The NPR journalist profiled in the link was funded by the Pulitzer Center. That’s pretty much as far as you can get from naive or sensationalistic journalism. Difficult to comprehend doesn’t automatically equate to false.

It took the plague wiping out a large chunk of the population to trigger a sociological reset. Perhaps climate change and antibiotic resistance will kill enough of us to make real change possible.

I still don’t understand how that relates to future advances in birth control.

I think there’s a fundamental difference between controlling reproduction and coming up with a failsafe way to prevent it.

Reproduction? Really?

Oh no. I’m so sorry. Coincidentally there is actually a thread right now on the political board about conspiracy theories and who is susceptible to them and why. Don’t know if you’ve ever joined but I wanted to give you a heads up if you want to chime in. {{{hugs}}}

I hope you are wrong but fear you may be right.

And also to a certain extent a PR issue, or maybe I should say a communication issue.

You’re so right! I asked my 19yo what came to mind and she said, “I appreciate that you make us learn to do things for ourselves, but it’s also really nice when you rescue us when bad things happen that aren’t our fault.” I take that to mean encourage responsibility, but also extend grace.

Well by definition, if it isn’t liveable, humanity is doomed to perish.

Agree with you. I love how our library handles it. There is even a sign posted at each end of the play area, “If you would like to tidy the toys, please stop at the desk and choose a sticker as a thank you.” I think the sign serves two purposes as it’s a gentle reminder to have kids clean up after themselves if possible. It stays pretty neat most of the time.

I read recently that a large percentage of recycled plastics are actually going in the landfill because the market for recycled plastics is so weak. China used to take 2/3 of the world’s recycled plastic but recently banned importing it.

This thread isn’t about climate change but if humans negatively influence the climate, it stands to reason we can also stop influencing it.

Put them on your credit cards as authorized users so they can build a credit score and learn to use credit appropriately while you keep an eye on their spending. Give them regular bills to pay out of their own bank accounts even if they are in college and are living off of a scholarship or allowance. Teach them to use a budgeting app.

Resist the reflex to give them the answers. Teach them where to go to find the answers for themselves. This is particularly important for long time homeschooling moms who are used to answering questions all day. At some point we have to begin saying, “I know the answer to that question, but I’m not going to tell you. Where could you go (or who could you call or email) to figure out the answer?”

Particularly with medical care since we are the outlier in developed countries. We also have the worst maternal death rate in the developed world, close to the worst infant mortality rate and a life expectancy that has fallen for the second year in a row.

Some do, some don’t. Our library keeps stickers on hand at the kids’ desk. Any child who would like to clean up the children’s area of unused toys can swing by the librarian’s desk for a choice of sticker.

Lol, exactly. It drives me batty when someone makes promises to a child they have no intention of following through on. They enjoy the little one’s excitement over the anticipation of the thing without actually doing the work of the follow through. No is no, that’s fine. Explain it and move on, but keep a little kid hanging on to hope because you can’t deal with giving her a clear no is kind of a crappy thing to do.

Good one. People are buried with knee and hip replacements but that’s about it.

We actually have the same sort of arrangement here. Each according to his or her need. If one needs more funds, we will lend money but not give it away because we’ll need it back to give to a younger sibling eventually. By the time our youngest is finished we’re going to be OLD and will need it to feed ourselves lol

Being a new Mom is difficult, I get that. But stress and anxiety don’t absolve one from tending to existing relationships. These families seem to see each other enough that the children are almost like siblings. We would think this was truly odd and borderline cruel behavior if a mother treated her older-born child in the same way. If the aunt is close enough to the child that she scolds her for her behavior, she is a formative authority figure for the child. Her treatment toward the niece is going to affect her greater than if she were a friend of the family or a distant relative

Maybe you’re crossing my post with others but I didn’t infer there should be a plan for the child to ever hold or touch her cousin, only that the aunt is responsible for clearly and kindly spelling out her current rules and boundaries while reassuring her niece of her love for her. It’s not fair to snap and scold over boundaries that haven’t been clearly spelled out. Children need to be told what to do rather than snapped at after the fact for not figuring it out for themselves.

Actually I think we’re all saying some variation on the same theme. No one is entitled to anything, but if there was a financial agreement made at the beginning of a degree program, that doesn’t automatically come to an end because the student decides to marry.

If this were a visiting relative from out of state I would agree, but the the aunt has an existing close relationship with the child and owes the child respect. The aunt is the one who is telling the child, “In a little while,” or “later,” rather than setting appropriate boundaries and explaining them. The mother’s job is to back up the aunt’s boundaries, not to make excuses for her behavior. Moms aren’t responsible for smoothing over family mistreatment of their children. That is where long term family dysfunction begins. If I were the OP I would pull my sister aside and tell her I understand if she doesn’t want 6yodd to hold or touch the baby, but would ask her to spell out exact what she allowed to do so she understands the rules and reassure her that she is still loved. It isn’t fair to make a little girl (as well as her mom) guess at rules that are completely different than they are used to. The child is being made to feel loud, dangerous and dirty even in her own house. Not cool.

The question isn’t directed to me, but yes I would encourage them to find a place they could afford without financial help. Pooling resources to share a tiny one bedroom could make that feasible. There is something about struggling a little bit together that is a bonding experience. It’s good for them to take responsibility for themselves. Of course we would be there to help if things got hairy, but I would expect a couple who is ready to start a life together would be taking some financial responsibility for themselves. If they aren’t willing to do that, they can wait until graduation. ETA I just saw you were responding to the “without marrying part.” Ignore me. I’m going to make coffee.