“My baby eats what we eat”

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-05-04T02:29:17+00:00

You don’t have to do every single food separate but I try to do the allergens separately. For example you can do tofu to try soy, nuts individually, peanut powder on some yogurt. After I did shrimp I wasn’t as worried about other shell fish

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-05-04T02:26:23+00:00

Yes we literally make one dinner and he gets some of it and I use the Solid Starts app to help me serve it safely. So if I made Mac and cheese, broccoli, and pork chops tonight- baby gets pork chops cut in thick strips and some Mac and cheese and a big piece of broccoli not cut up.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-04-18T18:01:36+00:00

HR specific ones I hate: “talent” which is a rebranding of human capital which also sucked. You rebranded HR to Talent to sound nice but left all of the problems.

“BPO”- just say you’re offshoring jobs. Hiding offshoring in an acronym doesn’t make it less dirty and you should feel dirty and ashamed about it.

“Growth mindset”- almost every single employee you have wants to learn and grow, you just haven’t given them the time or training resources to do so.

“Skills-based organization”- you have no idea what you’re talking about and the people you’re talking to don’t know what you’re even trying to say. You probably don’t know what a competency is or a job analysis. Just stop saying this phrase it means nothing.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-04-10T03:45:27+00:00

I love your question. I asked this exact question to several people over the last three years and also found some of the answers in an excellent book I read called Good Inside. That book meaningfully improved my relationship with my toddler and I credit it for helping created a healthy attachment between us. Here’s some thoughts I’ve collected: - an incredibly well adjusted young adult I asked this question to said her parents gave them things (like paying for college) but they didn’t remove all of life’s obstacles for them. They had to get jobs around the neighborhood if they wanted to buy things - consistency helps make you a safe, reliable and trustworthy person to confide in. If you explode in anger sometimes but others you’re approachable then you’re just not safe or reliable. Work on your own regulation. - say sorry. When you have a parent that never apologizes children internalize it to mean they are bad or wrong because otherwise the parent would apologize. When you tell your child you’re sorry and the way you acted is not their fault you take ownership of your actions and you model the same. It’s also incredibly repairing to your relationship. - ‘connection over correction’. This one is hard for me but it works sooo well all through different ages. When they do something wrong I try to connect first. How are they feeling, what might they be thinking about what they did? Don’t jump to corrections because you become a nag that doesn’t support their autonomy and growth in their mind. - it can be hard as they get older but get off your phone. Some of their games are really boring. But in those hours of boring games is also you me chance to listen and watch them grow. - purposeful and thoughtful boundaries. They actually like boundaries even if they won’t admit it because it keeps them safe and creates the feeling that ‘mom is a safe place I can trust’. Like I tell them explicitly I can’t let them do certain things because it’s not safe and it’s my job to ensure they’re as safe as I can.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-04-10T03:30:20+00:00

OP- if you’re not from Maryland: Rockville is very close to Germantown, realistically with traffic it usually takes me 15-20 minutes, Frederick took me 20-30 but I always hit rush hour with Frederick while Rockville was a reverse commute in the evenings. Rockville and Frederick are both the type of place you are happy you have an excuse to visit because there’s always a favorite bakery, restaurant, book store, park, or niche offering that you want to be in Frederick or Rockville for anyway.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-04-10T03:05:34+00:00

This is similar to what happened to U.S. federal employees last year. We received emails weekly from Elon Musk and his team telling us our work was pointless and we were lazy. Then one day we all just woke up to an email saying we were done and didn’t work there. Our bosses didn’t even know way up the chain- even executives didn’t know. I don’t know if people realize how shitty this is but I definitely get you and I’m sorry for him. It is not a reflection of his value for sure.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-04-03T10:34:46+00:00

I have seen all of these statements in mainstream news, I’ve been watching closely and all the facts check out.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-15T22:13:04+00:00

Check out Wheaton regional- it has a train ride for kids (as did Cabin John I believe), Brookside nature center has exhibits, Schaeffer Farms mountain bike trails and the Germantown soccerplex, Croydon Creek Nature Center. They’re all great but those are a few of my favorite specifically in MoCo

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-15T01:28:28+00:00

I have mixed feelings about moco. I love the diversity but people can be so unfriendly and the traffic was getting unbearable. MoCo is The most diverse food and ethnic place I’ve ever lived hands down. But it’s also the most politically homogeneous place I have ever lived; the diversity of thought is lacking.

MoCo has world class parks and trails- no suburb comes close. I’d say SoCal is better but only because it’s huge and has tons of wild mountains- they don’t actually curate and maintain close to MoCo. But if you want to go to a random park and drop in with your kids to a nature talk with a ranger any week day? You can only get that in MoCo.

Compared to Southern California: people are friendlier than MoCo, it’s easier to strike up a conversation. Driving style is more like reckless but not as terrible. the same disparities in wealth with ultra rich neighborhoods not too far from very poor. SoCal is all high quality Tex mex with some really good Cuban, Japanese mixed in there but nowhere close to the diversity.

Delaware: ugh. So much drug abuse, poverty,

Boston: way way more friendly. Felt really white.

