[What's your favorite K-Cup?]

Rain Forest Nut (Green Mountain)

It's hard to find at the moment, I hope it's not been discontinued.

[I finally saw the movie, "The Help". Have a ?]

The book wasn't trying to make the point that every maid was mistreated, but that every maid had a story to tell and some of those stories were of mistreatment. Are people here really trying to say they don't believe maids were mistreated just because they didn't see it?

 

I am sure the friends of Skeeter (Hilly and the other one whose name escapes me at the moment) didn't think they were mistreating their maids at all.

 

There were also instances of kindness shown to maids in addition to Minny and Celia's story.

 

I have some problems with the book (but I enjoyed it anyway), but certainly not with the idea that maids may have been mistreated in the South!

[Hey, Everybody! It's New Mexico's 100th Birthday!]

I saw that on Jeopardy! They had a New Mexico category in honor of it.:)

[why don't french women get fat?]

I had a French friend tell me (but he's a man, so take it with a grain of salt) that French women just care more how they look. He said they take more care with their personal appearance than American women, invest more money in better clothes rather than having lots of cheap junk, and are relentless in watching their weight. He said French mothers have no problems telling their daughters not to eat too much or they will get fat - that they are just really committed to not gaining weight and have a stronger bias against the overweight.

 

 

I had a male French doctor tell me and a friend something similar (we were not really overweight at that point, just not skeletal!) when we went for our physicals for our green cards. I told him that I was "bien dans ma peau" (literal translation "well in my skin") regardless of my weight, and that I was fortunate not to have to be subject to his opinions of me, unlike his skinny girlfriend that he kept comparing us to. My friend who was with me just got upset and cried. We told one of our female French teachers about what he said, and she was infuriated. She actually wrote that doctor a letter and basically ripped him a new one!

 

 

These are some of the things I had in mind when I wrote earlier that some Frenchpeople have weird attitudes about weight. I found people just made way too much mention of people's appearance in general--especially my in-laws! So, the lifestyle tends to be healthy, but the attitudes can be harmful, IMO.

[why don't french women get fat?]

Haven't read the other posts, but I have a friend who recently move to France. She is very petite (maybe 5' tall) and very thin (guessing her weight is between 95 and 100lbs). She said she was STARVING.ALL.THE.TIME because the portions sizes served were soooooo small. If the portions sizes make a very small, thin woman feel hungry, you know they arn't eating very much. It may be very rich and fatty food, but very, very small servings!

 

I lived in France for about a dozen years and I never left a restaurant hungry. Is your friend sure she's not ordering off the "entree" menu (starters)?

 

 

This is something I noticed about the French and American women in restaurants in France. The Frenchwoman will eat her whole meal (or at least most of it) and then not eat until the next meal. The American woman will leave half of it and then will be eating something an hour or two later. If it's about an hour before it's time to eat and a Frenchwoman is getting hungry she thinks, "well we'll be eating in about an hour", but an American woman looks for something to tide her over, thinking she'll eat less at dinner if she does so. Obviously this isn't true in all cases, but it's a pattern that I've noticed.

 

Also there are many, many markets in France. When I lived in a small town, we had a huge market on Sundays and a smaller one on Thursdays, a fish market every morning, as well as all the specialty shops in town (bakeries, dairy shop, produce market). When we moved to a tiny village there was still a market every Saturday, with two produce stalls, a cheese van and a fish market. I had a car then, but it was only about 5 mins to walk down to the village and 10 mins to walk back up so we always walked.

 

My MIL is 70 and lives on the 6th floor with no elevator (in France). Each flight is long and winding. She has no car and when you take public transportation everywhere you end up walking a lot more. Sometimes it's just easier to walk 20-30 minutes than to change buses or trains. My MIL isn't stick thin, but she's not obese.

 

As far as half the French being overweight, by how much is my question. Since I've been in the U.S. I've gained a few pounds. According to a weight calculator I am, at 117 lbs, overweight by 4.8 lbs., but no one would look at me and think I'm overweight. Still, I'm back to walking again and avoiding crap food (poptarts and the like). As a PP said, she saw Frenchpeople who could (not necessarily should) drop 10 lbs, but that's very different from being 30, 40, 50 lbs or more overweight.

