My dh does this crap and it's the most annoying thing ever lol. Or I send more than one ques. and only get one answered. Then don't know how long it will be before they get back to their phone.

I grew up with just sisters. Yeah, not having brothers probably does influence my stance on this stuff, but also the fact that my father is very much a "turn the other cheek" type. He tries to remind us not to let others influence our reactions, pray for our enemies, etc. I don't think he fits the mold of the stereotypical male.

The parents lack tact if they are going to laugh about it on social media in a group text that includes the parent (if I'm understanding that part of the thread correctly). Not that I never make faux pas, but this just seems like an indication to me that the child does these things because it's not viewed as wrong/inappropriate to him. Or at least not seen as a particularly big deal. Like did they even try to correct the behavior? I've read that sometimes it's best to just apologize on your child's behalf if they do something upsetting to another child, rather than force your child to give an apology. I have a feeling they wouldn't be the type to apologize and just shrug and think the upset child needs to loosen up. /shrug

well it can come out post shower but this doesn't seem relevant if you aren't going to get a pap smear or internal ultrasound. Or I guess as someone else mentioned give a urine sample.

ahh I see

lol!

I always like to shower after tea. I feel dirty. But I admit I have issues with germs so there's that.

Maybe the spouse needs to clarify a bit more about why this is bothersome. Like are they afraid there is a chance of a smell or something (not really asking for an answer just speculating).

Don't be sad. I know you were torn so now you don't have to fret. Depending on how hungry everyone is, I guess you could bring heavier food. Guess it depends on what is the easiest. Like you could bring your own food and store it in the church hall fridge probably.

Well, fruit can be expensive and may not fit the requirements of the sign up sheet depending on what you are asked. A side I like to bring to potlucks is Yankee salad which consists of fruit (I don't think I spend that much time/effort because I buy the kind that is already sold cut and it has other ingredients so it doesn't have to fill the whole bowl) and then I'd have to come up with a second side. It would feel like a chore to me, but I don't really like to cook and find doing anything in the kitchen a hassle, especially if I have to think about transporting it and keeping it hot/cold. I'm lazy and I admit it if that makes a difference.

I guess I don't follow the logic. If kids got sick, didn't their families go home? If they left, then why did the church need more food? Wouldn't it all even out? Unless their family provided a main dish and everyone else there brought sides.

I'm leaning toward this, except that if she has 80 families attending I wouldn't ask anyone to bring a dish to feed 80. I would think a smaller number would suffice so there's variety but no one feels the pressure to feed everyone their dish. Wait I'm confused. Maybe you mean each category combined equals the number of people attending and I'm just not computing today.

These seem like extremes lol I wouldn't want to ask families to bring a main dish and a side/dessert. That seems like an awful lot of work for each family but maybe that's just me. And a bunch of people just bringing chips sounds like something you definitely want to avoid lol. Perhaps some guidelines sent via email or on the website would help, but I don't know if you can add all that info. Like "dessert to feed X number" so they don't show up with just 12 cookies.

I remember you discussing baptism in another thread, but don't remember what the outcome was... baptism included in Mass or not? That may or may not affect how hungry people are afterwards :laugh: They may not eat beforehand and be ready for a late lunch. I'd consider the restaurant as a place for a meal if everyone is starving. Otherwise, I'd consider asking to use the parish hall and just having something simple set up. You can probably give the parish a small fee/tip for the use. Between our two kids we have done things both ways. We don't live near family but had baptisms done near the family's church rather than our regular one. For me personally the restaurant was a little stressful because of the ages of some of the attendees. Ds' godfather's grandchildren came and they were a bit of a handful. And ds was a baby so we hated going to restaurants at that stage. But I think once the food came out it was okay. You would have more privacy in the church hall if you're concerned about noise disrupting others. We just did a First Communion celebration at the most random place Lol. Our family was staying in a hotel and Mom can't go out easily and doesn't like to eat in public (she has Parkinson's). So we ended up bringing pizzas to the hotel and they let us use the lobby. It actually worked out perfectly.

I don't think they have ever seemed like they were right for my body before or after kids. I overlap the seam with panty liners and pads. And what's worse is when the pad has wings and the wings don't line up as well as I'd like because I move the pad forward. TMI but whatever ha

I think ours only sounds when there's been a tornado spotted somewhere. Since I live by a school, we hear announcements over a loudspeaker that accompany sirens sometimes, but it's so garbled I don't know what they are saying most of the time! Occasionally I will hear, "this is a test. This is only a test" or whatever, but the testing sounds are a little different I think and not done during a storm lol. We have these alerts on our cell phones that say "watch" and stuff. I don't know if mine is updated or how I even get them. Maybe dh set it up. I try to read the phone messages to see which type of thing is happening if I'm not sure what's going on.

