. 

“What are you-?” 

“Lay down.” 

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!” I confusedly put my head back on his pillow and Trevor grabs both ends of the towel, opening it up to lay it over me. “I’m calling it. Time of death, 4:44 PM. Rest in peace, Y/n, I’ll miss you.”

“Oh my god,” I say from under the towel. Pulling it off my face, I sit back up to find Trevor snickering at his own joke. “Are you proud of yourself?”

“Very.” He leans down and places a sweet kiss on my lips. When he pulls away, my eyes flutter open and he gently lifts the towel to cover his hand, then wipes off the leftover fluid. I look up at him as he moves, a soft smile of adoration painting my features. Trevor looks down at me and widens his eyes teasingly before relaxing to smile at me again.

The sound of the front door opening echoes down the hall and from the entrance we hear Jamie call, “I’m back! Please tell me you’re clothed!”

“Don’t worry about it, Jamo!” Trevor calls back before wadding up the used towel and throwing it at me.

“Ew!” I should’ve known him being sweet wasn’t going to last. Sliding off the side of the bed, I pick up my clothes and walk into the bathroom to pee. After I’m dressed again, I come out to see Trevor had thrown on the outfit he was wearing earlier: a v-neck polo and board shorts. 

“You can’t wear that,” I say in disbelief.

“Why?” Trevor looks at me in confusion. Turning to the mirror that hangs on the back of the door, he takes in the fresh hickeys littered across his exposed chest. “Oh shit.” The revelation is perfectly timed with a knock on the door. Nudging Trevor out of the way, I exit his bedroom and leave him to change. Jamie is unloading groceries with his airpods in and I wave when I walk by to signal that we’re done and he can exist peacefully again. 

Answering the front door reveals Dani and Troy in the nicest casual clothing I’ve ever seen. The Terry’s smile upon seeing me and I look at Greyson who’s sitting on Dani’s left hip.

“Hi Grey!” I cheer and he immediately smiles. I then notice Troy holding what seems to be Greyson’s booster seat and as I go to reach for it, Trevor appears behind me. Greyson runs inside and begins punching Trevor’s leg with all the might his almost-four year old arms can manage. I laugh but Dani scolds,

“Greyson, we don’t hit people, remember?” He immediately stops, thinks for a moment, and then proceeds to throw punches at Trevor but without making contact. Dani sighs exhaustedly before saying, “Good enough.”

“How’s it going, man?” Trevor asks Troy, causing Dani and me to look at the guys incredulously.

“You saw each other yesterday,” I tease. Trevor shrugs as he takes the car seat from Troy. 

“Terry’s my boy though,” He responds somewhat jokingly. Greyson then speaks up,

“What about me?” The group laughs about the sweet question but Greyson isn’t amused. He looks around, confused, before stepping further into the apartment to scope it out. Greyson then yells, “I wanna go to the pumpkin patch!”

“Read you loud and clear, bud,” Trevor replies. Then, Dani asks practically,

“What time do you need him out of your hair?” To which I reply,

“Oh don’t worry about it, we can hang onto him for as long as y’all need.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, well, his bed time is eight, and that’s usually around when we get tired anyway, so we’ll be here around then?.”

“8 it is,” I say with a smile, leaning away to look at Greyson fully. He smiles shyly before hiding his face against Trevor’s leg. “Why are you being shy, Grey-Grey?” I ask, looking down at his level. 

“I think he has a little bit of a crush on you.”

“Really?” I ask with a tiny bit of a laugh. Troy chimes in,

“Yeah, he was super excited when she told him you were the one babysitting-” 

“He’s been looking forward to it all week.” Dani finishes Troy’s sentence before they look at one another and smile, “In fact, he told me he has something to tell you, right Grey?”

“You’re pretty, Y/n,” He admits before running away, which causes the four of us to laugh.

“I told you my boyfriend was back in town,” I tease, which then makes Trevor laugh heartily. Turning back to Dani and Troy, they both look confused and I feel my cheeks grow warm in embarrassment.

“Inside joke,” I reassure. They nod and offer a few goodbyes to me, Trevor, and Greyson, before heading out for good. 

Closing the door behind us, Trevor sets down the car seat and says,

“I gotta up my game now that I have competition.”

“Yeah, so behave!” Trevor touches his left hand to his heart, giving me a look that reads melodramatically offended, “You’re currently in the lead, though.”

“I better be,” he bites back, wrapping his arm around the back of my body, coming to rest his right hand on my hip. His thumb brushes the hem and I look up at him over my left shoulder, 

“You’re still turned on?” I whisper, in shock. Trevor doesn’t reply. His hand slinks down to my ass as he kisses my lips heatedly, before he goes to follow Greyson’s path. I follow close behind and see Greyson’s found Jamie in the kitchen.

“Can I have one?!” Greyson shrieks upon finding a box of fruit by the foot. Jamie laughs at his excitement before asking,

“Do your parents even let you have sugar?” The dry humor is lost on the young child but I snort a laugh. 

“I’ve had these before in my lunch!”

“...Okay, sure. Let me open it for you. I don’t trust you to not destroy the box.”

“Jame, can you keep an eye on him for a second so we can get shoes on?” Trevor asks.

“He just got here and you’re already pawning off your responsibility on me?” Jamie playfully accuses Trevor, who looks offended. I laugh, partially at Jamie’s joke, and partially at watching Trevor misunderstand his roommate in real time. Jamie looks at me and we laugh about the joke going over Trevor’s head. 

I then head for the bedroom to search for the shoes I was once wearing. Trevor enters a little after I do to pull a pair of white sneakers from his closet. He’s uncharacteristically quiet. I almost want to ask what for, but then I’m overcome with the desire to let him stew in the silence. If I wait long enough, he’ll have to speak. He always does. Or, at least, he usually does. 

“Do you want kids?” He works up the nerve to ask, quickly adding, “Someday?” in hopes of softening the blow of the genuine conversation topic.

“Probably someday,” I answer simply, which sends him back into an introspective silence for a moment.

“How many kids would you want?” I look over at him to see he’s staring at me, as if tearing his gaze away would shatter the moment. I continue putting on my shoes,

“I think two is a good number. That way they can have a sibling, but not so many that they would feel their needs went unmet. Why?”

“I could do two,” Trevor says assuredly, ignoring my question.

“Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you’re about two rings short of trying to have a baby with me right now,” I assert in a teasing way, although I’m not joking. The tension of the conversation dissipates as Trevor laughs. 

“Fair point,” Trevor squints his eyes at me, “But we can still practice, right?” I laugh again before nodding,

“We can at least agree on that.”

***

a/n: hope y'all enjoyed that and stay tuned for part 2 that'll drop sometime this week or next. let me know if you have a request for either Trevor or Jamie bc I'm on a ducks kick rn! Sidenote: is anyone else absolutely obsessed with the fact that we can copy paste tags now?? saves so much time !!!

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 9 - Preview is Up! - SPOILERS & SPECULATION!

It’s time for Sports Day! 

So, according to the summary, neither Kazuki nor Rei have ever participated in a children’s sports day, which makes sense. Rei had an unconventional childhood and Kazuki grew up without much money and without parents, so it’s unlikely that he went to daycare or preschool. 

(Thinking about, this would also explain why neither Kazuki nor Rei thought of daycare or preschool right away and only got the idea after seeing a daycare bus go by the park.)

This means that this children’s sports day will be all of their firsts! Mine too, kinda. I’ve experienced elementary school and junior high school sports days, but never a daycare/preschool sports day. I found a blog post written by a mother who went to one (I’ll link it below in the comments) and a lot of the events involve the parents in the activity.

At the elementary and junior high school level, parents usually aren’t all that involved, But at the daycare level, it seems they are! Especially for the little babies (which makes sense, because they are babies, they can’t do too much on their own).

Putting the rest under a Read More because of spoilers!

Let’s look at some of the events we can see in the preview:

Tamaire - Bean Bag Toss

It looks like Miri is holding a white colored bean bag in her hand, so this is probably going to be some a bean bag toss game.

