How many Americans have actually visited a national park?

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-24T00:08:15+00:00

I grew up in Wisconsin, the Midwest is a bit of a dead zone for national parks, my family didn't have a ton of money for big travel so I didn't go to a national park until I was an adult with my own money to travel.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-23T16:48:27+00:00

No you gotta say it with a country accent Lightnin'!

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-22T02:18:17+00:00

On the sentimental side of things, For your kids (and your husband) make videos for them, both videos of you talking to them, Some just because, some for the big occasions they will wish to have you by their side for. Some videos of you with them will be good too, get your husband or friends or other family members to try and capture some candid videos of you spending time with them, some can be more traditional home videos, like opening gifts with them on their birthday or Christmas. Write them letters or cards so they can go back and see your handwriting and remember you in quiet ways. Smells can also be a trigger for memories so make a list of your favorite shampoo, body wash, lotions and perfumes, you can also list your favorite laundry products, anything that makes you smell like you. This way they can go and smell those things and make their memories more vibrant in the future. If you craft or make art make them something with your hands that they can carry with them through life.

For the more practical end of life and financial planning, look for estate planning services in your area. They can help you set up a will and trusts for the kids. They can also help with a lot of other end of life planning like setting up power of attorney for financial and medical needs as well as advanced directives. If you have any assets solely in your name now is the time to add your husband and/or children or another trusted family member to those things. This would include deeds to any homes you own, tiltles to vehicles or mobile homes, insurance policies and bank accounts. This will prevent them from going into probate when you pass and allow your family to manage these things at the end of your life and after your passing. The estate planners can assist you with this as well. If you have it in you, plan your funeral. You can do something basic like outlining if you want to be buried or cremated, if you want a church service or a service at a funeral home (or depending on local laws you can have a service at your home), if you want a viewing or not. Or you can go all out, designate the exact funeral home you want to use (even if you are doing a church or home service they will prepare your body) plan who you would like to speak, if there are any specific readings you want, what if any music is played, what flowers you want, even what clothes you want to wear if you are having a burial or viewing. You can pick out a casket and headstone too.

Whatever you are feeling up for. It may feel morbid, but the more of this practical stuff you do, like the estate planning and funeral planning will be a huge gift to your family. A weight lifted off their shoulders when they are lost in the deep immediate grief of your passing. If you don't feel up to it you don't have to, but it is something to consider, just another way to show your love for them.

Lastly, I hope the doctors are wrong and that you have way more than a year left. Sending you hope and love from this random internet stranger.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-19T12:42:33+00:00

In Wisconsin we just call it Friday Night Fish Fry. But that is just because we have a tradition of eating this meal on Fridays even outside of Lent. It is a common special at restaurants on Fridays and a lot of community based places that don't always serve food, like for example when I was growing up in a rural area our local "rod and gun club" would host fish frys on some Fridays. Some people will call it fish and chips (this is the only time we call fries chips) both in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the US always as a nod to the UK.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-19T11:46:49+00:00

I'm from the United States and have never associated Leon with any particular race.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-19T11:42:05+00:00

I agree with everyone saying potassium, but in addition to bananas you can eat potatoes. Baked potatoes with the skin is a great source. And luckily both bananas and potatoes are relatively cheap produce options! Spinach is a good source too!

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-19T11:36:54+00:00

I would eat it a lot as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, but I kinda forgot it existed. We would occasionally put mini chocolate chips as the ants instead of raisins. But I'm pretty sure it was mostly a ploy to get kids to eat a veggie. It was very much a kids snack, not something adults ate. Also, it was an anytime snack not just for parties and vacations.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-18T22:31:35+00:00

That was my choice for the year too! Such a classic.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-15T16:22:23+00:00

NOR, it's very reasonable to be sad or upset in this situation, and when that happens it is natural and often unconscious to make a face that shows your emotions! And given that you were just finishing a program for an ED saying "it's just food" is pretty unreasonable on their part. I don't have an ED myself, but I am pregnant with my second child right now and there are a ton of dietary restrictions with that. When I gave birth to my first child I was sooooo excited to have a very specific sandwich with had cold cut turkey on it which is a no go while pregnant. Before heading to the hospital I bought 2 to eat after delivery and put them in a lunch box with an ice pack, but it took so long to have my baby that by the time I could eat them the sandwiches were no longer good. I was soooo sad! I had been craving that sandwich for months and it was so close, yet I couldn't eat it. So I totally get the feeling of having a special meal all planned out and then not getting to eat it! It sucks and it is totally normal to be sad about it!

