Posts by cosmiccyclist172

I had a total meltdown yesterday.
I basically told everyone that if they try to tell me I can't a) pick up my baby who just started walking,
b) take a bath,
c) get stressed out (seriously, give me a break, I'm not doing that),
d) or sit, stand, and walk around like a normal human being,
things are going to get ugly.

Yesterday, my mother looked at my husband and said, "You know, you don't really seem to care about her; we're all telling her what not to do, but you just sit there silent."

Listen, if you think I shouldn't be doing something, why don't you step in and help? It’s so easy to just bark orders and say "don't do that," while the kids just have to figure it out themselves—let them drown, let them fall, let them break for all I care.

Edit—my husband stays quiet, but he actually helps. These people are just talking nonsense. I'm not asking for help, and I'm definitely not looking for "smart" advice. My husband gets it; he knows there's no point in lecturing me on things he knows I absolutely have to do.

Donna Ramos54 said:Look, I couldn't care less about people driving their kids around in those vintage strollers—or the folks feeding them flour mixtures just because that’s how their grandmas did it back when things were tough and resources were scarce... Honestly, what really gets under my skin is the sheer arrogance of people who think they’ve unlocked some universal truth and feel the need to lecture everyone else, all while being completely oblivious to how backward their own ideas actually are.
I’ve heard this exact same nonsense regarding baptisms and leaving the house too early from people in my own circles. One acquaintance even went so far as to ask a local priest about it—and the guy told her, obviously, that you can go outside whenever you want—but she’s still stuck in this mindset, clinging to these old-school superstitions like they're gospel.

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Well, obviously you can! It's all just superstition. Honestly, if you're that worried about every little thing, maybe you shouldn't even bother with a baptism, because clearly, you don't have any actual faith if you're this terrified.

My fiancée was baptized at 25, and God knows how much "bad luck" she's supposedly carrying around since then. 🤣

Patrick Anderson4 said:And then there’s the rule about not hanging freshly washed baby clothes outside—unless you hang them upside down instead? Or those red strings tied around a baby's wrists and ankles to ward off bad luck? Not to mention how strangers aren't even supposed to look at the infant until they've been baptized?
I won't even get started on the whole "no hair washing for 40 days after birth" thing. 😁
All of this happening in the 21st century on Maui. 🙂

Putting socks on backward is just my personal favorite.
👍
My uncle would occasionally put socks on kids backward, not because of any ritual, but just because he was distracted and didn't care for two seconds. And every single time he did, I’d immediately think of all those "bad luck" stories.

Ever since my grandmother became a widow, she refuses to be the first one to do anything. She won't visit anyone first, she won't be the first to give a hug, nothing. I remember when I had my little girl and we stopped by her house—it was just the two of us, and I was desperately needing to run to the bathroom, but she wouldn't even hold the baby! Apparently, a widow isn't allowed to hold a baby until the child is baptized.

In the end, I basically had to shove the baby into her arms.

On top of the fact that it won't even be ready by the time the baby is baptized, I’m seriously losing sleep over the thought of using a stroller that’s 28 years old. Honestly, I wouldn't even dream of buying a car that was nearly three decades old.

(Look, I’m not saying everything has to be brand new, top-of-the-line, or some ultra-luxury status symbol) but 28 years? Really?

And let's be real—those strollers have probably been passed down through at least seven different kids by now.

I mean, what kind of safety standards were they even following back then?

You can't just say things like that!
Don't even go there.
I never did any of that.
My OB-GYN told me I wasn't allowed to swim while pregnant, and they wouldn't let me touch certain foods either. Don't even think about drinking lemonade; stuff like Kraft Foods isn't good for you when you're expecting.

We were over at my aunt's place, and her daughter is pregnant right now, pretty much where I am.
Both our pregnancies have been totally smooth.

"You know, my T. isn't even cooking lately because of this heat; she's being so careful," they said.
"You know, don't pick up the kids, you shouldn't be lifting anything heavy" (Seriously?! My toddler isn't even walking yet—what am I supposed to do, let her faceplant every time she climbs out of bed, or wait for her to crawl all the way to the dresser just so I can change her?!)
"You know, you shouldn't go to the beach, that's what the doctor told my T."
And the absolute winner of this nonsense award goes to...
"My T. is going to use her own stroller" (She's 28!). They're still in great shape, and honestly, they won't even go anywhere once the baby arrives anyway.
"What do you mean they won't go anywhere?"
"Well, the baby is due in the middle of winter, so by the time the christening is over and summer hits, they won't be taking him out for walks before then."
"Well, they'll go to the doctor, and take short walks."
"I mean, you can carry them to the doctor, but no walks until after the christening, which won't be for another six months."
All I did was nod along; I was honestly too terrified to even bring up the topic of car seats.