Here is a description of the event:

Tamaire (玉入れ) translates “Beanbag toss”, and as the name implies, it is an exciting game where students throw small beanbags into a basket hung at the top of a tall pole. Beanbags are scatted on the ground around the pole, and each bag has the color of its team, typically red or white. Teams compete against each other based on the number of beanbags in the basket. There is a time limit, and the beanbags thrown into the basket after the time ends are not worth any points.

(I’ll link to the post where I got that description below in the comments).

Tug - of - War

Tug-of-War is a staple and is basically at every sports day and it looks like Miss  Anna is tugging at a rope here. How it will go down here...I’m not too sure. Usually you’ll see combos like the kids going against each other, or students against teachers (junior high school), or even like teachers against parents (one of the rare events where you might see parents participate in Sports Days aimed at older years). Maybe here it will be the Aozora Staff vs The Parents? Or maybe the older kids and Miss Anna vs The Parents, lol.

I don’t know! It should be pretty interesting though! Of course, I could be wrong here too, but tug-of-war would make sense.

Kumitaiso (組体操) - Maybe? Or Stretching?

I’m not 100% sure on this one. What is kumitaiso? 

Kumitaiso (組体操) is rather a group performance than individual competition. Students work together as a team and create a variety of gymnastic formations with their bodies.

Usually they make a pyramid, but this generally tends to be for older kids, and parents have noted in more recent years that it can be very dangerous, so many schools are getting rid of it. But maybe this is a more tame/safer and more simplistic version of something like that. But they could just be doing some kind of stretching activity here. If anyone knows for sure, feel free to let me know and I’ll add the info in!

Race

And, of course, we have the race. According to the summary, Miri practices with Kazuki in the park and she does end up in the lead, but then she falls right before the finish line! T0T Oh no, Miri! A lesson in things being out of our control sometimes? About losing and taking it okay? Both? Something else entirely? I’m intrigued to see which it will be!

Let’s see, outside of that we have... 

Rei scouting out the daycare, lmao! XD

It’s cute though! Rei is getting into the event in his own way.

It seems both him and Kazuki are getting really invested in it, so this may end up being a lesson for them too (like parents centering themselves in their children’s sports activities and making it more about them than their child - you know, the parent that gets super worked up over their kid losing something, maybe kinda like Kazuki looks here: 

But the kid will be totally fine. I can see them going with that angle. Since Buddy Daddies generally tends to be less about Miri learning some kind of lesson and more so about Kazuki and Rei learning something about parenting and themselves through raising Miri.

Changing up the focus a bit, one thing I’m really looking forward to is seeing Kazuki and Rei possibly interacting with the other daycare parents more (not just the Daycare Mamas!).

You can spot a Daycare Papa! in the background there too. It’s also just really common to see like the whole family come out for Sports Day events, so like moms, dads, older and younger siblings, even grandparents.

The idea of Kazuki and Rei being able to take part in something so...innocent and group building is such a heartwarming idea. Though, I am also fully preparing myself for an after-credits scene that will go back to the drama at hand and Kyutaro’s decision, etc. and that’s probably going to hurt even more after this episode (likely as the writers intended, lol).

Oh! Also, I love that we are seeing that follow through that I was hoping for from Episode 7! It seems Rei is going to be willingly choosing to make riceballs for Miri (enough that she could share them with her friends and others there too!). This lunch is going to be one that Kazuki and Rei make for their family together. T~T My heart! 

Also, Rei learning how to make something like a riceball is such a good place to actually start (instead of French toast, which requires more basic skills and knowledge). It’s an easy (and quick) meal to learn how to make well. If they end up tasting really good too, then that can act as a very quick and easy boost to his confidence with making and preparing food. It’s such a good step in the right direction! I hope the kids and parents like his riceballs! 

Anyway, I’m going to fully appreciate this breather episode before we jump into the angst, action (probably), and drama of the final act of the series (Ep. 10 - 13).

[surftrips]

SAME OLD LOVE

OBX DAY 5 — CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS W/ POPE HEYWARD

word count: 586

summary: y/n wonders why her best friend has stuck around for so long when everyone else has left her.

a/n: a short and sweet one for my last obx week post! unfortunately, i will not have the time to complete the day 7 prompt, but that is definitely something i will file for a later time. <3

"That's it! I'm never dating anyone ever again!" you exclaimed.

"Come on, Y/N," your best friend, Pope, responded.

"No, I'm serious. Being in a relationship is a waste of time. There are so many other things I could be doing."

"Maybe you just have a thing for assholes."

If it was anyone else, you would've been mad. But your best friend was right. You seemed to only attract guys that were self-absorbed jerks. It got to the point where you began to wonder if something was wrong with you.

"Y/N, nothing is wrong with you. You're smart, ambitious, and confident."

And the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, Pope thought to himself.

"Okay, but one can argue that my confidence is too assertive. Do you think I'm just too much?"

"No, are you kidding?

"I mean, I know I can be loud sometimes—"

Pope cut you off before you could continue, "I'm going to stop you right there. Any guy that can't realize how amazing you are is not worth your time, understand?"

You sighed. Usually you just let your friend win these conversations, knowing there was no use trying to get him to agree with you. 

Sometimes it frustrated you that no matter what, Pope always saw the good in you. He always convinced you you were a good person, even if it felt like you weren’t. You felt as though you didn’t deserve his unconditional love. 

You two had known each other since preschool. Well, your parents’ idea of preschool, which meant dropping their kids off at a “daycare” that was really just someone’s aunt’s house, because neither of your families could afford the real thing. 

It worked out though, because now you two had each other. There was no Pope without Y/N. No Y/N without Pope. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. 

“Oh, nothing,” you tried to play it off. 

But this was your best friend you were talking to. “Y/N, come on.” 

“Ugh. Fine. I was just thinking about how long we’ve known each other for.”

“How long we’ve known each other for? That would be…” he counted out the years on his fingers. “Just over a decade now.” 

“Well, yes.”

“So… what about it?”

“Why have you stuck around so long?” you questioned. 

“Y/N, what kind of question is that?”

“An important one.” 

“I don’t know why.” 

“See, I think you’re lying.” You’re not sure what compelled you to say this, but after years of men going in and out of your life, you wondered why this one in particular had stayed. 

To your surprise, Pope was actually speechless for once. You thought he was going to make a joke, like usual, but he seemed to actually be thinking about an answer to your question now. 

After a while, he said “Because, it’s you.”

“Now, what kind of answer is that?” you mimicked his earlier line. 

He sighed, “Don’t you see, Y/N? It’s you, it’s always been you. I’m so sick of seeing you with the same kinds of guys over and over—” 

“Hey—”

“I’ve heard you excuse their behavior a million times, but none of them deserved you. You deserve the world, Y/N, and it breaks my heart that you can’t see that.” 

You were stunned. In a quiet voice, you whispered, “But where am I going to find better?” 

“I’ve waited for you for eleven years now, and I’ll wait eleven more. Whenever you’re ready.”

[hypertic]

Avatrice - neighbors AU

[part 2 of this]

Beatrice knocks on the door, wiping her sweaty hands on her pants as she waits for an answer. When it doesn’t come as fast as she hoped, she considers turning back around and pretending she was never there.

She knocks again; she has no choice.

“Coming!”

The door swings open, revealing Ava in an oversized shirt and barely visible shorts underneath it. She’s slightly out of breath, a hairbrush in her hand caught mid air at the sight of her neighbor.

“Beatrice.” She greets with a smile, breath still caught in her throat at the sight of Beatrice in navy blue dress pants and a white shirt.

Ava’s smile faltered as she noticed that her hair was down and a little messy instead of its usual neat bun, and had dark bags under her eyes. If Ava looked a little further, Beatrice seemed a lot paler than a couple of days ago and her eyes were watery and full of concern.

“I’m so sorry to bother you this early, Ava.” Beatrice began, a tired, pleading look on her face as she fidgeted with a hair tie on her wrist. “I’m really sorry, I know you probably have a ton of things to do today-“

“Not really.” Ava interrupted, giving Beatrice a reassuring smile.

