I think it's normal. I remember that I was still playing with Barbies at 12 and I once got teased by a neighbor girl for riding my little sister's big wheel tricycle (the giant plastic kind) in the driveway once. I just didn't move into the "teenage" phase that fast, and that's okay. It just means that your daughter is still relatively innocent (in a not-too-worldly yet) kind of way.

If my daughter refuses I send her to her room until she is ready to come out and be nice. I always talk about why she was sent to her room and what she should do. Then I ask her again to repeat the "nice" thing I want her to say. And whatever you do, don't give in if he won't be nice.

Jean's advice is spot-on. My daughter has a tendency to be mouthy and rude also. She used to demand things frequently, like the "get me apple juice" thing. In that case, I tell her "That is not a nice way to ask. You should say 'Can I have some apple juice please'" and then I expect her to say it to me. Every single time. She still isn't perfect, but all I have to say now is "You need to apologize and ask again nicely" and she does. It takes discipline on your part to demand polite behavior and not to give in until he does it. But it will work.

It's funny to read people saying video games have no value and that they turn people into lazy zombies. People used to say that novels would rot your brain. They said that about Charles Dickens and Jane Austen! There's always something people think will be the end of smart people as we know them. But I've learned it's the same as the people who feel the need to call someone else stupid to make themselves feel smarter. Just like name-calling, some people need to insult something else to feel better about their own choices, even though it's not necessary to make something else out to be a waste of time so your particular choice becomes less of one.

There are always exceptions. Some people are so sick or evil that nothing can help them or deter them. But the scale of things like school shootings and serial killers in the US are partly caused by the general "safe" circumstances. I found these two articles to be really interesting: http://en.wikipedia....chool_shootings and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_country

The answer is "first world problems." People who are starving don't commit weird murders because they're occupied with finding food for themselves and their children. People who live in suburbia can create problems for themselves because they don't have any physiological needs to worry about. If you look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the people who live their lives worrying about Physiological and Safety needs are occupied with fulfilling them. But once your most pressing needs are on the Love/Belonging, Esteem, or Self-Actualization levels, there is room for spending time figuring out how to get revenge on someone, blaming other people for your issues, fulfilling some twisted need to kill and the other issues that lead to shooters, bombers, serial killers, etc.

Canada doesn't have the racial history or tensions that the US does. This is probably the most important issue affecting gun violence differences. In the entire population of 31 million in Canada, less than a million are black (less than 3%) and less than half a million are Hispanic (less than 1%). In contrast, the United States has 308 million people with 12% black and 16% Hispanic. I'm not saying those races are more prone to violence, but that the tension among vastly different races, and race relations history in the US, leads to violence. Most school shootings aren't caused by racial tensions (that I'm aware of), but most gun violence in general is caused by either racial tensions or cultural/economic/social issues that are the result of past racial tensions.

If this really is an ongoing issue, next time you're at her house, you SHOULD rearrange her utensil drawer and then tell her it "wasn't right." Some people just don't learn until they're on the receiving end.

I'd be seriously tempted to go to her house and do the same thing to her. My mother-in-law did this to me once. I had to have a very serious and direct talk with her about it, but I only had to have it once.

I worked in libraries for years, and mistakes happen because it's people working there, so now that I don't work there I give them the benefit of the doubt. That said, like others pointed out, the person who accepted the item from you and checked it in should have looked for all the discs. Nearly a month later is too long for them to be able to say that it was you that lost the disc. They had their chance to catch the missing disc if it was you, and there are any number of ways a disc could go missing in the meantime, from other patrons to mishandling by staff.

Rules like this may make things harder for some families, but I can see why they came about. As a foster child, I was forced to share a bed with a much older disabled girl who wet the bed every night, and I was sexually abused by an older boy who slept in the common children's room with a couple of us. Rules like this would have prevented the first problem, and would have made the second much more difficult to accomplish.

If a person tries to start an argument and it works, it's just as much the fault of the people arguing as the one who started it.