I'm not 100% sure if I understand. I usually get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sky-Monthly-Planner-19556/dp/B01GPHA3YO/ref=sr_1_11?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1494497109&sr=1-11&keywords=planner. For me that's a decent amount of writing space. It doesn't have 18 months, though. Just says it has a few bonus monthly pages. I don't really understand the Erin Condren planner craze. I have a friend that got one. She decorates pages with stickers and stuff. For me personally that's a lot of work and can sometimes make the pages really cluttered looking. To each their own, though.

:grouphug: I don't know if this will help at all but I've heard that going outside in the morning helps us "reset" (like if our nights/days are confused. This applies to the jetlag as well).

This reminds me of those tv shows like Everybody Loves Raymond. I barely watched the show, but I was under the impression that they really don't have outside friends, just interact with family. So I think depending on who you ask, this may be common. Now the blunt talk... that is more than just blunt, that's plain rude. I can be very blunt with my own family and sometimes say things dh wouldn't say to his own family. They gave us these really expensive car mats one Christmas. The one for the backseat did not fit. Once I realized it I wanted to let them know but didn't know how to do it. Dh basically told me to shut up and just say thank you. But if it was my family they would certainly want to know so they could correct it or get a refund. We're hanging onto gifts that we may never use because his family asks too many questions. As for the mats, I actually did tell my MIL and she went out to the car with me to see for herself. I don't think I upset anyone.

I just want to commiserate! Talking to ds can be like this. me: "What did you get on your vocabulary test?" ds: "I got this in math, this in spelling, this on another spelling test..." "Did you get your vocabulary test back?" "I got this in science. I got the measurements right." Finally says he didn't get the thing back. He will sometimes talk about something with little to no context. Then I get exasperated trying to figure out how to follow his storytelling or getting him to start from the beginning. He's all over the place. He doesn't know what he's talking about sometimes which makes it even more confusing for me. I have to get his teacher or another parent to clarify information sometimes. He told me two times that this "fun in the sun" day was going to be held on a Saturday. On a Friday afternoon after picking him up he tried to convince me to drop him off at the school the next morning. I laughed and said that's not happening. The thing is actually taking place on a school day (like a field day I guess).

Since I have a thing about eyeball injuries (I get freaked out when TV/movies have stuff with eyeballs) that would especially rub me the wrong way. If it was my kid I would have a talk about how you shouldn't make threats and how there are better ways to deal with anger/frustration/etc. Maybe tell them to walk away and not talk to the kid that is bothering them in the moment. But I wouldn't expect a lot of self control at that age. Just remind them that it's not ok to say mean things like that. Remind them if there's a real issue they can get an adult involved. Something like that. I might also ask where he came up with what he said (did he hear it somewhere else or what).

alternatively, you could bring photographs of the builds :) amd yes, I am certain you can find/make inexpensive centerpieces.

In that case I think the Legos would be really neat. I *might* avoid the centerpiece idea for individual tables and just choose one table to showcase them. A table where no one is eating, but just to display items. On the other tables I might opt for a different type of centerpiece. It could be Lego-themed as well. They sell Lego shaped candy that you could put in a jar or something. I don't know if the candy is safe for little kids, though. And if people want to drop off congratulations cards to the graduate, you could have a cardboard box designed to look like a giant Lego with a slit in the top for the cards. Just an idea. You could really run with this theme lol

We use the a/c most of the year. We also have days where we use both the a/c and the heater. I think we ran the a/c this winter because some days it was just that warm. I live in a humid area. We live in an older house, too. Dh and his dad like to run the a/c at specific times to supposedly cut down on costs. I don't really like the method as I get cold easily and have trouble dealing with the a/c being on a X time to prevent needing it on at Y time. Dh likes to run ceiling fans a lot. They give me a chill. I don't know how to answer your question haha but basically unless it's really cold outside you can assume we're probably using our a/c. We also have some thermal curtains. Part of the answer to the question will depend on if you're walking into the house from being outside long. If I had just gone on a walk I might want the a/c on even if the house was at 78. I don't know.

:laugh: