There was a reddit thread on whether animals have a sense of humor. Wary of people who would point out that "animals aren't people", most people just posted funny anecdotes about animals making fun of one another. Lots of stories of pets teasing one another, and squirrels showing a sense of schadenfreude when demonstrating their agility and light steps keeping out of the way of house cats. Too bad you weren't on the thread, you'd have gotten wild karma.

Whenever I have slight aches, which are super minor, you are my inspiration. I think to myself, "don't be a baby, this isn't fibro or something." And I keep going. I ❤️ your fortitude, Jean!

I need to stop venturing into treacherous waters. Also, I'm nearly in the hump day of my week off and it's like filled with playdates! But I did find a good rhythm for my writing. And we have way fewer weeds. And I decalcified the espresso machine, thinned the beets, and @Another Lynn may the swim gods be with me I'm in charge of printing at the next meet. HELP.

Blaming behavior on genetics is not what I am trying to do. There is a huge environmental and stress / psychological component to it. I'm not saying you don't understand but to get you to a point where you can see that quantifying the issue isn't going to help because of such a big envornmental and psychological component.

You saw how talented your husband is at community relations! Good for him, and tell him thanks for his service.

Milk is not a drink. It is a food. So for us yeah that's a lot. Same for Coke. Not a drink, but a dessert. Coffee and tea are drugs / herbal. None of those would be considered a remedy for thirst in our home. If you are thirsty, drink water, lemon water, ice water. Not that kids don't drink milk. They do. But it is part of a meal or a snack--not hydration. Honestly, compared to me a lot of fat people have similarly amazing appetites.How can I describe it? I'm not hungry until 11 am. I am not hungry after 8. I eat a couple big meals a day. I am not tempetd to snack. Like... At all. Chocolate doesn't look good to me. In a cafe it requires ZERO WILLPOWER to get an Americano. None. None at all. I am totally healthy and I know people who exercise willpower every moment of every day to deal with food. Most of them are either obese or have an eating disorder. Every time I say "no" they say "but it is so tempting!" It's just not to me. I am not hungry. So I think there is a massive nationwide gut health issue that may be severely affecting people at a level they cannot control, frankly. And I would not put it past industry to thwart research on it. Praeder Willi may be extreme, but truly, if you think about compulsion to eat, compared to a slim person such as myself, many fat people may indeed have that level of compulsion through a different mechanism. I would not be even slightly surprised if Scarlett's stepson were a victim of a combination of stress, poor gut health, and other issues that make it extremely difficult for him to say "no" to snacks and food. It is absolutely within the realm I agree that this is not Scarlett's fault. However there is something she can do which is make a huge effort to love her stepson and to show that unconditionally. Not give up on the weight thing, but to go at it from a much deeper angle. From the center of his heart. Tell him you need him to know you love him regardless of his weight. And that it's his journey. And then focus 1000% on other stuff. Everything else he dreams of. College. Books. Video games. Anything.

This is going to sound flip but I mean it sincerely: when they can spell. When a child can write a five paragraph essay without any spelling errors, or participate in Scrabble, when they can add on prefixes and suffices fluently. For some kids that might take years. My kids seem to get most of the system by age 10. They just absorb it and we talk about Greek and Latin and other roots to shore it up. Dictation from Shakespeare, writing a poem, taking notes in science class: if they can do that I'm fine with stopping spelling.

I feel like Trader Joe's is extra chatty. I don't get this as much even at my neighborhood QFC. They tend to respond to however much I put into it. We can have a rather involved conversation about seasonal produce or literally say nothing but "findeverythingok" "yep thanks" "haveagoodone" "you too". If I have a problem though, they are very helpful and polite. And please, thank you, no thank you, excuse me, can I do anything more: everyone uses those words. They don't wave you toward an aisle though. They use full sentences. "It is on 3 near the ketchup". Not walking me there, and not grunting a two-word answer either. I think it is a nice balance. They would probably help an old person though. Edited to add: PNW

That is really sad!

Also I want to add that it is unfair to say that people are "private" with small talk, but when it comes to expressing something negative suddenly people are entitled to express their deep-seated anger. To me, that's inconsistent and not cool. If you want to be private be private. Don't use privacy to excuse social iniquity and then explain that you have no problem flipping people off or honking. That doesn't make sense.

That is super interesting. Did you find yourself super annoyed by people from the Northwest asking "why" and "how" type questions? Because I feel these are often ill received on the phone whereas in my neighborhood people are ready to answer questions.

We have the same problem. I think we have some lasagna noodles and dried basil that are older than our youngest kid. I think the cloves might graduate from high school soon.

I'm "liking" the contribution to my thread. It has to be offensive or completely off point for me not to "like" it. It is not just this board. A number of boards I have been on have that norm.

Is that even legal? That sounds so sketchy. Also, I am with you with "okay cool". That is not a confusing colloquialism in the west. It means, "Yes. Move forward with that." "I'm going to put the wine in the fridge." "Okay, cool." Would someone's reaction to that in New York be like... "I guess I don't have to because you don't care"? Like, what?

