Used to go there a bit when I was a teen (over 30 years ago). It was very Asian and cool back then, not a worrying place to be. Some of those shops were grouse, not at all like the plastic-filled $2 shops of now, with exotic and niche goods. It was the only place you could get certain things in the west at the time. The only time I went there recently with the kids we were on the tram that goes through there and a messed up guy (drugs) got on and asked every person on the tram for money while intermittently ranting. Other people got on and off the tram who were of a similar disposition. Kids were not impressed. He then got off the tram at an intersection and I had to distract the kids from looking out the window because he weaved over to a light pole, pulled out his Richard in broad daylight and started peeing on it.
I feel frustrated and angry that all the focus on profiteering, price hikes, cost of living increases and thee relevant inquires and reports seem to have achieved bugger all.
I bought one from Vic market for my daughter but she isn't using it so I am lol. First time I've had a pink girls bag in my life. It has a matching coin purse 🙌🏼🤣
It's hard, for sure. I experimented with lots of stuff. There was an aquarium DVD with soft dreamy classical music that was mesmerising, and I used to play it before bed. It went for about 45 minutes and came to signal "bedtime" when it was over. They loved that until it stopped working and I never found a replacement :( I found a bath before bed was a no go, as they seemed refreshed and revitalised by it and were actually harder to get to settle. I also experimented with lavender oil spray (not the aerosol one, it doesn't smell nice) on the soft furnishings in the room or the straight oil on a cloth hanging near the bed, and lavender scented baby massage lotions administered via soothing back rub. I had night lights which cast patterns of slowly circling stars and moons or rippling water patterns on the roof. All of these things worked to varying degrees. Elder turned out to be a "rain noises and mood lighting" kinda guy. In the end Miniest was having none of it. Nothing but my presence would put her to sleep. I'd put her in her bed and go to mine, only to wake up later and find she'd snuck in during the night and fallen asleep with her foot touching my leg so she'd know I was there. Sometimes I'd carry her sleeping form back to her bed a few times, only to find each time she'd woken up and snuck back lol. It was destroying both our sleep so in the end I just gave up and allowed it. It's so hard sometimes, finding their little bedtime thing. No advice to offer really but boy do I hear you! I hope you find your Tiniest's bedtime something and your sanity and sleep doesn't suffer!
A friend of mine felt a bit the same, "why did I do this/what the hell have I done?" Until she got a job teaching English to adult students overseas. She just had to explore the options a bit more and find something that suited her. Maybe you've got to explore a bit more to find your "zone"?
My FIL had one of those! Very useful and handy. They could comfortably fit all luggage in when travelling. My FIL could fit his golf related items in there plus mobility device and still leave room for shopping. We borrowed it when moving in.
My parents are both dead, and the parenting techniques they employed with me were by today's standards abusive and illegal. Similar story with Mr P, and his relationship with his parents is an example of how not to conduct familial relations, but only to be expected from such beginnings. As we both get older and time passes, it becomes increasingly evident that Mr P & I are not on the same page with a lot of things, in a way I didn't ever anticipate could be possible, and are steadily and irrevocably drifting apart.
However, everything is a teaching moment, whether it's about what to do or what not to. In any family, some will determinedly model appropriate behaviour and "workshop," explain or discuss when it could've been better. Others are more an example of how not to be, and as such are still potentially useful while being far from admirable.
I could waffle in about this stuff for ages, but a pertinent thing I heard years ago went along the lines of, "The best part about being an adult is you get to choose which parts of your parents you get to be. You don't have to be your parents." It sounds like you have a more mindful attitude about parenting than previous generations in your family had. You get to build the relationship you want with your kids, we're not condemned to repeat history. My parenting style could not be more different from my parents, and that's a very deliberate choice of mine.
Mine seems pretty easy to train. It didn't take much for it to start serving me up Jon Stewart, Robert Reich, Jesse Welles, Fairburn Films, retro comedy like Fast Forward and The D Generation and random stuff like this
Used to go there a bit when I was a teen (over 30 years ago). It was very Asian and cool back then, not a worrying place to be. Some of those shops were grouse, not at all like the plastic-filled $2 shops of now, with exotic and niche goods. It was the only place you could get certain things in the west at the time. The only time I went there recently with the kids we were on the tram that goes through there and a messed up guy (drugs) got on and asked every person on the tram for money while intermittently ranting. Other people got on and off the tram who were of a similar disposition. Kids were not impressed. He then got off the tram at an intersection and I had to distract the kids from looking out the window because he weaved over to a light pole, pulled out his Richard in broad daylight and started peeing on it.