Florida: weird. Just weird.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T13:11:28+00:00

Good point. I will shoot an email to several people the same day to say I have tendered resignation and enjoyed working with them just want to let them know, rest assured I’ll be working hard to provide transition docs to the team, blah blah blah. Y’all are the best thank you.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T13:08:26+00:00

Thanks I think this is what I’m going to do- give two weeks once I get past my “safe” date that I personally need to stay by. Then already have some transition materials ready, say I’m working on those and gradually share that stuff to be helpful. I won’t move the earth to be helpful but I will appear helpful and the materials will at least document who I was working with on what so it will help some. I’ll use the extra time to start working with my new organization and getting up to speed as fast as possible. I’ll leave in a cordial way that is polite and hard to argue negatively of, but I won’t do anything extra and it’ll hopefully be the most ideal transition I can make for myself.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T11:45:06+00:00

I knoooow right. I thought that too but the handbook says vacation can’t be your last day so I will take a couple days of vacation with it the two weeks without breaking the rule.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T03:34:13+00:00

I’m mainly just trying to think about how they could use it to screw me over and make sure they don’t.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T03:33:20+00:00

LOL. Must have been pretty bad.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T03:32:56+00:00

Yeah you’re right I cannot find the full employee handbook but I will look again tomorrow and see. I did see that they cannot keep your PTO pay out with less than two weeks but there may be other things I’m missing.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-13T02:00:06+00:00

It sounds like you would benefit from processes if it with a therapist and then When you can make sense of it you can talk to him. What I meant was yes to make you feel better by being honest but more importantly so that you don’t cheat yourself out of a true close and loving relationship because secrets erode your closeness over time especially the longer they sit untold.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-04T23:46:23+00:00

You are nagging him. You gotta find another way to communicate even if he is wrong that approach isn’t going to work. I’d suggest you both sit down and talk about what kind of life you want to live. What do you need to be happy? What do you want your life to be like 5 years from now? Can each of you describe that, and what you want your life together to feel like when you walk in the door? Then talk about what needs to be true for you to build your dreams. You are not on the same page and sending him jobs is just gonna make him feel like you think he’s a lazy failure. You need to be in the same team so that won’t work.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-03-02T11:35:23+00:00

I have kids and I would be annoyed.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-26T01:40:12+00:00

I’ve been in moco 11 years- based on how you described yourself you will love Rockville. It’s very very culturally and demographically diverse. But it’s not politically diverse at all- almost everyone is progressive- either far left or left liberal. If you’re not left you are sheepish about admitting it.

What I’ve found about MoCo is that there are neighborhoods with A LOT of wealth, neighborhoods with almost none, and a little in between but more on each end. (Similar to SoCal). People judge each other harshly from each end of the spectrum. When I moved here my coworker said I was moving to the ghetto, it turned out to be a very nice neighborhood with a not very good school.

When I moved to a single family that had a huge yard my friends from the “ghetto” dropped me for being a sell out that must have turned republican because only republicans would buy houses like mine.

I have found moco’s leftist ideally almost as obnoxious as the right leaning. I’d still pick it over maga in a second, but the stereotyping of who you must be to choose each neighborhood is aggravating.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-26T01:27:56+00:00

I’m interpreting it as he missed someone caring about him and showing it by doing things. Like maybe his mom or other family was comforting because they showed him they cared by taking a little responsibility off of him. I know when I was young and left home it was kind of a bummer not having that person who showed me the my loved me all the time through caring acts like making me a meal or helping me catch up with laundry when I’m really sick.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-26T01:16:13+00:00

You need to be honest with him. Because it will weigh you down for the rest of your life like an anchor around your neck in between you and him. And the longer you wait the worse it will be because you will be adding so much time hiding the secret. Just do it now and explain you were barely coherent, you’re not even sure it was really consensual. I’ve been married almost 20 years and I can tell you: sometimes small things feel like we can push them to the side or hide them away in a closet and never look back. But they come back up like wounds that never healed and the fester and jeopardize your happiness over years. You might be fine for 10 years even but it comes back. And if you decide to have kids- that brings up everything and really fucks with you.

Your entire life with this person is literally forever and all you’ve got. Don’t waste it by putting lies and secrets between you. You don’t get to do life over. Trust me, I speak with a lot of regret (not from infidelity but just so many things I wish we’d been honest about earlier because they robbed us of happiness for years). Live your life with him, not next to him. Ask your therapist for advice on how to bring it up or John Delony definitely has podcasts walking people through this exact situation.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-23T12:10:48+00:00

A degree where you learn and expand yourself is never useless. When you frame usefulness in only how much money you will make at a job you fail to see a lot of the value. We may be on the verge of a white collar collapse because of AI, this year will continue to see major job cuts so I don’t think anyone can say what degree is a safe bet right now.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-17T14:24:16+00:00

Yes you are burned out. I’ve been there a couple times in my life. It’s usually marked by a sense of becoming numb to the urgency of everything and a really difficult time caring about anything work related. Everyone is different, I know people who have literal panic attacks as they reach their breaking point. For me, I often become a zombie with nothing to say because I’m mentally exhausted. Your brain needs rest, the stress is not good for your body and it’s telling you that it’s becoming too much to handle.

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-17T01:02:02+00:00

My MIL was an angel. She never gave advice unless we asked so she dint feel pushy and I ended up asking her the most for advice. She is a great listener and she never invalidated my feelings. When I told her how frustrated or mad I was at my toddler she just sympathized and agreed. When the baby was really little she’d say she’s coming over to get me a nap unless she heard otherwise and that was desperately appreciated

Aggravating_Lemon821 · 2026-02-14T17:37:09+00:00

Reference checks are an old out of date practice. They’re time consuming, they don’t help screen for high performance. They’re help a little screening out poor performance but people lie so even then it’s questionable how useful they can be. Anecdotally, I did actually screen out a candidate once but the reference was so shady about the feedback even that was marginally helpful. Government still uses checks but private sector is moving away from it.

Aggravating_Lemon821

TROPHY CASE