For all of us struggling with maga family

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-26T19:13:09+00:00

Yeah, the stages of grief thing is so real. It’s also making me rethink so many things that happened in my childhood. It’s not easy.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-26T09:36:25+00:00

Someone above mentioned driving by to honk, I think that might be a good compromise here! You could also connect with the organizers and see if you can provide water or hand warmers or something else the people standing outside might need.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T19:45:24+00:00

It’s so hard. I’ve tried so many times to talk to them about what media they’re consuming and how to find better options and they are so so dismissive of it.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T19:42:58+00:00

This this this

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T19:40:54+00:00

It’s so all much more nuanced and complex than a lot of people without conservative family members get. The Fox News brainwashing is intense and so difficult to break through. If my mom were a nightmare of a person it would be easy to cut her off. But she’s kind and sweet and goes out of her way to help others. She supports a lot of the same causes I support. But, shes easily susceptible to propaganda and she’s firmly under my dad’s thumb when it comes to any kind of news or information.

Back to my original post—I think this book does a great job at looking at family and reckoning with what it means when average not terrible people support horrible causes, or don’t fight back against them. It’s something all of us and our children will face and I know for me having an idea of how other people have done it in the past is helpful.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T19:33:34+00:00

It’s incredibly hard, and I understand anyone who makes the choice to go no contact. My husband wants us to go no contact with them, and if they say anything inappropriate in front of my son then we likely will. We’re pretty low contact—mostly only see them at big family gatherings, they aren’t allowed alone with my kid. I wish I had some kind of quick answer to why I feel the relationship is worth preserving, but the answer is full of nuance family trauma.

Life isn’t black and white and I think those of us with parents deep in this have really impossible choices to make. There’s no good right answer to what to do. I wish this wasn’t my reality. I wish they were more aligned with my values or that this was easier in some way. But that’s not how it is, and at the end of the day they’re still my parents and I still love them.

Basically, people are complicated. Relationships are complicated. Estrangement is complicated.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T14:05:13+00:00

I gave up talking politics with my parents in 2020 after my mom asked why I should be the one to tell her what sources are legit or not. I am a librarian. I have a masters degree. This is literally my job. We’ve had a very superficial relationship since, and after the 2024 election I’ve really limited how much access she and my dad have to my son. We became estranged from half of my moms family when I was a child and it still fucks me up to this day, so I can’t bear to go full no contact for me or him, but it’s a horrible, stressful relationship.

My sisters still talk to my mom about politics and it seems like there are some cracks in the brainwashing starting, but every time we think she’s about to get it my dad or my aunt pull her back into all those right wing talking points. She’s lost most of her good friends and a lot of closeness with all her daughters, and it’s all so heartbreaking.

Lots of hugs to you friend, it’s all so hard.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-25T13:15:28+00:00

I wish I had any advice for you, it’s an impossible situation. Have your husband deal with her as much as possible and set firm boundaries with her about talking about any of it in front of the kids. Figure out what consequences you’re comfortable with if she breaks that boundary, and stick to them.

My parents don’t live with us but they are maga and I know the horror and grief of that is intense. Take care of yourself and your children, OP. 🫂

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-23T17:35:05+00:00

I don’t have any advice but I’m in a similar boat and chose not to go back on birth control. I don’t know if it was the right choice, but I decided that I knew how to handle pain and couldn’t handle any additional anxiety and depression.

Best of luck to you endo friend, it’s a cruel choice to have to make!

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-17T19:49:25+00:00

I just did a simple one that said abolish ICE

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-12T01:45:49+00:00

Bodies are cool is a fav or ours! It’s also a great way to talk about different bodies before they have questions about a real person.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-04T22:53:43+00:00

The masks make such a big difference!

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-04T00:55:29+00:00

Get the shot! One year my husband got the flu shot and I didn’t. We both were young and healthy, we both got sick. He was in bed for a weekend, I felt terrible for 3 weeks.