It was a lie, of course. She was about to leave for her part time job, but Beatrice didn’t know that. Ava wasn’t sure why she lied, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t regret it.

“Are you sure?” Beatrice spoke as she checked the time on her wrist watch. She then pulled back her hair, tying it up on a bun with practiced ease. Both actions were closely followed by Ava, who was entranced by the graceful way Beatrice’s hands moved.

“Yes!” Ava answered after staring for longer than it would be acceptable, now looking anywhere but Beatrice.

“I- I need to ask you a favor. A big favor.” Beatrice heaved a sigh, thinking of the most effective way to deliver her pleas. “Willow and Olivia are sick.” Beatrice felt her heart clench at the sudden change in Ava’s expression, her smile quickly replaced by a worried pout, and her eyes holding so much affection Beatrice thought that alone could make it all better. “They’re alright, but I can’t send them to daycare or preschool while sick.”

Ava’s eyes, expressive as ever, went from relief to confusion to understanding in a matter of seconds, making Beatrice’s foggy head spin.

“I hate to ask, but I have a meeting I really couldn’t cancelled, I tried, but-“

“You want me to take care of them?” Ava said with surprise, and maybe a drop of fear.

Even if she saw it coming, she never expected Beatrice to trust her with her children, specially if they were sick. She knew she was probably her last resource, but Ava was more than willing to show her she was worthy of that trust.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, really.” Beatrice repeated, interpreting her surprise as rejection. “I’ll pay you for the babysitting hours-“

“Don’t-Don’t apologize.“ Ava interrupted, teeth worrying her lower lip. “Of course I’ll take care of them. For free.” She clarified, and Beatrice felt her knees go weak with relief.

“Thank you.” She sighed, leaning against the door frame. Ava couldn’t help but smile at the sight, taking a step closer to her.

“What do I need to know?” Ava asked, snapping Beatrice out of her daze as she closed the door of her apartment. That question alone made Beatrice kick into mother-mode, each of her kids needs running through her head and sorted carefully in different categories.

Beatrice let them into their apartment which Ava noticed, was a little messier than the last time she was there (but still nothing compared to her own).

“Olivia is already getting better, she just has a bad cough and a runny nose, but her doctor said it should go away on its own.” Ava nodded, mindlessly following Beatrice to the kitchen. “You shouldn’t really give babies much medication, so I’ve just been using nasal drops and a humidifier.”

Ava noticed that the kitchen sink was piled with dishes, baby bottles and cups, which only showed how busy Beatrice must be with both of her kids sick. She didn’t know her for long, but it felt out of character for Beatrice to let her dirty dishes pile up.

“Willow is… not better. She still has a fever, her throat is really sore and she had a headache this morning. I gave her Tylenol around 6, and she’s a bit better. You can give her more Tylenol around noon, but she’s not easy to convince.”

“Got it.” Ava said confidently, taking the children’s Tylenol bottle from Beatrice’s shaky hands.

Beatrice checked her clock again and hurried out of the kitchen, Ava on tow. They walked silently towards the hallway and, as Beatrice creaked open the first door, Ava took her time to look further into the small hallway.

She’d noticed Beatrice’s apartment was twice the size of hers, so she could only guess that the other two doors lined up at the left side of the hallway were a bathroom and another room. At the very end, she could spot the corner of a neatly made white bed, which she assumed was Beatrice’s.

“Ava!” Willow’s excited yet weak, dry voice brought her attention back to the room in front of her.

The room didn’t have any specific color theme, unlike the rest of the home, but was rather full of small colorful toys and decorations. It didn’t feel too saturated, though, balanced out by the pristine white walls and simple wooden furniture.

In the opposite corner was Willow, lying in a bed that seemed too big for her small, pale body. She had discarded her tablet to the side and sat up as Ava approached her.

“Hi.” Ava greeted, keeping her voice low and gentle. “I heard you were sick, how are you feeling?” She took a step closer to the bed, sitting down next to Willow after she gestured for her to do so.

“Weird.” She replied weakly, and Ava couldn’t help but brush her hand against the girl’s forehead, sweeping her sweaty bangs to the side and subtly taking her temperature.

“Ava will be staying with you today while I go to that urgent meeting you heard me fussing about earlier, is that alright?” Beatrice asked, soft yet serious, just like one would do with an adult. If Ava didn’t know them already, she would still guess Beatrice is a wonderful mother by that interaction alone.

Willow seemed to think about it for a moment, before giving her mother a firm nod and then a bright smile to Ava that made her tiny eyes disappear.

“I’ll be back soon enough.” Beatrice reassured, making her way to Willow’s bedside and running a soft hand through the girl’s tangled hair. She guided her down gently, tucking her in, and kissing her goodbye; a kiss to her forehead, one to her left cheek and then one to her right.

Ava tried her best to ignore how close she was to Beatrice, she really did, but it became hard to focus on anything else when she felt the woman’s leg brush against her knee. Beatrice seemed to notice too, taking a rushed step backwards and heading for the door, not before waving goodbye.

“Willow doesn’t get to use her ipad on weekdays, but I allowed it since she’s sick, so she might spend the entire day on it.” Beatrice stated, making her way back to the living room. “Olivia is asleep, but should wake up soon.” Beatrice moved around the room, gathering papers and keys and shoving them all in her purse. “Can I get your number?”

God, Beatrice wished she was saying that under better circumstances.

Still, that didn’t mean her hands weren’t shaking any less as she handed her phone to Ava, who quickly typed in her number and sent a message to herself so she could save Beatrice’s.

“Thank you so much.” Beatrice said, her hand already on the door knob. “I’ll text you about their food and medicine in detail while I’m on the subway. Please, call me if there’s any problem or change.” She pleaded, finally out of the door.

“Of course.” Ava nodded, waving at Beatrice who reluctantly walked to the elevator. “Take care!” Ava yelled as the elevator doors creaked open, making Beatrice smile for the first time in days.

###

The first thing Ava did was call Michael, her coworker, and convince him to cover for her at work. Then, she made her way to Willow’s room, checking her temperature and encouraging her to drink more of her water. Willow just let her, too drowsy to fight against the thermometer under her arm and too focused on her tablet to make conversation.

Ava then made her way to Olivia’s room, finding the baby already wide awake and jumping on her crib. Ava smiled, relieved to see that she was clearly feeling much better than her sister, and after a lot of cooing and good morning tickles she changed her diaper and clothes, taking her time to pick the cutest outfit she could find because, why not.

After struggling to get the child into a white shirt and some overalls, she remembered to use the nose drops as Beatrice had instructed. What she failed to mention, was the little bulb thing she needed to use to suck the baby’s snot, which proved to be a lot more difficult. It took around 15 minutes of pleading and crying and threatening (from both parts involved), but she managed to clear Olivia’s nose.

They spent a while playing on Willows room, who’s fever had gone up. It was hard to keep both girl’s entertained while trying to bring down the oldest’s fever by placing cold rags on her forehead, but eventually she got the hang of it. She even managed to read them a story that had Willow back asleep in minutes.

By then, she had received Beatrice’s detail instructions about their food and medicine, so she set out to give a bottle to Olivia while she made them lunch.

By the time Beatrice was set to arrive, both kids had eaten well, Willow took her medicine, (which was another 30 minutes of pleading and bribing) and felt well enough to be out of bed. She had asked Ava to read her a story to which she had agreed, only to find that the book was completely in french. Willow was a little disappointed since it was her favorite book, but quickly forgot all about it after Ava offered to teach her spanish.

When Beatrice finally walked through the door, hours later than she’d anticipated, she almost felt like crying at the scene of Willow, in way better spirits than this morning, giggling at the word ‘refrigerador’. What almost brought her to tears, though, was the sight of her kitchen sink completely empty, with Ava putting away the last baby bottles.

“Ava.” The name left her lips before she could stop it, drawing attention to her figure, leaning against the doorframe.

Willow ran up to her, giving her a big, tight hug as Beatrice picked her up and ran her hands through her bangs, subtly checking if she had a fever.

