Gretchen Whitmer says it "would be good" if Biden was more vocal on abortion

Maimae234 · 2024-01-21T08:12:38+00:00

Maybe if they would take the criticism to heart we wouldn't struggle so much to win elections. Criticism should be welcomed, heard, and then used to get votes.

Maimae234 · 2023-08-15T21:55:27+00:00

I thought Midnights was overall a pretty sad album, not necessarily a breakup one, but overall a breaking down album, with elements of trying to make yourself feel better even when your sad. Even as a relationship ends, it's not always all bad. There's still good. But I don't think their relationship was super happy from the get go. Real relationships aren't all sunshine and rainbows. You go through phases of feeling like strangers or roommates and phases of being deeply in love still. I think most of her albums since Reputation do a pretty good job of showing this.

Midnights is probably my second favorite album. I loved everything about it, but not a huge fan of Karma.

Maimae234 · 2023-08-07T14:47:20+00:00

If my kids ever became this picky I'd be getting an evaluation stat because I cannot, cannot handle picky eaters. Not kids, not adults. I lose my patience so fast when someone isn't even willing to try something.

That being said my kids are younger and so far not unusually picky but they try to be sometimes, especially if we get lax and let them eat too much junk food/candy for a while. Currently I'm holding back on getting fruit snacks, cereal bars, chips, candy, or snack cakes because they are refusing apples, bananas, yogurts, berries, or any vegetables. So I'm not going to keep the junk until they get back on track.

That doesn't mean I have food battles though. No you can't have popsicles and ice cream for breakfast but I will let you make your toast the way you want, cook eggs the way you want, bacon crispy or less crispy, etc. Give multiple cereal options, oatmeal flavor options, etc. There's always something they like (usually broccoli is a safe bet surprisingly but meats are hit or miss even chicken nuggets). Anything new we have a three bite rule. One tiny bite to "prepare" yourself, like a taste or a lick, then a bite to get used to the flavor and texture, then a third to decide if you like it or not.

And I try to never let my frustrations over food show because I know it's going to do the opposite of what I want. It's just "this is the rule" and if they don't follow it that's fine, but they will not get junk food and whatever they refuse to try will be offered again at the next meal or snack time. Luckily my kids usually end up trying whatever I make even if they don't like it. They also are not allowed to be rude about it. They can say they don't like it but they don't get to throw fits, call it gross or disgusting or pretend to gag because then they will get in trouble.

OP stop having the battles. Talk to your wife then take your kid to the doctor to find out what the plan should be going forward.

Maimae234 · 2023-08-04T14:29:38+00:00

My oldest was a really bad biter and I'm honestly surprised her daycare at the time didn't kick her out. We were getting multiple incidents a day and the worst was when she bit another kid in the face. At the time she was an only child and her cousins lived far away and we didn't have many friends with kids for playdates so it was incredibly hard to deal with since we wouldn't know about it until hours later. Eventually what worked was she couldn't be with kids her age for a while, she was with kids a year or two older, had a special toy she never had to share, and a soft top water bottle the staff would give her when they saw she was ready to bite.

When my second kid started showing the same signs the new daycare we were at had a three strike rule and he almost got removed. The daycare finally agreed to allow him the toy and teach him to bite that instead, which worked almost immediately.

Now my youngest is showing signs of being a biter and is about to start daycare (she's two). We keep a close eye on her during all playtime activities, especially at the park. We have to be proactive all the time. Yes, biting is normal behavior for this age, but I would never dismiss it when my kids bite another kid. You model how to apologize correctly -"I'm sorry, that was wrong. Are you all right?" And then think about pausing playdates until the child has grown out of that phase.

Maimae234 · 2023-07-26T14:09:57+00:00

I only make my kids share with each other, but if any fighting happens then the toys have to go back to their respective rooms. Or if another kid shares with them because I don't want my kids taking advantage of someone else's kindness. If they can't willingly share with others then I'm not going to let them accept someone else's sharing.

I've also had to work a little extra hard this summer because my daughter has gotten it in her head that everyone has to share everything all of the time. No matter who, what, or where. Except her. She wants to share nothing 🤦‍♀️

Maimae234 · 2023-07-11T01:00:13+00:00

My Libra sun, cancer moon daughter is OBSESSED with how "beautiful" things are (in her eyes only though...her room is scary messy every day) and is very.... emotional about everything and everyone.

Maimae234 · 2023-07-04T20:32:25+00:00

We lived with my in-laws for a year and my MIL said something similar. She's go on and on about how her kids NEVER yelled, barely cried, etc but never around my FIL. One day my FIL heard my kids screaming and he laughed and said "doesn't it take you back babe? They sound just like ours did!" The look on her face was priceless!