 

ETA: The French can have weird attitudes about weight. I am not saying they have all the answers. Any pharmacy window will have displays or ads for some sort of pill to slim down or cellulite cream. But I think overall the lifestyle tends to be pretty healthy.

[What do you think about these child obesity ads?]

I hate the ads.

 

Making kids who are overweight feel worse than they already do about their weight will only exacerbate the problem.

 

Parents know that their child is overweight. These ads might shame them into coming down hard on a kid about it and making him or her feel worse than ever and that does not result in healthier kids.

 

And the minimal effort put into this bothers me too. How hard it is to get some obese kids and put them on a billboard or in a TV commercial? That money could have been combined with some real effort to help people eat more healthfully and get moving more.

[Israeli Women Losing Their Freedom?]

I don't think the outrage is reserved for Israel alone. In fact, you usually hear about this kind of stuff happening in other countries in the region and not in Israel. It's possible that it's a big story because people don't typically think of this as a something that happens there.

 

I also think children being harrassed (or worse) is going to catch people's attention more. I remember similar stories in Northern Ireland.

[A French nutritionist's proposal on BMI on Bac...]

Isn't this the guy whose diet is linked to an increased cancer risk?

 

Plus the photo of him holding up a small length of measuring tape between his fingers is creepy.

[When do you start letting your boys go in MENS restrooms alone?]

my gosh I must be a weirdo parent. I've let my sons go in alone since they were each 5. I know you see reports from time to time about crazy things that can happen in public places but from all I've heard your children are more likely to be abducted/molested by a friend or family member they would know and trust than be a total stranger. I just don't worry about those types of things. Like I said I guess I'm a weirdo.

 

It seemed like the most common answer on this thread was age 6, so I'm not sure you're such a weirdo ;)

 

To answer the OP's question, it was when my son was around 6, but there were still some places (like the airport or train station) when I felt better having him with me and he was OK with that for awhile, but then he got to a point where he didn't want to come into a women's bathroom no matter where we were.

 

There is also the issue of when you need to go and your son doesn't want to go in with you. That can be tough sometimes, but we were so often out at places just the two of us that we just had to work it out.

 

While I can't say I've never worried about it, I once saw a woman in a bathroom at JCPenney make her son who looked to be at least 10, maybe a bit older, stand right outside the stall she was using with his foot where she could see it. :001_huh:

[I don't want to babysit while homeschooling...]

I wouldn't do it. It would be a huge lifestyle change, even more than having a baby of your own, IME.

(eta: of course long term, having a baby is a bigger deal, but I am talking about the day-to-day care of someone else's child).

[Valid reasons for delaying or ceasing reproduction]

Any reason, whether that reason means you don't want any more kids or whether that reason means you would like to have another child, but your circumstances lead you to decide that it's better not to do so.

ETA: I could see many reasons, including a special needs child or any child that requires an above average investment of time and finances for various reasons, a lifestyle change--caring for an elderly/sick parent, job change, cross-country or international move, etc. or, and this is a big one, marital issues.

 

NFP doesn't work for everyone (and I don't just mean biologically).

[Do your children write thank you notes for Christmas gifts?]

No, he thanks the giver when he receives the gift. When a gift is sent he sometimes thanks the person on the phone, sometimes writes a note that we send and sometimes I just take care of it.

 

This year there was only one gift, from his aunt, uncle and cousins, that came to him indirectly and I sent a thank-you email myself. Although I didn't indicate anything negative about it to my son, it was a ridiculous gift and I think a polite thank-you email from me was adequate. When he's older and has his own email account I will help him send such an email so he knows how to politely respond to such gifts.

[We Bought A Zoo movie should NOT be rated PG]

I only know the original Hergé TinTin books which are in French.

Well, those are the best. ;) The cartoon is better in French too, the English version sounds a bit awkward to me. I didn't feel that way about the movie though, I thought they did a really good job.

