u/reditrix

Hoping to get perspective from teachers here. My 4yo just started in TK in LAUSD this week, and we’ve been surprised at how much tv time there seems to be in class. When we arrived on the first day, the teacher had some sort of animated clips playing (maybe Cocomelon?), seemingly from YouTube, as there were ads. That day my kid reported that they’d watched a Gingerbread Man “movie” as well as other videos in class. On Thursday they watched Spidey and Friends. On Friday, Cocomelon.
I don’t take my kid’s reports as gospel truth, but we were able to confirm most of these with other parents who have kids in that class.
Is it normal for teachers to play non-educational videos every day in a TK classroom, especially given the recent screen time policy change? I hope these are only short videos, maybe during movement breaks, but my kid is too young to really remember much detail.

Our kid is newly 4 and just started TK (pre-kindergarten grade level within elementary school in CA). She’s been in preschool till now, where teachers would apply sunscreen to the kids midday before they went outside during the hot months. We’re in SoCal, so it stays very hot often into October. Now that she’s in school, obviously the teacher doesn’t apply sunscreen to students. We’re putting it on her in the morning, but since school starts at 8, she’ll be due for reapplication before lunchtime. How do others handle this? As far as I can tell there’s cumulative 1-2 hours of outside play in the afternoon between school and aftercare.

My 4yo daughter is obsessed with stories/narratives (that require parent participation). She’s constantly asking us to tell her stories. When we’re not telling stories, she wants us to be playing imagination games with her. When we’re eating, she wants us to be reading books to her at the table (an unfortunate routine we started when we were concerned about her eating and has stuck. We’re working on it). I love that she is so imaginative but it’s mentally exhausting. Anyone else stuck in this boat? I just want to talk to her about her day or have her tell us what’s going on in her mind without having to do improv all day long.

A very generous friend has gifted me a massage at a very upscale hotel/spa - like, over $300 for a 90-minute massage. I have never spent so much on a personal service (more of a yearly Thai massage girlie) and am wondering whether the standard 15-20 percent tip applies as at restaurants and haircuts, or if there’s an understood “ceiling” to tips for these sorts of high-end services. For those who live that spa life, how much do you tip?

Our 4yo is blessed with an awesome imagination and great verbal skills. She loves to act out scenarios for playtime, nearly always featuring animals, but she is very rigid in her play style. She has a very clear idea in her head of how the game goes, what each character says in turn, what happens next, and she will dictate this script and is very resistant to any other suggestion of what should happen and what other people should say.
She is an only child and I’m sure we’ve unintentionally fostered this by just going along with however she wants to play, because mom and dad didn’t really have any opinions and just wanted to support her imagination. But it is coming back to bite both us and her in the ass - she clearly struggles to play with most other kids, and their reluctance to play exactly how she wants seems to be a major factor. She does have one best friend at preschool, but when he’s not there she prefers to play by herself. When we’re out in social groups or at parks, she only wants to play with us and not other kids.
Anyone have advice for working on this kind of rigidity and control? We have tried to have conversations with her about playing collaboratively and how people don’t like to be told what to do, but so far they have not sunk in.

Our ~4yo is just starting real (not parent-and-me) swim lessons and they ask kids to use goggles. Our kid has long, curly hair and trying to get the goggles on this morning was hell - she screamed bloody murder every time we had to get the goggles on and they pulled her hair. I also had long hair as a kid and honestly it kept me from ever using goggles for the same reason. I’m looking for either recommendations for goggles styles that are easier to put on/adjust without pulling, or tips and tricks for getting them on long-haired kids. Thanks!

Our almost-4yo has always been low sleep needs, and is currently stuck in the preschool trap where she’ll nap at school (mandatory) and then can’t get to sleep till 10 pm or later. Currently lights go out at 8:30 and I stay with her a bit and am out of her room around 9.
That structure has worked for us off and on, but for the past several weeks she’s been calling out pitifully for mom (me) around 9:45 or so, as she starts to get sleepy. She’ll repeat “I need mama” and say she’s lonely, and get increasingly agitated when I don’t come.
My partner wants me to just ignore her and treat it like extinction sleep training; he thinks my responding to her will keep her from being able to go to sleep without me in the long term. I on the other hand am concerned about any psychological effects it might have for her to keep asking for a parent and expressing that she needs them, only to be ignored. I also grew up in a very unsupportive home with not-great parents, so it’s hard to see past that baggage to what is really best for her.
I would especially love if anyone can point me to theory- or science-based literature on the effects either way…but also happy to hear anecdotes and advice from anyone who’s been in the same boat.