Ava just stayed where she was, eyes fixed on nothing in particular as her brain replayed the way her name sounded coming from Beatrice. She took tentative steps towards the pair, not wanting to interrupt Willow’s cheerful retelling of her day, while Beatrice smiled and nodded at every little thing with so much adoration in her eyes Ava felt a small knot forming in her throat.

She took the chance to study Beatrice more closely, who looked, in all honestly, three times worse than she did this morning. She looked pale, almost translucent, and a thin layer of sweat covered her forehead.

“Willow,” Ava called, unable to keep her mouth shut when she noticed Beatrice’s trembling fingers. “Why don’t you go wash your hands so you can help me with dinner?” The little girl, fever and cough long forgotten, all but jumped out of her mother’s arms and darted to the bathroom.

“Slower, Lou! You’re still sick, remember?” Beatrice scolded, but her eyes were fixed on Ava. “I’m sorry I’m late, I left as soon as I could.” Beatrice apologized, and Ava wanted to tell her to stop saying sorry for everything, that it was fine and that she didn’t mind at all.

Ava didn’t get the chance to get a word out, as Beatrice tumbled forward, almost falling to her knees if Ava didn’t catch her, placing her arms underneath Beatrice’s to keep her upright.

“Shit.” She muttered, ignoring the warmth spreading in her chest at the closeness. Ava let go with one hand and brought it up to feel Beatrice’s warm, sweaty forehead.

“I’m sorry.”

Ava would’ve threatened to slap her if she ever said sorry again, but chose to stay quiet and gently guided the woman to the living room, sitting her down at the couch.

“Thanks.” Beatrice said weakly, shivering slightly under Ava’s touch, but blaming it on the fever. “You don’t have to actually cook for Willow, I’ve already taken too much of your time.”

“You’re sick.” Ava stated, despite how obvious it was. Beatrice frowned in confusion, as if her being sick had nothing to do with Ava still standing there, in front of her. “Lay down, I’ll be right back.” She pushed her down carefully, running out to get the thermometer before Beatrice could stop her.

She wasn’t surprised to find Beatrice attempting to stand up, stopping her with a gentle hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down. Without a word, she handed the thermometer to Beatrice.

“I’m fine.” She said, after checking her temperature.

Beatrice was in fact not fine, and was nearing 39°C, which she was unable to hide from Ava as the girl snatched the thermometer from her hands with a frown.

“Is mommy ok?” Willows tiny, worried voice echoed through the living room at the sight of the thermometer. Beatrice gave her a nod, but even Willow didn’t seem convinced.

“She’s not feeling very well, Willow.” Ava said truthfully as the girl ran up to her mother. “I’m sure she’ll feel better after some rest.” Ava placed a comforting hand on the girls back, hoping she would understand.

Beatrice’s shook her head, but it was completely ignored by her daughter, who ran to get a blanket and unceremoniously dumped it on her mother’s lap, trying to stretch it out.

If Ava noticed Beatrice’s eyes getting more watery, she did her the favor to ignore it and blame it all on the fever.

Silently, she took Willow’s tiny hand and guided her to the kitchen, telling her to wait there while she rummaged through the medicine cabinet to find ibuprofen. When she went back to the living room, Beatrice was laying down, awkward and tense, but she was laying down.

“Ava, you really don’t-“ She started to argue as soon as she came into view.

“Take it.” Ava all but shoved the glass of water and the advil bottle on her hands, turning around and sprinting to the kitchen before Beatrice could argue.

For a moment, Ava worried she was overstepping, that Beatrice genuinely didn’t want her there. She dared to take a small peak behind the safety of the kitchen door, only to find Beatrice staring hesitantly at her hand, letting out sigh before swallowing the pills and leaning back down.

Ava smiled and turned on the ball of her feet, getting ready to make the best spaghetti of her life.

With the help of Willow, who knew where things were in the kitchen better than Ava, the food was ready just in time for Olivia to wake up and make a mess with a few spaghetti’s and her applesauce.

Despite Willow begging for waffles, Ava decided not to test her stomach or her mother’s patience, and settled for cutting some apples in misshaped bunnies to convince her to have some.

Ava considered 6PM was quite early, even for a toddler, but still guided Willow back to bed who sat down with her tablet while Ava played with her sister. Willow fell asleep soon after and Ava tiptoed her way back to the living room, taking Olivia with her. She took a look a Beatrice, her slow breathing and relaxed features, the ones Ava thought Beatrice might never show while awake.

“Let’s find you something to do.” She whispered to the baby, who smiled as Ava bounced her all the way to her room.

The sun went down slowly, covering the entire room in a calming, red hue, that seemed to have the opposite effect on Olivia. The baby started crying, far louder than Ava expected, and wasn’t sure what to do to fix it.

She couldn’t be hungry or sleepy, having just woken from a nap, and she didn’t have a runny nose, at least not before she started wailing uncontrollably. Ava tried hushing her, rocking her, bouncing her around, but nothing seemed to work.

“Here.” Beatrice’s voice made Ava jump back in surprise, too caught up in the baby’s cries to hear the door open. She didn’t hesitate to hand the child back though, as her mothers calm, gentle voice seemed to have an instant effect on Olivia.

“Sorry.” Ava scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “I think I let her nap for too long.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Beatrice reassured, and Ava thought it was ironic how that was exactly what she wanted to tell her hours before. “I can’t thank you enough, Ava.” She stated truthfully, taking a tiny step towards her.

“Well, I owed you one, remember?” Ava tried to dismiss it, but Beatrice shook her head.

“You did far more than what you owed me.” Her voice was firm but quiet, not wanting to disturb the baby in her arms.

“We’re even.” Ava insisted.

“It doesn’t feel like we are.” Beatrice pushed, keeping her eyes focused on Olivia, on the window, on anything but Ava.

“How are you feeling?” Ava asked, leading the conversation away from her.

She was genuinely concerned, though, and couldn’t help take a small step foward, pressing her palm against Beatrice’s forehead.

“Sorry.” Ava took her hand back almost instantly, as if it burned. “Sorry, I’m overstepping again, sorry.”

“You’re not.” Beatrice assured. She knew deep down that , had it been any other neighbor or babysitter, it would be overstepping, but it was Ava.

She wasn’t sure what made her different: if it was her warm smile, the way she genuinely seemed to care about her kids, about her, or if her fever was making it all feel different.

“You don’t have to take care of me, though, I think you’ve had enough with the two little devils.” Beatrice said with endearment, looking down at Olivia who seemed fast asleep. She managed to put her down in the crib, ignoring the fact that she’d have to wake her up to change her eventually.

“They’re adorable.”

“They are.”

They made their way out of the room in comfortable silence as Ava decided it was time for her to leave.

“Beatrice.” She called, though there was no need, since the woman followed her closely to the door. “Take care, please.” Beatrice was taken aback at the words, not so much by the content, but by the pleading, almost desperate way they were spoken, like Ava truly worried for her. “I didn’t want to say it before, but you looked like shit when you walked in.”

Beatrice giggled, and Ava felt the room spin.

“Thanks, Ava. For everything.” Beatrice took a step forward, closer. “I’ll find a way to make it up to you.” Ava let out an annoyed, almost angry groan.

“There’s no need, Beatrice.” It was her turn to take a step closer. “If you ever need me to babysit I’d be more than happy to.”

“Really?” Ava was surprised that Beatrice was surprised.

“Of course, Willow is amazing.” Beatrice felt her heart swell with pride at the sight of Ava’s genuine smile; maybe she wasn’t doing bad after all. “And Olivia is lovely. I wouldn’t mind spending and entire day with all of you.”

Beatrice’s heart was now about to burst because, even if they were talking about her children, and Ava just seemed like a generally nice person, her last words seemed to hold a different weight to them.

All of you.

Ava turned her back to her, opening the door to hide her burning cheeks at the slip up. Beatrice would probably think she’s weird, or that shes taking advantage of her kids to flirt with her, if that could be considered flirting. Beatrice probably never saw it that way because she may not even like-

“Ava.” Beatrice’s soft hand found her place into Ava’s, who held the doorknob tightly. She took it back quickly, clearing her throat before speaking. “I- I feel the same.”

