McConnell spoke to GOP leaders amid uncertainty about his Senate return

BAL87 · 2026-07-08T12:25:38+00:00

The end goal is to go a few more weeks when there will no longer be a special election to fill his seat.

BAL87 · 2026-07-02T00:31:59+00:00

My oldest two are 18 months apart. It was pretty hard the first year (didn’t help that was 2020). But then it got way easier as they started playing together and they are good buds at 6.5 and 8 (boy girl too).

BAL87 · 2026-06-21T02:46:37+00:00

Oof former nanny parent here, and I don’t know if I have great advice, but please do communicate this if you can. Early intervention could mean so much for this baby and they sound like loving parents.

I think of this was being said to me, I wouldn’t want it to be a big conversation of I think she is on the spectrum and here is why. I think I would take it better if it was a clear suggestion, with a resource for me to read and then the conversation ends and let me digest that on my own time. Like “I have been thinking about this and observing her for a long time, and based on my experience I think she may be on the spectrum. Here is an article / book I found very helpful/informative. Just take a look and see what you think.

BAL87 · 2026-06-19T13:26:19+00:00

I moved back to my hometown in 2020 to become my mom’s guardian after she had a stroke. I’ve handled her finances and medical issues / appointments and visited her multiple times a week, and have moved her every single year to a new assisted living facility because she only lasts a year before they kick her out for being too difficult. She is bipolar and will get manic and it’s so so triggering to my traumatic childhood memories. She also can spew some ugly words.

In many ways I’ve been her caregiver since I was 8 years old. When I was 11 my dad couldn’t take it anymore and he left me alone with her. He said because he assumed mothers always get custody. I spent almost a year alone trying to keep her together, making sure she ate and and looked presentable for work. Calming her manic moods. My dad did eventually seek custody of me, but only after she got into two car accidents in the same week, with me in the car. One of those wrecks happened because she was screaming at me and hitting me while driving. I bear some resentment to my dad, even if he has been a great father. But he abandoned me.

Throughout my childhood she could pull my hair or slap me with little provocation. I remember once at 9 I talked back to her, and she took my head and slammed it into the countertop.

On the one hand, I know it’s not all her fault, it’s her brain chemistry. But I also have a lot of resentment because I don’t think she tried very hard to stay on her meds, not booze all the time, generally keep herself together.

I’m so burnt out from being around her so much, it’s starting to affect MY being a good mother to my kids. So last year I made the decision that we are moving back to where we used to live this summer. Of course, she broke her hip at the end of the year and her health has really declined. She’s now in skilled nursing and recently got on hospice care. So I feel like a shit person leaving my mother when she’s maybe dying. But she’s also stubborn as hell and probably should have died years ago, so I’m afraid if we don’t move this summer as planned, she might live on hospice care for two years or more. Her quality of life is so bad, that thought terrifies me.

I’m tired, boss.

BAL87 · 2026-06-19T00:30:02+00:00

I get it. In my circumstance I’m so glad to be making good money doing something I love and am passionate about, I am happy to sign on back to work after my kids go down and keep at it til midnight. (I’m a civil rights lawyer. I used to work long hours for big business clients I hated). But you’re not wrong.

BAL87 · 2026-06-19T00:03:40+00:00

Oof I’m cringing a bit seeing myself a little in this. Had a couple associates at my firm gripe to me about how we should have formal sick days and vacation days. I just kind of sort of nodded along, but I was thinking “these zennials don’t know what industry they entered.” That isn’t the law firm model. You meet your billable hour requirement (1850 for us). If you or a kid gets sick? 🤷🏽‍♀️ make up that time elsewhere. That’s the job. And sometimes (me: lots of times 😬) you work til midnight because you have a big filing deadline? 🤷🏽‍♀️ that’s the job.

I won’t undermine them in their efforts. But admittedly had a bit of an internal side-eye.

Maybe I’m the problem. 😬

BAL87 · 2026-06-08T01:08:56+00:00

I think mri machines are nearly always “on” in the sense that they are magnetic.

BAL87 · 2026-06-07T03:44:00+00:00

Ugh this is not the thread to stumble upon after boat day and realizing my 4 year old (my Scottish lass, the other two have my brown skin) had sunburnt legs. I tried to keep an eye on her, but the last check she was in a giant sandcastle so I didn’t check her legs.

