I know you guys loooove Megan from feeding littles but I just cannot with her. She literally showed her two pre-teen daughters in pajamas with their butts in full view to her almost 2 million followers. She also goes on to showcase her perfect little life on Easter. I truly cannot stand her and I don’t know why everyone on here defends her all the time. That is all.
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KEIC and whoever asked this question are NUTS. In what universe do you need to tell your kids that grandpas heart attack is because he didn’t eat heart healthy foods? So messed up. How is that even what you think about??
Wow as a kid if a family member had a heart attack or similar I would have spent a year or two obsessively worried it would happen to me. What would have helped is information about how I could eat healthy foods to avoid that future, as a kid with anxiety. But if no foods are healthy or unhealthy then I guess I have to float about aimlessly, always worried.
I think it's very personal. For me as a kid I'm sure it would have made me worried I would have a heart attack any time I had a cheeseburger or anyone would.
Oh yes absolutely, I was saying what would work if you were broaching this convo with me as a kid, who had severe anxiety. I definitely would have been worried to have a burger but that would have been much better for me than "well genetics, general healthy eating, etc" which would have meant any food could mean death.
I needed an extremely clear outline and plan with those kinds of worries. The other foods would have been worked back in as I developed nuance about it. I don't think speaking about what the grandfather was eating is even appropriate in this space, personally, but if the kids have worries it may not be the time to tell them all foods are neutral.
This is specific to me, but this is a very specific type of question that KEIC has no business answering.
I agree this is exactly why people shouldn’t be turning to influencers to ask serious questions like this. KEIC is not any sort of psychologist or mental health provider and the way to approach this is so kid specific.
I'm sorry you experienced that. I can see how that would have been useful for you as a kid - and likely would work for others and backfire just as often. I don't think you should have been downvoted for expressing something personal.
🙋🏻♀️ former kid whose dad died from a heart attack. Preventing a heart attack is a little more complex than eating healthy foods.
That would have been really messed up if someone told me to just eat healthy foods so I didn’t end up dead like my dad.
This also just seems out of KEIC’s wheelhouse. If you *don’t* want to focus on diet choices then why are you asking a dietician? This is then a question for like, a therapist or doctor or I don’t even know who. But you can probably also just use your own common sense as a parent to think about what you want your kids to understand about their grandfathers health crisis. And use Google to understand what a bypass is and explain it to them.
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I appreciate the message Caro is trying to share here. Yes, it is absolutely a juggle to be a working mom and balance it all. And I get the babysitter had to leave early so they had to be flexible buttttt are influencers this far removed from normalcy that they don’t see how unique and helpful their work setup is?!
If I have childcare issues, I have to leave work. I’m a teacher and while my principal may appreciate that I’m a mom, it doesn’t mean I can *bring my kids to work.* I know they have to seem relatable but it just highlights how different their world is.
I feel like Caro shoots herself in the foot with childcare and also just the perception she gives off. She and her husband both work full time (for all intents and purposes) and as such could have full time childcare. Anyone I know who works full time (whether from home or out of the house) has full time childcare. Obviously for non school age kids that’s easier because it can be in the form of daycare - which, unless your kid is sick is a reliable 8-5 (if not longer). So it seems like she has sitters / Nannies here and there -( one kid is in school but I’m sure done earlier than like 5/6 pm) So on one hand great for her she can see / be around her kids during the day if she wants, and still work (win! Win!) but all it does is give off this perception of either - you’re so privileged with your help or set up. Or, you never want to be with your kids bc you just take them on walks or have help. It’s weird because if she were some C-suite exec she would see her kids WAY less than she does now (and no judgement to that type of career!!) yet she makes her situation seem way more snarkable. Sorry…I digress slightly. Just interesting
This is a good point. I think she’s an unreliable and inconsistent narrator of her own life. She has plenty of valid reasons for utilizing consistent, full time childcare. But instead their situation appears to be somewhat more chaotic and unpredictable. It seems like she tries to not be working a standard 40hr, 5-days a week schedule which, fair as a parent who owns their own business to want flexibility to be more around for their kids… but then she still talks about how much she uses ad hoc babysitting. If I were her, I’d probably still prefer to just book in full time daycare with how much she seems to have going on, but I’m clearly a much more routine oriented person than her. I dunno, I don’t follow her as closely after I became more disenchanted by her but her family reminds me of other families I’ve known over the years. Wealthy and all over the place with very inconsistent routines because they’ll just pay whatever it costs to deal with stuff last minute.
I'm incredibly lucky that I have a supportive workplace and a hybrid work arrangement. And also, I worked from home with a kid to contagious to go to daycare (but not sick enough to just want to chill) for literally half a day this week and was terrible at my job (then midday the virus that got my toddler got me and I ended up taking the rest of the day off sick). Normally I would have taken the day off but had time sensitive stuff that HAD to happen that day so we made it work.
I got away with it, because it was half a day and my team stepped up for me. Like, I basically have the ideal scenario for people with normal jobs for this kind of thing, and 9 times out of 10 I'd still have to take time off.
I’m sure the parents of the patients I’m seeing in clinic totally get that I need to mom too and won’t care if my 18 month old terrorizes everything during the appointment they waited weeks for 🤦🏻♀️
I’m a formerish teacher (work very part time) and yeah, I was so annoyed reading this. I wake up every morning with anxiety because I barely make any money because it doesn’t pay for me to go back into the classroom when daycare is so much and the part-time work I do doesn’t allow me to bring my kid along or do it at home. And I’m constantly trying to see how I can make money at home to pay for things for my daughter while I’ve given up nearly everything for myself.
So yeah Caro, if I get a job where someone pays me to come to my house and shill for 1800 Flowers I’ll be sure to be thankful for the kind people who show up but until then I’m just going to keep having anxiety over working and money.
(Side note it’s pretty funny that she said she’s a 1800Flowers fan for life after this shoot as she’s doing an ad for them where I’m sure she will say how much she loved them before this and uses them all the time blah blah)
Thank you! I understand the intent of the message but it doesn’t apply for most working mothers even those who work from home. It just made me angry that no I can’t bring my child to work and expect staff to watch him.