Beatrice chastised herself for the incredibly lame, awkward reply. It was true, but there were thousands of different ways to say that, without sounding so damn stupid.

Unsurprisingly, Ava gave her a wide grin, crossing the doorframe into the hall. She waved as Beatrice shut the door, cheeks flushed red and hands shaking.

It’s the fever.

[reblogs, comments and ideas are very welcomed]

[perfectlyvalid49]

So, I got to have a “fun” experience yesterday.

My son is in first grade, and on Sunday mornings he has Sunday school from 9:30-11:30. Our synagogue actually has a lot of kids programming on Sunday mornings – the aforementioned school for kindergarteners and 1st graders, a music hour for younger kids, sometimes parties if there’s a nearby holiday. The Channukah party was two weeks ago, and yesterday they were actually going to be holding a parents’ forum to get feedback on what we want in a new clergy member because we’re looking to hire.

So at 9:25, my whole family is getting out of the car, meeting up with some of the other parents and chatting. My daughter runs ahead – she’s only four, but she’s trying to get into the school to see if she can talk the teachers into letter her come to class. She thinks it’s neat that there’s a second alphabet for her to learn and doesn’t want to wait until next year. My son and one of his friends run after her, so my husband runs after them so that the kids are supervised while I stay behind to help some friends unload their 1 year old and associated gear (stroller, diaper bag, etc.) from their car.

Everybody is laughing and having a good time, but as we start walking toward the door, we see that my husband is hustling the kids back to the cars. I ask him what’s up and he says that everything is canceled for the day and we should leave. Our friends ask why, and once he’s sure the kids aren’t paying attention, he tells us that there’s been a threat, and while they don’t think anything will actually happen, they’re playing it safe and cancelling all activities for the day. He didn’t have any more details than that.

We quickly made plans and wound up hosting an impromptu play date at our house, and the kids seemed mostly fine with it, though they did ask several times why school was cancelled, because it seemed weird. We distracted them with legos and some painting kits.

And everything wound up being fine. I have not heard any news, so I don’t think anything actually happened, but I agree that acting with an abundance of caution was the correct call. And obviously, nothing happening is better than something happening, but not having the threat in the first place would be best of all. I’m still trying to process it. Part of me is like, if whoever it is picked a Sunday instead of Saturday, then they can’t be very bright, as there are a lot more people present on Saturday. But part of me wonders if they picked Sunday instead because they were deliberately targeting young families/children. And that makes me worry too, because there’s a preschool/daycare in the building.

I still haven’t given my kids a good explanation for why school was cancelled yesterday. We told them that the teachers just decided that it wasn’t a good day for class, but I don’t think it answered all their questions. I’m hoping that they forget about it, because I don’t really know what else to tell them. I’ve said before that I want to protect them from the fact that some people want to hurt them just because they’re Jewish for at least a while longer. I don’t think they’re ready. I know I’m not ready.

I’m not worried about going back to my synagogue. I think their policies and procedures are sound, and they have a longstanding good relationship with local law enforcement. Since the beginning of October, they’ve increased security in a bunch of ways, and while I hate that it seems necessary, stuff like yesterday makes it feel like a good idea.

I dunno. To relate this to some of the larger conversations happening right now, I think that this is a prime example of antisemitism that is felt by Jewish communities, and invisible outside of them. Like, in the end, nothing wound up happening except a bunch of families getting hustled out of a building. It won’t be reported on, and most people will never know that anything happened. But “nothing” is still me having to figure out what to tell my kids, and plans getting cancelled, and people worrying for their safety. Due to the staggered start times of events, I’m sure our director of family engagement was there for at least 2 hours telling other people to go home, and I can’t even imagine how she must have felt telling people, “Go home, it’s not safe here,” while she stayed. Psychological attacks are still attacks. Even if you don’t hear about them, it doesn’t mean they’re not happening. When Jews tell you that antisemitism is an issue, please believe us.

[babyspacebatclone]

Hey, I'm a 32(f) who is leaning very heavily towards a self dx of autism. I'm a mom of 2 kids under 4yo and having difficulty finding resources/support groups for moms/parents with autism. All I can find is stuff for parents of autistic kids. I know you don't have children, but would you mind sharing this and maybe someone in the community would have a lead for me?

Thanks <3

Well, I’m going to start off by “reassuring” you that there was a reason you had trouble finding resources for being a parent with Autism:

There isn’t much formal out there at the moment.

This is not to say there’s nothing, but almost all of it is either antidotal (blogs and other writings by Autistic Parents) or summaries cataloging frequent items from the antidotal stuff.

Note: Through this response, the term Autistic Parent/Guardian exclusively refers to an adult guardian who has either a formal or a self diagnosis for Autism. For simplicity, I will use the term “parent” throughout unless there is reason, e.g. my own experiences.

That does mean if you want a support system, you’re going to have to jury-rig it yourself.

Who in your life has guardianship duties you respect? Teachers (of anything), clergy etc, family and extended family?

Who has skills about looking after children that you want?

Reach out to them. Ask questions. Be as personal as you feel you can.

Hopefully, this post will get some traction and we can get some Autistic Parents of Tumblr willing to both be and get resources.

Outside of that, for specifics…

From my own experiences with being a (childfree) daycare teacher, I can make several points I’ve used about being an Autistic Guardian. I’ll list them under a cut for sanity.

At the bottom of the post will be a link collection from aggregate type webpages (ones that quote multiple Autistic Parent voices) I liked while searching the interwebs.

My suggestions for living as an Autistic Guardian/Parent:

The tools you use to cope with Autism in everyday situations are the same tools you will use as a parent, the trick is to build up that tool bag.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, get the kid safe and then walk away. Your ability to parent depends on your mental health; it is not “selfish” to need to rebalance before you can deal with a kid. Instead, it means you will be able to handle the situation better when you can return.

Delegate what you need to.

The first point is both obvious and not. On one hand, parenting obviously requires a lot of behaviors in different quantities than “everything else.”

On the other hand, a lot of it boils down to the same core issues: overstimulation, navigating social rules, masking your emotions in order to deal with the crisis at hand (no matter how small).

This page has some great tips about building your toolbox, some of which I’ll be repeating here!

Tooltip the best: Lists lists lists. Have sticky notes everywhere, so even when you’re brain is mush you can look and see of you’ve forgotten anything important.

The second I learned from our mandatory and necessary Abusive Head Trauma and Shaken Baby Syndrome training for the daycare.

Stepping away is always better than trying to do something when you’re past your limit.

Mistakes happen when you’re past your limit. Injuries, harsh words, bad decisions.

Those last longer than saying “I need five minutes, I will get back to you.” Even for preschoolers.

If they’re too young to handle that (less than 3) and you can’t delegate supervision to someone else, my best suggestion is to sit on the floor, get them on your lap, wrap them in a hug (deep pressure and hold them still), pull out for phone of they let you, and start blasting music you find calms you down. If they don’t let you get your phone, sing nursery rhymes or something.

When you feel like you can breathe, make sure the kid is calmed down and restart the conversation.

The best thing is to teach “we can take me-time” from a young age. Not the easiest thing, but normalizing “When you are upset, calming down by yourself is the best thing, for kids and adults.”

While you’re at that, bodily autonomy. Yours and theirs. Teach your child you will respect when they don’t want to be held/touched/etc unless they are unsafe, and you will expect the same.

I promise, with consistency children as young as 2 can get and apply these concepts.

Teaching your children that you are allowed your own space helps with your overstimulation (because you’ve normalized using coping strategies) and just prepares your kid for life, Autistic or Allistic.

Finally, outsource what you have to.

It’s not a failing to pay for what you can’t handle. CEOs do it all the time: cleaning staff, secretaries, chauffeurs, etc.

My best suggestion here is to look at what you’re struggling with the most, and find resources to bridge that gap so you have more energy/brainpower to deal with the rest.

You want your kids to have playdates? Is there a family member/friend who would be willing to chaperone them and make the arrangements?

