I am similarly sex-positive, but I have a fifth grader and a sixth grader, and I agree. We are working in a group with a private sex ed facilitator, and we’re slowly working through the basics. I am not prude at all, and if one of them asked me about sex toys, I would explain. But they truly aren’t there yet. I want…

Same here but this really was gross. Like the taste of red jello, in some cake. Foul.

We have someone at work who takes boxed white cake, bakes it, pokes holes in it, then pours unset, liquid red jello into the holes and I guess bakes it some more? We all had to eat it at a staff meeting and everyone was like oooh so good! It was not and they should all be shot.

God that sucks. My niece is about 14 and is very short, like 4’11”. Her mom, my sister in law, is like 5’10” and rail thin due to a lifelong eating disorder combined with OCD and obsessive exercising (who wants to go on 27 mile hike and then have some vegan soup!!). Her mom, my mother in law, is simply obsessed with…

I just don’t get it. I think my husband and I are on the other side- we seriously need to stop telling our 10 year old daughter how gorgeous she is. We know intellectually we’re not supposed to (and that we should instead tell her how smart she is and such) but it’s hard to stop. I can’t imagine telling her she wasn’t…

My mom was like that— she has super curly hair, about as curly as it gets with white hair (Jewish though). She used to straighten it but of course got terrible chemical burns, so she cut it all off in like 1975 and wore it like a helmet. I don’t know if she really brushed it, but probably because it kind of looked…

Thanks so much for this- it’s very helpful. We’ve been on top of puberty and sex ed for our kids, and while I’ve briefly covered consent with my son (who’s a little boy still), we need to do more with both of them. I’m glad you’ve sought help and I hope you continue to do well.

This exact thing happened to a close friend of mine from high school. When she finally told her parents and brother, they got angry and didn’t support her at all. The cousin was never prosecuted or even really called out, I don’t think. She didn’t tell me any of it until we were like 20 and I was shocked, although it…

I’m so sorry that happened to you, and it’s terrifying to me as the mom of a 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son. I can’t imagine my son doing anything like that in a million years, but I bet your parents couldn’t either. Are there warning signs you think they missed?

That’s the one I plan on using (in just over 4 years, omg). I do NOT like the “if you’re going to drink, do it here— I’ll buy for all your friends and get charged with a felony” method. Half glass at Thanksgiving, fine. Keg for a party, no fucking way. Someone has to be the parent.

I live in a shack in the south bay so my kids can go to public school. Best thing ever. We always talk about how maddening it would be to still be on the westside begging, borrowing, and stealing to get our kids into private school.

I think my mortgage is the same as most of my neighbors’ car payments. Or maybe their monthly pilates bill.

I have a friend who was interested in Camelot, but I think ended up someplace else and now her kid is at Ivanhoe. And she spent part of her childhood in Florida, so for a second I was like is that you???

Now that you mention it, ours (south bay) was outside, but I think with a cover over it. Maybe they ate inside when it rained, I don’t remember. Wasn’t a big deal.

My parents bought in 1975 too, in the valley, for $50K and sold in 2004 for $600K. Then bought a house in the south bay near the beach for about double that, and it’s now worth well over $2M. We also bought in the South Bay in 2001 and our house is worth nearly triple what we paid. We couldn’t afford to buy it at what…

There are a number of preschools that operate as daycare for those who need it, at least here, and we’re also in LA. Ours had half day and full day options. We started with half day when we still had a nanny, then moved to full day. The afternoon was just play, nap, etc. It was great— much cheaper than a nanny and…

You’re making me laugh— I went to the Taylor Swift show with a literal PTA president mother (and our 10 year old daughters). And our entire elementary school was there.

So weird. I live in an ultra affluent coastal CA suburb filled with uptight, health-obsessed people, most of whom live in families where at least person doesn’t work so they have plenty of time on their hands, and nobody does this. A lot of people have the bento boxes because there’s a mom nearby who started a company…

Exactly- she’s just reciting existing law. So it’s really not big news, other than that it would be nice to have elected officials promoting science, reason, and sound public health policy. Instead of being all “woo-woo, aborted babies, toxins, choice freedom woo-woo.”

Yes. I would think she would have other less gawdy and lame things to do. The celebrities on those shows come across super fake to me, and being fake takes a lot of work and emotional energy. If I were her, I’d rather work on artistic projects, do charitable work, or just enjoy my zillions of dollars.