I was at the park with my son the other day and there was a group of girls (young high school, I think) sitting off to the side and practicing a capella versions of different songs. They were all very good and harmonized well and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them while I watched my kid play and enjoyed the…

Yeaaaah... Reading her statements and the school’s statements, it sounds like she was acting like an asshole.

I know. I just adore them and their relationship. And this:

Exactly. People complain about her and think she’s vapid and pointless, but she’s completely in on the joke and laughing all the way to the bank. I didn’t used to like her but seeing her hang on through all the hate and take it in good humor has warmed me to her.

I have a few conservative friends (used to work in politics so met and got close to people on all sides) and they’re all the same - being quiet, or saying that while they may disagree with the ruling they respect the authority of the Supreme Court and wish their gay friends all the best. Of course they’re all toeing…

Are you me? I’m on week 27, which I thought was three weeks into my third trimester but I just realized is ONLY JUST third trimester, and I’m so bloody miserable. I’m gaining weight more quickly than my last pregnancy, and my belly already feels stretched and my old stretch marks are re-stretching and itching and I…

Absolutely. And frankly, the “I’m very calm when I spank and never spank out of anger” strikes me as being almost worse. Like, a parent with a kid who’s pushing and pushing and pushing boundaries, until the parent snaps and swats them on their butt - I get that (ofc, a swat on the butt rather than losing it and…

OMG the Dept. of the Interior one. Gorgeous. Actually gave me chills.

Oh I agree, and I do the same, I’m just thinking in the case of a parent reacting quickly/instinctively to keep their kid from badly hurting themselves. That’s very different from “you talked back to me, so now I’m going to hit you, but because I’m totally calm it’s OK and not damaging, it’s just something I do when…

OR OR OR “my parents just threatened to spank me and chased me around with a belt describing how they were going to whip the shit out of me, but never actually did it LOLOL the fear was enough to keep me in line, AH, MEMORIES.”

Interesting. I run in a lot of positive parenting circles (that is to say, those lazy crunchy hippie parents who believe in things like “natural consequences” and “naming emotions” and “reasoning with their kids” rather than verbal abuse or corporal punishment and are therefore sneered at by the pro-spanking types)…

“I was spanked and I turned out OK and therefore everyone should spank their kids because the little shits deserve to be beaten and why should they be so coddled when I never was and parents these days are just lazy and the world is going to shit. I shall now spend two hours telling everyone why they should hit their…

Then thank you for your very important contribution to the conversation. PS don’t hit your fucking kids.

THIS. Nail on the head. Either your kid is too small to be rational or understand reasoning, in which case it’s your responsibility to prevent any situation that would trigger a need to punish them and your fault if it occurs anyway, or the kid is old enough to understand why what they did was wrong and respond to…

My favorite is the comeback of “SO IF MY KID IS REACHING FOR A HOT STOVE I SHOULD JUST CALMLY REASON WITH HIM?”

How many people have you met who are anti-spanking but pro-verbal abuse? Basically all the parents I know who are anti-spanking also recognize that screaming at and berating kids is also unacceptable.

Hahahaha, I have to pick and choose the chores I do around him. Like, I can fold a load of laundry while he watches some TV for a little while, and I can tidy up the kitchen while he sits at the kitchen island and eats his lunch and talks nonstop at me. I can give him the dustbuster and keep him occupied while I…

This comment is totally spot on. The moving/changing jobs comparison is one I fall back on a lot - the same way I miss old places we lived and old friends in those places, I sometimes miss my pre-kid life, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy where I am. And the same way I’ve made an awesome life for myself where I…

You sound a lot like me, so I hope I can help.

I’m so damn jealous. We left my son with my mother overnight (when he was a baby) ONCE so we could go to my SIL’s wedding and my mom bitched about it like it was the worst night of her life because she had to get up and feed the baby twice (which sounded like a pretty good night to me) and then get up with him at 6am…