Thanks for the best wishes. Logically I know that his 'bad behavior' is all developmentally appropriate. Hell, I even have the certificate to say I passed that particular parenting class. In practice the gold-fish's memory part of life with a toddler can feel like Chinese water torture. Each block thrown at the tv,…

I do my best, yo. [silently salutes, turns, and walks on down the road]

I'm a truly single parent of a super energetic two year old. I have no partner and no family within a hundred miles to lend a hand in the day-to-day stuff and it's fucking hard. Last week I had a bad moment like the one you described. Just loosing my shit angry because my son did something I'd asked him a million…

For what it's worth, I do records management for a community college so I deal with FERPA stuff all day too. I've also been following this story in the local news for a couple months and the issue as I see it isn't the end result of the lawyer having access to the records, it's that first the counselor was told to…

I work in records management for an institution of higher education. Your university counseling records will be treated like any other non-permanent confidential record. It will be held in a secure location with strict access protocols and then be destroyed after a set number of years according to the records…

Meh. I've known a handful of people who are young but completely pop culture illiterate. They don't watch tv, don't use the internet for entertainment, and don't listen to the top 40 radio stations. They know a lot about whatever niche books, movies, and music they are into but just don't care enough about "what's…

Maybe this will help...do you remember that Dustin Hoffman interview where he talked about how dressing up as an unattractive woman for his role in Tootsie made him realize something about both himself and the treatment of women in society in general? That's what I think Joni was going for here - I don't know what her…

This may be an unpopular opinion on this blog but misappropriation doesn't inspire the same level of outrage in me as overt racism does. It's not like Joni is saying that Black men are violent animals or is waxing nostalgic about slavery and lynchings. Is it problematic? Sure. Let's have a discussion about that.…

I don't generally write online reviews, especially for restaurants, but when I went to a new brewpub in town and saw that both restrooms had changing tables in them I got so excited that I went straight back to my table and wrote a five star Yelp review specifically mentioning it along with the good food, beer and…

There's a great short film called Two Cars, One Night about young kids hanging out in a parking lot while their parents drink at the bar. The look the kids pass each other when one adult stumbles out and gets in the driver's seat kills me every time. Good job not being "that guy" and congratulations on getting sober.…

Culture relativism is great and all but it doesn't get you out of following the laws of the land you're in. My sister works with international students at a large university and one of the bases that now has to be covered in orientation for those who brought their kids with them is a crash course in CPS and how…

Their baby clothes are still super cute. I'm plus sized so I haven't bothered shopping their adult section for over a decade but I'll occasionally check out GapKids when shopping for my son's special occasion outfits.

There is a large segment of the Jezebel readership (and staff) who are incredibly ageist in general, but for whom old white men are particularly reviled because patriarchy, racism, and all other social ills are *clearly* their fault and *must* be one their own personal failings as well. I've known quite a few amazing…

I get that and I'm not supporting his behavior but I'm pretty solidly team nobody on this one. The way it's written, his initial request wasn't overly rude. It just made her feel bad. Which always sucks no matter what. However, it wasn't until she turned around at the first intermission and basically said "screw you…

counter point: If I have *also* paid $300 per seat to attend a performance I would normally only get to see on tv (PBS Great Performances fan here), I do feel like that should entitle me to a view of the stage. I like to think I'd be nicer about it since I'm at least aware of "black hair politics" but I still would…

That's what I'm confused by. If her seats were $300 a piece so were the couple's seats right behind her. For that price you deserve to be able to see the show and someone (anyone) sitting in front of you with a hat, big hair, or other view blocking accoutrements is the one in bad form. The guy wasn't out of line for…

But...but...that would require...gasp...leaving the house. Which is a problem. You see, pizza is my too-lazy-to-cook food. If I have to put on real pants and exert effort to keep my kid in line in a public dining establishment, it isn't happening. :P

Maybe in a few years. He's three. His pizza per meal rate is only one or two little slices. Even a small pizza will mostly go to waste if I get one just for him. When he's a teenager and can wolf down a medium pizza in one sitting I'll start ordering delivery again.

I've lived in Oregon my whole life and I can tell you for a fact that it is not "so far removed from any of this". Portland, the supposed Mecca of alternative living, has huge racial problems with red lining and such. There are rural parts of this state that are literally known as "The Little South". I spent much of…

Sadly my son is a weirdo who doesn't like tomato sauces and I am a normal person who doesn't like cream/pesto sauces on pizza. As a consequence of these mismatched tastes we almost never eat pizza because we can never agree on what to get and half 'n' half sauces don't work as well as you'd hope. There's always the…