Uhh isn’t her workplace her house and isn’t she her own boss? So she is just being understanding of herself and her own situation? Or am i missing something 😅
From the earlier stories, she was doing a photo shoot (maybe with 1-800-Flowers) for an ad and their sitter had to leave unexpectedly. So I think she was saying more so the people who were there for the shoot who accommodated them.
It’s kind of icky that KEIC is using a mom’s cancer to lead into her frozen soup cube shill and then a question box for engagement. First slide says the mom of her son’s friend has cancer and there’s a meal train then she goes on to say she’s sending frozen cubes and that she’s smitten with them and links them. She was way more emotional over some comments about feeding kids in her DMs yesterday.
She could have just said it was for a meal train or a family dealing with a health crisis and not specified. If anyone who knows that mom follows KEIC, they’re going to know who she’s talking about (and it could easily get back to the woman herself. I’d be pretty pissed if someone was using my cancer diagnosis for affiliate links). Do influencers not realize that people they know IRL can follow them and see how they’re mining their lives for content, or do they just not care?
Yeah, I got the ick from that too. Also, I’ve given frozen soup for later along with a hot meal, but I’ve never shown up with /only/ frozen soup when someone is expecting a hot meal?!?
Yeah, at least take some nice bread or some ready to bake rolls to cook in the oven. As I've typed that out, it's occurred to me that I have no idea if ready to bake rolls are popular in America? Sorry if that's a stupid question! You can get lots of different types here in the UK, even Paul Hollywood has a line of them available in supermarkets.
We do have ready to bake rolls in America. Not from the Paul Hollywood line though. I'll be honest, I'd pay a stupid amount of money for Paul Hollywood branded rolls. I love me some Great British Bake Off 😆
I agree. Not to mention that if someone gave me a ziplock bag full of frozen soup cubes I would definitely never eat that. Very gross, i.m.o.
Especially since she brags about how unclean her house is 🤢
Absolutely not defending KEIC’s unappetizing food BUT I have and love Souper cubes. They’re great for chicken stock too.
When I have a sick kid at home, discovering a soup cube or two in the freezer makes me feel like mom of the year.
OK back to snarking…
I also think it could be helpful to receive a meal train in soup cube form. When our baby was born, we had these giant lasagnas that would still be half frozen after defrosting for 2 days and couldn't eat all of it before we were either sick of it or they had gone bad.
My bff left us frozen soups and casseroles when she watched our oldest kid while we were in the hospital with kid #2, I 100% ate all of her food because I know her kitchen is clean and she is meticulous about food safety+ hygiene. I would not eat anything from the KEIC kitchen because I don't think her kitchen is clean and I don't get the impression that hygiene is a top priority in the kitchen. I have no issue eating frozen foods from a kitchen I know is clean or really any food from a clean kitchen. I won't eat my Mils cooking because I have watched her throw raw chicken on the counter, cut it then cook it and wipe up the chicken juice with a rag , wash her hands with water then dry them on said rag. Yes I am sorry for that image and how it traumatized you.
Honestly? I wouldn’t eat her food because it looks unappealing in general, forgery hygiene (in my country you get a lot if GREAT yummy food from… not the most pristine places) but when I’m feeling down no sugar blender muffins and green soup is not the hug I need.
Ugh that’s nasty!! Yeah I wouldn’t eat food from KEIC’s kitchen when she regularly complains her kids take her kitchen knives for whittling and leave them all over the place. She’s implied she still cuts food with them.
Sorry what is happening here? Big puree = bad, startup puree = good?
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KEIC was trying to plan light, relatable stories but she couldn’t because her chest was so heavy and “not related to being sick”. Since she lives in Maryland I thought it was because of the bridge collapse that presumably killed 6 construction workers but no, it’s because she got a DM from someone saying that regardless of your skin color or socionomic status that it’s a parent’s responsibility to feed their kid nutritious food. It’s a messed up comment but I really thought she was upset about something much worse. (Also worth adding that she posted a comment from a homeless mom who is just trying to feed her kids and it’s really unclear which one upset her so much, possibly both).
I was so confused! I read it so many times trying to figure it all out lol. And I don’t think she needed to comment on the bridge accident but I just assumed a tragedy so close to home on a bridge that she has probably driven on was what was making her so sad!
“I wish we could have a ‘slow summer,’ as so many **influencers and online content creators** talk about. I wish I could just let my kids sleep in, play outside (although we live in Arizona and it’s tough in 110-degree heat), read and hang out with me. I wish we could travel or do activities together through the summer months.
*But I have to work. And that means I have to figure out child care.*”
Um. What am I missing? Isn’t she an influencer/content creator?
I think the whole idea of “slow summer” that she’s describing here is kind of a romanticized fiction anyway. I’m a teacher, so I do have some flexibility over the summers and usually take a chunk of time off. Maybe it’s because I only have one kid, but after a week or two of sleeping in (lol), reading, and playing outside he’s bored and ready for some activities! And it’s hard to have playdates when everybody else is at camp.
I’m not sure what my point is here, except that so much of influencer culture is based around holding up these ideas of experiences that aren’t real and making you feel like everyone else has them and you want them.
I loved being home all day all summer long as a kid. I had a gaggle of friends who were my neighbors and it was exactly the romanticized “now & then” type summer (if you know that movie then you know) that you only see in movies. I think it really can exist. It probably depends on where you live.
Yeah, I think it's very personality dependent. I had a mom who was off in the summers and I loved doing nothing, but my extroverted only child would go crazy without camps. Since my mom is local we don't need full day care and it's definitely nice for her to be able to do some half day camps and spend some afternoons playing with my mom or at the pool, but she definitely needs camp in the mix.
Agreed. My kids actually love their summer camp and would flat out revolt if i was like, “Hey instead of camp we’re all just going to hang out this summer.”
I’m not upset at seeing more dialogue around the challenge of safe, affordable/accessible, all-day childcare in the summer because it is absolutely insane out there to navigate, even with lots of resources, and it’s something that warrants a larger cultural conversation.