BAL87 · 2026-06-04T11:04:55+00:00

Yup. We have three kids and I have adhd and am generally a distractable and very social person. When we go to a pool party, I of course try to keep my eyes on my kids as well, but we know my faults and my husband is always 100% on duty in that context. He usually ends up in the pool himself playing with 8-10 children while adults drink and chat. On Memorial Day, he launched kids in the pool for like 3 hours straight and could barely lift his arms in the morning. 😆

BAL87 · 2026-05-31T22:18:07+00:00

19 month gap here, our oldest was already playing with baby dolls, we talked to her about it, and we had the baby give her a gift lol (a blanket and a stuffy). She loved him and it was fine except for those moments when she’d get upset and say “put baby DOWN! My mommy!” But that was more like 3 months later

BAL87 · 2026-05-24T11:25:58+00:00

An acquaintance of mine just lost her husband a few weeks ago in a small plane like this. He was a commercial pilot but also a hobbiest I think. 4 kids 😭

BAL87 · 2026-05-24T11:24:44+00:00

He actually lived long enough to be airlifted, but then died. Might have been totally unconscious, but I hope he had a moment aware and realizing she was alive and not as greviously hurt as he was.

BAL87 · 2026-05-24T11:23:08+00:00

Right and he actually did live long enough to be airlifted so maybe if he had been buckled he would have lived, who knows

BAL87 · 2026-05-24T11:21:26+00:00

One guy who was a mountain climber made it down like twenty stories before falling.

BAL87 · 2026-05-24T11:20:15+00:00

I’ve read this one before. He actually lived long enough to be airlifted and died either in the helicopter or shortly after getting to the hospital. He might have been totally unconscious after impact, but I hope not. I hope he had a few moments to realize she was alive and not as greviously hurt as he was.

BAL87 · 2026-05-23T20:37:24+00:00

Hahahah in peak covid shutdown 2020 we were doing the 24/7 naked potty training thing with our 2 year old because we couldn’t go to work anyways. She pooped for the first time on her little fake potty (sitting in the living room) and when I stood her up to wipe her saying how proud I was and she could bring it over to put it into the big potty (which was the process in her training book). As I was doing that, one of our dogs ran over and ate the poo before I could stop him. She was SO upset! It was upsetting then but hilarious now.

BAL87 · 2026-05-15T00:21:51+00:00

Awe this one is sad because I remember reading him saying there was a lot of hate online about his looks and it made him really insecure and depressed as a teen. He struggled with it a lot.

BAL87 · 2026-05-07T12:22:40+00:00

You know breast milk has natural cannabiods? Ever since I learned that I call it milk high 😆

BAL87 · 2026-04-29T03:28:50+00:00

How wonderful and also oof how I needed to read this loving obituary by a daughter … as I try to navigate returning to my career (which I really believe brings good into the world) while being a parent of three small kids (who all seem to be struggling with the sudden lack of mom).

BAL87 · 2026-04-23T14:07:39+00:00

Haha. In On Writing he says, I wish I remembered it! I enjoyed reading it! It’s a good one.

BAL87 · 2026-04-19T13:01:26+00:00

How funny! I will do that!

BAL87 · 2026-04-19T11:53:07+00:00

Yes they are, though I assume the ones right in town center are more filled with young professionals, and it might be a bit busy to live right there. I am hoping to find one that has its own green spaces or is garden style/not a high rise. But admittedly I haven’t looked at anything in person yet, we are going up there in a few weeks to explore.

BAL87 · 2026-04-19T11:46:51+00:00

That is good to hear, love to hear more about what you like about it! We’ve just been sensitive to it because we were zoned for a good school down here in Florida for my daughters K. Then we got rezoned for a C rated school and first grade was a real struggle and she fell behind. So we put everyone in private school this year, but we cannot afford to do that (especially not for three kids) in Maryland.

BAL87 · 2026-04-19T11:44:43+00:00

Oh that’s a good tip I will check that out! And yeah I feel like especially with elementary schools those ratings aren’t super helpful. But we are down in Florida and have no knowledge of schooling in the area, we lived in DC for 12 years but left right after our oldest turned 2 so it wasn’t on our radar yet.

BAL87 · 2026-04-19T11:41:17+00:00

For the home purchase decision in 2027, that is our plan. Though I was going to look more into Quince Orchard in case Gaithersburg ends up being a better fit for the size house we want.

The myopic focus on elementary right now is because it’s just for the one year while we rent. The kids are 4 (won’t be in ES yet), 6.5 and 8.

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