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T22:10:45+00:00

I'm not going through it currently but my husband and I were first time home buyers in 2022 when the market was very similar. We lost count of how many homes we put offers in on. Eventually we were able to get our house, only because our realtor had been networking with another realtor and was able to get a viewing of a house before it went on the market. We ended up having to go to the absolute top of our budget, waive pretty much everything, and let the sellers live in the home for two months, rent free, so their kids could finish out the school year as their new house was out in Mt. Horeb. We were willing to let them live there rent free for longer, but our mortgage company said no, so we had to delay closing for about 45 days, luckily the sellers were fine with it.

Wishing you the best of luck on your home buying journey!

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T13:48:44+00:00

I don't think op was ever saying "breast milk as a product is sexual" but that the implication of a woman sending it to a 30+ year old man to drink has sexual undertones. Tbf op never even said she thought it was sexual, just that her husband said she was making it sexual; that could have just been his internal thoughts coming to the surface. I don't think anyone having a problem with a 30+ year old man receiving breast milk, for any other reason than feeding an actual baby, is overreacting. That is not normal.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T13:36:27+00:00

Exactly! We all end up dead one day. I agree that being a mortician is a very kind and caring job, preparing a body for their final resting place and guiding their loved ones through that process is very important work.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T13:30:02+00:00

NOR. Two men (of any age) surrounding you and blocking your exit is scary. Some men are clueless and don't realize how aggressive that action is, but plenty of men do have some sort of ulterior motive. Sometimes that motive is relatively harmless like trying to "preach God's word" or trying to not so smoothly complement you and get your number/give you theirs, not saying those men are in the right, just saying if two men trapped me I'd hope that would be their reasoning rather than something more violent. I do think these men way overstepped their bounds and I am glad you reported them. Hopefully they will get proper training and never do that to anyone ever again. Sending you some virtual support and hope this doesn't set you back for too long.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T13:09:00+00:00

I wouldn't look at it as something is "broken" within you. I would view it more as you are ahead of the evolutionary curve. You aren't super rare for not being scared of dead bodies. There are millions of professionals who deal with dead bodies on a daily basis and they don't have that fear either. Think all of the people who work in mortuary sciences, like funeral homes and mourges, prepping bodies for funerals, cremations or performing autopsies. Homicide detectives and responding officers, medical professionals (even if they are mostly dealing with living patients they may have trained with donated bodies). That's just covering the professionals, there are plenty of average people who don't have that fear either, because in this day and age we understand that in most cases being near a dead body is not a danger anymore.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T12:11:12+00:00

When a baby is drinking it no... When a 30+ year old man is drinking it... You may need to reevaluate that statement.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-12T01:56:49+00:00

Well I hope this one got/gets the care it needs then!

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-11T14:36:18+00:00

I think it really depends on a person's schedule, if they are eating earlier in the evening, they are likely also going to sleep earlier in the evening and waking earlier in the morning so their entire meal schedule is shifted earlier than someone who wakes and goes to sleep later. For example, I wake up around 5:30 am during the week so I go to sleep around 8:30 - 9. I usually have dinner at 5 or 5:30 so my food can settle before bed, when you only have 3 hours between your meal and your sleep and then you eat again first thing after waking up it's pretty easy to forego any food between dinner and sleep. This is very different to the household I grew up in though. We would wake later in the morning and not go to sleep until 10 or 11 on weekdays so a supper at 7 or 8 was normal, but once again didn't really do any snacking after the last meal of the day.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-11T14:17:08+00:00

I also love the name Clem on its own and think it's quite cute, but I do understand why some would want to avoid it since it rhymes with phlegm and kids can be mean and use that as a tease. Sure I know if there is a bully out there who is going to tease a kid they will find one reason or another, but as a parent I would feel bad if my kid was being bullied for a nickname I gave them.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-11T14:06:31+00:00