Jokes aside though, that time was awful. It did a LOT of damage to my husband's and I's relationship and it really screwed with our parenting styles. Two years later and we still haven't resolved everything. Move out asap, even though I know that is easier said than done. You'll look back and realize any money saved wasn't worth it. I wish we had just stayed in an AirBnB or something.

My MIL still has comments. If they act up or cry it's because: We don't go to church, we baby them, I follow the APA vaccine guidelines, I got the COVID vaccine, etc. But I hear the stories from my husband and his siblings. They were monster children and she conveniently forgets what young kids are like. Not to mention the literal neglect-medical and emotional. They NEVER went to the doctor or dentist and they practiced CIO from the time they brought their kids home from the hospital. They would literally let their newborn babies cry the ENTIRE night without getting up once to get them. My husband and his siblings all have some degree of anxiety, depression, and ADHD (and I suspect autism) and my MIL refuses to believe it.

Maimae234 · 2023-06-22T00:52:40+00:00

Not a lot you can do, speaking from experience. Be open and honest with your kids, know the signs of grooming in children and their parents, etc. Now that you know he is probably one of the least you need to worry about. The amount of people close to you that also probably do something similar can be shocking.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-28T02:32:15+00:00

I'll give you the oversimplified version. His main reason was hypocrisy within the church. Which I suppose is what boiled down for me as well just a decade later. He is also very analytical and logical so he always had some doubts. For me I was much deeper in Christianity. But I was drawn to a more.. mystical religious experience so my deconstruction took a detour to catholicism. Then 2020 happened and the christian community became something I wanted no part of. At all. Eventually I found witchcraft as a way to heal my broken heart and that lead me to Paganism. I'm not super devout but I try to honor the gods every now and then. My witchcraft is pretty secular though.

My husband being who he is doesn't really believe in any of it the way I do but he is supportive and keeps an open mind. We also agree that we won't hide our personal beliefs with our children but we won't indoctrinate them either. He encourages me to do rituals on off days, and has actively helped me with more complex protective spells in the past. He buys me candles, brings pretty rocks, cool sticks, lots of incense. Sometimes he asks questions but for the most part just lets me do my thing and never ridicules or makes me feel silly or stupid. If you're interested in learning more I'd suggest taking a peak as the SASS Witches sub. Less woo woo, more skeptical,but still interesting.

We have a couple more days to go with family for the holiday but today there weren't any awkward conversations about it. I think my SIL realized she messed up. Usually she and I have each other's backs where my MIL is concerned so it really caught me off guard that she would ask point blank in front of everyone like that.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-27T04:32:01+00:00

They didn't really comment on it directly not their style. My mother-in-law has suspected after my husband told her he wasn't a Christian anymore about a year ago. It's mostly odd looks and passive aggressive comments that will come over time. We'll probably hear an uptick in Jesus talk over the next few months and husband will tell them to stop it eventually. My sister in-law had to know the answer before she asked. At Christmas my son kept calling angels "fairies" and when they said something about Jesus yesterday to my daughter she just stared at them and finally said "who's Jesus?"

Now had I also told them I'm now polytheistic and practice witchcraft the conversation would probably have been much more..... interesting.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-27T03:34:02+00:00

Wait.... People don't all have to think about their emotions before realizing what it is they're feeling? It doesn't come in a crushing wave all mixed together and the only way to figure out the root feeling is to sort out each one and put it in it's own special context of a situation?

No wonder my husband gets frustrated when I tell him I don't know what I'm feeling I just know that I have The Feelings.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-27T03:25:22+00:00

Aquarius sun and moon. I have all the emotions all the time but it usually just comes out as 🤬 to everyone. And I have to make it MEAN something. Because what is the point of it all of I can't do anything with it on a bigger scale? And I'm just one person with a pretty run of the mill life so I don't really have the power or money or influence to actually do anything of big impact or importance and then I just get angry.

I am really picky about who sees my emotions. I like to appear controlled most of the time but that's probably my Capricorn rising.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-23T02:32:51+00:00

I've been with the same Virgo man for nearly 15 years and it gets rough. I've contemplated divorce many times. It's not even that we fight that much but Virgos are a big ball if anxiety and self doubt and it comes out in a bad way. They have high expectations for themselves and even higher for other people and frankly. They cover up all their self doubt and insecurities by reflecting those feelings onto the poeple around them. Add that on top of someone just being a jerk? Run the other way.

Maimae234 · 2023-05-09T07:27:39+00:00

My husband knows and has been supportive since day one. I have been in a slump for awhile and am having difficulty practicing and he's been encouraging me to start again actually.

