u/Rook2you

Hello, this feels like the dumbest question, but I'm really struggling to figure it out. My wife and I live near San Francisco, where it doesn't get super cold. However, we love to go up to the mountains in the winter where it is very cold with lots of snow. We have a 3 month old baby. Our friends gave us a one piece snow suit that should fit him this winter, but it doesn't have feet. What goes on the feet??? I'd love to put him in the snow to wriggle around and do his thing. Should I just get fleece booties or something? Will they not get soaked? The idea of something staying on this dude's feet at this point is laughable, but maybe his feet will gain substance by 6 months? Cold weather homies please help me out.

Hello, I received 8 weeks of Paid Family Leave this summer. I need to know what percentage of my salary EDD was paying me so that I can confirm that my employer paid me the right amount on top of that. I'm assuming EDD amounts are not taxed before payout (still unclear if I need to pay taxes on it later)? When doing this calculation, should I compare my EDD payment to my usual gross pay? Would this be the correct calculation:

($ amount for two weeks of EDD payments) / (usual $ amount for gross wages each biweekly paycheck) * 100 = percentage of pay from EDD

TIA

Hello fellow Santa Rosians, I am a proficient acoustic "campfire" guitarist (I can play Wonderwall like you wouldn't believe), but would like to work on finger picking and reading more complicated tabs. Any recs for a good guitar teacher who could help me improve in these areas? tia!

for context: I work remotely for a national org with around 200 people. I work from California and have been at this job for 2 years. We have one person in HR who handles benefits and leave. My employer provides 6 weeks full pay for family leave, and if we receive money from our state, they will use it to “top off” whatever we’re getting from the state to 100% of our salary.

My wife and I had a baby in June. I applied for child bonding leave via EDD the day after he was born and received my first payment (about 70% of salary) the next week. Despite telling the benefits person in HR to anticipate this, and to only pay enough out of my company leave “top off” my pay, she paid my full paycheck. For the last two months, we’ve been going back and forth about how to fix this. It usually takes her 2+ weeks for her to respond to my emails. She doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing at all, and her math is completely wrong. My brain is fried from lack of sleep, and I’m not even sure what to do at this point.

My question is, how much responsibility should I hold for figuring out how much and when my company should pay me during my leave? Is this something that I should reasonably expect my HR department to handle without too much intervention on my part? I was not expecting to have to navigate this while also taking care of a fussy baby. If it is the case that HR should really be figuring this out on their own, then I will log a complaint when I’m back. However, if I’m mistaken and have misapprehended the process somewhere, I’d love to know. I do feel bad for our benefits person cause she’s dealing with like 40 different states, but I know multiple CA-based people who have been on leave before, so you’d think they‘d have it down by now. Is there some tool that HR folks use that can help calculate this stuff that I can share with my HR team?

Any advice from an HR perspective would be appreciated! tia

Hello, I applied for and started receiving child bonding leave in June. I also get 6 weeks full time from my employer for parental leave. They do this by topping off whatever I get from the state to 100% as long as I'm getting EDD payments, and will then pay out the rest. However, my HR person didn’t listen to me and paid my full paycheck the first week of leave. I’ve been going back and forth with her on how to fix this, and her plan is to underpay my “top up” amount for a period or two to make up the difference. Is this the correct way to fix this mistake? How would I report it? I’m sleep deprived, so if anyone has been through this before and knows what steps I need to take and would be willing to walk me through them, I’d be eternally grateful. I have not received an overpayment notice from EDD, but I also haven’t submitted documentation of the extra pay in the portal since I wanted to wait to figure this out. Maybe that’s a mistake?

Before having my son, I made a stack of books to start reading to him the second he came out. I was so excited about it. I wanted to start with some of my own favorites since he’s too young to know the difference, and I’d love my wife to listen and enjoy them as well. He is now 6 weeks old, and is either asleep or pissed. Not colicky, but very fussy and whiny (we checked with our pediatrician and she diagnosed him with being a baby). I know this stage will pass, but I feel bad because I’ve only managed to read to him once since he was born. There just doesn’t ever seem to be a time when he’s…. receptive? Should I try reading to him when he’s crying? When he’s sleeping? I guess I’m mostly looking for reassurance that there will be a point where my dream of reading him The Hobbit will be attainable because right now I feel like I’m failing big time. People say reading to your kids is so important, but at what stage is it even possible with a fussy baby? Thanks.

Hello, my son is 4 weeks old and 10 lbs. We have two solly wraps that are okay, but even after putting them on multiple times a day, it’s still hit or miss whether I get a good fit. It’s driving me crazy because when he’s inconsolable at night we put him in the solly and he calms down instantly, but it’s often 5 minutes of my wife holding a squalling infant while I curse the baby carrier gods trying to get this freaking goldilocks wrap to fit just right. 5 minutes in this case feels like 10,000 years.

I’m looking for something more structured (not a stretchy wrap carrier or sling) that‘s relatively easy and quick to put on, and most importantly, is easier to adjust after the baby is in it without having to take him out and start from scratch. I was thinking about getting an ergo baby embrace, but it sounds like he’s about to top out weight wise for that one. And it seems like the ergo baby omni is too big? In general, I’m having a hard time finding something that will be comfy and safe for him during this stage where he’s getting slightly too heavy for newborn carriers but is seemingly not heavy enough for others. Thanks in advance!

Hello, my wife is pregnant and due in a few weeks. The child was conceived with using donor sperm. I will be on the birth certificate, but will also need to officially adopt the child via Stepparent Adoption. I'm looking through the Paid Family Leave Bonding application and it is asking for Child Relationship. I assume I should list "Adopted Child"? For the date of placement, should I just put the date the child was born? Is the birth certificate enough for the proof of relationship? Is there anything else I need to consider in this situation?

Hello, has anyone created a book for their donor conceived kid? I'd love to create one, but I'm stuck trying to figure out what platform to use. Photobook creators make it hard to add text. I was thinking maybe Canva, but I wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions! I think we'll probably also make a custom My Donor Story book down the line, but I specifically want to include info and pictures about our known donor (who's a close friend) and his family. Any recommendations would be appreciated!