That’s not been my experience. We live in one the most conservative places I’ve ever been in at the moment, and for our dc’s high school experience. No one here has ever said a word to youngest for not shaving. The young people here today just don’t seem to think shaving is any kind of an issue anymore.

So, ds hasn’t stood for or participated in the Pledge of Allegiance for several years now. It’s something he feels strongly about. During high school he was one of several who never stood for it in classes, which was always allowed. Prior to his graduation ceremony students were told they had to at least stand and pretend in order to graduate and were told not too embarrass the school. Ds was the only one who still stayed in his seat for it during the ceremony. Fortunately, they didn’t actually stick to their word but we would have fought it hard if they had tried. Neither dh, a Marine Corps veteran, nor myself were upset with him at all for following his conscience. Again, I really hate hire controlling schools have become. Also, the work and “real world” examples given don’t always actually work that way. Dh has been very outspoken and gone off script several times while in the corporate world and most times it’s actually led to change, not him getting fired.

Yes! High schools seem so extremely controlling today (and they weren’t that great when I was in them either), so I can totally understand trying to finally show them who you really are. I really don’t like how that control has turned into keeping students from actually getting a diploma and graduating for these types of things. I feel it’s a huge overstep and it might even be why these things keep happening.

Youngest has never shaved. Not even in high school when swimming was required for PE. No one has ever said a word. I would let her do what she wants and would be a bit surprised if someone said anything to her. I did warn mine that someone might but it never happened.

Oh, I get it. It was about more than just that for him but that was the first, and early, thing we actually noticed. Kindergarten was absolute hell for him because once he was around another large group of kids he thought there was something wrong with him because he didn’t feel like them. The school wanted to have a resource officer force him out of the car for school midway through and I pulled him out and homeschooled. He returned for two years of ps but at a different school. Things only got worse from there though and we did years and years of therapy starting at age seven. He’s been off meds and actually happy since he he came out, so I think this is what’s right for him. I don’t know how I’d feel though if youngest wanted surgery for being non binary. I admit it would be difficult.

I had no idea those who are non binary were having surgery. I talked with youngest and they said they were aware some do but they have no plans to and neither do any of their friends (that they know of). I also agree with those above in that neither of my dc identify as they do because of gender roles. I used to post so many questions here when Ds was younger because of how much he hated his body. The general consensus was to ignore it, it was normal, and it would get better. It obviously never did but it had nothing to do with gender roles. He is a trans male but still likes many feminine things and has no desire to try to present as totally masculine.

I don’t hear or see the misogyny in youngest or their friends, and since they are non binary there hasn’t been any medical choices at all. Oldest is trans and has taken testosterone since he was 18 but he hasn’t taken steps as of yet to do anything further. He is 21 and came out at 16 and I have no reason to believe it’s a phase, so when/if he does move forward with anything else I’m sure he’ll be just fine.

One of my dc is trans and the other is non binary. Youngest, non binary, also has ASD and almost all of their friend group is non binary (and autistic). 🤷‍♀️ Dh has an uncle who is transgender and transitioned while he was growing up. Dh’s other uncle was gay (uncles from both sides of dh’s parents) and dh’s father was a bit weird with dh while he was growing up because he was afraid dh would “catch” being gay. Father in law is a lot better about it all today thankfully.

I have two dc. One is transgender and the other is non binary (prefers they/them but is ok with she - I use dd here usually to avoid confusion). Both dc would be just fine if everyone used ‘they’ until they knew preferred pronouns, so it’s also what I use until I know for sure what someone wants. I would have been fine with it but I can understand the frustration that it was still used after correcting.

I grew up in TX and didn’t know of it until I was an adult. All my history teachers were coaches though who didn’t really teach. One spent the whole year teaching JFK assassination conspiracy theories. Fun times.

Yes! I even ended up helping out in classrooms that didn’t include my own dc because there was such a need. It was exhausting.

I felt that homeschooling was less time consuming and easier than public school for elementary. Both of my dc did kindergarten in ps and oldest went through second grade and I hated it. Homeschooling the rest of elementary was so much less stressful and calmer.

