High school class of 92 here and yeah, no. I got into every college I applied to (not Ivy League because I didn't want to go to Ivy League, but good schools like Sarah Lawrence) without that kind of ridiculousness. And I didn't got Exeter, I went to Catholic school in Pittsburgh. I was in the upper third of my class…

Ding Ding Ding! I'm 40 and went to a medium-fancy parochial school where we were hot shit for offering AP English, Bio and Physics. (I took English and Bio—got a 5 on English, 3 on Bio) It was a brand new thing back then, entry to AP courses was very limited—only one period of each was offered—and it was seen as an…

Our in-state public universities are the most expensive in the country D:

For undergrad, I got a full ride thanks to my dad being a professor. If I had had to get loans for that, it would have been an overwhelming no, not worth it. I got a BA double major in English and Anthroplogy. This was back in the early 90s where the myth about how having any BA is impressive to employers because it…

Yeah, I'm trying to keep it between 1400 and 1500 right now (I have a sedentary job, so my 30 minutes at the gym doesn't make much of a dent and I'm currently a fatty mcfatterson with no muscle mass to boost my BMR). Dudes proclaiming that it's soooo easssyyyy to eat less to lose weight make me ragey.

No, it's evangelizing. If you've never been told by a poly person that they pity how square and vanilla you are and really monogamy just isn't natural (and hey all the cool kids are doing it), you're a luckier person than me. I mean, yes, it's an orientation that still is faced with a tremendous amount of prejudice…

The literature that comes with the Mirena is hilarious because it straight up just says "How does Mirena work? We don't actually know for sure! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ " It's something like partly the hormones can keep you from ovulating (they sure as shit have kept me from ovulating—no period since 10 months before my son was…

My son pooped like crazy while still in the process of being born (which wasn't great for his lungs when he aspirated it and he had to be suctioned a lot once he was out, but thanks to modern medicine he was good after a few minutes), so he arrived landside completely empty. We didn't have a dirty diaper to deal with…

Co. Signed.

YASSSS! Trust me on this, for I have Been To China And Know Whereof I Speak, Szechuan Express has the vital ingredients that make Chinese food delicious: filth and styrofoam.

Have you accepted Szechuan Express as your personal lord and savior?

My parents are hardcore libertarian Objectivists. I have done nothing for the past 40 years of my life but get more liberal. The needle is currently at European-style Social Democrat with shades of anarcho-syndicalist when I'm feeling feisty.

You definitely get an advantage by being white. The gender pay gap doesn't even come close to the disparity seen in the racial pay gap.

I suspect this is in large part because men are more likely to go into lucrative specialties than women. Pursuing a specialty requires a much greater outlay of resources—both time and money (especially time). Women are less likely to have those resources because of the other demands on their time such as caring for…

A big reason women tend to not negotiate as much as men is because a woman playing hardball is a bitch while a man playing hardball is just looking out for number 1. Being assertive is much more likely to backfire for a woman than for a man. Have that happen enough times in your life, and you'll stop asking.

Hi back! How is the terrifying (to me) world of caring for multiple children at once?

Is my child missing out on an important developmental milestone because I do not myself paint my nails and have no nailpolish in the house y/n?

Netflix giveth, Netflix taketh away. My w-year-old son is currently obsessed with Pee Wee because, I, in a fit of nostalgia and being The Cool Parent, found it on Netflix and put it on for him. He was immediately hearts-in-eyes. I have now watched every episode of all 5 seasons over the span of the last three weeks…

I believe it is plan-specific. My employer took out an STD plan for all employees at the time of employment, specifically because the STD plan was their maternity leave plan. (It was offered for free, I didn't have to pay for it at any point.) But I have a friend who is a teacher, and she had to take out a STD plan…

If you plan on working from home at any point in your transition back to work, here is what I learned: it works out pretty well for the first 6 or so months. Babies that young sleep a lot, and they're not mobile so you can stick them somewhere with a toy, and they stay there. After 6 months, it gets increasingly…