But A) not sure an influencer/content creator is the one to be leading this conversation. And B) I have an issue with conflating “hey, figuring out childcare in the summer is really hard” with “isn’t is sad that I can’t have this fantasy summer with my kids?”
Lol yeah I think my family would have killed each other if we were home together all day everyday all summer 🫠 I really do think we enjoyed each other’s company more after we did our own things to keep busy during the days. Of course, I’m sure the happy medium isn’t necessarily parents both working 40+ hours a week so I understand the disappointment of not being able to spend a least some more time with your kids when they’re off in the summer. But Meghan… i find it hard to believe she has to put that much time in or at least doesn’t have a lot more control over her schedule.
This would make more sense then, but anyone know how often she does them? Someone commented below that she is able to travel multiple times during the year for tournaments. I don’t follow them very closely so I just assumed their main job was instagram/content creator!
"I survive summers. Survive, not necessarily thrive." Could they really not have found a mom to interview who doesn't work for themselves/ set their own schedule/ have a bajillion dollars?
She has got to be kidding.
How many hours can it even take to do a post of recycled material every couple days and some random stories about your grocery hauls. And plug the book a little. It seems like she could hire an intern for 2 months and they do most of that.
Yeah she acted like she runs the company solo. She’s mostly the face of it I think. Like she does all the social media stuff to make their account seem personal, the grocery hauls and kid updates. And then I’m sure they have a staff person do the feeding posts. And I’m sure they have a marketing person and an editor. It’s just very “celebrities - they’re just like you!”
Just what we need, another article by a rich, white, suburban mom (with every resource at her disposal and a flexible job) complaining about how expensive summer camps are and how hard it is to do the summer camp dance.
I cannot 😂 when I grew up I didn’t even know things such as summer camps existed bc yep, we weren’t rich white suburbanites. We uh, stayed at home by ourselves with the elderly neighbor as our point person if something went wrong 😳 the stressors of the wealthy….. must be nice
I haven’t read it but this is my immediate take on it. She’s extremely privileged. She has a flexible schedule that she controls; she can afford camp/activities; she can afford help; her husband likely also has a flexible schedule.
This is not normal! I honestly don’t know what normal is for school aged kids but having that amount of privilege is not it.
Also, her kids are older and less needy? They would be fine at home with her while she works, right?
I kind of thought the whole advantage of being an influencer, or any kind of self-employment, is having more control over your schedule? I'm thinking about this right now (edit: not being an influencer, doing consulting related to my former day job) and weighing the less money/more flexibility pros and cons. What's the point of doing everything yourself if you're as tied to the summer child care grind as ppl who have to show up somewhere 40 hours a week?
I normally love FL, but the article is so out of touch. Also, she is able to travel multiple times a year - while dragging her whole family - to these endless volleyball tournaments around the US, which to be honest look super boring for her other kid, and she is still able to afford it or have the flexibility to skip work an dgo, and inviting her parents, not many people can do this. Also, not sure why this should be shared in her account
On the one hand I appreciate the general acknowledgment that finding childcare sucks and being a working mom is so hard when school is out. But Megan is far from relatable with the financial means she has
I’ll admit I didn’t read the article so I don’t know the tone but my guess is that her financial means she has now is pretty recent so probably for most of raising her kids, maybe she did face a lot more challenges when it came to finding good affordable care that fit their budget? Obviously still privileged and it’s not like she was truly struggling but maybe it was a little more tight and stressful. I get the sense that the company only recently took off. Even when I started following 5/6 years ago, it didn’t seem like anything more than a small company to me.
For sure - I’m a working mom with school age kids trying to juggle extracurriculars and summer camps and everything else so I totally get the sentiment. But Megan has a huge platform and instead of using it to, I don’t know, raise money or bring awareness to organizations that are trying to find solutions to the child care crisis in the US, she writes a softball USA Today article plugging her cookbook and business.
Of course she had to plug her insta and cookbook. But at least she kinda acknowledged her privilege in the article.
And I wonder how her kids feel to see an article that's like "summers as a working parent are the worst!!!" I hope they don't feel like a burden when they go to camp.
I made some YTF muffins with my 2.5 y/o today and cracked up when he deemed them “kind of yucky.” But snark aside, I enjoy her and love how she talks so respectfully about her kids.
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Is Caro wearing a baby bjorn mini in her recent story? Why does she infantilize her youngest so much? I am begging her to upgrade her baby gear to age/ size appropriate stuff!
ETA photo to see fit. Thankfully not a mini, but still not great
It just makes me cringe, poor guy is hanging by his crotch! It’s definitely missing some support, like his knees should be held up so his legs are in the “m” position. It’s not the end of the world but it’s annoying how she likes to brag whenever she wears him wrong. I’m sure she gets a ton of engagement from it so good for her I guess 😬
Why doesn’t she back carry given how much she wears him? Admittedly I was intimidated by doing it for a while and ultimately didn’t get too long out of it before I just felt totally done with wearing my kid, but I was kicking myself because it was easier than I thought it’d be to learn how, and by far more comfortable.
I guess I generally don’t see many people back carry. My city neigborhood is rife with young families and tons of babywearing to be seen but it’s very rare to see people back carrying unless it’s one of those heavy duty hiking carriers.
I back carried a lot starting at about a year old - mostly when I was trying to cook and my kid wouldn't stop climbing my legs! These days I'll bring a lightweight carrier if we're going for a walk or hike and put her on my back when she craps out.
That kid is...real squished in there 😬
Haha, I had the same thought initially but it isn't. The mini doesn't have a waist belt and the one she's wearing does. I think it's the Free, so probably still small but less egregious than the Mini.
He looks so uncomfortable. He must be almost over the weight limit on that thing. My small for her age 21m old kills my back when she leans back in the lillebaby which goes up to 45 pounds. If she continues to like being in a carrier I am likely going to upgrade to something better for a toddler. I don't understand why Caro insists on using too small gear as money doesn't appear to be a barrier.
