Get him off our team. NOW.

I think I finally need to give in and watch SpongeBob at some point. I've worked with so many kids who love SpongeBob and I know juuuuust barely enough to have a tiny little bit of a sense of what they're talking about. Awesome when they're old enough to get into things like the Simpsons.

Love it. Always cracks me up to see what kids find funny at various ages and stages in their lives. Sometimes I find it funny, too, and sometimes I just plain don't get it.

I am dying to know what memes the 10-year-olds send you.

That is brave that you gave them your cell phone number!! Some kids/teens have better boundaries and skills than others with that sort of thing. Last time I worked with adolescents who might need to get in touch, I had an office phone number with a voicemail that I gave out so they could contact me about…

Just reaching out to say I hope things feel better. Therapy can be worth revisiting if you can find the time. Maybe it hasn't been super helpful before because your past therapist(s) wasn't/weren't the right match for you? There are therapists who do work with flexible schedules if you ask... just a thought. Any…

That's awesome!! Congratulations!!!

That is BRILLIANT.

Yikes, that's intense. I used to work in a middle school and I've always said that working in a middle school was the best form of birth control EVER. I adored the kids I worked with there, but... well, hundreds of other people's 12- and 13-year-olds will wake you up quickly.

Slightly off-topic, but I did not realize you were a teacher of adolescents. I think that must be why I relate to what you say so often (read: star your comments like a stalker or something). Just had an "aha" moment. Not a teacher myself, but in related fields and have worked in schools. And totally agree - can't…

The shoe thing totally made me laugh, because at my super-progressive, artsy-ish school, growing up, we used to joke that the only rule at our school was that you had to wear shoes. Awesome.

My husband and I are starting to look at houses to buy, and we saw one yesterday that has an awesome bedroom with stairs leading up to a loft. He thinks that the room would make a perfect... wait for it... OFFICE. When I first looked at it, I stopped and stared and all I could think of was how perfect it would be to…

Of course. Be kind to yourself.

I think this was said well further upthread, but it probably bears repeating — any time of transition, even if it's for the best, can mean closing a chapter, which may mean that mourning is natural. It may even be therapeutic or cathartic in some way, as a form of processing the transition itself. It's also okay to…

Would it be too forward if next time she started up you just said something like: "Listen, we've had this conversation before and it's getting really uncomfortable - this is personal information and I don't understand why everyone else's personal situations matter so much to you. Everyone here is making their…

I know so many of those people who undermine you, and I loathe them. A lot of them only use the "Oh, they're just kids" excuse because they were too lazy to teach their own kids manners. But kids should be taught to say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" if they step on your foot or bump into you by accident, or if they run…

Sending giant internet hugs to you - I'm so sorry you've had to go through this. All the support in the world to you and your partner as you grieve. Sending thoughts of both physical and emotional healing.

Lindy, your posts are consistently my favorite. Smart, witty, insightful, interesting, well-written, just plain SHARP. And it always made me want to jump through my screen and high-five you. I will really miss reading you here. I'm not on twitter, so I will check out your blog. And please write that book fast! …

One more here! Met my husband online in 2008 (age 28), married 2 years later, 4th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. Had done the online dating off-and-on for a while before that - I'd go on for three months, off for six, on for six months, off for nine, etc., for maybe four years in total until I met him. I think I…

Ditto.