I think young adults think life is going to be more fair than it actually turns out. It takes awhile to get used to the fact that it’s not. And to benefit from the “unfair” stuff. Like…I’m a 44 year old woman driving an old auto with no moving violations. Why should my insurance premiums be the same as a 22 year old with several tickets driving an expensive car? It would be “unfair” to me if they were.

She IS genuinely being mean. She wants you to be as miserable as she is. That's why she says it. She's not a nice person. I'm sorry life gave you this mom. You do deserve better. And you can't make her be nice. One thing to remember...she doesn't want a solution. She doesn't want you to fix it or give her any ideas. She simply wants to mourn that "Life is impossible and I hate that I'm old and you're not." So stop offering solutions. Stop suggesting stuff or giving ideas. When she says "It stinks that I can't take out the trash because it's too cold." Your response is "Oh that's rotten. Guess it'll just pile up till the weather improves. Did you know that I had the most amazing blueberry muffin from the bakery today." Just agree or sympathize with every complaint she offers. If you offer ideas and suggestions, she's going to use that opportunity to put you down and say a mean thing. So don't do that. (Sorry this is late. I've been off the boards for Lent)

I know this is a few days old, but I was on a board break for Lent. I remember those stickers. I was not a stellar student, so I didn't get many in school (which as an adult now makes me kind of sad) but the ones that I got, I treasured!

So for lent this year I’m doing a digital fast. I’m basically blocking all my fun apps on my phone, which includes this site. So…I’ll see you all on the other side.

They helped both my dd and my mil find effective meds and the med that sent my mil to crazy town, was on the red list.

I am looking for a set of satin pajamas for women NOT made in China. I can’t find any. I definitely want satin because I get so itchy in winter and satin helps with that. Also I want long pants and a long sleeved shirt. any ideas?

By the way @kbuttoni totally agree with you . My ds and I get aggressively tailgated often because he’s you know…gettin all crazy by following the speed limit.

The bolded are basically my kids. But I know many who live in the middle of traffic and it seems rather…insensitive to tell single moms and other struggling folks who barely have time to teach their kids to drive that they owe it to the world to continually drive hours out of their way just to avoid hateful rude aggressive drivers and teach their kids to drive.

Some people live in the deep end and if their kid is ever gonng to learn to drive, it is what it is.

Chickadees Sparrows House finches (I get the goldfinches in the summer when I plant sunflowers) Cardinals Doves Woodpeckers Hummingbirds in summer Lots of hawks, A few weeks ago, my son and I were coming up the drive at dusk and an owl flew across the drive.

We found honors classes very good for my science kids and skipped AP altogether in lieu of dual enrollment. (Except for my oldest who suffered through ap) My kids stressed over testing and we found with my oldest that ap classes were harder or more time consuming than just taking the college classes. I figured that if they’re gonna do all th work, and still have to pass a test for college credit, why not just do dual enrollment and have a full semester with lots of tests and grades for the college credit?

What about some older shows? Andy Griffith, Leave it to Beaver, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore....

What is it about drinking water that is hard for you? I drink more with a water bottle with a straw for whatever reason. If I have to fill a glass, I won't drink much. My water bottle holds 27 ounces so I don't have to keep filling it up. Also, in winter, I struggle with fluid intake as well because I'm cold and I don't like drinkning more cold stuff. So I make herbal tea sweetened with stevia if I'm feeling chilly. If you just don't like drinking plain water, why not get those little packets of crystal light to add to the water. The artificial sweetener isn't great, but it's better than dehydration. This is another case of don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And yes, walk with podcasts guilt free. Find good ones, or audio books and you may find that walking is easier. I won't SIT and listen to a podcast or audio book but I will clean or walk.

Staff bios and pictures service styles (I’m a traditional worshipper so if there’s 2 services, contemporary and traditional or only one service I’d like to know) whether or not childcare is provided

Paper mail order catalogs!

For your mom, can you frame it as “THEY are choosing carrying a weapon over family.” you are allowed to make the rules for your own family. I have a family member whose dogs are like their kids. My house is a no indoor animal house. We make a comfortable space in our garage for their dogs. I’m not obligated to let their dogs in my house because….family. what if it’s singing obnoxious rap songs that depict rape? What if it’s watching porn in public areas of my home with my kids around? There can always be a thing that someone gets hung up on, and if that thing is more important than family, it’s not on you to bend in your own home. you get to make the rules for your home. They get to make the rules for their home. we have firearms. I have a concealed carry permit. If someone says “no guns in my house” they don’t go in that persons house. Period. Their house, their rules. I deal with it the same way that I do when I go to any of the county or state office buildings.

Being farm kids, mine have plenty of “back In my day…” stories. in fact, my dd22 works at cfa and she’s been known to say when the teen boys get whiny there “it’s quite clear who has NEVER worked in a tobacco patch”

Oof...Prickly preteens. Not fun. Has the DC always been this way? Is this the oldest child? My oldest could totally be like this at that age. It was HARD. If this is a NT kid, no special diagnosis, I would deal with it head on. At least in our family, we do not dance around this kind of thing. We are gentle and loving, but my kids don't get hints. They need direct communication. "Dear child, I love you and you are a wonderful person. I have to confess that I have been failing you as a parent. I've screwed up in allowing you to run from any form of hard things. Some of good parenting is helping all my kids grow by correcting their mistakes. These are not personal attacks, but when I love someone, I can't let them continue making mistakes because sooner or later, the mistakes will cause more suffering than just correcting problems. One problem I've been avoiding is how you handle when you're corrected. I've made a huge mistake by allowing you to avoid these issues. It was unfair of me to allow you to run away when shoveling snow the other day. We needed your help and because you bailed, everyone else had more work to do. That wsa unfair of me and it was unfair of you." Then I would dig deeper. What's going on in your head when you want to leave? Embarrassment? Anger? Confusion? I would start a dialogue about how to handle those big feelings. Also, I would allow a kid a momentary reprieve to pull themselves together but they have to come back to the task at hand within X minutes. ALso, they may need more direct communication on how to manage big feelings and what negative. self talk can do to us. I also would share this quote: “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem” ― Captain Jack Sparrow And reinforce constantly that nobody expects this child to be perfect. Everyone knows he/she will make mistakes, missteps, errors, or whatever. It's no big deal! Everyone does this.

“Im sorry. That will no longer work for me. If the antics of a 7 year old can wreck the relationship between 2 families, I guess this is a bad fit. In my mind, adults can separate childish behavior from relationship issues, but I suppose I was mistaken in that assumption.”

Yeah…coffee bar? I’ve found that if a space doesn’t have a purpose it draws clutter

You know, it's entirely possible that your email recipient just didn't read your question. I used to work at my church and it was baffling how many people JUST DIDN'T READ stuff. Basic stuff. Easy stuff. Stuff that was 100 percent black and white clear as day.

You're correct

Your kids who work do need to file their own taxes. If you are responsible for their living expenses, you can still claim them. All my kids have worked jobs while living at home and we claimed them (I think there might be an upper age limit) as dependents, but they still had to file their own taxes. If they are supporting themselves, I think you can't claim them.

My grandfather died from asbestosis so yeah, it's a pretty big deal to be really careful with it.

I have days when I see everything perfectly and then there are other days where it all is a mes.