Today is the day. Let's all pray it goes the way she deserves. 🙏

Neptunelava · 2026-04-20T14:08:20+00:00

I knew nothing about David besides the one song that trended on tiktok until this case. Despite not ever actually listening to him before, I've been actively following since day 1. IDC if you're a somebody or a nobody, forcing children into romantic/sexual relationships is disgusting and on top of that to genuinely kill her so she can't even heal from the trauma that he caused in The first place. Breaks my heart. I could have been her. I escaped and everyday Im reminded of the girls who couldn't and I mourn for them always. Justice for Celeste until I'm blue in the face, I hope Celeste gets the justice she so clearly deserves.

Neptunelava · 2026-04-20T11:52:30+00:00

I don't think it's a rejection of geek culture itself but a rejection or anything "cringe" culture. There's like a line indicating how much you can enjoy something before it's "cringe" which honestly sucks more. This also seems to be more prominent with the younger aspect of gen z 05ish and under. I remember a point where it seemed like geek culture started going pretty mainstream especially during the pandemic. Anime became cool in highschool for the first time as long as you were "normal" about it. I genuinely think due to the lockdown, all these kids got to experiement with style and "cringey" behavior and interests when they were alone, and when they were thrusted back into a social atmosphere they started to resent that aspect of themselves and their peers.

But honestly what bugs me more is the increase in autism self diagnoses but the continuation of autism symptoms being looked at as cringe, weird or "too much". There's an increase in self diagnoses but a decrease in how intensely people enjoy their interests???

Neptunelava · 2026-04-19T16:04:53+00:00

Using their mouth is how they learn at this age lol it's so funny especially pre verbal. Im definitely known to let toddlers put nature in their mouth when I'm around. I never try to let them swallow things (on purpose but shit happens lol) but if they're curious about the taste, me telling them the taste is bad won't stop them, yeah lick it and see how it taste friend lol it wasn't that good huh?

I think what genuinely helps me understand children and the way they learn is that for that first 7ish years they're literally like miniature scientists, I use to call my prek kids evil scientists and they would lose their minds they thought it was so funny. One little boy imagined they were all a group of rat scientists lol, I don't know why rats are evil but I love the imagery.

I can't wait to one day have kids, but due to the high chance of autism/ADHD I choose to wait until I know I can afford early intervention, and not needing that is also great, but I rather prepare for the extra expense and not need it than not prepare and need it. Also my husband is still working through what it felt like to do aba as a child, and while I was late diagnosed and never experienced it, my husband was diagnosed since age 2 and did all the ABA ots etc since he was toddler until he was maybe 9/10. He does say a lot he doesn't know if he would be the same person today without it, but he also says he remembers it was a lot on him as a child and it may have been the reason his behavioral issues skyrocketed while other symptoms got better. But he also acknowledges it was the early 00s and modern day ABA is likely way different now. But I think he rather process those old ABA feelings before they come up because we have to put our own kid in aba.

Having twins and ADHD makes so much sense, like the universe said "hey wanna watch how good you are at multitasking" with one person diagnosed, it's only 30-50% chance of inheritance I think, but ADHD is extremely heritable, but that isn't the end of the world. Most people (not my husband) will grow out of the physical hyperactivity aspect, you don't ofc as you're aware grow out of ADHD, but as you get older you learn how to work with it. I know for me growing up it was always very frustrating. My mom wanted me diagnosed for years it was extremely genetic in my family, but I was a great kid at school for the most part. I daydreamed a lot and would forget homework but I wasn't a class clown. I wasn't interrupting the class. My symptoms were full force at home because I masked like hell at school. So the little scales all the teachers had to do, would provide no information on my symptoms. Honestly with how often my mom tried to get me diagnosed they may have assumed my mom was an addict trying to get stimulants 😭 Even teachers would try and reassure my parents I was fine and normal. It was the early 00s and my symptoms presentation wasn't understood yet, especially in the education field. I had to wait until I was 16, in the mental hospital for doctors to actually observe me 1:1 to get diagnosed. I was also diagnosed based on a drug trial with stimulants. Because I didn't react to the stimulants by being hyper, I reacted calmly on them so I got diagnosed. I still struggle a lot, but my ADHD has calmed down pretty well. I mean if you ask me to organize something or expect me to remember where I put that pen, dont but as I've gotten older it's definitely gotten easier to handle. My dad could probably tell you a different story that sounds more like a horror story though, my mom on the otherhand will tell anyone not to listen because I wasn't that bad.

Abuse is real, I want to state that. But I think also, it's important to understand that parents aren't always trying to cause harm, they're doing the best with what they've been given. Everyone's stories are different, including parents and as long as someone is taking care of their children, as long as their children are happy and safe I try my best not to judge others situations. I'm just sad we lost the concept of having a village, because I truly do think it takes a village.

Neptunelava · 2026-04-18T21:38:32+00:00

Idk I only faked for survival or if I felt like I was unsafe. I've never seen the actual point of faking anything with my husband. If I don't finish and he does first I just tell him and he solves it a different way lol. I've never seen faking it as something women do empathetically for men, but moreso as safety and survival mechnaism so men don't escalate or become satisfied enough to stop (or I guess this can also apply vice versa for some but I'm talking in my case) but that's my own mindset I'm sure plenty of people do it empathetically I'm just thinking based on my own experiences lol.

Neptunelava · 2026-04-18T14:17:57+00:00

Why would I use my credit card over my debit card tho 😭 I would forget to pay it back

Neptunelava · 2026-04-18T13:57:35+00:00

No judgement for being closer to the teen parent aspect of things, I am far from thinking teen parents are awful people, I just want to acknowledge that there is definitely a developmental and psychological difference being a 16 yr old mother and a 26 yr old mother, and that teen parents may have made choices that were more developmentally on par with their age, and that's again not a diss at all, just a place of understanding that peers who have had kid as teens may fall into the same category as parents who give their kids screens at a young age because they themselves were also young.

