My best friend once told me that her mother — a harried single mom who was too tired to beat around the bush — told her that she simply would not ask questions she didn't want to know the answers to. I've always thought that was a wise take, and an indicator that come question time, shit was important.

My father was very similar. I'm sorry. It's not easy. People don't really understand how bad it could be or how awful it could make you feel if they weren't there & didn't see. I sympathize. Truly. I'm very sorry. But living well is the best revenge & I try & stick it to the bastard by living a fun & decent life. It…

This reminded me of how my life was as a teen. Abusive dad, brother who was the golden boy and allowed to do anything but I wasn't allowed to because I was a girl. I got punished for stuff he did. It was hell. As soon as I could I rebelled. I have to remember how bad those years sucked because I don't want my kids to…

Isn't it amazing how you can have an entire life that your parent has no conception of? They have an image of you in their heads that may match the broad outlines but they'll never have the shading?

My parents have always been overprotective, so I learned early on to keep certain things from them because I knew they wouldn't be able to handle it and would make it into a bigger deal than it is. I never did anything "wrong" exactly, other than the lying. But the things they were certain I would do in high school if…

I sometimes wonder if people just forget what it felt like to be 15. I'm 34, my teen years were brutal. I had an abusive dad, my parents fought constantly and I was the scape goat. I was a good kid who didn't do heinous sht but they treated me like I was the 12 year old on Maury who wanted a baby and did hard drugs.…

Arbitrary, unfair rules were absolutely why I lied to my mother. I pretty much never lied to my dad, save for gender/sexuality things, because I wasn't risking coming out to anyone. I didn't lie that much in general, and honestly, I was the squarest, most boring teenager. I loved playing D&D with my friends (I was…

Yeah, this kind of crap me think a lot about the parents who end up keeping children they don't actually want because of being ashamed or coerced...

"They tell you in sport and business it starts with mindset."

Oh shit, one of those assholes that likes to think that "people are poor/fat/unemployed/depressed becaise they're too lazy to do anything about it, and should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps!!1!" Seriously, how do manage to engage with this kind of douchenozzle and not lose your mind? I could never do…

Soooooo stoopid. I doubt he has kids, too. Even middle-middle class folks would struggle if they had small kids.

Ah, got it.

Thankfully, he's so not my friend. A friend of a friend and we're cross posting on my friend's facebook page who is like corgis, love, you don't need to tell everyone who much of an idiot they are...but thanks for always telling people how much of an idiot they are.

The only people I've heard espouse that mindset are people who have money they didn't have to work for.

I love how he seems to think that all of these obstacles can be solved by a positive mentality

Good on her.

MONEY IS JUST A RESOURCE.

Hugs. The person you're dealing with sounds like a dick. All of those are extremely expensive sports plus hasn't he ever considered the cost in time of participating in sports. GAH.

Ha, rock climbing is not a cheap sport, especially if you want to trad climb. All those doohickeys cost bank. I mean, if you have a couple of grand to set yourself up most of the gear will last basically forever if you take proper care of it (and don't fall much) but seriously, whose got cash like that?

Ooo update: