I think the difference is that a bar is loud and distracting. The whole point is to be distracted and get into the ambience. Whereas going outside to water the tomatoes is not an engrossing event, and you can still watch your home.

I believe it varies from state to state.

Hahaha!

Too true to most of that! I mean I had a c-section and the bleeding wasn't as bad, but it still lasted six weeks and the occasional trip to Target or the grocery store was the best I could muster - preferably in a sweatshirt and maternity leggings.

It must be that in London there's perhaps less hostility towards children in general. We have this disturbing trend in the US, it seems, of people just being downright hostile to the very presence of children, no matter how well-behaved they may be. I really don't get it.

Y'all should set up a pack and play in each apartment for the other's baby. Worth a shot, anyway!

Yeah, I couldn't stop thinking about a fire. If the baby was crying and needing to be soothed, no biggie, run up the stairs and take care of it. But if something dangerous happened like an apartment fire and you didn't pick up on it right away? Total nightmare scenario.

Do NOT have sex with a drunk partner is seriously going to be one of the top ten sex ed talking points when my kids get old enough for that sort of thing.

Heh, my son has a little broom and dust pan set...in teal, purple, and pink with big hearts. He doesn't give two shots - he loves sweeping! He also helps with chores. I mean he is 18 months so that's a natural stage for him to be going through right now, but I encourage the heck out of him for putting laundry in the…

Anything but Ticonderoga was a travesty. By week 3 the off-brands would be constantly snapping off at the tip, and when you sharpened them, the graphite would end up weirdly off-center, so that the wood was all in the way of attempting to write and the "lead" was uselessly sitting to one side. Awful. Also they felt…

Umm I think you mean best.

I bought some of those once but I'd become so used to using regular notebooks that I was constantly confused - kinda like when I try to use a computer mouse left-handed now. Sad.

MILKY PENS! How could I forget? And only plebes use wide-ruled, obviously. Ugh gross mom. Do NOT buy wide-ruled.

I'm tearing up and that is ridiculous. Damn pregnancy hormones. I'm blown away by someone actually listening. And some of this stuff is really bright and awesome. I covet the fuse beads and sunglasses.

There's no "right" pace for a relationship. I started having sex with my now-husband about a week into our relationship and obviously I don't regret it for a moment since we are now six years happily married. It sounds like your ex is a douche. I don't think sex was the problem there - it sounds more like overall, you…

Pumping is a gigantic, time-consuming nightmare for a lot of people. Not saying it isn't an option, but yowza. One's time is worth money too. I confess I may be a bit biased because I spent the first months of my son's life pumping every two hours and in breastmilk hell, but eh. "Just pump" is not usually the answer…

Check out fearlessformulafeeder.com. She dissects lots of studies as well as sharing more personal stories from people. It's a good jumping off point if nothing else. Also the skepticalob.com is VERY abrasive and definitely not to everyone's taste, but she is pretty deft at dissecting the studies that supposedly prove…

So I've heard! Yuck. Makes me angry that he's got such a "flawless" legacy to most people when he had some seriously awful beliefs/behaviors.

Ugh, thank you. The locker room thing makes me roll my eyes considering that in my part of the country less than half of boys are circumcised anyway. Why do so many people seem to ignore that part?

The rate of circumcision on infant boys these days if hovering aorund 55% from what I can find, so roughly half the boys in the locker room will be uncircumcised. That kinda cuts down on the teasing factor, I would think.