Same. My dds keep bringing them home and I cannot keep them alive. You know what's funny though? Sometimes it's hard to tell when they're dead!

Phil & Claire's older daughter on Modern Family.

😂😂😂😂😂

What a great resource - I should probably see if we have something like that and get that number programmed into my phone contact list.

This is so true. If we put our own intellectual needs aside in anticipation of those great-and-challenging high school years, how short we can sell ourselves! Those years ARE great, but they are SHORT! And they are also the years when our students want to be engaging with others than just mom; after all, they have reached the rhetoric stage, they need someone to go practice their rhetoric with! Seriously, we move heaven and earth to make sure our kids get the interaction they need with others. I believe there's nothing wrong with preserving a wee bit of time to do the same for ourselves. Certainty my dh (and I'll bet many of yours here on the board) manages to do it. Yes, we rightly order priorities, but don't throw in the towel.

Is it truly the lack of intellectual pursuits, or perhaps the lack of adult level conversation about those pursuits? Because I remember many years when I enjoyed my active duty SAHM cohorts - including the homeschooling ones - but honestly the conversation tended to revolve around the same homemaking and homeschooling topics all the time. What I really longed for was peers interested in the same other (non-homemaking, non-homeschooling) interests as mine, and the time to have meaningful discussions and interactions with those folks. After many seasons at this, I will say the ability to engage in personal interests came in seasons. Sometimes all I could put on the schedule was what was right in front of me, in the home with school and family needs. But there were also seasons where there was more freedom to make time for individual interests. In hindsight, I would have been more proactive to preserve some personal-pursuit time on a regular basis as my children were young and growing. OP, your feelings on this are worthy of note. Motherhood, and certainly homeschooling, involve a high degree of sacrificial living. But I will always remember something our good old boardie Joanne once said (though I am sorry I will surely not quote it perfectly). Our children are not necessarily best served by watching us martyr ourselves in bringing them up. Yes, we can be good mothers and at the same time good people with interesting pursuits that inspire our children to become passionate about pursuits of their own.

What's going on at that home? My first thought is that given the amount of beer he appears to buying, they are all drunk and he is the courrier. Hard to know exactly what to do since they are all adults. Next time I would call 911 or the police. Any idea if there are other children/underage or even elderly people in the home? If so, CPS or Elder Abuse authorities could be contacted.

Would be my first thought. Sounds like you have some good healthy boundaries in place.

Leather bottomed Jansport. Lifetime warranty!

Now now gals, a kid might not be magically an adult at 18, but at that age it probably is time to at least start discussing the topic. "You know, you are growing into an adult and your relationship with your father will someday have to continue without me to act as a buffer. I hope you will think about what you want that relationship to look like and maybe we can talk about ways to help you get to that place." Or whatever words work best. And like advice to parents of toddlers, you can't apply reason in the midst of conflict, the discussion might need to wait until after the current issue is resolved. But really, he should come to the realization that the responsibility of relationship maintenance will be fully his in a few short years. The next few transition years can be a time of working through ways to make that happen.

Yes, hard to maintain healthy boundaries when you're canned up together. Also, probably not since you haven't mentioned it, but is ds also wanting to avoid xh's new significant other?

You know how great your hair feels when you leave the salon, all sleek and shiny? What product(s) do I need to make it feel that way when I do it myself, and where do I need to buy it? My hair is not curly, a little on the fine side. Please share some of your favorites with me.

The delivery person may have accidentally pressed a wrong button, but this should still be reported to Amazon. It can be done in a friendly way. I believe it's a good idea to mention such things - who knows, maybe a lot of other people are experiencing similar issues with certain delivery drivers.

Set up a table in the garage. That's what I do when I use the big toaster oven for a turkey or other big-batch stuff.

Have you seen Cloverfield Paradox?

I would use a smooth blend, like Canadian Club, Seagrams 7 or Crown Royal, rather than a charcoal-y one like Jack Daniels. I am not a bourbon drinker, but my folks were, and I remember these differences from small tastes and baked goods. Your recipe is really interesting and sounds delicious!

OP, just to encourage you, by the time my girls were 13-14, they along with their similar age peers seemed to pass into a new phase of actually becoming interested in self care. So sometimes time really helps. Hard on mom though. I know at times mine made me wonder if they would ever care. 😆

I would not have instructed the stylist to cutvagainst my daughter's wishes (at 12 - at say 7 or 8yo, it may have been different). What I would do, is talk with the stylist and ask HER to be really enthusiastic and encouraging with some *suggestions* that she could heartily recommend to your dd. A cut/style that would look cute and flattering and easier to care for. Sometimes you just need to hear it from someone other than your mom, kwim? And honestly, you're putting the stylist in an unconfortable situation by asking her to intentionally go against the wishes of the customer she is serving.

And the actual translation of the French Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday.

Ok, I would really like to dumb down my smart phone, for better time management. I am removing a number of apps, mostly social media that I can still access via iPad/laptop during times allocated for that activity. Facebook is my problem. I am in a few groups due to activities, and a couple of group chats that are important to me. I am thinking I just need to turn on notifications for the groups I need. I still have to keep the app active on my phone, right? I mean as opposed to doing it in the cloud. Also, since messenger is a separate app, I can just use that to access group chats, correct? Y'all please help me out. I want to make a serious effort to use my technology responsibly, not missing the important things I need to know about but not losing time to mindless browsing.

I don't think I imagined it, and my dd raised an eyebrow too....pretty sure a couple of White's enthusiastic outbursts bypassed the censor, iykwim. Can't blame the guy, he was so thrilled, it was fun to see him so excited and happy. Oldest guy to come down the pipe and he slays it to take the gold. Love it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-43044272

That was great! (But I do think someone at the network forgot to use the dump button...😲)

I love this idea. Bookends!

After four (at least three) times of his demanding to do things his way, it's your turn. Funny/not funny, you could tell him you don't want people to think you're like that couple out in CA.... Sorry about your disappointment.