I read this article this morning and thought it was interesting! Always happy to find justification for the amount of money we've dropped on little plastic bricks... ? Students who had played with certain video games - adventure games with complex maps, certain sports games, and simulation games like Minecraft, as well as those who had played with construction toys like Lego, tended to be good at spatial cognition. Even more interesting they found that there was no difference in spatial cognition between males and females - if both had played with these games or toys. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/spacex-launch-universal-music-the-love-protein-and-more-1.4526115/lego-and-video-games-stem-the-gender-divide-1.4526169

Wow interesting! And slightly worrying, my parents have been married 7 times between them (to different people lol)!

I respond to a thread about gender with a feminist understanding and I'm accused of being anti trans. Interesting. I'm also surprised at the 'constant' & 'can't wait to turn into an anti trans thread' accusations. It's been quite a while since I've seen anything gender related here. Which, considering what is happening around the world presently, is also interesting. Believe whatever you want and I'll be free to do the same thanks. Sorry, I really am done here. I only came back because I got a quote notification. *tries to figure out how to turn them off*

I don't think I agree completely with your first paragraph. Yes, feminine accoutrements are/were expected, but they were expected to be put on as a consequence of correctly identifying sex - not as a means of correctly identifying sex. So, as a result of being observed female, the culture imposes the expectation of performing femininity. In feminist theory, that imposition is used to keep females as subordinate. That's why I think that a feminine marker being required as a clue to guess someone's sex is literally backwards and regressive. I'm probably not being very clear, sorry! I actually think that in many places toys and clothes were less gendered in the 70s, see Lego as exhibit A. Tomboys were normal. I can think of plenty of books that had tomboy girls and sensitive boys. I'm not convinced by the ideology that says if you identify with the cultural markers expected of the opposite sex, therefore there is something wrong with your body, and I'm not sure that cultural gender dysphoria is the same as sex-specific body dysmorphia. I think that men who want to costume in culturally feminine presentation should do so as proud men, should not have to damage their healthy bodies to do so, and should respect the female sex enough to not appropriate their biological reality. I agree with your last paragraph. And I'm bowing out because already the anti-trans labeling has already started.

I think you're missing Stella's point a bit Quill. How have we got to the stage where accoutrements of femininity are expected in order recognize sex accurately? Isn't that reinforcing harmful stereotypes? There is a lot of space between being intentionally rude to someone struggling, and completely violating my own values and worldview. Practically, it would depend on the situation. I would avoid pronouns for the most part. There are other ways to show love and kindness. This may be a bit off topic but... it worries me that gender non conforming young women are feeling pressured to perform femininity accurately or be assumed to be trans. There are many detransitioners who talk about exactly this sort of damaging peer pressure.

Our rule is... No phone/texting lol. But pretty much all her friends don't have phones either. They email or call on parents' phones. Dd had a mobile phone trial and used all her texting credit getting into a warped victim spiral with a relative. Nope. Gone. Yes I'm mean.

I'd do it! You're renting now, getting your foot in the market in the area you're moving to, letting other renters pay that mortgage for a year, less moving stress next year, building equity...

It's normal for GPs to do them here.

I hate to be 'that poster' but, why are their suits cut so high? What do the boys wear? I would be tempted to make that the issue, rather than discuss pubic hair removal at 12! Sorry, I have a daughter that age who does leg & armpit removal so I'm not totally opposed but I'll admit pubic hair removal at this age is shocking to me. Could she just trim a bit with scissors if it's really bothering her?

What a cutie! *hugs* for the rest.

