When my BF, who went to college in a rural-ish town in MI, asked his dorm-mates where he could take me for a nice meal all of them enthusiastically recommended the nearby Olive Garden...so I’m pretty sure there are more people poised to genuinely make it on the Olive Garden commercials than you might imagine.

I don’t know, President of the US has gotta be one of the hardest jobs around. It’s an unrelenting level of stress, and you get it from all sides. I have never begrudged any president vacation time (even Bush and his constant trips to his ranch) because if they didn’t have some down time they simply couldn’t make the…

When I don’t plan my meals I end up wasting tons of fresh food and/or running to the store last minute. Plus when I get home after work and an hour commute with two hungry kids and just 45 minutes to get dinner made and eaten, my kitchen creativity definitely suffers. I take 30 minutes to look at the grocery ads late…

I hear what you’re saying and I do think people go overboard, but my kid is just now starting to get involved in activities and I’m learning that when you commit, you have to commit. If your kid wants to play X sport, they have to be there for every practice/every game (barring obvious illness/emergencies), or you’re…

I guess I’m not sure what the article is trying to say. Does parenting suck a lot sometimes? Yeah. Can it suck even if you’re rich? I’m far from rich but I’m not poor either, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say yeah it can still suck if you’re rich. I don’t think that the shows are trying to say anything in…

Holy crap, I agree with a pro-lifer on something. Now, I wish these boxes were the absolute last resort for mothers to use after having had safe, legal, and financially accessible contraception, abortion, and birth options as well as access to non-judgmental and ethically sound adoption options (not to mention…

Dmitri.....sigh. He is better than all the Disney heroes, except perhaps for Flynn Rider, with whom he is tied.

Yep, another mom here who had an abortion! It’s a long complicated story, but basically I had tons of birth injuries from my first. It was emotionally and physically traumatic, and husband and I couldn’t have sex for a year and a half. By the time we could I was so stressed and worried about sex that neither of us…

I’m mostly a lurker, but just wanted to say you have always been one my fave Jezebel writers. I teach too and I’m going to look you up on rate my professor and rate the shit out of you, including maximum spicy peppers. But seriously, just feel better and do kick ass things in the future!

I used to love looking through that catalog! My grandma was the queen of catalogs and Lillian Vernon was always my favorite. I’d actually take it home and page through it before bedtime, because, I don’t know, I was a weird kid.

I’d suggest you do a little more research into the couponing world before you form too many opinions. It’s not some fringe crazy activity, and it’s not just for “poor” people. I actually did it for a while about 8 years ago. Not extreme couponing, but regularly following blogs and sites that help and using coupons to…

I should add that I made my comment specifically to address the issue raised in the article about parents choosing to overburden themselves. I am fully aware that I am immensely privileged and that has impacted my parenting options. I have stable, secure housing. I have a steady job (2 of them, actually) with reliable…

Lol back at ya, because you think a 15 month old and a 12 month old are the same! The reason you specify is because they need very different things/have very different abilities and therefore are not the same at all. $50 and $75 are close, but not the same amount.

Hear hear! We too are drowning in the school administrative details and the every day demands of life. There are no mason jar/pallet costumes here!

OK, I get the point about “lifestyle childhoods” but even without that it’s so damn hard and I think it’s kind of a pot shot to criticize it. My husband and I both work full time, and my MIL watches our 2 year old while 6 year old goes to public school and after school care there. 6yo is enrolled in swimming one…

This happened about 10 years ago. I used to be a restaurant manager and it was down time in the middle of the day. We needed some items for the day before our normal weekly order came the following morning so I volunteered to go. While out I decided that myself along with my other managers would enjoy a crave case…

I love love love this article, mostly because I love Harlequin. I have an unabashed love for them and read far more of their romances than any other publisher. And I second your comments about Dahl—her books are super sexy and awesome! Keep writing about romance, Kelly, because it warms my heart to see it discussed on…