Can’t cook, brain fried from diapers? Look into meal delivery services you can use ones a week (or more!) to give you some breathing room. (link intended as examples of the service, I have no experience with these and offer no recommendations for using any)

It’s never wasted money if it allows you to do your job elsewhere!!

And as a note, be aware of being an Autistic Parent to an Allistic Child.

This divide is purely in being the neurominority: Autistic Kids don’t struggle because they’re Autistic, they struggle because their needs don’t match their parents’ instincts.

But the opposite is true as well: an Allistic Child will suffer under an Autistic Parent unless the parent accepts their child’s brain for what it is, and parents to that.

If you find yourself in that situation, look for “typical” child development guidelines, particularly for social development.

Allistic Children, for example, often need more oversight than Autistic Children to feel safe; their need for neurotypical social interaction means a “hands off, I trust you” approach may feel neglectful, even if the Autistic Parent and any Autistic Children may view the same thing as empowering autonomy.

Here are pages I particularly liked while searching for hard resources, including the one from above for convenience.

Tips for handling common challenges for Autistic Parents.

An introduction to being an Autistic Parent, including some nice interviews with an Autistic Mother and an Autistic Father (separate families).

A great overview of the issue.

Note: The last article had an emphasis on Irish families, and at the time it was written (2017) “Asperger Syndrome” was an official, distinct diagnosis for that country that most of the individuals were diagnosed with.

The article is aware of the problematic nature of this term (which I do not endorse for those reasons), and uses “Autism” (100+ instances of “autis*) when not referencing a specific diagnosis (13 instances of “Asperger*”).

My decision to include this article is based on the wealth of information it contains, and I hope people understand my decision to include it despite that term and the (justified) baggage surrounding it.

[atths--twice]

Next prompt- “Come on, Scully. The kids are asleep.”

Nighttime Rematch

Mulder closed the door to the bedroom as softly as possible, letting out a breath of relief as he waited for a beat. Two. Then three. When no sound was heard on the other side of the door, he grinned and turned, walking on silent sock covered feet, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Scully was at the kitchen table, her glasses on as she read over a paper, many others lying in piles before her. He smiled as he looked at her, the desire to kiss her pulling him forward.

“Hey,” he said, sidling up beside her and kissing her quickly. “Whatcha doin?”

“Filling out the paperwork for preschool and daycare. I can’t believe Emily is moving up a class already and William will be joining her at the school as well. It’s been so wonderful being home these past six months.”

“Yeah, it was great that Skinner finagled that for you,” he said with a nod as he began to gather the papers and move them aside.

“What are you doing? I just said I’m looking at those,” she said, looking at him in confusion.

“I know, but…” he said, taking them off the table completely and placing them on the desk beside the phone.

“Mulder… what are you doing?”

“Come on, Scully. The kids are asleep,” he said, pumping his eyebrows and grinning.

“And you’re cleaning the table off because…?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and taking off her glasses.

“Because, honey,” he said, walking towards her and licking his lips. “There’s something I want.”

“Oh really?” she asked, turning in her chair and tilting her head back to look at him. He stood between her legs and nodded, one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair. “And what is it you want?”

“A rematch,” he breathed, leaning in close and rubbing his nose against hers.

“A… a rematch?” she asked with a frown, pulling back to look at him.

“Mmmhmm,” he hummed.

“What?”

“You. Me. Scrabble.”

“Scrabble? That’s what you want to do? Play Scrabble?” she asked with a soft chuckle.

“You’re damn right I do! You’ve beaten me the last two times. It’s time I was champion.”

“But you won't be,” she whispered, wrapping her arms and legs around him. “I always beat you.”

“Hmm, yes but this time, no medical terms will be allowed. Only romantic and… sexual words will be played.”

“How sexual?”

“As sexual as you want,” he said, kissing her softly, her fingernails scratching at his neck.

“Or we could skip the game and go right to bed,” she suggested, nibbling at his bottom lip. “It’s still early.”

“We could, but the anticipation is half the fun.” Giving her one more kiss, he pulled away as she pouted.

Opening the cupboard, he took down the game and placed it onto the table. Pouring a glass of wine for each of them, he sat across from her and picked out his tiles, grinning as he saw the first few letters were K, I, and S.

“And sexual words or phrases?” she asked and he nodded. “Oh, then you’re going down.”

“Something I’m always more than happy to do,” he said with a pump of his eyebrows and she laughed, rearranging her tiles on her tray.

Pushing her sleeves up, he knew she was now in game mode and he grinned as he arranged his own tiles.

Everyone will win tonight, he thought as she laid down T-O-U-C-H and looked at him, her expression sultry. When he attached S-U-K to her C and she drew in a sharp breath, he grinned, eagerly anticipating her next word and the end result of the evening.

[suginami-division]

With today being World Teachers' Day, I figured it'd be a good time to ask some silly and entertaining questions. So, here we go!

If Sazanka Zombeez (aside from Maki) were teachers, what would they teach? What would their grade levels be? Would they be in charge of any clubs? Would they be a strict or an easygoing kind of teacher? Would they assign lots of homework?

“What a shame… I suppose I’ll have to sit this one out.” Maki sighs.

“What~? No way! You can at least help us decide, right?”

“I suppose I could help you guys decide…” Maki glances over to to a stern faced, Ryuko.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing in particular… I’m just wondering if you already have an answer, brother.”

“Maybe…”

“What are you thinking Ryuko? Tell us, tell us!” Shuu nearly screams out loud.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’d probably do something in the arts. Nothing like the fine arts, but maybe I could teach some brats about some basic computer art stuff.”

“And by brats, what age group are you referring to?”

Ryuko hums in thought, “Shit, I don’t know.”

“Definitely not an elementary school! Your scary face would make the kiddies all cry and run away~”

“If not his face, his temper will sure frighten them.”

“Fine then! Fucking… High schoolers then!”

Maki’s gentle smile falters at the mention before he chuckles nervously. “I-Is that so? I suppose you could do pretty well with them.”

“Hehe, definitely! I can see you preparing students for art school! All strict and scary, but you have nothing but good intentions for your pupils. Bringing out all that hidden potential in them…!”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.”

“I have nothing but good ideas!” Shuu sweats a little when he thinks a bit more. “Well, kinda. I have no idea what kind of teacher I’d be.”

“Well, you probably would do better as an elementary or middle school teacher as a homeroom teacher.”

“Maybe? That doesn’t really fit me I think…”

Ryuko scoffs, “Just stick him in a preschool or a daycare.”

“I’m sorry, a preschool teacher?”

“His three sisters? Shuu juggles them around like they’re nothing whenever they start acting up. He’d have no problems running a classroom of snotty toddlers.”

“Ryuko.” Shuu grabs Ryuko’s shoulders dramatically. “You are a genius! I get to play with cute little kids and come up with fun activities all day?! It’s perfect!”

“R-Really…” Ryuko shrugs Shuu off of him. Meanwhile, Shuu starts to jump up and down excitedly.

“Yes! Plus, I don’t really have to worry about assigning and grading homework! It’ll be a piece of cake!”

“...I feel as though you underestimate what teaching is like, Mr. Detective.” Maki sighs, shaking his head at Shuu.

“What do you mean?”

“That, my friends, is a discussion for another time.”

“He’s seriously going to leave us hanging…”

“Hey, sensei! Where are you going? You can’t just leave~!”

[bisluthq]

All this talk about Ryan and Blake is making me realize why they are such good friends with Taylor. Ryan in specific. Him and Taylor as a couple would be a real we love money duo.

