Ooooh, I have a ton of wool yarn in the house and an awful static cling problem and two kids who are bored. Three problems solved.

Seeing as how she had a baby not terribly long ago, this isn't too surprising. They give you some monster ones when you leave the hospital.

Police in the Twin Cities are adopting this model more - there was a haunting profile of a young woman who was trafficked that was in one of our local papers. They had her permission to use her name and face and she cooperated with the reporters to tell her story. Gut-wrenching is not strong enough. Saving Bobbi

There is nothing positive. Except maybe those cool ice caves on Lake Superior.

Yep. It was all $.

If you are hitting a child, you deserve all the judgement in the world. I consider spanking lazy because it take about two minutes to paddle a kid. But much longer to talk to them, enforce week or longer punishment, or put a two year old back in time out when they get up as soon as their butt hits the chair. Hitting a…

That is exactly what happened here in MN. They went too far with a constitutional amendment, the infrastructure to fight that law ended up ushering same-sex marriage. HA!

Exactly. I find it hard to take her seriously - she's reaped the leaning in rewards now, but the rest of us should do as she says but not as she did? I know hindsight and all but seems really disingenuous.

I took a new job in April and set some parameters pretty quick. And it has been delightful. I still check email now and then at night, but that's more a function of me playing games on my phone while helping the kids with homework, cooking, or "watching" tv. Too much Disney XD is bad. I come in after taking my son…

I agree. I am so over the mommy wars, leanin' in, leanin' out, alpha or beta, helicopter parenting, and whatever else I am supposed to be doing, caring about, not doing, not caring about, etc. I just want to keep my job, get paid, hang out with my kids, go running, and get a good night's sleep.

That's heartbreaking for you and your entire family. I am so sorry.

Wow. That sound really rough for you and your son. The consequence thing is huge. My son has been lying a bit so I came up with a punishment that killed him - his sister got to pick the TV shows for a full week. We only have the one. He's gone out of his way to be truthful since then.

I agree. I've had to do the arm grab before or a gentle shove to get someone's attention for a safety reason. But it is never necessary to physically assault a child. There are so many other ways to impart life lessons and maintain discipline. Spanking is lazy parenting at its finest. Working through issues and…

They can do exactly what you said in your last paragraph - if they simply say "I'm booked that weekend" or "I am taking the day off" that is fine. All the businesses who've made the news for refusing to serve gay patrons have gone out of their to make it painfully clear that they are discriminating on the grounds…

It was really like shooting fish in barrel for Cooper. Old slow bigoted white fish.

The Urgency Room? If not, sounds exactly like it. I took my husband to one a week or so ago when I thought he had broken his ankle, or the like. It was so nice. There were the snacks, drinks, and toys for our daughter. He saw a doc right away. They had wi-fi and current magazines. Some people were in and out in…

I almost emailed the jackass I used to work with to place an order. But, I resisted because he is that much of a jackass. That reminds me - I need to email his buddy's mom to see if I can order from the little sister.

I actually remember having metal ones. My favorite lunch was Ritz crackers, pieces of cheddar cheese, and tomato soup in the thermos. Milk was a nickle. And no chocolate, but whole or skim. And I feel super old now.

Do they still make those? I haven't seen one in years.

I don't make a lot of soups that need an immersion blender - I got it as a gift years ago. I never would have bought one for myself. The recipe I used is from Cook's Illustrated. Most of their recipes are behind a paywall, but if you use the Googles you can usually find a reprint/blog that has the original recipe. …