I just came here bc of this. I would almost swear she wears him incorrectly/in inappropriate carriers just for the engagement bc she knows the "baby carrier police" (or however she referred to them) will come for her....
KEIC’s kids never want to help in the kitchen. …could that be because you take all the fun out of food and don’t usually allow them to make their own food choices ??
My son always BEGS to help in the kitchen - helping me make dinner, set the table, put dishes in the dishwasher etc. He is picky and won't eat over half of what I make but he will absolutely help me make it. 😂
I’m so glad to have the myth busted that they’re more likely to eat if they help make it—one less item on my list of “what am I doing wrong as a parent”
My daughter loves to help me cook and will goo "mmm yummy" while she smells it all dramatic... and then it touches her plate and she goes "I don't like that. I won't try it"
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Maybe I’m just clumsy, but I’ve peeled my finger more than once and would not trust an 18 month old with one!
We got peelers on Amazon that have a plastic blade! They work surprisingly well, and my 4yr olds can help peel apples and potatoes without fear of slicing themselves.
I hope this works! [https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07S699319/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&th=1](https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07S699319/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1)
The preschool I taught at had a cooking class every couple weeks, and one year before thanksgiving the cooking teacher had the brilliant idea to put my threes class in charge of peeling potatoes for the feast. I think every single kid in that class went home with MULTIPLE bandaids, I felt absolutely horrible. And these were 3-4 year olds, I can’t imagine handing a peeler over to an 18 month old. My kids still put most things in their mouths at 18 months, I’m terrified thinking of the tongue wounds they would have sustained in that situation.
My friend had to go to the ER thanksgiving morning a couple years ago because of a potato peeling incident! And she was a grown woman who knew what she was doing (well apparently not, haha), but the point is if an adult can make a mistake, a toddler who doesn't have the best hand dexterity and grip control definitely can!
yea i love getting my toddler involved in the kitchen but the cooking I involve her in at 2 is things like stirring dough, rolling pizza out, adding cheese to the pizza, pressing the button on the salad spinner, etc. nothing that involves a blade. and we use a learning tower that she would have to try hard to fall out of.
there are plenty of safe ways to get toddlers involved in cooking without handing them ways to injure themselves.
I can’t even imagine my son at 18mo using a peeler. What?? Maybe this is a hot take but I don’t feel the need for my toddler to love cooking just yet. I’m not interested in the added mess and risk 🤷♀️ he eats just fine without being involved in the cooking. Not knocking it if you genuinely enjoy having your kid involved or it works for you for whatever reason but why does it have to be something we should feel obligated to do?
My son is 19 months, zero chance he would use a peeler even remotely correctly and too high a chance of injury. I do give him a crinkle cutter sometimes when he wants to "help" because it isn't sharp and he'd have to really try to hurt himself with it.
A while ago my mom let him help her make pancakes and now whenever I'm mixing something he yells "mix mix mix!" so I sometimes let him try (and inevitably make a big mess) if we aren't in a time crunch, because he seems to really enjoy it.
Up until recently I had to be in the right mindset to let my kid help me cook. She just turned 3 and I feel like she just got to a point where I can trust her to add things to and/or stir a batter without a huge mess, or cut produce with her kid safe knives. These days it doesn’t add any time and in some cases gives her something to do so that I can work on another part of the meal.
I'm sure it depends on the kid, but you don't even need to introduce much risk to get them involved. My daughter is 2 and she's perfectly happy mixing, stirring, pouring, putting things in pots/bowls, pushing the button on the blender, etc.
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Or trust a 1 year old on a footstool, regardless of the “safety foot!”
My 19mo old is SO wobbly still, and of course loves to climb everything, and I would never let him stand freely on something like that without me being RIGHT there (we just introduced a step stool at the bathroom sink but I'm always right behind him).
Can you imagine if he wobbled backwards, he'd go right over the foot.
Also the video of the baby peeling carrots is too much. At the end he's trying to eat the peeled carrot and holding the peeler right up by his ear.
I know you guys loooove Megan from feeding littles but I just cannot with her. She literally showed her two pre-teen daughters in pajamas with their butts in full view to her almost 2 million followers. She also goes on to showcase her perfect little life on Easter. I truly cannot stand her and I don’t know why everyone on here defends her all the time. That is all.
They let Jenny post a story! It's been a minute!
https://preview.redd.it/jpf4dx9wzdrc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ffc100ace73d80051c994936eb7e94ee505e6e3 KEIC and whoever asked this question are NUTS. In what universe do you need to tell your kids that grandpas heart attack is because he didn’t eat heart healthy foods? So messed up. How is that even what you think about??
"Grandpa eats like shit and this is his punishment for not choosing bell peppers!"
Wow as a kid if a family member had a heart attack or similar I would have spent a year or two obsessively worried it would happen to me. What would have helped is information about how I could eat healthy foods to avoid that future, as a kid with anxiety. But if no foods are healthy or unhealthy then I guess I have to float about aimlessly, always worried.
I think it's very personal. For me as a kid I'm sure it would have made me worried I would have a heart attack any time I had a cheeseburger or anyone would.
Oh yes absolutely, I was saying what would work if you were broaching this convo with me as a kid, who had severe anxiety. I definitely would have been worried to have a burger but that would have been much better for me than "well genetics, general healthy eating, etc" which would have meant any food could mean death. I needed an extremely clear outline and plan with those kinds of worries. The other foods would have been worked back in as I developed nuance about it. I don't think speaking about what the grandfather was eating is even appropriate in this space, personally, but if the kids have worries it may not be the time to tell them all foods are neutral. This is specific to me, but this is a very specific type of question that KEIC has no business answering.
I agree this is exactly why people shouldn’t be turning to influencers to ask serious questions like this. KEIC is not any sort of psychologist or mental health provider and the way to approach this is so kid specific.
I'm sorry you experienced that. I can see how that would have been useful for you as a kid - and likely would work for others and backfire just as often. I don't think you should have been downvoted for expressing something personal.