Based on how our new overlords in Seattle drive, I can't believe how many traffic rules people think it is just okay to break, without respect to human life and limb. They tailgate to the point of extreme danger. It's insane. Just--human life? Animal life? Plants? Nope. And no it's not a function of traffic. They do this on residential streets behind someone going twice the speed limit. And the worst part? "You don't know traffic. On the east coast we have real traffic." Uh yeah, because we were following the rules to mostly avoid traffic. You are creating traffic by putting your stupid car in the middle of an intersection and not allowing anyone to merge! You are creating traffic by sudden, blinkerless cutoffs that make people slam on their breaks because guess what that's what happens when you tailgate. And before anyone suggest that it's assertiveness... it's really not. There's assertive, passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive. Tailgating is aggressive. Not using your blinker and cutting someone off is aggressive. Assertive is using a blinker, getting in the right lane ON TIME, letting people in and merging without a 100-yard buffer on each side. Not mowing pedestrians down while making a right turn. I can accept that Seattle drivers were too passive, but going bananas on people and endangering life is not a solution to that. And before anyone suggests "that's how you make things happen", no, it's really not. You can be assertive and polite. You will get somewhere just as fast without breathing down the other person's neck. I think people in Seattle can be cold, but at least polite. Anyway, used to be. Things are changing fast. I will be sad when we get the full dead-eyed stare, full of fear.

My kids switched through K. One is a right, one is a lefty. Actually the lefty is like me and draws and throws with one hand, writes with the other. Now she plays switch in lacrosse. It's a feature, not a bug. ?

Hi Queen Ellie!

Isn't that the opposite though? They won't take ANYTHING back. We say don't be greedy, no take-backs. Better to label the action than the person, particularly when racist epithets come into play.

I assure you, as the parents of four children who go to a top school district and whose educations have been excellent (based on what they do daily and what they learn and do use in life), these are not fails. Kids remember some things and forget others. If they remember Ancient Greece and the Renaissance it is probably because those are so interesting! Not that you want to compare to public school, but just to say, what you are seeing is normal. That's why most systems cover subjects repeatedly and in more depth year after year. Democracy: So, we have three kids 11 and up (plus one younger). We talk about civics and we talk about democracy. Ask them to give a definition that does not begin with "it's like when" and they are lost. The strong narrative foundation will help them as they get older and more able to abstract things. Kids keep a lot stored deep down. You have the foundations. Seriously, you are doing great. Any educational program, even the top homeschool, private school, or public school, will have gaps because kids' brains are constantly reforming. Constantly. Facts fizzle as they create more space for new facts and logic. As for kickball... who cares? My 11 year old started lacrosse this year. She knew nothing about it. She learned. She doesn't know the rules of baseball either beyond "hit the ball and run". We go to baseball games, she just mainly pays attention to her friends and walking around concessions and trying to get a wave started, lol! You are doing fine. This is not a homeschool fail. The fact that you her mom know what the gaps are is a homeschool success. Keep at it. Edit: I also want to say, in my experience, a large proportion of boys 11-15 have mush for brains. This is not the population that you can use to judge whether or not your educational system is a failure. Are they active? Are they participating? Can they express themselves in two-word sentences? If so, you're doing GREAT. They will move beyond that phase and turn into brilliant young men but don't let their reticence or inarticulate selves make you doubt your choices. I'm not saying that our teens don't make us question reality daily. It's just that... we have to step back and breathe and realize that kids aren't perfect and one day is not a measure of success or failure.

If my kids had an emoji activity for anything I guarantee you there would be some kind of discussion ensuing about the poop emoji and its relevance to joy, propriety, respect, and other things I personally never would have considered when I brought smileys and emojis up. DD2 got a poop emoji tee-shirt from dad. Said tee-shirt had an innocuous, positive message other than, you know, the piles of rainbow poop. I didn't let her wear it to school because I said "potty talk or potty pictures aren't appropriate and I don't care if it's not in the dress code, it's a question of respect". I'm the bad guy. On the other hand, if you're trying to involve 9-11 year olds in your project, poop emojis could get them pretty into it.

Uh, they need to require that people work remotely until they get that fixed. 85 degrees indoors, no breeze, holy cow! Edit: it's an OSHA booyah!

I would not ask about substitutions. I would assume that she is dictating style per tradition and it's up to the party to match to the best of their ability. If she finds that weird she can ask others on the Internet "hey my wedding party wants to replace $150 Swarovsky Converse with glitter Converse but I want Swarovsky, am I wrong in complaining?" The Internet will ask her if the members of her wedding party are yacht owners and when she says no, she will be informed that she needs to pay for that type of thing. Spending that much on anything but medically prescribed shoes for a small child is insane for all but the top 1% of the wealthy. Even for sports. The rest of us all gotta eat and go to college and go to the doctor yo.

They have glitter Converse for wayyyyyy less.

It's the Internet here with an update. Here is the proper etiquette: "Those are adorable. We will do our best to match them within the budget. If you have a specific brand preference we would be happy to wear whatever you purchase and return to you, or to rent if they are available."

The YmCA is very friendly. I think you should visit. You don't have to work out. Just ask for a tour.