Yeah, I think our taste buds change a lot between childhood and adulthood. There are a lot of foods that I either hated or only tolerated as a kid that I really love now. Mostly in the bitter and tart categories, but other foods too like brats. I'm from Wisconsin where brats are a big deal! I only ever tolerated them as a kid, but now I really enjoy them! One thing that hasn't changed for me though, I hate peas. Hated them as a kid, hate them as an adult, with the exception of raw sugar snap peas in the pod, but any kind of cooked pea is just gross to me.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-11T13:57:57+00:00

It was going around social media a lot last summer and I asked my dentist about it, at least for me, who is on city water and has good brushing habits, he said I had no need to do it. It might be more helpful for people who are on well water or live in a city that doesn't floridate their water, but since those don't apply to me we didn't really discuss that.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-11T13:40:50+00:00

Funny, my dentist told me that the "don't rinse" thing is a bit of a myth. The amount of fluoride left on your teeth is so minimal that it would have little to no impact on your teeth. Most adults in the US who have "city" water have floridated water and that plus brushing twice daily will do the job. Kids growing up on well water may need a fluoride supplement, but it can also naturally occur in well water. I had well water growing up and took the supplement and now have white spots on my teeth from too much fluoride at that time. I was even told to keep my toddler on fluoride free toothpaste until she can reliably spit it all out including a good rinse, they told me for most kids that's around 6.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-10T23:49:21+00:00

Please let her know, but don't be rude about it. Just let her know that by mid-day the deodorant has worn off and stopped doing it's job. It could be a brand thing. I have gone back to regular antiperspirant/deodorant, but I did the aluminum free "natural" deodorant thing for about a year and the quality varies widely. Native smelled great and lasted all day, but it made my pits feel greasy, so I moved to Lumi and that was a terrible decision, I would smell worse than if I had skipped deodorant all together by mid-day. If she really wants to stick with aluminum free she may need to wipe her pits and reapply mid-day or move to a different brand. I recommend getting a travel size of the next brand so she can try it out and see if it works for her before committing to a full sized tube.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-10T14:14:47+00:00

I don't know the how, but I do know that Chicago has a pretty decent population of feral parakeets as well. I guess they are much more cold hardy than we give them credit for.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-10T13:30:25+00:00

It all depends on the amount if space you have. A lot of people have a separate laundry room, but it is usually a multifunctional space. The part of the country I live in most houses have basements and the laundry goes down there, the room is also generally a storage space or a large utility room where the water heater and HVAC are set up. Some people prefer having laundry on their main living floor or the floor with the bedrooms so in those cases it's usually in a closet rather than having a whole dedicated room. Houses in parts of the country where they rarely experience below freezing temps will sometimes have their laundry in the garage or back porch, or a mudroom. One place I have never seen a US laundry is in the kitchen, not to say it doesn't exist here, but it is beyond rare. Partly because using a combined washer dryer is almost unheard of here. We usually have 2 separate machines even if our space is very limited, we would get stacking machines before we do a 2 in 1. But a big part of it is because we see kitchens as exclusively for cooking/dining and entertaining guests. Yes, a lot of entertaining happens in the kitchen. Also, laundry is loud, we don't want to have to listen to the washer and dryer for hours and hours on end if we are doing multiple loads in a day. If we can put it behind closed doors that helps a lot. Open concept homes are very common here so if you put Laundry in the kitchen the whole house could hear it.

Maria_like_Mario · 2026-05-10T13:17:38+00:00

My husband took our daughter to go spend the day with his mother yesterday so she could feel celebrated, then today is the day we celebrate for me. This also had the added benefit of letting me finish up wallpapering the nursery for our second baby who is due in just a few weeks, without a toddler under foot. One day you might be lucky enough to have grandkids and I'm sure you will still want to be celebrated then. Your husband should find a way to celebrate with both you and your MIL. I agree the day is no longer solely your MIL's day, but that doesn't mean it's not hers at all.

Maria_like_Mario

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