It’s easy to pull stuff out to hang that can’t be dried so we don’t have issues with stuff shrinking. My mom always warned us of things bleeding into other clothes but I have honestly never had it actually happen (and my dc go to IU so we’re washing lots of red clothes). We also wash everything on cold and haven’t ever had an issue with things getting clean. Maybe it’s the detergent we use or the types of clothes we buy, but these things have just never been problems with our laundry.

I haven’t sorted laundry since I moved out of my parents’ home at 18. 🤷‍♀️ Everything here can be washed together unless someone throws up on something. I’ve never had any issues with clothes being ruined by doing so either. Both dc have been doing their own laundry since they were about ten. There’s always towels or bedding to toss in if a load is small.

This thread makes me happy that my dc, 19 and 21, aren’t dating seriously and have no plans to marry anytime soon. Dh and I met when I was 20 (he was 24) and were married four months later! No engagement or engagement ring - we just got married. I’m sure my parents were freaking out because my brother and SIL dated for ten years and had just got married the year prior. It’s worked out for over 25 years for both my brother and myself but I hope my own dc land somewhere in the middle of what we did.

So, I grew up very outdoorsy - basically on the farm, and we all played sports, hunted, fished, etc. My dad’s job was training other people’s horses (we couldn’t afford our own) but I was on horses pretty much from birth. But we couldn’t afford to do any traveling and we never went to museums or the theater. I made sure my dc went to museums, plays, musicals, and we have taken road trips all over. We did expose them to sports but dh and I weren’t really into it so neither were dc. They have no idea what the actual rules are for most sports and I don’t see that it’s affected them at all thus far at 19 and 21. The only truly intentional thing I can think we did to make sure they knew how was to have them fly alone to visit grandparents when they were teens. We mostly take road trips and I wanted to be sure they were comfortable flying on their own. They did fine. Most of the other stuff they figure out just going about life (animals, housework, new foods). Heck, I still come up against things even at my current age that I don’t know how to do but I can figure it out. I feel confident my dc will be able to do the same.

Oldest has always loved lasagna and I taught him an easy way to make it at college. He uses the no cook noodles, jarred sauce, italian Turkey sausage, ricotta, dried parsley, egg, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheese. Layer meat sauce, pasta, ricotta/egg/parsley mixture, cheese, and repeat. I’ve told him to prepare it in two 8x8 pans and bake one but freeze the other for later.

But why would Kevin be mentioning Philip at all in his speech if he wasn’t the groom? All of us here are actually hoping it’s not a vow renewal to Toby because we quit liking him a bit ago. 18 year old dd actually shouted, “Yes!”, at the end scene. 🙃

I had trouble for a bit and ended up taking melatonin for the first time ever. I posted about it in the personal vaccine story thread. It’s worked itself out now and I don’t need the melatonin anymore.

She should be fine. She’s so done with the cone of shame but has about another two weeks in it. They did a corneal graft? I honestly didn’t even know that doggie ophthalmologists were a thing.

Our dog was hurt this weekend and had to have eye surgery Monday. We had to drive an hour away and that county has no mask mandate and also has the highest vaccination rates in the state. No one was masked inside the clinic and dh and I even ended up removing ours because it was stressful and we were there so long. It was strange but surprisingly I wasn’t really worried about anything Covid related and trust my vaccine. I’m still going to mask most places but I’m not really too worried at the moment.

My mom actually got the vaccine yesterday!😲 I’m completely shocked because she was adamant she was not going to get it. So, people here are masking more since it’s no longer required and my mother got the vaccine. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.

Interestingly enough since most stores here have now dropped the mask requirement, I’m seeing more people wear masks. 🤷‍♀️ Yesterday and today I have been shocked that so many were wearing masks when I was out. These are the same stores that just a week ago had few masked people.

My dc’s state university just announced they are requiring the vaccine for fall. I’m happy but really surprised because the other big state uni recently announced they weren’t requiring it. Both of my dc have already had both shots so it’s no issue for us.

Yes. Ds had herpes on his face when he was little and that one spot will come back even now years later when he is stressed but neither Pfizer shot has brought it on. I had read here about it so made sure he had meds just in case but he’s been fine.