She was/is very hard. I remember your posts over the years. My impression was that you worked very hard to parent her the best that you could. (((Hugs))) she is responsible for her own emotions, actions, and future

I scrape the icing off my cupcakes.

Oh, see! That’s what did it.

Congrats! It’ll be better than ok.

We got one. It hasn’t helped. Dh was so hopeful!

To be fair, I think if I complain, she’ll be mindful of the late night barking. It’s not that she hasn’t been responsive (even if it does come with excuses). My big complaint is that I don’t feel like I should have to complain. I’m extremely mindful of my own dog’s barking and would never let him out to bark at midnight, especially if I knew there was already existing issue with disturbing the neighbor’s sleep. That’s all.

I recently had a convo with my ds's doctor and he was telling me that he is actively discouraging his daughter from pursuing an MD. He cited the expense plus the long delay before they start earning an income. If she goes into medicine, he wants her to pursue something like PT/OT or nursing so she can start her earning career earlier, with less debt.

Lol, girl! I was wondering. Bark collars are instant. We've trained our lab not to bark using one. It takes a few days at most for them to figure it out. I get that some people are opposed, but I'm not one of those people. Our dog doesn't even wear the collar anymore because once the habit was broken, he didn't need it. We do live in a populated area, but 2 dogs barking INTO our window is way above and beyond our normal neighborhood noise. In fact, our neighborhood is pretty quiet considering how close the houses are.

I’m so sorry. My stepdad’s mom died the morning of my grandmother’s memorial. It was a pile-on, but I do believe that my mom and stepdad found some solace in their mutual grief. (((Hugs)))

JAWM Our neighbor adopted 2 yappy dogs about 4 months ago. After a few weeks to settle in, we had our first conversation. She would leave the dogs out when she left and they would literally bark non-stop, with their noses under our fence. She was also letting them bark at 6:30 in the morning. Our bedroom window is right along our shared fence. After the first conversation, she stopped leaving them out when she left. She said she would do something different in the mornings. Some weeks later, after being woken up at 6:15 every morning for a week, we had our second conversation. Her excuse was that she gets up every morning at 5:30 and they’re just “yipping.” Well, I don’t get up at 5:30 and I don’t appreciate being woken by nuisance barking. She now takes them for a walk and we’ve only been woken a handful of times. Cut to this week, I have been woken up twice by them barking at MIDNIGHT. Wth? Why would she let her dogs do that? I hate being the nagging neighbor! I don’t want to keep b*tching at her about her dogs. I am going to wait this one out and hope it’s a fluke, but my sleep is precious and I will have to say something if this keeps happening. Why are people like this?

Others have said it, but I'll just echo it. With her current plan, there's a chance that she'll lose the semester. What kind of repercussions would this have for her (and you/dh) financially? She could lose financial aide. It's a very, very risky decision.

I have the hardest time getting up if the room is blacked out in the morning. Even in hotels, we leave the curtains cracked. We have blinds that are kept open (my bedroom faces our back yard).

As a mom of a teen boy, I get the shoe thing. It’s ridiculous, and yet, truly a culturally important thing to these guys. I would let him. He’s otherwise being very responsible with his money. I would argue it to dh from this angle- he may never see it as a waste if he doesn’t feel the sting of wasting his own money. Chances are 6 months after buying the shoes, he will be less enthusiastic about them. It’s THEN that he might come to agree with you that $200 is too much. (Or he might love them, but I wouldn’t mention that to dh ?) Good luck!

Growing pains had my son limping more than once.

When I’m burnt out on cooking, I do a bunch of Costco/Trader Joe’s ready meals. When I’m burnt out on shopping/planning, I do a box service. Burnt out on all of it? Dh orders out. But our budget forces me to put on my big girl pants most of the time.

My mom was fully gray in her mid-20’s. She dyed it until a couple of years ago, around 57. I’m 38 and about 25% gray. Nowhere near ready to stop coloring it. My mom had that perfect gray that’s all shiny and silver. My combo hair is DRAB. I hope it’s like hers when it’s fully gray.

I have found a method that works brilliantly in these situations where I don’t want to stir the pot for my kid’s sake but I feel like I must say something. I call this method Playing Stupid. I put on my best “dumb mom” face and voice, perfectly pleasant and sweet, then I have a conversation where I ask a series of questions that dig into the offense. By the end of the convo, I’ve usually exposed the issue, but without them feeling like I was the one who came after it. The only time this hasn’t worked was with a teacher who straight up lied.

We had a similar experience at vernal falls in Yosemite. We saw people climbing over to take pictures, including with babies. The next day, another group did the same thing and 3 people went over the falls to their deaths.

Interesting!

I'd go peds, for sure. In fact, I doubt an adult ortho surgeon would even take a 9 yo (and I wouldn't want the guy who would because he's probably overconfident). I'd be surprised if there was a peds + sports medicine surgeon, so the sports med portion might just have to be dropped. For a 9yo, you'll want a peds anesthesiologist, too.

That movie (though it was great) is how my bil justified going off his meds (the first of many times).

Totally, though I would argue that that’s the vast minority.

This is one of my dh's big soap boxes. It's amazing how the desire for self-knowledge has overridden common sense acknowledgement of how data is used in this country (world).

My easy instant pot mex rice: saute 1 c of rice in a little oil, sprinkle generously with cumin and garlic powder. When the rice is a bit toasted, add 2c chicken broth and a small can of tomato sauce. Salt. Cook for 10.

I almost wrote something about my house being small in my response. It's 1350sf and that honestly does make it SO manageable.