Triple plastic (diaper, storage bag, trash bag?)? Those diapers are NEVER going to decompose!
@twoinanddone I hear you, but, in my community, my trash can must stay in the garage, and all trash must be bagged. The thin food storage bag is to help hold the smell in so that my garage doesn’t smell like 
. It still needs to be placed in a trash bag for pick up, so keeping all dirty diapers in one bags is best for us.
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My sister lives close to her two sons and their families - they celebrate a group of birthdays at various times during the year, and my sister makes great efforts with the meal/etc. to have them together. Even for these gatherings, she rarely asks both DILs/family to bring a dish. That would not be my playbook, but YMMV.
I put the wet diapers in my laundry room trash can. The poop one’s go right outside to the big waste can.
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Had a great weekend with our GD that just turned a month old last week. We went out to breakfast on Saturday and of course I held GD most of the time! Yesterday D1, SIL and GD came over for lunch and hung out at our house for the afternoon. D2 was also here and held her sweet niece for much of the time. D1 and GD are coming here to spend the morning tomorrow while SIL golfs with friends. This is the first time D1 and GD will come by themselves to our house. I’m loving every minute I get to spend with the most adorable baby girl!
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Your joy shines throughout your post. Are they still planning a move?
I’m beginning to think about holiday gifts and one granddaughter has a Dec birthday. One idea my daughter suggested was a wooden dollhouse. Any suggestions, she is turning 3. My other daughter suggested for her family a natural history museum membership. What gifts do the other CC grandparents have in mind this year?
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@mom60 - yes they will be moving to the east coast in mid January. They are supposed to close on the house they bought in December. It is going to be hard for me when they leave, but we already have trips set up to see them next year. I still wish they could have bought a house here in Southern California, but there is no way they could afford it. H and I plan to be very involved with our GD even living across the country!
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Count me as a vote for funding experiences as a wonderful gift. Neither of my kids’ families crave accumulation of “stuff,” yet both houses are overrun with toys from well meaning relatives.
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Last year, GD asked for a wooden dollhouse that she saw at Costco. We got it for her last Christmas (she turned 4 right after Christmas), and she has played with it consistently over the past year. It’s huge, though, so it requires space ((D’s house is a ranch with a full finished basement, so GD has a large play area in the lower level). Here’s the one she has, but Kohl’s & Amazon sell similar houses: KidKraft Secret Reveal Wooden Mansion Dollhouse | Costco
I picked up a Barbie Dream House in perfect condition at a resale shop a couple months ago, and it’s been a hit. It’s in “her” bedroom at our house, and that’s the first place she heads every time she comes over.
Other than the dollhouses, her favorite gifts have mostly been outside toys. She likes her Razr-style scooter, bike, water table, and Hot Wheels Mustang (actually a hand me down from the neighbor’s grandson). Inside, she still plays with her play kitchen a lot - we’ve been using it at our doll daycare lately - and she enjoys her V-Tech Touch & Learn activity desk.
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I’m mostly buying clothes for my grands. GD is 3 and loves new clothes especially if they are pink and frilly! So I’m going with that. I’m also buying her some Strega Nona books as she loves the original one.
GS is only 3 months old so he will also get clothes and books.
There are already a ton of toys and SIL’s parents will buy them even more.
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Also mostly clothes, some books, and art supplies for the budding artist 
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The gifts that got the most play at our house were dress up clothes and costumes. I sew so they wanted costumes for everything, not just Halloween (although I did pick up some on clearance after Halloween). Capes, lots of princess dresses, shoes, pirate stuff,. When we went to things like Disney on Ice, a movie, a birthday party, there were always costumes involved.
Last year we went to Frozen (Broadway tour), the kids were so cute with their costumes. And a few Dads were dressed up too!
For the granddaughter moving to a new house, how 'bout redoing her bedroom with a theme? Sheets, decorations, comforter?
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All 4 grands are getting a contribution to their 529 account for their holiday gift. Each will get a token gift or two to open, most likely books or a new tonie. The grands all have more than enough toys.
