There was a dog at the dog park we used to go to who was named Pepsi. It was seared into my brain because his owner was always screaming at him (for no reason) and she had one of those voices you can't forget. Very grating. Poor dog. :/

Yup, I had a shepherd mix who wouldn't let anyone he didn't trust within 10 feet of me, but he was cool with people once he saw they were welcomed. It was so nice to never feel afraid when he was around, including the time a creep followed me home while I was out walking him at about midnight one night. My lab is a…

I'm from Detroit, so I have an idea what a Coney Island hot dog is supposed to be...

On a slightly related note, I went to a wedding recently where the favor was a little tin of sriracha salt and I thought of you and your aversion to it. (Does it make you feel weird that complete strangers are thinking of you at their family members' weddings?) The salt is really tasty, though. I sprinkled some on…

I wasn't ok with it then, but with the passing of time I am able to have some sympathy and forgiveness. :)

The infidelity thing is an extreme example, but how can you sit in judgement of people when you don't know the full story? I mean, even in the case of my ex-husband, when I was the one who was repeatedly betrayed, from the distance of time I can understand that he was going through shit of his own that contributed to…

The thing is, in order to hold them accountable, you would need to know the entire story of what happened, wouldn't you? In order to decide who is to blame for the failure of the relationship? And since each of us has our own perspective that inevitably differs from reality, you'd need to sit down with both parties,…

I got married at 23, divorced at 27, and remarried at 33. So, a slightly longer time frame than you, but not by much. Honestly, after spending the year in between my first marriage ending and meeting my now-husband thinking over and over again about what went wrong, what my role was, what his role was, and going to…

Yes, but isn't it pretty common for our brains to trick us into thinking we remember something that we've only heard about, like a family story that gets retold over and over? Not saying that will happen in this case, but the way our memories work is pretty weird sometimes.

Seriously. My husband does a ton of household and childcare stuff, way more than most. But there are only so many times I can tell him I need him to stay home with a sick toddler because I can't skip my job that literally pays 1/20th of what his does.

Theoretically that's lovely, but all of my son's grandparents are in their early 60s, have very active, engaging careers, and need to continue to work to pay the bills. If they were old enough to be retired, they'd be too old to run around after a toddler, and I'd be too old to give birth to the kid anyway.

I really do not think that you are being at all unreasonable here. It is totally sexist for men to assume that their name matters while ours do not. There is no reason besides antiquated, sexist tradition for your child to have his last name. I don't think the issue of everyone having a different last name is a big…

Another piece of this that I don't think has been mentioned is the role of other family members. With my first son, I honestly don't know what I would have done if the tests had shown a good likelihood for Down Syndrome. I'm pregnant right now with my second, and the calculus for me was different this time around.…

I get that, but I also feel like if they are still in the breast pump and baby vomit stage, you haven't given them very much time to adjust. I remember when my son was still an infant, feeling so exhausted from the sleep deprivation that I would sit with a roomful of people desperate to have something to contribute to…

I know everyone is different, but I have never had pregnancy symptoms that early. Especially the thing about needing to pee— that happens when the baby is big and pressing on your bladder. Being hungry and tired does happen during the first trimester, but again, probably not this early. My guess would be that you're…

I did the same at Bloomingdale's, nobody at the wedding had any clue it wasn't a wedding dress, and the seamstress at the store did an amazing job. I think she was kind of excited to be doing a dress for someone's wedding and she went above and beyond, it was a really good experience. And much cheaper than buying an…

And here I thought the main point of this post would be how much it sucks that it works the opposite way for women, as discussed in this recent NY Times post: The Motherhood Penalty v. the Fatherhood Bonus. Sigh.

I feel the same way. I bonded with my son like crazy once he was born, and I am sure I will with this one too, when he gets here. But for now my feeling is "Stop moving and let me sleep, goddamit!" When people realize I am pregnant and get excited and congratulate me, I'm like, "Yeah, well, it is what it is. It's…

Yep, this is my reaction to this. I'm doing it because it's the easiest and cheapest way to end up with a baby, but I hate it and if my husband could take on this burden I'd be alllll for it.

You've mentioned it several times, so it seems to have loomed large for you. I don't think your guests owe you something because you spent a lot. And the amount you spend isn't the sole reason it was a black tie/formal event. If your dad had an awesome in at the Plaza or wherever and paid a lot less, it would still be…