Also I remember that when Blake posted a photo of her in chiefs gear or something, people thought it was a bit weird in the caption she was like it's my first fun outing in years or something like that. As if she hasn't had a night off since the kids

Ryan and Taylor would never work as a couple lol because they are both the Rich Man lol and they actually have very similar personalities. This just reminded me that a few Chiefs players mentioned that Taylor was giving advice and asking questions about like why they’re using specific plays/strategies lmao which I believe she did and does and will continue to do and it’s the same as Ryan butting in (but more random even because dafuq does Taylor Swift know about pro football 💀) so I can’t imagine them ever working like as a couple lol. He wants a wife and she tbh wants a wife too.

they do both love money tho that’s true and is why they can easily provide for their wives 😂💀

I think Blake making jokes about Chiefs gear is overthinking her trad wife role lol like she does go out and she does party (with her friends and with Ryan) and she works tbh so no she doesn’t wait to have one fun night in years. There are some trad wifey vibes going on as we’ve said but not to the extent that she doesn’t get time off.

Also fwiw unlike Ballerina Farm lady I think she has a lot of help (as she should because they can afford it). They’ve said before they don’t use nannies much but she’s been papped with what certainly look like nannies and they very actively have never said they don’t have nannies at all - they dance around it and say jokes about how their parents help and Taylor is “an expensive babysitter” etc but the dancing around to me is them trying to be relatable lol (which is also SO weird to me when celebs do because most upper middle class people have help at least when the kids are little especially if there are several kids and ESPECIALLY when both parents work? Like why be weird about it lmao? You don’t have to be Ryan Reynolds levels of rich to pay someone to come fetch your kids from preschool and entertain them for an afternoon while you’re at work lol like it’s really not THAT hectic of a luxury? The alternative is full day daycare? And middle class people - not upper - use babysitters sometimes? Like the only people who don’t use any paid help for looking after kids are legit unable to afford it even as a luxury - which is not something to be ashamed of but isn’t the situation here or even for people with comfortable middle class jobs? Or people who are very culty like the Ballerina Farm people lol. But other than that idk most people with some disposable income get some help in lol so idk why celebs get so weird about it).

The one celeb who was super normal about it and I really liked the vibe of was Keira Knightley who advocates a fair amount for parental leave and also like for accessible childcare in the UK and she has said several times she does so from a position of immense privilege. She’s said like she can afford a lot of help, which has allowed her to be a good mum and also keep working (and she enjoys her career), but she thinks it’s fucked that childcare is so expensive and that many women are forced to compromise their careers, which they might also be passionate about or enjoy, simply because they can’t afford enough childcare. That’s a cool position to take. Blake and Ryan kind of acting like they don’t have help/much help is ���� and even more 🙄🙄 was Gigi who said she’d NEVER use a nanny in kind of a judgy way and then decided to go back to work so obviously got nannies lmao.

[1alphabetz]

Creating Halloween Magic: Join Our Community for Trunk or Treat Fun in San Antonio!

Events and Activities for Families in San Antonio: A Guide to Our Community Involvement At Alphabetz Montessori, we take great pride in our involvement in the local San Antonio community. Our commitment to not only providing exceptional education but also creating a sense of togetherness among our families and neighbors is at the heart of what we do. With Halloween just around the corner, we are thrilled to announce our annual Trunk or Treat Halloween Party, a fun and spooktacular event for the entire family.

The Trunk or Treat Halloween Party

Every year, as the leaves change and the air turns crisp, we host a delightful Halloween event that brings families together. This year, our  Halloween Party is set to take place on October 27, and it’s an occasion you won’t want to miss. It’s a fantastic way for our students, their families, and the local community to celebrate Halloween together.

Trunk or Treat Fun and Prizes!

The highlight of our Halloween Party is the Trunk or Treat event. Families of our students are encouraged to participate by decorating their vehicle trunks with spooky, creative, or simply delightful Halloween themes. It’s a chance to showcase your Halloween spirit and artistic talents, all while providing a safe and entertaining environment for kids to go trick-or-treating.

We’re thrilled to announce that there are prizes to be won for the best-decorated trunks! The first-place winner will receive $250, the second-place winner will receive $200, and the third-place winner will take home $150. We can’t wait to see the amazing ideas and creativity our Alphabetz Montessori families will bring to this event.

A Family-Friendly Halloween Celebration

Our Open Trunk Halloween Party is designed with families in mind. It’s not just about the trunk decorations and the competition; it’s about enjoying quality time with loved ones in a safe and festive environment. We encourage children to come in their Halloween costumes, ready to collect treats and make unforgettable memories

To know more about the Best daycare in San Antonio Texas please call: (210) 350-9000

https://alphabetzmontessori.com/ https://www.facebook.com/alphabetzmontessori/?view_public_for=109573684025973

 HALLOWEEN DAYS, HALLOWEEN IS COMING, HALLOWEEN MAGIC, PRESCHOOL IN SAN ANTONIO TX

[atlanticcanada]

Daycares race to find temporary spaces after two burn in Tantallon, N.S., wildfire

The wildfires disrupted thousands of lives. Its destruction seems random. But one couple was hit twice.

“Our business and our house are both totally gone,” said Terri Kottwitz, co-owner of ForestKids Early Learning. “They’re on two separate lots of land, can’t see one from the other, but they both burnt down.”

The couple run ForestKids Early Learning, a long-time local daycare that fosters a love of nature by having kids spend a significant amount of time outdoors in forest classrooms.

Their two-storey building on Yankeetown is now gone. It was licensed to hold 82 kids.

"To lose that in our community is absolutely devastating," said Patrick Fogarty, whose one-year-old and three-year-old go to the centre.

Three of four of Giant Steps Children’s centres in the area also sit within the evacuation zone.

Co-owner Donna Buckland confirmed fire destroyed their Wyndham Drive location. It has licensing capacity to take care of 68 toddlers to preschool aged kids.

“A loss of two centres within one big community is really really, that’s a lot,” said Buckland.

As owners rush to find alternatives, parents and the community raise money to rebuild. The community has already raised more than $20,000 through a GoFundMe page to help replace any lost items.

Fogarty said his wife's business has held a fundraiser and he plans to as well.

"The ForestKids family is literally a family and we will rebuild,” he said.

Pam Aucoin, the Executive Director of Early Learning and Childcare with Nova Scotia, said the province has been in contact with all of the operators in the evacuation zone to understand their needs.

“Our goal here is to problem-solve with our providers and with families,” said Aucoin.

She said many are reopening within the evacuation zone. For those that have a prolonged closure, the province is working to establish operators as soon as possible and is helping with funding.

“So we’re covering those parent-fees so families don’t have to pay for care that they’re not going to get over this period, and certainly, we don’t want any of our centres to see any loss of revenue,” Aucoin said.

Buckland said her business may initially be unable to accomodate all of the children who need a space but she thinks eventually that will be possible.

She noted there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of before children are allowed back in the spaces, such as cleaning out freezers and making sure water supply and sprinkler systems are good.

"It's going to be longer of a process than we would like, but at the same time, it's not something we want to rush," she said.

"We're called Giant Steps but we've been taking baby steps all week."

Giant Steps is exploring moving into two different churches in the Upper Tantallon area and has arranged for licensing officers looking at the spaces.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to need and when we’re going to need it but we’ve got lots of options,” she said

ForestKids is considering moving operations to the Cornerstone Wesleyan Church. On Monday, the operators scouted out the space and met with workers who aid in the licensing process. They’re inspired to secure a new spot and keep going for the kids.

“To make sure that they are looked after and back into their surroundings,” said Kottwitz.

Despite losing their house and business, the Kottwitz’s say others are worse off.

The two own a small house they had fixed up that’s still standing and plan to move in there.

“We’re happy to have a roof, so that’s fine,” said Lutz Kottwitz.

As for the kids, the Kottwitz plan to help them replant trees soon -- their role in rebuilding their community after so much of it was burned.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/KytPRd4

[skullfacedog]

ok I know trying to force myself to remember my repressed memories is bad and all, thinking too much about it is bad, ik, HOWEVER I am desperate to know if they’re real so I did some research last night to try to figure out what daycare I went to as a kid bc I’m angry that I just do not remember anything about my daycare. and I looked thru like, every single daycare in my hometown that I could find online and it’s so frustrating bc I don’t recognize any of them, I feel like I’m just trying to piece together tiny splices of memories that are extremely blurry and distorted and it’s like, well I KNOW for a fact that I went to some daycare or separate preschool thing as a 5 year old before elementary school, I never went to pre-k in a normal elementary school I went to some separate preschool thing instead. but either the place I went to is closed now and I can’t find info on it online or my memory is so shit I can’t recognize it from the pictures I looked at, or it’s visually changed so much in the past 12 years that I just don’t recognize it anymore which is definitely a possibility. there’s 2 in particular that kiiind of seem familiar but I’m not entirely sure. I hate talking to my family unless it’s necessary but I may try to casually ask my mom at some point what the daycare/preschool I went to was because I was just thinking about it or something. but she’s dealing with a lot of medical stuff rn so I don’t wanna casually ask smth like that rn lol.