[We Bought A Zoo movie should NOT be rated PG]

Sorry that didn't work out for you. If you want to see a really good family-friendly movie The Adventures of TinTin was fantastic. No profanity, no nudity, just lots of action. It did have one character (the sea captain) who was a drunk, but it's pretty mild and humourous.

 

We really enjoyed it. It was a fast-paced plot and true to the non-stop action of the books. My only disappointment was that TinTin is now British, instead of Belgian and they changed Millou's name to Snowy.

 

Snowy is Milou's name in English, they didn't change it for the movie.

We also thought it was great and it's definitely not for younger kids. (ETA: I don't mean to say you shouldn't take younger kids, just that it's not aimed at the preschool crowd). It is action-packed. My 10 year-old son loved it, and went to see it a second time. I don't know why the accent is British (but thought Jamie Bell did an excellent job), in the cartoon I think it's Canadian. But not sure a Belgain accent would make that much sense either, lol.

 

ETA: I forgot to put in what I was going to post re: the OP! In The Mighty Ducks and The Goonies there are some words along those lines and they are uttered by kids. I don't think it's something new and I don't think it makes a movie deserve a PG-13 rating.

[I am so sick of arguing about sugar]

I don't really see "stop buying it" to be a very realistic solution. I think it makes more sense to reduce it without making a big deal about it. Maybe you keep an extra bottle of maple syrup that doesn't have all that much in it and that's what is put on the table for pancakes. It seems a bit controlling to put the maple syrup on for an 8 year-old and it probably wasn't enough for his tastes (not that he should have been rude, but I can understand his frustration--though I understand the OP's worry too). I think a compromise needs to be found.

[My son ...]

That is wonderful! :001_smile: I love the way it came about, by doing his family a favor, and then he just went for it!

[so mad at my BIL!!!!]

:grouphug: I'm so sad for your SIL. I don't know how she's feeling about her husband right now, but your BIL may just lose her over this. I completely understand your feelings and the fact that you're expressing them here, not running over and yelling at your BIL or anyone else who will listen.

[Kim Jong Il is dead]

One has to wonder--did Havel and Hitchens pick the third to go?

 

I love the thought of this! :lol:

[Was my email snarky?]

anotherbrother,

I know it's better not to sweat the small stuff, etc., but I would be bugged, too. I'm more than happy to know what category of dish is needed and to fill that need, or to be asked (not told, asked) to bring my famous cheese puffs or potatoes au gratin, but I would bristle at being assigned something in a group email.

[Kim Jong Il is dead]

Meet the new Boss

Same as the old Boss

 

And the world looks just the same...

[For those trying to have Christmas be perfect, like you hear about in those songs..]

My mom plays the Dixie Chicks/Rosie version for us every year!

[Christopher Hitchens Dead]

Yeah I saw the tribute on Hardball. It's a tremendous loss.

[s/o Christmas letter...Is mine too braggy?]

I know a braggy Christmas letter when I read one and that was not it. :001_smile:

[I received the Christmas card/newsletter that everyone talks about.]

I am now going through my Christmas card list, trying to figure out who my letters have pissed off in the past, and who hates me because I try to write a cheery, upbeat letter every four years or so. :leaving:

 

astrid

 

The letter I referenced in my post was truly an over-the-top, flowery bragfest, but it didn't piss us off. On the contrary, we relished reading it aloud. A cheery, upbeat letter wouldn't be mocked, but, depending on what was written, could possibly induce an eyeroll/snort combo or two, but that's OK. :) It's fun. We just received one last weekend that was a delight to read--very (intentionally) funny and sweet.

[Help me think of a response (cyberbullying)]

Sorry, for so much info. I just know it is hard to see our young men struggle in this area and I hope I've encouraged you a little.

 

 

Yes, you have, thank you for your response, I really appreciate it. I have renewed motivation to keep working on it with him, too.

Thanks to Martha also for your reply. It helps to know some kids are like this, we didn't make them this way and they need some extra help navigating through certain interactions.