It’s basically 👍

But look, if you’ve got 250 names on your list, you’re really only looking at about 200 people showing up. You always have folks who can't make it, or someone's schedule clashes with another event, or they just end up getting sick and staying home... whatever. Bottom line is, you lose people, especially when they actually have to travel all the way to the venue.

Give me a break.

In my office, most of the day is spent just messing around, and even when things go south, everyone just cracks jokes and laughs it off.
That’s basically how I act whenever I drop by their desks.

Then you’ve got this one guy who’s totally unpredictable—one minute he’s fine with a joke, and the next he’s in such a foul mood that nobody dares say a word because he’ll snap at anyone for anything.
There's another dude who loves throwing shade but absolutely loses his mind if anyone tries to fire back at him.
And then there's the one guy who is perpetually pissed off about everything.

The rest of them? They're joking around constantly. They get the humor, they don't take things personally, but they still know where the line is. They aren't going to say something that actually hurts someone's feelings on a deep level.
They realize I have a pretty thick skin, so they feel comfortable being relaxed and totally unfiltered around me.

But this one specific person gets all annoyed whenever someone else starts joking with the group.
Like, the other day, this guy says to me, "Boss, that designer handbag of yours costs more than the entire project I'm working on!" and I just laugh and tell him, "Look, someone’s gotta work so someone else can earn and spend the money!"
And this guy jumps in with some lecture about how the whole country is falling apart because of people like that, claiming it's a fundamental flaw in American society that there will always be people producing and people consuming, and saying everyone needs to be more "rational" to close the wealth gap.
He completely missed the point that we were just kidding around; I wasn't actually suggesting he was inferior to me or that my bag was literally worth more than his budget.

My advice to you? Just be yourself and keep that positive energy going—who knows, you might even win her over that way.

My teacher was one of those people who absolutely lived for anyone who pampered her. Basically, she had favorites among the kids whose parents would show up with birthday gifts or give her a little pat on the shoulder just to stay in her good graces. She really leaned into the kids of doctors, cops, and even that one kid whose dad was some big-shot judge back then.
It was one of those coastal towns, you know? Tons of vacation rentals, hotels, and upscale restaurants everywhere.
She just loved the kids from the "important" families.

And man, did the straight A's fly out of her mouth for them.
But me? She couldn't stand me. It all started because my dad went to her at the beginning of the year and basically told her, "Look, lady, it’s only natural my daughter is getting an A in reading when, honestly, she’s barely pulling a C. You’re doing us both a massive disservice by handing out easy grades; she doesn't need an A, she needs someone to actually tell her what she's failing at so she can fix it."
From that moment on, she froze us both out.
At the time, I thought my dad was being totally unreasonable—like, even his worst enemy wouldn't have said something like that! But thank God he did. It made me realize where I was actually struggling, and it taught me that if I wanted to be good at something, I had to work ten times harder than everyone else.

My grades were average, but they were earned. By fifth grade, I realized that conversation between my dad and that teacher was actually the best thing that could've happened to me. If I got a B, I knew it was on me. If I got an A, I knew it was because I actually earned it.

Fast forward to high school: that group of kids who were getting unearned A's thrown at them in elementary school ended up staying in school way longer than they should have.

I still remember this one guy who sat right next to me; he struggled to spell basic words, yet somehow always pulled an A in English. He’d just copy the math homework every single day, and the teacher knew exactly what he was doing, but she gave him an A anyway.
He failed his freshman year. His mom tried to claim he just "couldn't adjust to the new environment," but let's be real—he adjusted just fine; he just never learned how to actually work or study.

Then there was another kid whose mom showed up to parent-teacher conferences and actually had the nerve to say, "My son is passing with a B, and plenty of kids with special education plans pass with a B too, so why shouldn't he?"
Well, guess what? He didn't even make it through high school.

urbantinker8 said:I suppose religious studies should probably be removed from the public school curriculum entirely, though I suspect my reasoning goes beyond this particular... "ethics instructor."

Oh, so you disagree with that?
Because honestly, I haven’t walked into a single classroom yet where there are more kids opting out of the class than the ones actually sitting through it.

If a history teacher starts spouting the same nonsense as this religious studies instructor, does that mean we should just scrap the entire history department from the curriculum?

Back in my high school days, ethics was an elective you took if you weren't signed up for religion class. By senior year, there were literally only two students left in the ethics course—so what, should we just delete ethics from the school system too?