I've never said anything online anywhere that I wouldn't say in real life, but I'm a very opinionated person everywhere. I definitely hold back personal details, even when relevant to a discussion, because some people just can't stop themselves from attacking someone different from them, as I experienced even here.

"Playing doctor" is normal at 3 to 5 or so when body curiosity is high. At 9 and 11, like Joanne I would be concerned that one of them has been victimized.

I don't know if it's normal, but it's great if she loves those children enough to consider them grandkids and buy gifts for them. I have some atypical "grandparents" and it's always meant a lot to me that they count me as a granddaughter and remember my birthday even though their not related to me directly by blood.

I have always had severe pain with my period, from the very beginning. School was miserable on those days. It really helped once I got on the pill, but that may depend on which one, because they aren't all the same. Also, does she have normal 28 day cycles? I never did, and I wish I had known from the beginning that I likely had PCOS. It's not necessarily a clear yes if she has long cycles, but the severe pain and long cycles are symptoms of PCOS.

I think the list is a great starting point for considerations before dating and marriage. Those are all things that are important to consider when choosing a spouse. Obviously, sometimes people without those things can work out as a couple, but being aware of them is very important. But then, I think self-awareness on the part of both partners, combined with a willingness and ability to communicate can build a generally strong marriage.

:iagree: I am exactly like this. I allow her to sit in the cart, but there is no bending on the "seated at ALL times" rule. My daughter didn't sit in the cart until I knew she was old enough to follow that rule.

I agree that his behavior was over the line. I would keep in mind when talking to him that attraction to other people is normal and it happens. Attraction isn't something that a person can control but reaction is. I would talk to him about the difference. I completely understand that sometimes my husband may find another woman attractive (whether this is based on looks or personality, it doesn't matter) but I expect him to behave appropriately. I think your husband found himself in a situation where he was attracted to this woman on some level but didn't handle it the right way at all. That's what he needs to learn to do. And yes, any other contact would be a bad thing. I don't necessarily think that he would try to talk to her, but if he wasn't self-aware enough to deal with attraction in person, he may not handle other contact appropriately either.

I agree that you should complain, that is completely over the top. The part that makes no sense to me is that the purpose of all the yelling, punishment, insults, etc in real boot camp is to break down an individual's personal ego in order to build a cohesive group. Every service member is intended to change their focus from self to team. There is no reason at all to attempt to break personal ego OR to build team in a gym class. It makes no sense, and shows that the guy was too stupid to even realize what was going on in his boot camp, no matter what service he came from. I would not take a class from someone like that, ever again.

Thank you for your response. I'm glad to find someone who is happy with it. I think we are going to go ahead and get one for my daughter for Christmas and I can finally have my Nook tablet back! :)

Thank you for your response. I'm glad to find someone who is happy with it. I think we are going to go ahead and get one for my daughter for Christmas and I can finally have my Nook tablet back! :)

I just want you to know you are not alone. My daughter is nearly 4 and she won't leave our dogs alone either. They are both 14 years old and they are testy sometimes. But she continually wants to play near there bed, roll cars and balls and everything else at them, take their blankets and try to tease them with the blankets and so much other stuff. She has been told many times not to do it and has been sent to her room many times for not listening. I do think it is an impulse control issue. My daughter just wants to play and doesn't realize that it is sometimes scary or upsetting for old dogs. This has been explained many times but she forgets. I have dealt with this by having a no-tolerance approach to the issue. If she starts, I tell her to stop and explain why. If she doesn't immediately comply, she goes to her room. She's not perfect about refraining yet, but it has gotten a lot better.

I don't recall ever coloring in pictures, but as a child/teen, I frequently wrote notes in the margins of books I was reading. I don't really do that anymore because I have a notebook I use for that. And when I find books at the used bookstore with someone's penciled in notes, it is a very fun, very interesting experience to me. I love to see how other people have interacted with books I'm reading. I don't think there's anything wrong with interacting with a book as long as it belongs to you. If it enriches your experience, that's a very good thing.

I was active duty Army for four years. My husband was too and that's where we met. :)