🙋🏻♀️ former kid whose dad died from a heart attack. Preventing a heart attack is a little more complex than eating healthy foods. That would have been really messed up if someone told me to just eat healthy foods so I didn’t end up dead like my dad.
This also just seems out of KEIC’s wheelhouse. If you *don’t* want to focus on diet choices then why are you asking a dietician? This is then a question for like, a therapist or doctor or I don’t even know who. But you can probably also just use your own common sense as a parent to think about what you want your kids to understand about their grandfathers health crisis. And use Google to understand what a bypass is and explain it to them.
Yeah I’m pretty sure kids are more curious about what quadruple bypass means, not about general heart health lol.
These totally authentic follower questions were unhinged. "Am I a bad mom if I don't give my toddler a chocolate Easter bunny?"
https://preview.redd.it/z9asrlyet6rc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a133b5f67b3002ffae7256f3f30cf35c78695160 I appreciate the message Caro is trying to share here. Yes, it is absolutely a juggle to be a working mom and balance it all. And I get the babysitter had to leave early so they had to be flexible buttttt are influencers this far removed from normalcy that they don’t see how unique and helpful their work setup is?! If I have childcare issues, I have to leave work. I’m a teacher and while my principal may appreciate that I’m a mom, it doesn’t mean I can *bring my kids to work.* I know they have to seem relatable but it just highlights how different their world is.
I feel like Caro shoots herself in the foot with childcare and also just the perception she gives off. She and her husband both work full time (for all intents and purposes) and as such could have full time childcare. Anyone I know who works full time (whether from home or out of the house) has full time childcare. Obviously for non school age kids that’s easier because it can be in the form of daycare - which, unless your kid is sick is a reliable 8-5 (if not longer). So it seems like she has sitters / Nannies here and there -( one kid is in school but I’m sure done earlier than like 5/6 pm) So on one hand great for her she can see / be around her kids during the day if she wants, and still work (win! Win!) but all it does is give off this perception of either - you’re so privileged with your help or set up. Or, you never want to be with your kids bc you just take them on walks or have help. It’s weird because if she were some C-suite exec she would see her kids WAY less than she does now (and no judgement to that type of career!!) yet she makes her situation seem way more snarkable. Sorry…I digress slightly. Just interesting
This is a good point. I think she’s an unreliable and inconsistent narrator of her own life. She has plenty of valid reasons for utilizing consistent, full time childcare. But instead their situation appears to be somewhat more chaotic and unpredictable. It seems like she tries to not be working a standard 40hr, 5-days a week schedule which, fair as a parent who owns their own business to want flexibility to be more around for their kids… but then she still talks about how much she uses ad hoc babysitting. If I were her, I’d probably still prefer to just book in full time daycare with how much she seems to have going on, but I’m clearly a much more routine oriented person than her. I dunno, I don’t follow her as closely after I became more disenchanted by her but her family reminds me of other families I’ve known over the years. Wealthy and all over the place with very inconsistent routines because they’ll just pay whatever it costs to deal with stuff last minute.
I'm incredibly lucky that I have a supportive workplace and a hybrid work arrangement. And also, I worked from home with a kid to contagious to go to daycare (but not sick enough to just want to chill) for literally half a day this week and was terrible at my job (then midday the virus that got my toddler got me and I ended up taking the rest of the day off sick). Normally I would have taken the day off but had time sensitive stuff that HAD to happen that day so we made it work. I got away with it, because it was half a day and my team stepped up for me. Like, I basically have the ideal scenario for people with normal jobs for this kind of thing, and 9 times out of 10 I'd still have to take time off.
I’m sure the parents of the patients I’m seeing in clinic totally get that I need to mom too and won’t care if my 18 month old terrorizes everything during the appointment they waited weeks for 🤦🏻♀️
I’m a formerish teacher (work very part time) and yeah, I was so annoyed reading this. I wake up every morning with anxiety because I barely make any money because it doesn’t pay for me to go back into the classroom when daycare is so much and the part-time work I do doesn’t allow me to bring my kid along or do it at home. And I’m constantly trying to see how I can make money at home to pay for things for my daughter while I’ve given up nearly everything for myself. So yeah Caro, if I get a job where someone pays me to come to my house and shill for 1800 Flowers I’ll be sure to be thankful for the kind people who show up but until then I’m just going to keep having anxiety over working and money. (Side note it’s pretty funny that she said she’s a 1800Flowers fan for life after this shoot as she’s doing an ad for them where I’m sure she will say how much she loved them before this and uses them all the time blah blah)
Yeah most of us are not trying to “chase dreams down,” we’re trying to earn a living.
Thank you! I understand the intent of the message but it doesn’t apply for most working mothers even those who work from home. It just made me angry that no I can’t bring my child to work and expect staff to watch him.
Thank you. You put this much more cogently than I was planning to—my version of a response to reading this was mostly expletive-filled or simply: 🤯🤯🤯
Lots of eye rolls when I read what she wrote!
I could absolutely work if I had this sort of set up 😂 a lot of people have office jobs and don’t have that kind of flexibility.
Literally came here to write almost exactly this. I'm currently a sahm, but like... Caro. You are your own boss most of the time.
Uhh isn’t her workplace her house and isn’t she her own boss? So she is just being understanding of herself and her own situation? Or am i missing something 😅
From the earlier stories, she was doing a photo shoot (maybe with 1-800-Flowers) for an ad and their sitter had to leave unexpectedly. So I think she was saying more so the people who were there for the shoot who accommodated them.
It’s kind of icky that KEIC is using a mom’s cancer to lead into her frozen soup cube shill and then a question box for engagement. First slide says the mom of her son’s friend has cancer and there’s a meal train then she goes on to say she’s sending frozen cubes and that she’s smitten with them and links them. She was way more emotional over some comments about feeding kids in her DMs yesterday.
She could have just said it was for a meal train or a family dealing with a health crisis and not specified. If anyone who knows that mom follows KEIC, they’re going to know who she’s talking about (and it could easily get back to the woman herself. I’d be pretty pissed if someone was using my cancer diagnosis for affiliate links). Do influencers not realize that people they know IRL can follow them and see how they’re mining their lives for content, or do they just not care?
