I'll chime in as a mom whose son does play fortnight. As far as cultural relevancy, there's no escaping that. It's everywhere. The dances especially have crossed into all sorts of other domains. There was a whole segment before the World Series where the players were doing the Fortnight dances. From my POV it's way less graphic than other shooting games. I almost thought it looked silly at first. With the building aspect, it's kind of minecraft meets FP shooter. Your son's feeling of being left out is pretty appropriate, but your family's conviction about shooting games trumps that. Kids will always feel left out about something. I think the tide is starting to swing away from FN. As to the bigger question of why shooting games are popular, idk. They're fun, you work as a team, there's a decent about of strategy involved, the vast majority of people are mentally healthy enough to separate real killing from videogame killing... I don't have a problem with shooting games, but I really hate graphic ones and don't allow them here. No Call of Duty in our house. Everyone has their line.

I’m starting to feel like we’re running out of land to burn. I will say that SoCal and NorCal are different beasts. Malibu has always burned down every 15-20 years. My childhood was full of fires and earthquakes. But I grew up with brush fires and these are forest fires- so much more severe. But what I’m hearing from people who grew up here is that it’s definitely different than it used to be. Next comes the mudslides.

We still have half a box left over from last year's fires. Yeah, they're unpleasant but I still feel better with one on. My disabled son, who has lung issues and really needs it more than anyone, cannot tolerate wearing it. He starts gagging and sputtering. The only solution is to keep him home as much as possible.

No shortage of Teslas around here! I would be all about that if we owned one.

Yeah, all the schools in Marin are closed tomorrow.

The fire smoke is choking us out. All of us can physically feel the strain on our bodies. Last check we were at 244ppm, which is equivalent to smoking about 11 cigarettes a day. It’s even worse inland. Sacramento is in the hazardous zone. Mercy.

My husband shocked me by trading his SUV for a Prius. He later traded that for a Volt. The gas savings has been incredible.

I have a door into the garage from our kitchen. Inside the garage, right next to that door, we have a hamper which all of our towels and rags go into. Our washer and dryer are in the garage.

Just saw this and thought of you! https://apple.news/ANVR33HqETT2JZ2VVmrhP7w

Strangely, I liked waiting tables. Fast paced, I enjoy taking care of people, the shifts tend to be shorter, people were mostly generous tippers, and pounds just melted off of me.

My most shut down answer was, “Oh yeah, I really love sex. It’s my favorite.” Conversation stopper.

Rabbit trail- how was your trip? I thought of you when I saw the fleet week planes flying overhead. Did you get everything you hoped in?

What an amazing steal!

All you can control is you. You either entertain these comments or you put up a boundary. I would say, "I love you, Susie, but I can't be the person you complain to anymore. It puts me in an uncomfortable position and I don't enjoy it." This may be indelicate, but when my dh was dealing with some life altering medical stuff, he used it as both motivation and justification to make some shifts in some relationships. New (healthier) boundaries were respected by the other party because when he said "life is short and I'm not doing this anymore," it carried some weight.

This is my new favorite winery. They produce wine and olive oil, both INCREDIBLE, and I believe they ship anywhere. https://trattorefarms.com/ I’ve tasted nearly everything they put out and it’s all gift worthy.

Yeah, I don't need to particularly win this debate, but I would not call wikipedia a credible source for defining anything.

I would probably stop calling it a horror movie because in the generally accepted definition of the word, it is not. It comes across as over-reactive. I've dealt with a ton of school administration garbage and I have learned to position myself through my words, actions, and tone of voice to be the most reasonable, well-spoken, emotionally level parent that I have the ability to be. I don't give them any reason to write me off if I can help it. That said, it was inappropriate and the teacher should be held accountable for exposing your little to the content. PG=PARENTAL guidance for good reason.

I think my kids were around 9 or 10?

Our Bosch is amazing. The dishes absolutely sparkle. Do you think maybe yours needs work? Our needed the water pump replaced recently. The dishes were coming out *almost* clean but not quite and I knew something was wrong.

Give it to your son. My mom gave me her jewelry from my dad and I really appreciate having it.

Don’t wait to get a CO2 detector. They’re cheap. Go pick one up today.

Nope, I wouldn’t.

I want to like this ten times over.

Mold is also my first thought. We had a problem in our last house and by the time we discovered it, dd and dh were having significant health issues.