I'm not sure this will have the effect that Republicans intended. My first thought, or reading this, was "Oh Christ, at some point, someone probably suggested legislation guaranteeing your employer's right to dictate whether you use birth control at all, but then they decided that was a bridge too far."

Oh, I know a couple (both degreed professionals) whose grade-school aged child runs their house. Poor kid is dying for structure and guidance.

First marriage - traditional wedding.

Oh hai, are you me? $60 bouquet for a courthouse wedding that I was up frantically re-arranging the night before with grocery store flowers because it was so, so obvious they couldn't be bothered.

I'm sorry to hear that. Have you considered an assertiveness training course?

I'm so stealing the term "mommy martyr" from you, 'cause it's frickin' genius.

Agreed. Kids are intuitive manipulators.

I'm not surprised re: Ph.D's. It seems to be an affluent people problem.

It's not about refusing the kid a pink sippy cup to be a controlling dick.

I'm sure that there are women put there who are capable of being great mothers at 18. I will say that I don't think any of them would entertain this way of going about it.

"So, with her mother's blessing..."

Right?! I saw the accompanying photo and I thought "Well, I think it looks kind of nice. I don't know what Tracy is being such a bitch ab... Oh... Oh, dear God..."

Or Flagstaff, Arizona, in August.

I saw the headline and assumed it was a dumb new wedding photography trend.

To be fair, when my kids were a year old, I could truthfully say that they hadn't like pants their whole lives....

Oh, God, me too. Horrible posture, acne for days, and _no_ sense of style in my youth. But as I've gotten older, my taste has improved considerably.

Me, too. I'm actually more physically fit than I was in my twenties, but man, every mirror is a reminder of that Catherine Deneuve quote about a woman of a certain age having to choose between her face and her ass.

I wonder how much of it is still having the full bloom of your twenties in your head as a reference point. I admit, when I look in a mirror, I expect that I _should_ look the way I did at twenty-six, and so the little wrinkles around my eyes after I smile and the loss of volume in my cheeks bother me, even though I'm…

I _do_ shop at Goodwill, and other second hand stores. For almost all my clothes. My divorce lawyer, who had my financial records in front of him, bitched me out about misrepresenting what I spend on clothes until I told him that every dress, every sweater set, every suit that I wore into his office, I bought at a…