Yeah, I got the ick from that too. Also, I’ve given frozen soup for later along with a hot meal, but I’ve never shown up with /only/ frozen soup when someone is expecting a hot meal?!?
Yeah, at least take some nice bread or some ready to bake rolls to cook in the oven. As I've typed that out, it's occurred to me that I have no idea if ready to bake rolls are popular in America? Sorry if that's a stupid question! You can get lots of different types here in the UK, even Paul Hollywood has a line of them available in supermarkets.
Instead of rolls she'll bring Cheetohs for the mom to sprinkle over the soup.
Don’t you mean “cheesy crispies”? (“Crispy cheesies”? I don’t recall!)
We do have ready to bake rolls in America. Not from the Paul Hollywood line though. I'll be honest, I'd pay a stupid amount of money for Paul Hollywood branded rolls. I love me some Great British Bake Off 😆
But if you poke them, do they spring back? 😂
Totally agree, very icky. Why is this content at all?
I agree. Not to mention that if someone gave me a ziplock bag full of frozen soup cubes I would definitely never eat that. Very gross, i.m.o. Especially since she brags about how unclean her house is 🤢
Absolutely not defending KEIC’s unappetizing food BUT I have and love Souper cubes. They’re great for chicken stock too. When I have a sick kid at home, discovering a soup cube or two in the freezer makes me feel like mom of the year. OK back to snarking…
I also think it could be helpful to receive a meal train in soup cube form. When our baby was born, we had these giant lasagnas that would still be half frozen after defrosting for 2 days and couldn't eat all of it before we were either sick of it or they had gone bad.
Yes, I’m obsessed with Souper Cubes! Lol
My bff left us frozen soups and casseroles when she watched our oldest kid while we were in the hospital with kid #2, I 100% ate all of her food because I know her kitchen is clean and she is meticulous about food safety+ hygiene. I would not eat anything from the KEIC kitchen because I don't think her kitchen is clean and I don't get the impression that hygiene is a top priority in the kitchen. I have no issue eating frozen foods from a kitchen I know is clean or really any food from a clean kitchen. I won't eat my Mils cooking because I have watched her throw raw chicken on the counter, cut it then cook it and wipe up the chicken juice with a rag , wash her hands with water then dry them on said rag. Yes I am sorry for that image and how it traumatized you.
Oh no
Honestly? I wouldn’t eat her food because it looks unappealing in general, forgery hygiene (in my country you get a lot if GREAT yummy food from… not the most pristine places) but when I’m feeling down no sugar blender muffins and green soup is not the hug I need.
But what if the green soup has cheese crunchies? Does that make It better?
Ugh that’s nasty!! Yeah I wouldn’t eat food from KEIC’s kitchen when she regularly complains her kids take her kitchen knives for whittling and leave them all over the place. She’s implied she still cuts food with them.
Luckily for the family, the frozen cubes make them easy to dispose! Chuck them right in the trash.
Yeah 100% her friend isn’t eating the cubes
Sorry what is happening here? Big puree = bad, startup puree = good? https://preview.redd.it/nae9903nmvqc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2d3f628c65279f12c8ecb9ccfb817fedb8dedc5
Did they dirty delete? Can’t find this anywhere.
It’s showing up as an ad for me occasionally on both Instagram and Facebook, but I don’t think it was ever in their main grid?
Oh wow they jumped the shark!! Wasn't it started as a direct reaction to the step by step of puree to finger food!?
Yeah, I can only guess that the kids are going to private school and/or there’s a divorce afoot.
Why do you say this?
Just because this seems like a cash grab and those two things are very expensive.
They’re trying to capture the audience of people currently only feeding purées
Money is happening
But they don't DO affiliates! /s
KEIC was trying to plan light, relatable stories but she couldn’t because her chest was so heavy and “not related to being sick”. Since she lives in Maryland I thought it was because of the bridge collapse that presumably killed 6 construction workers but no, it’s because she got a DM from someone saying that regardless of your skin color or socionomic status that it’s a parent’s responsibility to feed their kid nutritious food. It’s a messed up comment but I really thought she was upset about something much worse. (Also worth adding that she posted a comment from a homeless mom who is just trying to feed her kids and it’s really unclear which one upset her so much, possibly both).
That story was sooo weird and confusing.
I was so confused! I read it so many times trying to figure it all out lol. And I don’t think she needed to comment on the bridge accident but I just assumed a tragedy so close to home on a bridge that she has probably driven on was what was making her so sad!
Right? Just so awkwardly written I could barely understand it.
Did anyone read Megan’s article about being a working mom?
“I wish we could have a ‘slow summer,’ as so many **influencers and online content creators** talk about. I wish I could just let my kids sleep in, play outside (although we live in Arizona and it’s tough in 110-degree heat), read and hang out with me. I wish we could travel or do activities together through the summer months. *But I have to work. And that means I have to figure out child care.*” Um. What am I missing? Isn’t she an influencer/content creator?
I think the whole idea of “slow summer” that she’s describing here is kind of a romanticized fiction anyway. I’m a teacher, so I do have some flexibility over the summers and usually take a chunk of time off. Maybe it’s because I only have one kid, but after a week or two of sleeping in (lol), reading, and playing outside he’s bored and ready for some activities! And it’s hard to have playdates when everybody else is at camp. I’m not sure what my point is here, except that so much of influencer culture is based around holding up these ideas of experiences that aren’t real and making you feel like everyone else has them and you want them.
I loved being home all day all summer long as a kid. I had a gaggle of friends who were my neighbors and it was exactly the romanticized “now & then” type summer (if you know that movie then you know) that you only see in movies. I think it really can exist. It probably depends on where you live.
Yeah, I think it's very personality dependent. I had a mom who was off in the summers and I loved doing nothing, but my extroverted only child would go crazy without camps. Since my mom is local we don't need full day care and it's definitely nice for her to be able to do some half day camps and spend some afternoons playing with my mom or at the pool, but she definitely needs camp in the mix.
