Yeah, there's got to be a better way of protecting kids than this. The system mentioned by alter_ego seems like a sensible enough option (in which unaccompanied adults to the children's museum in Boston must wear a tag identifying themselves as such, so that if they're seen with a child, it would be noted). I don't…

As a 35 year old woman without children, I presume my badge would say "EXPIRING UTERUS" in neon.

I think between the three of us, we've found a niche in the market. And as we all know, weddings are big business! I'm going to put a downpayment on a house now, because this is a surefire goldmine.

In terms of goodwill alone, it seems to me that giving very broad suggestions to the bridesmaids (at the most) is the only fair option! It will make for a much more relaxed, resentment-free day, don't you think? The whole "You can totally wear it again" line is such bullshit, especially with the fabric that most…

You should start answering with ridiculous themes, but with a completely straight face. "Oh, our wedding is an Under the Sea theme. The ceremony itself will take place in a wave pool, and then the reception will be in the tunnel of one of those aquariums, with synchronised manatee dances as the entertainment."…

I was gonna say that too; I heard it can be very effective. It's a while ago that I read the article, but I think it said it was best among married couples / long-term relationships, presumably because they know each other's responses really well and wouldn't get caught off guard too often. (Besides which, if there…

Seriously. If you'd get (justifiably) arrested for hitting another adult, why is it okay to hit a child? To borrow from John Oliver, how is this still a thing?

Aww, "finally," she said! That's beautiful.

Addendum: I just realised I sort of glossed over the huge leap it would have taken him to reach out to you for help, because I kind of took that part as a given! I mean obviously he would've been very motivated to do it, but rather than punishing her for not being able to figure out what you figured out, he showed…

That's such a sweet story on multiple levels. I particularly like the fact that she must have felt so defeated, but she took his suggestion about consulting you and (evidently) she put your advice into practice. It shows so much love and humility that she'd put her pride aside (and let's face it, it would dent…

Re: this and your similar reply to Adultosaur, I totally get that issue where you expect to magically look like the person once you get that hairstyle! Story of my life. [Barely-relevant aside: once, I showed a picture from a magazine I was flipping through to the hairstylist - it was a special offer thing, so I had…

I HAVE AN IDEA: for all the people who want a dress but not a wedding, or the people who have a dress and wish they could wear it again, and all the people who loved having this conversation, we throw a big kinja gathering where we all show up in wedding dresses of our choosing. It's like your Mardi Gras thing, but…

They should really say "do you want the whole bullshit celebration thing or do you prefer to shop like a normal person?" when you walk in the door. That's, like, some kind of assault, right? Aural assault? Dignity assault?

I don't know, revenge or something? Bleugh.

That sounds beautiful. :)

I am loving the hell out of all your comments lately. It makes me said that I don't let myself comment here too often anymore. I've been here over the years under lots of throwaway names, but I find I get so caught up in responding and commenting that I sort of forget to exist, and it becomes too much of a time drain.…

You're thinking of making your own? Well, there are kind of two ways that could go, each valid and viable in their own way:

In completely unrelated news: if you're going to sleep now and you posted a UK newspaper, that suggests you're probably in England which means I could totally hop over there from Ireland and crash your wedding because I really want to see the front of your dress! ;)

You're so right. One of those "...and then I knew" moments was on a boat on incredibly rough seas (half the passengers were puking; luckily not us) on a whalewatching trip. We were on those churning seas for 6 hours in the freezing cold and we didn't see a single damn whale, but I had such a lovely day, and I knew…

That's totally the right priorities to have; I definitely want to focus on the marriage rather than the day. I'm betting the marriages that last are usually when people thought about it that way.