I lived in Germany until I was 8 and my I definitely wore a bikini when I wasn't wearing a one piece (if not just the bottoms). My little sister wore bikini bottoms because she was a baby. There were definitely toddlers running around completely naked and no one batted an eyelash. When we moved to the states and went…

I have a somewhat similar problem, where I work a job that uses standard technology, but my particular career field is heavily dependent on knowing industry-specific technology. I have no idea if my solution will work, because I haven't had to look for another job yet, but I try to find as many open source and free…

I feel like you are approaching this very much from the legal standpoint of a lawyer. I would be interested to hear from a child welfare social worker. I am not a lawyer or a social worker, but I would argue that the original intent of ICWA does not extend to this case, mainly because either way the only biological…

Did they though? If the paperwork came back as "we have no record of this person being native" I would let out a sigh and move on. The biological mom did everything she could in this situation. The adoptive parents were notified that the paperwork did not identify the father as native. After that they're at fault…

I think any attorney could argue that biological mom made a best effort to report the birth to the ICWA. I also think most social workers specializing in adoption and child welfare would tell you that at this point the child's best interest would lie with staying in the home and the people she's known as her parents…

I'm always really torn on this one. I wish as a kid my parents had emphasized effort more than achievement. I grew up feeling like nothing I did was ever good enough (sometimes that what a science PhD helicopter parent gets you), and largely, as an adult I still feel that way. I wish my parents had told me how they…

It sounds like this is one of those fancy apartment complexes in Shirlington. I have no idea why anyone lives in that fake Disneyland. There are plenty of lovely studios and 1 bedrooms in DC and the closer suburbs you can get for under $1600.

I'm surprised he even spends that much. I make slightly more than he does and live in DC. I spend between $1220-$1300 depending on utilities on my one bedroom (yes I have a good deal, but not that unusual).

Why doesn't my tinted moisturizer ever look that good on me?

I guess they assumed that because I was young woman, I would be less likely to do something bad to their kids. On other hand, I doubt they would have given it much additional thought if I was a middle aged man. What they did not realize is that I had several episodes of different HBO shows (and we know how…

This is pretty much how it should be

"it's your responsibility as a parent to not be an idiot as well, and to make sure your kids don't intrude on the other passengers' space or comfort." YES. And also, it is your responsibility (both parents) to sit WITH your kids. No, sitting behind/in front of them doesn't count. If your airline sticks your kids with…

I completely disagree with you. My life rule is "just apologize." It's just not worth the trouble and the pain. I don't give a shit about getting an apology from a comedian, but come on, apologize to your partner, your parent, your sibling, your friend, or anyone you care about. I had partners who refused to apologize…

I have the opposite problem where I think everything takes at least 40 minutes to get to. Thus, I am the Chronically Early Friend in my group. Since most of my friends are CLF, I've been trying to relax my own time management...and bring something to read when I still get there early.

that's pretty much my rationale.

I would never change my last name, despite the fact that I hate my name, but whatever, if you want to take your partner's name I really don't care. The only thing I ask for, is that you accept the fact that any type of procedure where someone needs to gather documents about you might be more cumbersome and take…

I love that :)

We had the same thing at Bryn Mawr (co-ed grad program, and a class exchange with four nearby colleges, a heavily underused living exchange with Haverford and Swarthmore, and several shared departments with Haverford). There were dudes all over the place.

This was the policy at Bryn Mawr. I had a hallmate who transitioned to male while he was at Bryn Mawr, and I remember he was worried about whether or not he would be able to stay or if they would force him to receive a Haverford degree (our "brother" school), but in the end it was fine. He graduated from Bryn Mawr…

I went to another Seven Sister school, we had MTF and FTM students. Our policy, like Smith's, was that a student had to identify as female at the time of application. Now, being that Smith and the other Sisters are private colleges, they get to create a policy about what it means to identify as female. The creation of…