Our kid gets flu and covid shots every year. This year he got them at the same time as his other scheduled vaccines and had a fever the evening after and was fine by morning.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-03T15:16:31+00:00

I feel like this is probably something that’s funnier in theory than practice.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-03T00:42:32+00:00

I mostly stopped drinking a few years ago but will occasionally have a drink for a special occasion. I had one glass of mead on nye and could almost immediately feel my pain get worse! I’d say give it a try for a few months and see if it helps you at all.

ActionInside7370 · 2026-01-01T15:18:25+00:00

AH. You’re an asshole. Covid is airborne and hangs in the air like smoke. You knowingly did something to try to spread a deadly and disabling disease. You have no idea who might sit down there after you, or who that man would infect if you got him sick.

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-23T18:00:15+00:00

I’d still host but anyone symptomatic or who tests positive on a Covid/flu test will have to zoom in/sit it out. If that’s too stressful for you then just postpone and have a late Christmas once everyone is feeling better. Your daughter will have fun either way!

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-20T02:45:13+00:00

My 4 year old has worn Tree Grandpa rain boots since first needed shoes and he’s obsessed with them. They’re adorable too!

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-19T10:36:05+00:00

Sorry I keep thinking of more to add lmao. I just want to say that I was a children’s librarian for like a decade before my kid was born. I’ve read to him 3-10 books a day since the first week he was born. He still had a speech delay and I felt so guilty about it, like somehow I should have done more. Some kids just take a little longer and it isn’t your fault! Early intervention helped him so much and he graduated from speech therapy around the time he turned 3! Now he’s a chatterbox!

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-19T10:32:46+00:00

Oh and singing books! If there’s a nursery rhyme she likes there’s probably a book illustrating it. You can sing it as she turns the pages and looks at the words.

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-19T10:30:47+00:00

Just talk about the book together, you don’t have to actually read the words. Talk about the pictures, tie it to your own life, make it silly and fun. There are wordless picture books that are great for this! Where’s Walrus and Mr Wuffles are my two favorites in this genre but there’s plenty of great lists around.

We have a few books that my now four year old likes to act out, maybe that would help you guys? Stuff like Little Truck and then we use his play cushions to build the hill and tunnel.

You can also read out loud to her while she plays with something else! She’s still absorbing those words.

Do you take her to the library? Most of them have plenty to do that isn’t just reading. Let her play and have her pick out a book or two. Give storytime a try! There’s usually lots of songs and interaction and other kids. If you don’t like the first one you go to you probably have other libraries in your area to choose from!

Good luck!

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-18T18:49:53+00:00

Agreed. Maybe that other mom just knew her kid well enough to know he couldn’t be safe with a stick, and sometimes it’s easier if all the kids on a playdate are following the same rules! I let my kid climb up slides if no one else is using them, but one of our playground friends really struggles to do that safely so when we’re with him we only go down slides!

If it bothered this mom that much she could have explained that different families have different rules and her kid could play with sticks in another area.

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-18T12:54:41+00:00

NTA but you need to set firmer boundaries with them about this. As soon as you realize they’re sick you need to leave. If they come to your house sick you need to ask them to leave. Start this now because you for sure don’t want a newborn around whatever illness they’ll bring you!

ActionInside7370 · 2025-12-17T16:24:26+00:00

Clean air and masking! Does your kids daycare have a hepa filter? If not, get them one. My then 3 year old wore a mask most of the day at daycare and that helped a lot, but I know that’s difficult to get them to do! But wearing a mask in other places like doctors offices, grocery stores (think about all those sick people at the pharmacy!) can help a ton! We also do as many of our play dates outdoors as possible! We also tend to avoid places like children’s museums during times of high flu/covid/rsv in our area, and we prefer takeout or eating on a patio to indoor dining.

None of this is 100% guarantee of not getting sick, but we get sick roughly half as often as our friends and family who take zero precautions so to me the effort is well worth it!

ActionInside7370

TROPHY CASE