Thank you for pointing this out. It is not only children and teens who bully. Adults in authority positions engage in it all too often.

I sincerely hope that my son and daughters have repeated opportunities to view the beautiful nude human body in works of art. No, we do not avoid nude artwork. In fact, we go the extra mile (or 100s or 1000s of miles) to enjoy the paintings and sculptures on display. Do we dialogue about the art? Well, yes, I guess you could consider a study of art history and art appreciation a dialogue. How have we handled it? I don't know how to answer that other than I have taken pains to make sure they are exposed to actual masterpieces of artwork throughout their young lives. If you are asking whether any of them responded with embarrassment, the answer is no. Honestly, for the majority of my life, I never realized that some parents had issues or concerns surrounding nude artwork.

Humans, especially in groups, have always had the capacity for extreme cruelty. I wish someone had posted videos of all the GLBT kids being bullied; maybe some of them would have received the emotional and financial support that people have rightfully bestowed upon the bus monitor. My nonheterosexual child, my multiple special needs child, and my mentally retarded brother in law have been on receiving end of brutal bullying. Simply homeschooling them will not necessarily save them from the bullying; it can happen anywhere that people congregate.

:iagree: Although I would not post something like that on facebook, I can empathize with someone who finds it easier to reveal bad news by written word than in person or on phone. When my family suffered a tragedy, I literally was speechless for a few days. Anytime I tried to utter a syllable, I burst out in unintelligble sobs. Another family member had to relay the news, contact my employer, and take care of other matters.

Throughout this thread, there seems to be a negative connotation associated with the word “clique†to the point that members deny the existence of cliques. I am guessing that this negative response stems from the notoriously hateful exclusive behavior that can be a hallmark of junior high and high school cliques. A clique is nothing more than a few people in a crowd who interact with each other with more frequency and intensity than they do with the other members of the crowd. Following that definition, yes, there are cliques here as there predictably would be on a large popular well-established forum. It is an inherent part of the dynamics of forum exchanges. But what would the forum be without those super frequent posters who are willing or eager to be chatty and delve into great personal detail online? Probably much more milquetoast and slow moving. This board is a terrific resource for information on almost any topic and can be voyeuristic entertainment as well. I personally do not find the forum either particularly chilly or eagerly receptive, but as another poster commented, I am not searching out warm and fuzzies on the internet. Nor am I willing to invest the time it takes to be a frequent regular poster. In real life and on the forum, primarily I am an intensely private Aspy-ish person who is not willing to reveal much in the way of personal information but sometimes lack diplomacy in posting style. There have often been times that I would like to reply to a post but pass because my children probably would not want me revealing their struggles even in relative anonymity. I continue to be surprised at what people are willing to share about themselves and others on a forum accessible to public. However, if any poster finds the forum chilly, that is his or her perception and reality. The fact that others disagree does not change the poster's perception of her personal experience here. Whoever advised op that internet was not place to seek validation was spot on. Giving examples of cozy personable on and off board interactions only serves to make those who feel the chill feel only more alienated. Try not to take it personally. My posts are often ignored too but that just happens in the onslaught. Honestly I do not always follow up to see if anyone responded to my posts. Also I have noticed that if you post very late at night or after stroke of midnight, you are more likely to be the final post on a thread. Interestingly I have had one poster chastise me for what I thought was earnestly polite advice on another poster's situation. You can never know all the history and the nuances of the interpersonal relationships between posters and their posses. Original poster in original thread, you may have better luck meeting your needs by frequenting smaller private boards where a poster is less likely to get lost in the shuffle. As someone else here suggested, you could try posting more or how about outright asking if anyone would like to start a private message conversation or be a facebook friend? I am sorry that you have felt ignored here, and I hope that you are able to come up with a solution.

:iagree:

Small dogs can live a long time. Remember that the dog may be around your daughter has left home. Also, you would need to be willing to care for the dog if the child does not follow through. A child does not have the reasoning or commitment capacity to make a decision to care for a dog for its entire life.

:tongue_smilie: I can relate! When the troubled person in my life introduces me to one of her new "friends," I can immediately sense whether she has told terrible lies about me to them by the look in their eyes, their body language, etc. We once had a frightening unsettling incident when one of her equally troubled "friends" decided that he should be her knight in shining armor and protect her from evil me.

