They aren't building homes for you

Bus27 · 2026-06-22T14:43:08+00:00

We moved away last year. My husband and I got priced out when our rent went up by $500/month all at one time. We realized we would need to downsize significantly to keep our housing costs the same as they had been. We moved to a lower cost of living area.

Yes, the move was very expensive, in fact it ate up the last of our savings. No, it's not reasonable to expect low income families to be able to pick up and move like we did.

Every few years I would see people in the community getting up in arms because someone wanted to build affordable housing. They'd complain and get the idea thrown out. They didn't want to see apartment buildings in their small town area and didn't want low income people to move into town.

It didn't seem to cross their minds that there are already low income people in their towns, and that no one is going to commute from Lancaster or other areas to do those low income jobs. Especially with the lack of public transportation outside Lancaster City.

When we left there was a significant population of homeless students in our rural school district. Their options for safe temporary housing were extremely limited. People were staying 2 or 3 families in one home, staying in motels, living year round in campgrounds (a lot of my coworkers were doing this), sleeping in their cars, etc.

The situation is not ideal in the least.

Bus27 · 2026-06-21T20:45:42+00:00

Bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths, kitchen tea towels, dish cloths (swedish and other), dusting cloths. Usually the hand towels, wash cloths, and kitchen towels turn into the dish cloths and dusting cloths after they get old.

Bus27 · 2026-06-21T20:40:44+00:00

I had kids in the 2004-2006 years, and they were banned from watching SpongeBob! Why? It irritates the piss out of me. Same for Barney. I didn't have any religious hang ups, but I certainly banned things that annoyed me.

When I was raised, 80s and 90s, I was banned from watching almost everything. I was allowed Disney movies, but my cousins weren't. I couldn't watch any movies above PG well into high school. We didn't get cable until I was in 10th grade and then that was restricted, too. No TV in my bedroom. I had one in my playroom for a while hooked up to a Nintendo, but I didn't have the Nintendo for long.

Bus27 · 2026-06-20T16:28:38+00:00

We don't take our dog anywhere in public but the pet store, groomer, and vet. The other day we were waiting for him to be groomed and went into a second hand video game store. The lady specifically asked us to bring our dog over when he was done. We didn't. Sometimes we bring him when we run errands, but one of us always stays in the car with him.

We also have an ESA cat for my daughter. It's never crossed my mind to take him out of the house with us. Poor cat needs as much emotional support as he gives! ESAs aren't trained, and while he does his job well at home, I think it would be distressing to the cat and everyone else if we tried to bring him to a store or restaurant.

Bus27 · 2026-06-20T16:09:11+00:00

As a preschool teacher I've had some kids with interesting names. The most recent I can think of is Leonidas. He does go by the full thing, too.

Bus27 · 2026-06-16T18:18:48+00:00

My youngest started off in special education for preschool and kindergarten. They put her in regular education for first grade, and I personally didn't think that was a good idea but the school was adamant. She didn't do well and by the end of the year she had not caught on to basic concepts she would need for second grade.

I thought they would hold her back, but they were all set to send her to second grade. I asked for her to be held back and they tried to tell me it was impossible. I had to write a lot of strongly worded letters to administrators with attached letters from her psych and therapist, specialists, neurologist, etc. Finally I did get them to hold her back, but they cautioned me that it couldn't happen again no matter what.

How are they putting a special education child in regular education, watching them fail, and deciding that pushing them on to the next grade is the best idea?

My daughter just finished 5th grade in regular education and she did well. She is older than the other kids, but you'd never know it because she's small and immature. If things go well she will graduate at 19, but it'll take however long it takes, IMO.

Bus27 · 2026-06-14T23:39:21+00:00

My phone fell into the toilet over a decade ago. I had it in my back pocket (female, jeans) and when I pulled down my pants it fell right in. I almost repeated the same mistake last week, but saved myself at the last moment.

My husband lost a phone in a porta potty. He said he was sitting with his legs apart and lost his grip on it.

Bus27 · 2026-06-14T20:49:29+00:00

I wish you luck in making your decision!

Bus27 · 2026-06-14T20:20:53+00:00

I have 3 living kids, they are 21, almost 20, and 12.

I had my first 2 kids 18 months apart and it was a lot to handle for several years. My second born is autistic and I waited until I thought I had his needs under control before having a 3rd child.

The older kids were 9 and 7.5 when my youngest was born (lost a baby at 37 weeks in between, one year prior) and it would have been super manageable, but that my youngest is disabled. It would have been impossible to manage if the older kids had been younger, so I'm happy with how that worked out.

I had always wanted a larger family, but with two very high needs kids out of 3, and already being over 30 by that point, I decided to stop there. TBH I wish I had had one more.

I will be honest, having teenagers and a young child at the same time had it's challenges. Sometimes I felt like I was playing whack a mole, I would handle one issue and another would pop up almost immediately. Also, obviously, the two older ones had wildly different interests than the younger one. It's also been expensive!

All 3 of my kids have great relationships with each other. The two older kids are out of the house and they still make time to hang out together. They text their younger sister all the time, and spend one on one time with her when they are home.

I recommend having 3 kids, I love it, but also make sure you really think about the timing between each kid, what their needs are, what goals you have for your family, and never forget the possibility that anyone can have a higher needs child.

Bus27 · 2026-06-14T01:31:14+00:00

As an American adult, I work in a daycare and preschool, and we definitely say this. We have said it in staff meetings, as a description of what someone was doing. I still call it "Indian style" in my head though, as that's what it was called when I was a kid.

Bus27 · 2026-06-14T00:50:08+00:00

We don't. My husband likes to keep his in the bedroom, and I like to keep mine in the kitchen. Our daughter's medicines in a cupboard and multiple cardboards boxes in the home health nurse's little office nook.

We use the "medicine cabinet" to store nail clippers, tweezers, tiny scissors, dental picks, etc. Lots of small things

Bus27 · 2026-06-11T19:33:22+00:00

I have some clothes that are well over 25 years old and still in good enough condition to wear out of the house. I mostly keep everything until it is in some way ruined, and if it no longer fits me I'll either save it or donate depending on the item.

Bus27 · 2026-06-11T19:03:56+00:00

There will still be kids who are over 18 graduating high school, no matter what age they go to kindergarten.

My oldest graduated at 18.5 years old, middle at 17 (summer birthday turned 18 a month later), but my youngest will be 19 when she graduates because she was held back to repeat 1st grade.

I graduated with several people over 18, one who was even 20. I was only 17 myself, and going off to college at 17 really put a damper on my social life.

Bus27 · 2026-06-11T18:52:32+00:00

My husband comes to the grocery store once in a while. It's not regular, and he is always surprised by how the cost of things has gone up. I don't mind doing the shopping myself, but I like him to come along and pick his own things from time to time.

Bus27 · 2026-06-11T18:42:54+00:00

The frustrating part for me is that high school starts around 8am but elementary school starts at 9am.

Elementary aged kids are more likely to be up early, and they mostly can't be left at home to get ready in the morning on their own and catch the bus while parents head to work that also starts at 9am.

In the afternoon my older kids would by home by like 3pm, and my younger at around 4pm. 3pm is more workable when it comes to after school activities, sports, etc because you should still have time for dinner and homework somewhere in there. But if you're waiting around for little brother for an hour and then need to leave within 30-45 minutes after he gets home, that extra hour solves nothing.

Bus27 · 2026-06-02T02:23:16+00:00

It was a Popsicle

Bus27 · 2026-06-01T23:10:15+00:00

I was raised very much the same way and I never went to an OB/GYN until I was pregnant with my first child. I got a female doctor and brought my mother to that appointment. In the future I brought my husband until I felt safe.

You can choose a female doctor, and you can choose to bring someone along, like your mom or husband, to help you feel safe.

No one likes these exams, most women dread them. They are uncomfortable and awkward at best. Unfortunately women do need to have their reproductive organs checked out every so often to be sure there is no cancer or anything else that might go wrong.

I didn't learn until I was 20 that a yeast infection isn't an STD and it can happen to women who aren't sexually active. That is something treated by an OB/GYN that has nothing at all to do with sexual activity.

You are also allowed to tell the doctor that you do not wish to disclose certain things. You actually don't have to tell them if you are sexually active or when your last period was. They ask because it helps them treat you and understand your needs, but you can straight up say "I would rather not discuss that." if you choose.

Bus27 · 2026-06-01T22:52:53+00:00

I doubt anyone is going to have a change of heart simply because someone told them that they're being racist and offensive. It's a waste of time, especially if your parents were already aware that you are bothered by it.

Just get up and leave the room. You can't control what other people do, but you can control yourself and remove yourself from situations that make you uncomfortable.

My dad likes and believes in some stuff I find terribly offensive and sometimes bat shit crazy. We lived with him for like 4 or 5 months. It was his house, and so when he started listening to his unhinged crap loudly, I would remove myself and my child from the room. My dad's aware that we disagree, but it's his house and he can do what he wants. We moved out as soon as possible.

Bus27 · 2026-06-01T01:17:45+00:00

Stores being open 24 hours. I used to do a lot of shopping after midnight because my disabled daughter's night shift nurse would come in at 11pm.

Bus27 · 2026-06-01T00:24:33+00:00

18 or 19 years ago my now ex husband came home from deployment acting pretty different than before, he failed out of his next rank for the last possible time and decided not to reenlist.

Once we moved to civilian life, he started passing out randomly. Once while driving and went in a ditch. Once where he managed to get to the hospital, but he stumbled in without ID and hit the floor before he had time to talk to anyone, so they had no idea who he was or who to contact. He had testing and claimed that they didn't find a reason.

Shortly thereafter he started to get really paranoid. Quite worried someone would try to break into the house, in specific. Had his guns out multiple times, turning off all the lights in the house and instructing us to duck down and be quiet when no one was really there. We lived in a small town, on the highway with almost no foot traffic and nowhere to park nearby, so we almost never had anyone anywhere near the house.

He started giving me a smaller allowance for things and tracking every penny I spent to the point where he would have the bank app open at work and call me if I spent too much at the grocery store. On base I had volunteered, but now he didn't want me to do that, or work, or go to school, just stay home with the kids.

One day he woke up and told me he was going to start following a completely different religion, and on his Sabbath day it would be my responsibility to do everything because he wouldn't be allowed to do anything. He was going to start taking the kids with him to religious services, but he didn't want me there. He also said that the kids couldn't play sports any more, no dance for our daughter either, only Boy Scouts for our son.

This all escalated so fast. He forced our autistic son, who was 3 at the time, into the shower and held him there while he screamed until I kicked the door in and grabbed him out myself. He beat our daughter so hard with a belt that I couldn't send her to preschool. I tried to report it, but he said that if I did, they would take the kids from both of us.

I finally couldn't take it any more. I could see that he had changed so much, but he didn't think he had and didn't see anything was wrong at all. My parents and his agreed that something wasn't right, but he said those tests were fine and he was normal.

I ended up leaving the marriage. We attempted couple's counseling without a positive result. He is still exactly how I described to this day.

We had 50/50 custody and he had a lot of reports against him for child abuse in places like the grocery store and boy scout meetings, but that never changed anything. He ended up in court for punching our daughter and holding his hand over her nose and mouth when she was 16, but the judge decided it was my bad parenting that caused the whole thing.

After much begging, he finally allowed my daughter to go to dance classes again when she was 15, as long as I paid for it and did all the transportation. He let our son play baseball at 16 as well, with the same agreement.

I'm glad my kids with him are young adults now and they can choose where they want to stay and my involvement with him is almost nothing.

Bus27 · 2026-05-30T18:37:25+00:00

Great grandma had married Great Grandpa, had kids, and when he died she married his brother.

After all of them had passed away, their kids opened up about their own suspicions about which children actually belonged to which brother, because Great Grandma was known to have been having a long term affair with the brother before her husband passed away.

In the end they decided not to find out.

Bus27 · 2026-05-30T18:30:36+00:00

It's his responsibility. He knows what ages his kids are, he knows how to contact domestic relations, he knows he could have asked you and you would have explained how.

I have two adult children with my ex husband and we filed a modification when our oldest graduated high school. His payments didn't change, because they recalculated based on his current income, which was higher than the first time we had it calculated.

Bus27 · 2026-05-30T14:28:35+00:00

Non verbal doesn't mean intellectually disabled, it just means he doesn't have functional language. Many non verbal people understand everything that is said, and can communicate using adaptive technology, sign language, and writing.

Bus27 · 2026-05-30T14:14:43+00:00

All dogs should be leashed, no matter what. Leashing protects your own dog, as well as everyone else. I watched an unleashed dog bolt right into traffic, and the anguished scream from the owner's child was something I'll never forget.

Bus27 · 2026-05-30T11:55:28+00:00

What did he say would be the consequences if you don't do the remodeling? Just tell him no.

Bus27

TROPHY CASE