I am with Tap and I do feel for you Abba (and have felt your absence around here!) I'm really sorry for your losses. Here's where I am, different to you obviously but maybe talking it out will help us both! I have pcos. I've had two 2nd trimester losses, one which resulted in d&c, one which had me refuse the d&c so I bled for 10 weeks. I'm not keen for a repeat, though it's certainly not unlikely. My youngest is 4, my only naturally conceived baby that made it. No hint of a pregnancy in all the years since his birth. I now haven't had a cycle in 7 months, which is unusual for me. I'm 33. Clearly my body is not exactly happy and healthy! I feel like I'm at the stage where I need to decide if I really want another because if so, I should probably get moving medically sooner rather than later. I won't take fertility drugs, I had to to conceive my first 2 and am not doing that again. So, I'm leaning towards seeing the doctor because my health/hormones are clearly not right. I don't want to go into either pregnancy or menopause already on the back foot - health wise. I figure if I invest in taking care of myself now, then there may still be time to be able to have and handle another pregnancy. At least then I'm making a decision from a place of strength rather than desperation, and the kids I already have can only benefit from a healthier mother. All that to say, my advice would be to take the big, dramatic, black and white decision off the table for now if possible. Go to a good doctor, book a long appointment, and discuss your health & contraception options. Take care of your children's mother, that is far more important than a small age gap.

Awww, so lovely! Huge congratulations happypamama and family!

I'd myob. I know plenty, and I mmob.

You missed out, but I totally understand music based tribalism... ?

busymama7, my kid's names are spelled correctly but I have a creative spelling and I've always loved it. Still do 34 years later! Not crazy creative, no doubles lol.

A pox on you! ? 90s grunge is awesome *sob*

Well, I dunno, we also had bands like Spice Girls and Hanson... Just realised I missed the word 'alternative' in your post. Okay, you've got me there. ? RATM were very social justice focussed, and rap really became more mainstream. I don't know that I'd say it was less depressing though, I remember hearing about Tupac and Kurt on the radio.

There would be less slack for allowing that to happen to his own child... Hello, my name is judgy mcjudgerson. My kids might have weird names but they're spelled correctly darn it! I Also want to know Tibbie's obscure biblical name! I wanted Obadiah badly but dh said No, we ended up with another obscure one and one that seemed obscure 10 years ago but has gained popularity - but people seem to quite like both...

Everyone in our family hated our choice for #3. Hated. We told names before birth and my in laws are famously... blunt. We are famously stubborn and thick skinned. They tried to talk us out of the name every opportunity they could, they made up a joke/rhyme and taught it to my older children, they really went hard on the 'how could you? Poor child!' line. When he was born and named, they said they'd use the middle name instead. 'Why can't you call him James?!' (Lovely name, not our style) Fyi, it is not a made up or celebrity name, it's quite common - if old fashioned - in the part of the world my in laws emigrated from. Dh wanted a name from his culture. Like if I used Llewellyn because my dad is Welsh (which I totally would...) DS is nearly 8 now, everyone got over it. It probably hasn't grown on them but they're used to it and he's a fabulous kid. And we're all still friends! ?

Yes generally. We, or the teacher, might miss a week or two here or there due to holiday stuff but generally we just carry on as usual, albeit slightly more casual in regards to practicing!

I sort of default police because I'm the book buyer and I'm generally right there with them in the store/library. I think I'm on team There's plenty of quality so I'd discourage twaddly smut lol. I think there is a line where my discourage would become ban. Now, my oldest is about to turn 13 and I've been thinking that I'd like to intentionally have some books around with some healthy romance... probably starting with some classics with innuendo Lol, pride and prejudice type.

I was called last year. It was really really bad timing. I was exempted. I wouldn't mind doing it in a few more years.

We're towards the end of cats and it just introduced place value. It's still quite simple. We do it as a once a week supplement (while waiting at music lessons). My 5th grader is likewise working through Fractions. They both still need me with them, though they do enjoy just reading them through on their own. Adding, my oldest did all the way through pre algebra and liked it. She's more naturally mathy and preferred to work on it without me.

Nothing. Maybe a hand held fan. We have good insulation, built on stumps for circulation, we open windows, jump in the pool, and on really hot days go to the air conditioning in the cinema or relatives houses! We get quite hot, above 40 degrees C (around 105F I think) regularly enough in summer, and down to freezing overnight and under 10 degrees C (in the 40sF) in the winter. We have a wood stove for heating.

When I did one with younger kids I used the most excellent Zvonkin book for inspiration https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/082186873X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527040438&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=zvonkin&dpPl=1&dpID=415C3QD9ZjL&ref=plSrch I'd like to start a middle/high school one next year, possibly using Jacob's Human Endeavor book.