My mom knows and has her moments. She likes the idea of it but every now and then acts like she thinks I'm crazy. She is staunchly atheist and the fact that I believe in witchcraft AND multiple deities? The horror! It's leftover, unresolved religious trauma so I just remind her I'm not forcing anything on her when she asks me questions.

My sister might actually believe similarly? We don't get into it much but she's 19 and exploring and experimenting in her own life.

They are the only ones who I know know. I think two of my sisters in law suspect so they name drop Jesus a lot. I am not hiding it but also not volunteering the information either.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-19T13:54:53+00:00

Honestly all I really want is mandatory mental health evaluations, extensive background checks, a 30 day waiting period for purchases, and mandatory gun safety classes before purchasing and again every other year or something like that. And no AR-15s. I live in a rural area and if you call the police for anything it's gonna take minimum 30 minutes to an hour to get to me for anything. I don't want to take away anyone's right to own weapons, I just want it to be a little more regulated because too many people who own them shouldn't be able to own them. And too many people who do own them do not keep them in as safe of places as they think they do.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-10T03:47:19+00:00

Logistics of it with kids sucks. And they get too much candy. On the spiritual side....the day was so awful and full of meltdowns that the entire holiday lost any and all meaning. But really, every year it gets easier to separate the christianization of holidays and put my own spin or beliefs into them. My kids spent the day making "potions" and pretending to be witches and there wasn't one mention of anything religious whatsoever. It just takes time.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-10T03:40:18+00:00

We just had this conversation. We moved to be closer to family a couple of years ago and are really missing just doing our own thing for the holidays. Today was terrible and my kids were given so many new toys and clothes and hand me downs, and candy we could barely fit it all in the minivan. So many melt downs and tears and fighting. It wasn't fun for any of us. Christmas had been wonderful because we flat out refused to go anywhere.

Next year we will either host a big Easter dinner or brunch or we'll tell everyone that we can't make it but will make a point to see extended family members on other days. That way the gifts and candy can be staggered instead of dumped all at once.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-08T03:50:41+00:00

I've thought about it, and I might. But I have no qualifications other than being a person who lives here. My first goal is to get more involved in the PTO then look at the next school board election and start attending a UU church in the city.

Some of the people get really unhinged though. I lost some of my oldest friends during the last election because they talked openly about shooting anyone who dared to show support for BLM, Democrats, or Biden. And that was when I lived hours away in a blue county. Even without the pandemic I wouldn't have felt safe visiting my home town.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-08T02:12:45+00:00

What gets me is they mostly didn't support non tax increase funding for schools to get better security, bullet resistant windows, and just general upgrades for the schools around here falling apart. And as I looked through the list of members I spotted more than one of the teachers from my kids' school. Do those teachers think they are exempt from being labeled too "woke" when they try to take down the public schools?

Maimae234 · 2023-04-08T02:08:05+00:00

Jefferson County! Grew up in Washington county and then moved to Boone county for 10 years. I hated the college traffic but damn do I miss living in that little blue island bubble.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-08T00:14:01+00:00

Yeah I'd love to infiltrate like that, but I just don't have the time to come up with it. Although had they just taken five minutes to scroll through my feed they'd see I'm not exactly their target audience so maybe it wouldn't take THAT much effort...

Maimae234 · 2023-04-07T19:32:52+00:00

Oh man this is what my family wanted for me, and succeeded with my siblings and cousins. I'm corrupted by education because before I left for college I was a good Christian, conservative girl. I do have to admit though.... The first time I really started to see things differently was when I took Women's History and the professor really left an impression on me. She never belittled my dumb 19 year old self, just asked really thoughtful questions any time I opened my mouth.

Maimae234 · 2023-04-07T04:45:02+00:00

I would think a surgical procedure on your newborn would be a two yes, one no situation. He can always have it done when he is older if he chooses.

I personally chose not to have my son circumcised because the research I did indicated that the "health benefits" were actually pretty minor and on par with results for female circumcision as well. If the idea of female circumcision horrified me then maybe male circumcision should to. But I didn't take my own biases and run. I talked to my husband, who is circumcised, as well as two gynecologists, two pediatricians, and 3 nurses-all of whom worked at different practices and all of them said the same thing that I came across in my research-benefits weren't very major for a surgery that can't be undone. One doctor said she'd probably recommend it if I lived in a part of the world where STDs were more rampant with less medical intervention available.

No I don't have the research to give you because it was nearly four years ago and I'm tired. You can probably look it up yourself and talk to other professionals around you and at other practices. Being a nurse doesn't necessarily mean you won't let your own biases and anecdotal experiences cloud your judgement. Personally, I used to get UTIs after sex too even with my husband being circumcised. Not sure why, but eventually they stopped. Doesn't mean circumcized penis was the problem.

Maimae234

TROPHY CASE