Wow, children in pain are funny to you.

I ate at a restaurant this weekend where I was on the hook for the price of the meal starting at 24 hours out whether I showed up or not. It's not common, but it's not unheard of at restaurants where the seats are at an absolute premium. Every version of the story that I've heard says that (a) Alinea is one of those…

I'm generally as pro-kid as it's possible to be and I generally despise the tone of self serving hipster whiner snowflakes fucking complaining about children on planes and restaurants or in fact anywhere in their eye-line ever.... and yet as a bartender for many, many years this cracks me the fuck up.

She wants to dress something up, place it in a pretty crib and look at it. Hold it, carry it around. Kittens don't want to do what you want to do. They run around and are quite uncontrollable. It's about their needs, not their owners. This is all about her needs, she needs something that doesn't have any needs itself

I have three kids, and I my great aunt died and left behind all her dolls. I have the one that is most like a "real baby" and sometimes it's very comforting to hold it. I love babies. Do I want more? Hell no. But the doll serves it's purpose. I pick it up. I hold it. I feel better.

perhaps i am biased, but my immediate reaction was "get a kitten, dammit"

Yes, we did. And if you look at how our society is structured, we kind of still do, though it's (mostly) invisible unless you're looking for it (or unless you're an Aboriginal). The author of the article is a knob-end and doesn't deserve this attention.

you're the jerk in that situation.

...didn't Australia have it's own apartheid with the Aborigines? That makes this extra offensive.

Now you know what it's like to live in the US:).

The trouble is that children, like pets, are the product of their handlers. There's no sense or use in burning children for having incompetent handlers.

so you burn children, huh? all right.

I remember that Alinea kerfuffle. As I recall the parents got stood up by their sitter at the last minute, and Alinea apparently has a pretty strict cancellation policy, and for them it was "once in a lifetime". So, they decided — hell with it, and took the baby. I ALSO think I recall reading they defended their…

I'm so tired of this "debate." Just use common sense on whether to bring your kids or hire a sitter. It's not hard. Alinea: Sitter. TGI Friday's: Kids OK. Places in between? Use your (good) judgment.

Does she spend the same amount of time and money on, like, her _actual_ kids? If not, this seems to me like a pathological narcissist who misses the feedback of a baby, because babies are easy to view as extensions of ourselves and older people, with their own complex feelings and needs, are harder to deal with.…

Probably not fair to the puppy. This is like extreme anthropomorphism of the variety that makes people think its ok to leave a monkey in the parking lot of ikea for several hours. Fine for dolls, not for living things.

No, it doesn't resolve the same need. You can't just sort of have a dog be a mirror where you can project your dreams and need. They are too interactive. This is the kind of bond for people afraid of any connection and who crave it at the same time.

I had a client who'd walk around with a reborn that she modified and made blankets and towels. I was at a day treatment and other people there really responded. I don't know. It served a powerful purpose for a lot of people who felt like they wanted something simple and warm to nurture. In the end, I think it's…

I actually just came out as a Diet Coke preferer on twitter and the response was swift and ruthless. But I know I'm right.