Vaccines of any kind aren’t 100% effective or last forever (hence boosters for many). But if your vaccination is up to date and you catch whatever bug it is anyway, the vaccine will almost always still reduce the severity of the illness *and* mitigate your infectiousness towards others...

And by “authority” I mean experts, with authoritative knowledge and expertise... I just reread my comment and realized it looked a bit like I was on the side of “dear leader” types ;)

Yup, it's a case of a little bit of education coupled with a complete lack of real critical thinking skills leading people to think they're smart enough to question authority - like all the world's anti-vaxxers are 16 yr olds with a learner's permit who think that now they're ready for the Grand Prix...

Ditto... I’ve seen a lot of changes and drama but something Jez-like invariably bounced back - but no recovery (from the change in ownership I think) this time. I stop in every once in a while to scroll through but it feels like a chore...

I had a school board psychologist try and tell me this after my 7th grade aptitude/IQ testing (my mother was a teacher in the school and told him to drop dead). I spoke three languages and was a straight A student, but I didn’t fit his profile for gifted so according to him I was destined for secretarial college (his…

It’s not really a question of why women would aspire to having it all, so much as what women need to do to escape the harsh societal judgement of having only a *part* of “it”. The whole song and dance of whore v. virgin, job v. stay-at-home, kids v. no kids, blah blah blah blah blah. The only way women can “win” is…

Oh god, my sister has one of those... it’s a bit heartbreaking right now to see his almost-15-year-old self struggling and buying into some real shitty stuff (a lot fed to him by his dumb ass father). Good luck to you both!!

If you have a pregnancy that “qualifies” for a midwife (uncomplicated, i.e. no serious medical complications known in advance and not twins, triplets etc), then it’s an option for anyone in Ontario who has access to a centre (they’re located in major urban centres only I think), and it’s all covered! Hospitals are…

No I agree - I think I enjoyed it more than you did overall, but I agree it was disjointed and uneven. They should have played it much "straighter" and gone for more of the tragi-comedy approach than...whatever it is they did...

Midwives in Canada are definitely an integral part of the medical system, they’re highly trained and provincially regulated - there’s no reason an ob-gyn should be attending at most uncomplicated births (overuse of training and resources), midwives are equivalent to nurse practitioners, they are experts in their field…

Birthing centers (in Canada, medical centers that are dressed up like hotels) are a *fantastic* alternative, I loved my birthing center experience - middle of winter with a fireplace going, a huge walk in shower, a bathtub the size of an 8 person jacuzzi, a queen sized hospital bed, TV and stereo system, etc etc. It…

In Canada too - midwives are university educated (BSc), approx two years in apprenticeship and all provincially regulated, there are no variations in level of training required. And we have so-called “universal” health care so there’s no excuse not to avail yourself of care - it’s not really universal, but pregnancy…

The US experience with midwives is different than others though - in Canada all midwives are the equivalent of US nurse midwives - they're university educated and provincially regulated (I think only one province is lagging), and they have hospital admission privileges. And the stats here show that home births are a…

I’m usually pretty good at catching myself, even when she’s being totally enraging (she’s a sassy little cookie and sometimes I have to work harder not to laugh than yell), and I’m usually a slow burner anyway, but every now and then... I need to carry a pillow with me to just scream maniacally into :)

My mom went through a rough patch where I bore the brunt as the oldest kid (got yelled at a lot and occasionally hit or grabbed roughly - overall she was a good parent, but after my parents divorced and we moved away for her new job, she reverted a bit to the ways she was raised). Anyway, I worried a bit about it too…

There are a ton of guidelines about this kind of thing and it varies on whether there are developmental or behavioural issues at play as well, but basically it’s about redirecting their attention - and if their attention has to be redirected towards having to hang out alone as a natural consequence of stealing toys or…

Absolutely agree on the no spanking, no time outs (as someone noted below, child-led “time-in” or chilling out is different), no aggressive or belittling approach to child rearing. That said, I would *love* to meet/study/gawk at the parent, nay the human being, who can get through child-rearing (or romantic or sibling…

Mm hmm, I am judging harshly and wondering about her recycling game...

Never heard them called statue of liberty bangs 😄 A German friend of mine in highschool said they looked like a toilet brush had exploded! 

Ditto - and I grew up in Ontario, it was the Irish Catholic side of my family that ate like this (whereas the WWII-immigrant-from-central-Europe side had way more “scratch” cooking with real spices). I still get a bit nostalgic for some of the dishes but I make them from scratch now too, no Campbell’s soup mix!