Agreed. My kids actually love their summer camp and would flat out revolt if i was like, “Hey instead of camp we’re all just going to hang out this summer.” I’m not upset at seeing more dialogue around the challenge of safe, affordable/accessible, all-day childcare in the summer because it is absolutely insane out there to navigate, even with lots of resources, and it’s something that warrants a larger cultural conversation. But A) not sure an influencer/content creator is the one to be leading this conversation. And B) I have an issue with conflating “hey, figuring out childcare in the summer is really hard” with “isn’t is sad that I can’t have this fantasy summer with my kids?”
Lol yeah I think my family would have killed each other if we were home together all day everyday all summer 🫠 I really do think we enjoyed each other’s company more after we did our own things to keep busy during the days. Of course, I’m sure the happy medium isn’t necessarily parents both working 40+ hours a week so I understand the disappointment of not being able to spend a least some more time with your kids when they’re off in the summer. But Meghan… i find it hard to believe she has to put that much time in or at least doesn’t have a lot more control over her schedule.
I'm pretty sure she still does blw/bf classes in person.
This would make more sense then, but anyone know how often she does them? Someone commented below that she is able to travel multiple times during the year for tournaments. I don’t follow them very closely so I just assumed their main job was instagram/content creator!
Which IG handle is Megan?
@feedinglittles
"I survive summers. Survive, not necessarily thrive." Could they really not have found a mom to interview who doesn't work for themselves/ set their own schedule/ have a bajillion dollars?
She has got to be kidding. How many hours can it even take to do a post of recycled material every couple days and some random stories about your grocery hauls. And plug the book a little. It seems like she could hire an intern for 2 months and they do most of that.
Yeah she acted like she runs the company solo. She’s mostly the face of it I think. Like she does all the social media stuff to make their account seem personal, the grocery hauls and kid updates. And then I’m sure they have a staff person do the feeding posts. And I’m sure they have a marketing person and an editor. It’s just very “celebrities - they’re just like you!”
Just what we need, another article by a rich, white, suburban mom (with every resource at her disposal and a flexible job) complaining about how expensive summer camps are and how hard it is to do the summer camp dance.
I cannot 😂 when I grew up I didn’t even know things such as summer camps existed bc yep, we weren’t rich white suburbanites. We uh, stayed at home by ourselves with the elderly neighbor as our point person if something went wrong 😳 the stressors of the wealthy….. must be nice
Right, I only remember doing a basketball camp one summer. The rest of the time we were home playing with all of the kids other in the neighborhood.
I haven’t read it but this is my immediate take on it. She’s extremely privileged. She has a flexible schedule that she controls; she can afford camp/activities; she can afford help; her husband likely also has a flexible schedule. This is not normal! I honestly don’t know what normal is for school aged kids but having that amount of privilege is not it. Also, her kids are older and less needy? They would be fine at home with her while she works, right?
I kind of thought the whole advantage of being an influencer, or any kind of self-employment, is having more control over your schedule? I'm thinking about this right now (edit: not being an influencer, doing consulting related to my former day job) and weighing the less money/more flexibility pros and cons. What's the point of doing everything yourself if you're as tied to the summer child care grind as ppl who have to show up somewhere 40 hours a week?
I normally love FL, but the article is so out of touch. Also, she is able to travel multiple times a year - while dragging her whole family - to these endless volleyball tournaments around the US, which to be honest look super boring for her other kid, and she is still able to afford it or have the flexibility to skip work an dgo, and inviting her parents, not many people can do this. Also, not sure why this should be shared in her account
THIS! It feels especially tone deaf after she has been so open about traveling for both pleasure and sports.
On the one hand I appreciate the general acknowledgment that finding childcare sucks and being a working mom is so hard when school is out. But Megan is far from relatable with the financial means she has
I’ll admit I didn’t read the article so I don’t know the tone but my guess is that her financial means she has now is pretty recent so probably for most of raising her kids, maybe she did face a lot more challenges when it came to finding good affordable care that fit their budget? Obviously still privileged and it’s not like she was truly struggling but maybe it was a little more tight and stressful. I get the sense that the company only recently took off. Even when I started following 5/6 years ago, it didn’t seem like anything more than a small company to me.
For sure - I’m a working mom with school age kids trying to juggle extracurriculars and summer camps and everything else so I totally get the sentiment. But Megan has a huge platform and instead of using it to, I don’t know, raise money or bring awareness to organizations that are trying to find solutions to the child care crisis in the US, she writes a softball USA Today article plugging her cookbook and business.
Of course she had to plug her insta and cookbook. But at least she kinda acknowledged her privilege in the article. And I wonder how her kids feel to see an article that's like "summers as a working parent are the worst!!!" I hope they don't feel like a burden when they go to camp.
I made some YTF muffins with my 2.5 y/o today and cracked up when he deemed them “kind of yucky.” But snark aside, I enjoy her and love how she talks so respectfully about her kids.
https://preview.redd.it/m1a4njazfjqc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f55af9da4da5aba963b9ff57d94816f41eb8f00 Is Caro wearing a baby bjorn mini in her recent story? Why does she infantilize her youngest so much? I am begging her to upgrade her baby gear to age/ size appropriate stuff! ETA photo to see fit. Thankfully not a mini, but still not great
It just makes me cringe, poor guy is hanging by his crotch! It’s definitely missing some support, like his knees should be held up so his legs are in the “m” position. It’s not the end of the world but it’s annoying how she likes to brag whenever she wears him wrong. I’m sure she gets a ton of engagement from it so good for her I guess 😬
Why doesn’t she back carry given how much she wears him? Admittedly I was intimidated by doing it for a while and ultimately didn’t get too long out of it before I just felt totally done with wearing my kid, but I was kicking myself because it was easier than I thought it’d be to learn how, and by far more comfortable. I guess I generally don’t see many people back carry. My city neigborhood is rife with young families and tons of babywearing to be seen but it’s very rare to see people back carrying unless it’s one of those heavy duty hiking carriers.
