it's all a matter of priorities. I haven't watched tv in over 15 years but read a ton. One could say I don't have time for tv.

Great Gatsby is a good contender for that award, but I'd have to hands-down give it to Grapes of Wrath. It's really a battle for second place.

who said anything about a helpful hint?

Photo filters can give your pictures an interesting look

imperfections of the glass can cause bubbles sticking in the same exact way. keep that in mind before you reject a beer because there is a bubble on the side.

good guidelines. when do they go in effect?

holy hell. that's your 3rd straw man argument. now you're just trolling.

the difference is kids know a game isn't real. when I slip my hand into my sleeve and pretend with my 3 year old that I lost my hand. she knows my hand wasn't actually cut off. we laugh and chase each other around the room, then she pulls her shirt up over her head and pretends her head was cut off. she has imaginary…

unless she's under 18 months, she probably could do that now. kids, even toddlers, are super smart.

pretend and play are different than pushing myths as truth. they aren't mutully exclusive.

sorta about Jesus. It's really the alignment of the winter solstice and all of the historical religious and secular holidays that were raped by unrestrained consumerism.

i think that is totally rational and well played.

problem is when myths are told literally instead of symbolically. myths can still serve a great function in society. some of the best lessons are learned through story telling. you cross a line when you start pretending the story is real.

It's different if it's not your kid. I wouldn't hesitate to lie to my friends' kids or my nieces or nephews. How those kids are raised is up to those parents. I'm not going to create friction when none needs to exists. But if my kid asks flat out if he's real, I'll tell her the truth. Or at least put it back in her…

i think that would be just as bad as santa. if you want them to behave, it's better to help them learn the relationship between actions and consequences. teach them to evaluate risk before doing something. good behavior out of fear is short lived. as soon as they realize santa, krampus, zeus, or any of the others…

not a strong enough benefit in my opinion. there are better ways to give them the skills to think critically without lying to them.

We don't celebrate christmas so santa isn't on the radar yet for our 3 yo. I accept it's going to come up eventually. She doesn't understand secrets just yet so I do worry about her spoiling the illusion if her friends' parents choose to do that. I try to obscure and change the subject when she asks questions about…

gotcha. i still have problems with the revised title of the article for the same reasons but at least he made it slightly better.

hardly a scientific experiment. No way you can claim it's "irrefutable proof". Nobody is going to get a first place ribbon in the science fair for this.

I always think it's best to give to charities that you have a personal connection with. Not just a cause you believe in but an organization where you have volunteered or know someone who works there or has benefited from that charity's work. None of the charities I give to will be any that someone here has heard of…