I also tried doing some research into convicted criminals in my hometown. none of them look familiar and I can’t find any that have been records of working at a school or daycare at all, which is kind of shocking that there are no convicted criminals who worked with kids in my hometown like there’s no way there’s just no pedos who worked with kids in that town?? so all that really tells me is that they were never caught :/ or I guess they could’ve moved and been convicted in another city/state but it seems impossible to find what I’m looking for online. the fact that there are no sex offenders who worked around kids in my hometown kinda makes me doubt my repressed memories more but ik a lot of those people, especially if they’re religious which my hometown is highly religious, get away with it for the rest of their lives. and that makes me so mad. I hope my abuser is dead or living a miserable life and slowly rotting and I really hope he’s not able to hurt anyone else.

another thing I remembered recently is my parents not wanting me to go to a religious summer camp because they previously had an outed pedo at that summer camp (he was in jail and I was 17 at the time so I was mad they still didn’t let me go lmao) and I swear I remember them connecting that situation to another time a pedo was outed after working with kids, seemingly in our hometown but I don’t remember if they said where it was? I’m p sure they just said like “nevermind” and changed the subject but I could be misremembering bc that was 9 years ago and I have absolute shit memory lol (my high school years are blurry as fuck I love trauma brain!!) like idk if I’m just making shit up to fit my narrative or if that rlly happened bc if it did that’s sus af. and I didn’t think much of it at the time so I didn’t take note of it. but whatever, I’ll prob just ask my mom about the daycare so I can get the name and once I have the name of the daycare I can do more research to figure out if they had any sus workers or convicted criminals who previously worked there or any bad reviews, and look at pictures online to see if it triggers any memories. ik I’m not ready to remember the whole thing but I just need enough to know if my feelings are legit or if I’m literally just insane and gaslighting myself into believing I have repressed CSA because I want to be sicker or whatever. I keep thinking like idk I was kinda a normal kid tho there was nothing sus about me... but then I think about how quiet I was, how I was so scared of sexual topics but in private would be utterly fascinated by it, how I was the most obedient child in existence. I literally have paraphilias and traumakinks and I’m like hmmmm maybe I am making it up and never actually experienced csa lol <3

also been wondering lately if I have a system trauma holder who just hasn’t shown themselves bc none of my current headmates are trauma holders. so like @ my trauma holder if you exist ily ty for doing your job and keeping the rest of us safe, shoutout to trauma holders fr. ty for bearing our burden and allowing me to live a SOMEWHAT normal childhood despite having neglectful religious parents and not identifying as human on top of everything else lol.

[tswyghaziabad]

Child development milestones matter the most for your toddlers!

The early years of your little ones are the most crucial. It decides their later years. Ensuring their holistic development and growth at this stage will surely help them achieve their career goals. Child development milestones are an excellent way for parents to tell that their children are developing as required. 

Every child is unique in his/her own way. It’s implied their developmental needs will also differ, be it socially, cognitively, or even physically. As a parent, you must ensure some of the standard developmental benchmarks that will help your toddlers to find their way to academic and life success. 

Why does early child development matter? 

No matter how cute your toddlers are, they can’t stay infants forever. They need to develop and grow as they go along. Letting your children achieve child development milestones can help you more effectively support your young ones and let them develop a strong sense of confidence and determination. 

Providing your children with a learning environment that fosters their developmental needs can help them attain these milestones. It’s your responsibility to choose the premium preschool in Gurgaon that gives importance to child development milestones. They come with professionals with the expertise and knowledge to work with children and help them grow holistically. 

The empathetic faculty at a preschool makes use of interactive teaching and screening tools. It gives them a better idea of what’s going on in those little minds and which areas need to be flourished. It also helps them catch any developmental trouble early on. 

Parents and caregivers need to work collectively to understand better how to adjust to the developmental needs of children. Early childhood education is an ideal stage to keep an eye on what your little ones are learning.

Core child development milestones 

Early childhood education is much more than studying colors, numbers, shapes, and letters. Your toddlers also need to learn other core skills that are vital for their overall growth and development. 

Here is a list of child development milestones that you must ensure in your kids in their early growing phase: 

Social and emotional

Language/communication

Movement/physical development

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) 

Healthy children excel in these areas! While you look for a learning environment for your kids, make sure it works for their growth and development areas. It must create a language-rich environment that builds your children’s emotional vocabulary. 

The best preschools in Gurgaon support child development milestones 

Understanding childhood development stages can make a huge impact on how you relate with your little ones. Fortunately, preschools are realizing the role of achieving child development milestones in the holistic growth of children. They are making significant efforts in driving these goals by developing an emotional vocabulary through activities like reading and by describing behavior and feelings happening in the classroom. 

The more easily and quickly the development needs of children are addressed, the more holistically they will be able to grow. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to have a constant eye on the early learning needs of your children. It can be done in healthcare, school, or community settings by professionals who deliver holistic education in the early learning years of kids. 

Choose a leading pre school in Gurgaon that emphasize early childhood development and provides the best support for every child. Once you ensure this step, the later learning years of your kids become quite smooth. 

The Shri Ram Wonder Years Lets Your Little Ones Achieve Early Developmental Milestones! 

Having been awarded as the best preschool and daycare in Gurgaon for three consecutive years, The Shri Ram Wonder Years takes the early education of children to the most productive level. Developing sound values and core skills through self-development activities in children has always been the motive of TSWY. 

The faculty provide children with the best learning environment for their holistic development. They put their best foot forward to bring out the best in your little ones. 

Let your toddlers accomplish child development milestones in the safest, warmest, happiest, and ever-evolving environment of The Shri Ram Wonder Years. Get in touch with the TSWY authorities to know further about the admission process or other specific queries. 

View Source : https://www.tswygurgaon.com/blog/child-development-milestones-matter-the-most-for-your-toddlers/

[babyspacebatclone]

Argh.

I was covering in the Young Preschool room today at work (daycare teacher), and one of the usual kids was in a mood (usually a sign they didn’t get enough sleep the night before).

They were trying to crawl between my legs while I was standing, which is not something I am comfortable with and strictly veto for any kid who can walk.

“Please respect Ms. [BabyBat]’s body, I don’t like that, you can’t go between my legs.”

I frame it the same way I frame all unwanted touches, including to peers - the focus on bodily autonomy.

This kid completely hyperfixated on “I want to, you’re not letting me, I’m pushing this!”

And then, as I was trying to physically move away from them, they literally pushed it - that is, me.

I’m surprised no adult or even kids reacted to my shriek, which was less in pain and more in utter terror my right knee was going to dislocate or something as I struggled to regain balance.

Important note: I am loud.

I didn’t hold the kid to anything beyond not respecting my bodily autonomy, because they had had no intention of actually causing pain.

That being said, I did tell them they did “give me an owie,” and they stopped both the figurative and literal pushing boundaries.

But stars boil to novas, my knees were at a 6 when I woke up, that pushed my right knee to a 7 for the day at work, and it’s at an 8 right now.

And I reserve 9 for “this makes me cry in pain” and 10 for “no functioning because of pain.”

(seriously, I never sit unless I have to or the kids are chill at work. while outside I broke down and sat on the storage boxes the other teachers use, which I hate doing because kids need you roaming. but that had to be delegated to the college kid.)

One push from a 3 year old.

And now I’m legitimately worried I won’t be able to walk tomorrow if I sleep wrong.

[pinkfey]

i have a theory about why i’m so burnt out !!