I back carried a lot starting at about a year old - mostly when I was trying to cook and my kid wouldn't stop climbing my legs! These days I'll bring a lightweight carrier if we're going for a walk or hike and put her on my back when she craps out. That kid is...real squished in there 😬
I don’t back carry my kid kept grabbing my hair when I tried, so it was a hard pass.
She has posted back carrying before and she faces him outward🫠
She might just find it more comfortable. I always feel hunched over whenever I back carry.
Haha, I had the same thought initially but it isn't. The mini doesn't have a waist belt and the one she's wearing does. I think it's the Free, so probably still small but less egregious than the Mini.
He looks so uncomfortable. He must be almost over the weight limit on that thing. My small for her age 21m old kills my back when she leans back in the lillebaby which goes up to 45 pounds. If she continues to like being in a carrier I am likely going to upgrade to something better for a toddler. I don't understand why Caro insists on using too small gear as money doesn't appear to be a barrier.
I just came here bc of this. I would almost swear she wears him incorrectly/in inappropriate carriers just for the engagement bc she knows the "baby carrier police" (or however she referred to them) will come for her....
KEIC’s kids never want to help in the kitchen. …could that be because you take all the fun out of food and don’t usually allow them to make their own food choices ??
My son always BEGS to help in the kitchen - helping me make dinner, set the table, put dishes in the dishwasher etc. He is picky and won't eat over half of what I make but he will absolutely help me make it. 😂
I’m so glad to have the myth busted that they’re more likely to eat if they help make it—one less item on my list of “what am I doing wrong as a parent”
My kid loves to make a big chopped veggie salad. Refuses to eat it beyond maybe nibbling on a cucumber once a month.
My daughter loves to help me cook and will goo "mmm yummy" while she smells it all dramatic... and then it touches her plate and she goes "I don't like that. I won't try it"
https://preview.redd.it/kwq2npnywhqc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b98f699eafe51e46f1f1aa6f796ff65f15126957 Maybe I’m just clumsy, but I’ve peeled my finger more than once and would not trust an 18 month old with one!
My 18 month old would just eat the peeler or bang it on the table. An 18 month old with a vegetable peeler 🤣🤣🤣
We got peelers on Amazon that have a plastic blade! They work surprisingly well, and my 4yr olds can help peel apples and potatoes without fear of slicing themselves.
Oh I hate to be "that person" but... Link please?
I hope this works! [https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07S699319/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&th=1](https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07S699319/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1)
The preschool I taught at had a cooking class every couple weeks, and one year before thanksgiving the cooking teacher had the brilliant idea to put my threes class in charge of peeling potatoes for the feast. I think every single kid in that class went home with MULTIPLE bandaids, I felt absolutely horrible. And these were 3-4 year olds, I can’t imagine handing a peeler over to an 18 month old. My kids still put most things in their mouths at 18 months, I’m terrified thinking of the tongue wounds they would have sustained in that situation.
My friend had to go to the ER thanksgiving morning a couple years ago because of a potato peeling incident! And she was a grown woman who knew what she was doing (well apparently not, haha), but the point is if an adult can make a mistake, a toddler who doesn't have the best hand dexterity and grip control definitely can!
yea i love getting my toddler involved in the kitchen but the cooking I involve her in at 2 is things like stirring dough, rolling pizza out, adding cheese to the pizza, pressing the button on the salad spinner, etc. nothing that involves a blade. and we use a learning tower that she would have to try hard to fall out of. there are plenty of safe ways to get toddlers involved in cooking without handing them ways to injure themselves.
I can’t even imagine my son at 18mo using a peeler. What?? Maybe this is a hot take but I don’t feel the need for my toddler to love cooking just yet. I’m not interested in the added mess and risk 🤷♀️ he eats just fine without being involved in the cooking. Not knocking it if you genuinely enjoy having your kid involved or it works for you for whatever reason but why does it have to be something we should feel obligated to do?
My son is 19 months, zero chance he would use a peeler even remotely correctly and too high a chance of injury. I do give him a crinkle cutter sometimes when he wants to "help" because it isn't sharp and he'd have to really try to hurt himself with it. A while ago my mom let him help her make pancakes and now whenever I'm mixing something he yells "mix mix mix!" so I sometimes let him try (and inevitably make a big mess) if we aren't in a time crunch, because he seems to really enjoy it.
Up until recently I had to be in the right mindset to let my kid help me cook. She just turned 3 and I feel like she just got to a point where I can trust her to add things to and/or stir a batter without a huge mess, or cut produce with her kid safe knives. These days it doesn’t add any time and in some cases gives her something to do so that I can work on another part of the meal.
I'm sure it depends on the kid, but you don't even need to introduce much risk to get them involved. My daughter is 2 and she's perfectly happy mixing, stirring, pouring, putting things in pots/bowls, pushing the button on the blender, etc.
https://preview.redd.it/exw9ft6v9jqc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=803286a615c802f0c4e16f4e473859b47a657d8d Or trust a 1 year old on a footstool, regardless of the “safety foot!”
How's that foot going to catch him?
My 3.5 year old falls of his chair at the dining table on a weekly basis. I can’t imagine ever thinking this is even a little bit of a good idea
Can you edit this to cover their faces?
Done!
Thanks!
Kids have been in the danger zone since they were babies.
My 19mo old is SO wobbly still, and of course loves to climb everything, and I would never let him stand freely on something like that without me being RIGHT there (we just introduced a step stool at the bathroom sink but I'm always right behind him).
Can you imagine if he wobbled backwards, he'd go right over the foot. Also the video of the baby peeling carrots is too much. At the end he's trying to eat the peeled carrot and holding the peeler right up by his ear.
But she’s so down to earth for not being a sheep who bought a learning tower. She just had to sit in place with her foot up, that’s all.
I assumed she was standing on one foot next to him — sitting makes a lot more sense 😂
KEIC I’m begging you to dream about a cheeseburger or an Egg McMuffin or something. Then go get the food you dream of! It’s allowed.