Look, what this religious studies teacher is saying is completely unhinged and defies all logic, but we can't just throw the whole subject out the window because of one guy. He absolutely deserves to be disciplined, period. But we shouldn't punish every other religious studies teacher who actually does their job properly and teaches kids according to what they were actually trained to teach.

briskdrifter2 said:🤣
That’s exactly why I started saving up for my own place.
I mean, my roommates haven't been terrible so far. We were mostly civil—we just stayed out of each other's way... except for the occasional snoring incident 👏. A couple of them were absolute lunatics, though. That was enough motivation for me to make sure I wasn't stuck dealing with their chaos on top of my own hormones.

The second time I gave birth, they shoved me into a room with a woman who had just lost her baby after a late-term pregnancy. She was in a coma.
She seemed okay, but my heart was just absolutely breaking for her.

There I was, my baby, her, and that empty little crib where her child was supposed to be.

They just told me there wasn't any space in the other rooms.

Has anyone actually dealt with Boeing's studio over in San Francisco?

During my first pregnancy, I honestly thought I wouldn't need any help at all; my husband was home for a week, and then he had to head back to work.
Turns out, I was dead wrong. I ended up calling my mom to come over, which sparked a massive revolt from my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, but honestly? In that moment, I just needed someone who wasn't going to lecture me—someone to actually help out instead of nitpicking every single mistake I made.

When I had my second baby, my mom took some sick leave and a bit of vacation time just so she could be there to help whenever it was needed.

It was mostly about helping with my son; if my husband hadn't been commuting to his office, they would have watched him, because once the baby established a routine on that very first day, it was nearly impossible to give him enough attention too.

As of today, I’ve realized that the question "is your husband helping?" absolutely drives me insane.
I don't get it—do people seriously think I married him just for decoration?

And then there's the question, "are you taking the baby out for walks?"
Do people think I gave birth to a houseplant that I’m supposed to just keep in a room 24/7?

Back when I was pregnant, I couldn't sit still for more than five minutes—not that I can even do that much now that I'm not expecting.
"Just sit down and take a break."
"Come on, you need to rest, you're working for the baby! It’s not healthy for you to be on your feet all day!"
"Don't leave the little guy alone by himself for too long."
And then there's the constant questioning: "Do you always have him with you?" (As if I'd ever just leave him home alone while I run errands! 😲)

Then you get those people asking the kid, "Are you excited about having a sister?" or "Would you rather have a brother instead?"
Not to mention the absolute gems where they tell the toddler, "Well, Mom and Dad are going to love your sister way more than you, so we're sending you to live with Grandma and Grandpa!" :bacitćubombu:

So, my husband and I are actually serving as the godparents for these twins this year—his brother and sister's kids.
We didn't even bother asking them what they wanted because, let's be honest, you can't go wrong with a solid gift that actually lasts. We ended up pulling the trigger on two high-end bicycles; we skipped the gadgets since that felt a bit tacky, but these bikes are top-tier, serious quality, and yeah, they definitely cost us a pretty penny.
And on top of all that expense, we’re also stuck footing the bill for the whole youth group celebration.

Honestly, I’d much rather they just have one hour of art and music combined. Why on earth should someone who can't carry a tune or draw a straight line be forced to waste their time on it?
I’d way prefer they squeeze in a foreign language instead of pushing all this nonsense that teaches kids absolutely nothing useful.

And as for the teachers—look, are they getting paid extra for this? No! Is this their own kid? Of course not! Did they even say anything against the fact that nobody is listening to the religious studies classes? Not a word!

Why isn't that woman coming to pick up her kid? I can see she's totally stressed out; she doesn't even want to hear a single thing about God through the wall. That's exactly why the mother won't show up—she's just keeping the kid home until this whole thing blows over.

Second pregnancy
1. Was this just a random impulse or what?
No, it wasn't some impulsive mistake—we actually planned this.
2. Is L. feeling jealous at all?
Not even a little, and honestly, even if he were, it wouldn't matter.
3. Would you have preferred a girl?
I just want a healthy baby. Period. Gender doesn't matter to me.
4. Is it easier this time around compared to the first one?
Actually, it's way harder. During my first pregnancy, I spent most of the time just lying on the couch and taking it easy, which was great, but now I’m constantly chasing after my little one when I really should be resting.
5. You haven't gained any weight; if you stay like that, it won't be good for the baby.
Go to hell. Seriously, back off and realize I’m not anorexic, I’m just naturally thin, and the baby is getting everything it needs...

Anyway, those are the questions. Numbers 1 and 5 are the ones that really get to me..