What does his mother have to do with any of this? And was it entirely necessary to shame her?

Was it Calvin & Hobbes? Recently, that was Final Jeopardy and I got it with just the category. I was pretty proud of myself.

Yes, open captions all around.

So is the doctor then obligated to help pay for the expenses of having a disabled child? NICU stays are expensive.

Oh, and the facility where I work was in debt until September of this year. We’re finally back in the black.

None of this surprises me, a childcare worker. I make $7.25/hour taking care of up to 12 kids by myself (I have 4/5 year olds during the day, plus school-age kids after school/on days when school isn’t in session.). We can’t go over 34 hours of work in any given week. I’ve worked there almost four years now and there…

“This is my body. I decide who touches it. That is your body. You decide who touches it.” Rinse and repeat. I say this often to my 4-5 year old kids. The momentary embarrassment felt by the other person is not worth the loss of your own bodily autonomy.

Correction: Shonda’s not the showrunner anymore. William Harper and Stacy McKee are co-showrunners.

I’m going to put a poisonous M&M into a bowl of non-poisonous M&M’s. Outwardly, it will look like all the other M&M’s. Go ahead, take a handful.

I work in a day care. I’m 24. I’ve worked there almost three years now. Before that, I was a nanny for three years (yes, if you do the math, I’ve been a child care provider since I was 18). I make minimum wage (7.25) and because the church I work in doesn’t want to have to offer us health insurance, we can’t get more…

I work in a day care and we still apply it to all the kids. I can’t speak for anyone else at my work, but I know that when I do it, I ask each child, “Is it okay if I rub your sunscreen into your legs? Is it okay if I help you rub it into your arms?” every step of the way and I wait until I have a clear yes to proceed.

I work in a day care. Every kid in my class has a container of sunscreen, provided by the parents and replaced as needed, with the kid’s name on it. We have to apply the sunscreen EVERY TIME we take the kids outside, even if we’re just going on a walk and will only be in the sun for five minutes. I couldn’t imagine…

Out of six, only two of my mom’s kids speak to her. I can’t speak for the others, but I still feel guilty about severing the ties. Our mother was always very neglectful, putting her own needs consistently ahead of ours. She’d ignore us when it served her and then get angry when we didn’t come to her for things we…

It is sex ed, though. That's my point. Consent is/should be a part of every sex ed program in the world. The sad part is that it's not. Also things we should not be hiding from toddlers: the actual names of their genitals. If a kid has a penis, call it a penis. If a kid has a vulva, call it a vulva. If people taught…

That's the point. Teach them when it's not sexual so they're prepared when it is. And it is sex ed. It's consent, which is required in all sexual encounters.

There are kids at my work who have to learn that, too. And I do sometimes say, "No" or "Not right now." just so they can learn that people are not always going to say yes. I stress bodily autonomy very heavily. "This is my body. I decide who touches it. That is YOUR body. YOU decide who touches it." By the time they…

I hope so. I work hard to make sure that they're growing into respectful, kind citizens of the world.

Also, if you have to "break the rules" for whatever reason, explain that to children who are old enough to see that you're not following the rules. The kids in our 12-36 month room are not always potty trained, so they need diaper changes every couple hours. Sometimes they scream and they cry and they kick their legs…

Well, in our infant room, which is children 12 months old and younger, they learn "nice hands," starting as soon as hand movement is voluntary. We touch our friends with nice hands. That's more geared toward not hitting each other, though. But once they're in the next room, in my opinion, that's when they are really…

It needs to start even earlier than that. I work in a day care and I teach pre-school-aged children consent. "No means no and stop means stop." gets tossed around a lot in my class. They ask for permission to touch or hug. They understand that there are ways to say no that don't involve talking (My class is 4 and 5…