Plus, the twins just had a birthday and I gave them each a new school dress (and mom bought them 2 each fancy party dresses : velour /sequins/netting/ lace…) GS got a couple of new shirts from me so he didn’t feel left out on the twins birthday. So they’re all set for clothes.
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@WayOutWestMom - the grands “ big gift” from me is also a contribution to their 529 accounts. They just don’t know that yet!
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I slowly build up what purchases we have for the grandkids for Christmas. The 2 YO will enjoy the spirit of things, while the older kids definitely are all about Christmas, now ages 4, 6 and 7. Prior years I would have some things from Santa and some from us. DD1/SIL indicate we do enough and not too much - and that is a perfect balance. Baby’s first Christmas (GD3) - she will be 9 months old.
We will also make a donation to the college fund for our granddaughter. She has so much. An only on both sides, will be an only on her mother’s side as she’s an only. Maybe an only on her dad’s side as we don’t know if our daughter will be able to have children
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I’m the 529 grandma, but at 6 and 4 the kids don’t care and don’t understand. I started out my grandmotherhood thinking I’d just get “small” gifts for them because of the 529s. That changed, and now I’m as guilty as anyone of buying too much. The kids get a ton of stuff from their extended family because they’re the only ones of their generation, and likely to remain that way.
I’ve gotten them both age-appropriate magazine subscriptions for this year, plus a jean jacket for the GD and a dragon costume for the DS. And a Glinda crown for the GD. I still have to get some Sonic stuff for GS.
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Magna-tiles, once again, for grandson.
My issue is DIL, who hasn’t given any hints for her BD this week, and son offered no suggestions.
I just ordered a few things from Melissa and Doug. They are on Rakuten and also have a discount code. I ordered mainly Water Wow and Sticker Wow for small gifts. I also ordered a car wash toy that I think the brothers will both like. They are 19 months apart and at this point I almost feel like I need two of everything since they can fight over toys. I try to balance giving with the awareness they already have a lot. My daughter is still looking for what dollhouse for granddaughter. We also will likely get one family a kid bike seat for riding with his dad. He is outgrowing the one on front.
A recent birthday hit was tempera stick paint crayons and finger paint paper.
We did a large 529 when they were all born. Last year I bought them all Patagonia jackets that I found on sale. They are now all handing down the sizes.
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I want to share an idea that we have been using lately.
We are always struggling to get the kids to eat more veggies. (They love starches and most fruits, but veggies are a push….)
Everyday when they get home from preschool, there’s a rainbow plate waiting for them. It’s platter/plate with one-bite sized colorful veggies and a few fruits lined up (think charcuterie platter) and the kids can help themselves. There’s only 1 rule: you can’t take all of any one food item. You need to leave enough for your other siblings to have some.
Everyday is something different. Yesterday it was carrot sticks, celery stuffed w/peanut butter, blackberries, broccoli crowns, halved cherry tomatoes and some dried cherries that one kid didn’t eat in their lunchbox.
Today it’ll be cooked & shelled edamame, quartered dates, carrot sticks, broccoli crowns, orange bell pepper slices, halved tomatoes and some shelled pistachios.
Kids are always snack-y when they get home and this encourages them to eat healthy snacks. Since it’s serve yourself, there’s no whining to parent/grandparent/caretaker to fix them “something”.
Mix it up and keep it colorful. Everyday has different things on the plate. I always try to include a small amount of protein. (peanut butter, nuts, edamame, cheese, tofu, etc but it’s never more than one item on the plate.)
D has really sold it as a “rainbow plate” for the kids to try, but the original idea of the veggie snack platter comes from Chris Ferrie. (Chris writes children’s books, but formerly was SIL’s grad student and post-doc. He has a PhD in physics, but makes 10x as much money as a best selling children’s writer than he did as a college lecturer.)
So we let them snack almost until dinner time so if they’re not hungry for dinner….at least we know what they’ve been eating is healthy.
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