I am missing a piece of the puzzle here. Wolf will be working for the same company if he receives promotion, right? It is a well-known company, so what is ever to stop her from contacting his employer? I think someone mentioned earlier talking to human resources to notify them of unstable mentally ill relative who possibly may attempt to contact your husband through employer. I was wondering how she even knows who Wolf's employer is. I was wondering if maybe a prophylactic call to police and social services may put you at ease before cutting off contact. I do believe it probably is a wise move to cut off contact with her. But what about your son that she raised (I may be confusing you with someone else)? How does he feel about her? If he felt a bond with her and maintained contact, that would be the only thread that would keep me hanging in there with brief superficial contact (BSC) by phone or email that I could control. Twocents' post offered wise advice about interactions with troublesome relatives. Controlled BSC is the only method of communication with my troubled relative that I can engage in yet remain calm and centered. Cutting off contact is not an option for me because of certain circumstances. Personally I would not want to give her the satisfaction of tearing apart siblings unless those siblings behaved in an ongoing hurtful manner toward you. Have you reached out to them lately? Sometimes it is just too painful to rehash past; maybe you could have a friendly neighborly type relationship with your siblings.

http://outofthefog.net/forum/ In addition to the forum, they have articles, a "toolbox," and other resources for dealing with the difficult people in your lives.

Rude or understandable? Understandable. I would presume that certain people were not sufficiently deterred by a gentle request.

Based upon the narrative recounted by the original poster, my guess would be that the mother does indeed advocate crying it out. Remember she failed to comfort a whining crying child for three hours.

:iagree: Wise response.

The rate on short term liquid investments most likely would be lower than the interest payment on debts. Get rid of all debt first.

I always tip at Sonic. Quality of service generally does not affect tip. Mistakes happen and often it is not server error that causes delay.

P. S. - I would ask for a recent photograph is the one provided appears outdated. If you do not have strong memory, take notes on personal details he reveals to compare to later information provided by him. Hopefully they agree.

Yes, it can be difficult to track down criminal charges that took place prior to electronic recordkeeping.

A complete thorough background check for local, state, federal and other comprehensive records is expensive, but you pay for what you get. Sure a background check can tip you off to criminal behavior or financial problems, which may or may not have been beyond target's control, but a background check cannot reveal that the person is a manipulator, liar, cheater, controller or any other number of undesirable traits. At the bare minimum, however, I would run a credit check if the relationship was blossoming because irresponsible financial management would be my own personal dealbreaker. I liked the suggestion to introduce the person to your friends if you have a history of poor judgment of character. It is equally important to meet his friends because the company a person keeps says a lot about them. I'd also want to know how long he has known these friends. The suggestions to take it slowly, meet in public, and to not reveal too much personal information at first are all sound. How about having your friend let other friends know she is interested in meeting men for friendship and possibly more? The friends act as pre-screeners.

Finally a speaker who had the fortitude to choose the hard truth over flowery pomposity. My child who graduated from a traditional highschool declined to attend the ceremony because she did not view it as an achievment that merited a celebration. We shall see if she holds same attitude toward BSN (or MSN if she chooses) graduation.

Absolutely I would be with pet in his final moments. No compromises.

:iagree: After having been burnt one too many times, this is now my policy too.

I definitely would not complain about odd-appearing eyes or contacts that intentionally altered eye appearance. If my child found it unnerving, I would consider that a teaching opportunity. The type of restaurant would have no bearing whatsoever upon my decision to not complain.

Personally I would not drive 800 miles round trip and incur lodging cost to attend a reception. On a grad school budget, a card or better yet a personal note and $25 should suffice.

It does appear that original poster is asking if bikes should be banned from two lane rural roads where they slow traffic and from slow lane and emergency lanes of multi lane highways.

During a recent conversation with a relative (F) about shopping for cosmetics, I mentioned that I buy my cosmetics online. Upon F's confirming that I purchase lipstick online, F asked, "Aren't you afraid that someone has put your lipstick in their buttcrack?" To put the comment in perspective, F has a permanent disabling mental illness. One of its many manifestations is an irrational fear of germs. I responded that I exercised reasonable caution and did not fret over things beyond my control. F proceeded to describe various instances of angry customers sabotaging lipsticks. I have no doubt that intentional product tampering occurs, but the logistics of the particular act relative described seem very difficult to pull off in a store with security cameras and personnel.