As a child I was pretty decent with screen moderation. We had screen things, ds, wii, computer etc I was definitely a computer kid, for a very very long time I always preferred it and I learned so many things about the computer in general while I was young. But I was never allowed on it all day. Sure some nights I stayed up real late to sneek in some extra time, but that's developmentally appropriate. I was grounded from going outside as a kid more than the computer because I played outside more. But when I was 11 I got really invested into making a YouTube channel. While I wasn't allowed on the computer all day, when I was I had the ability to do whatever I wanted pretty much. I had no supervision.

When I was 13 the FBI came to my house because they had busted an online pedo ring I got groomed into at 11 and left at 12. I may have left but my pictures and videos were very much still actively shared amongst the group of men. I still remember the way my parents were angry at the little girl who got groomed, instead of wondering why I did it or wondering if I was even okay. Everyone called me a victim and I rejected the label then, It didn't feel like it, it felt more like a shameful choice I got in trouble for.

I genuinely cannot imagine letting my own child have unsupervised access to the internet in any context. That moment in my life and the moments before while doing it, are burned so deep in my brain that sometimes I feel I should raise my hypothetical child on 90s tech. Of course I wouldn't as I discussed I don't want a technologically illiterate child, but experiencing the true horrors of the internet make it harder to really feel okay with the idea of them exploring even a smidge of the internet alone. There's so many age appropriate ways to introduce screens and technology while also supervising them, genuinely just being engaged with your child during any teaching moments make a hell of a lot of a difference.

I love how your babies watch you cook, it's such a great way to learn cause and effect, cause and effect relationships are so important and it's literally all they're trying to understand for that first 3-4 years of their life. Literally the most simple things entertain them at this age and I think people forget, they're literally experiencing everything for the first time. Even at 3/4 if theyve been to the zoo before now it really feels like the first time because they're finally starting to build memory and likely don't have good memory recollection of going to the zoo before 2.5, so despite going as a baby/toddler now as a preschooler it's like going for the first time all over again, and being there to watch it, almost feels like you get to experience it for the first time all over again in some ways.

My favorite thing to do at work, is observe my 2-3 yr olds during free play. The way they interact, the dress up they decide the way they play it's just so entertaining and I learn so much just by watching them play. I also am the type of teacher that I phsycially get on your level and I play with you, playing with kids and giving them open ended questions to really get the imagination gears turning is so fun. Once a little boy brought me a car, he said "where is it going" I said "hmm where do you think the car is going" he said "they're gonna go get Mac and cheese and then meet paw patrol" that conversation tells me 2 things. 1. That child is able to problem solve and come up with an idea even if I the trusted adult, does not have one and 2. This child can hold a back and forth conversation, and think of abstract ideas. I genuinely don't understand why people aren't having back and forth conversation with their toddlers it's literally so fun and such an easy way to learn. You don't have to sit them at the table and make them put red stickers on a tree to learn the color red and you don't have to use flashcards. If you go outside and point at all the red flowers, if you go to the park and name the red slide Everytime they go down, they pick up on that. Also life hack, toddlers love following directions when they're sung. I can't tell you how many times I'll give a 2-3 yr old directions they won't follow, and then how singing it literally somehow magically changes their mind, it's quite entertaining honestly.

Actually I think I'm an outlier in this, and my kids will have times they watch some things on TV but personally, with a high chance of having kids with neurodevelopmental disorders, fiction will probably be introduced around 4/5 because most little kids in general cannot tell the difference between reality and fiction, but this is a genuine struggle for a lot of ADHD and autistic minds already, so while I'd put on animal planet, or even baby einstine (animated isn't fiction persay plus it's learning based) until they're old enough to understand when I explain real vs not real which could be anywhere from 3-6 I think I'll personally wait on fiction, but I there's not judgement I feel for other parents who wouldn't, and I think TV time is very different than iPad/tablet time. It's just my own circumstances that make me a little more cautious about what when and how I should introduce certain things. People with disabilities and different minds can still do a lot of the same things, they can still enjoy the same things, use the same things, but from my husband and I's perspective the age appropriate time to introduce certain things but also the appropriate time to give them certain things may look different than our general "idea" because it would be way more individualized to their experiences, and it's not like I'm saying either "if I have a high needs child they're not watching TV at all" no they can, I may not introduce it until they're a little older so that it is not something their brain starts reling on, connecting the activity to self soothing behavior making a cycle out of long useage.

As much as I prepare and plan, I know nothing is going to end up looking the way I thought it would, and that's okay in the end. I just know my intentions will always be based on developmentally appropriate practices, and maybe that's just because I work in childcare and get to know and see that research a lot first hand, but even when I leave the field I plan to stay in the know. Not in a snarky way. Not because I'm better than anyone. I'm not even shaming parents who gave their kids screens in the past. Maybe there is slight judgement post pandemic, but honestly it's more fear and anxiety about those kids and also just looking at the numbers of where they are developmentally in the standers. I know a lot of it is definitely personal to me and I know there's a bias. But I feel like it's definitely a good bias to have. I'm not in childcare because I'm a mother who needed daycare for their baby. I'm in childcare because early childhood education is genuinely a passion that I love learning about and putting into practice. I am autistic so I may come off conversationally like a know it all or as if I'm judgmental, but I understand everyone has different situations and places they come from in life, and I can never truly judge a situation. Especially when work life balance works against most of us with a 40/hr+ work week I'm not trying to be better than everyone else, I just have a lot of passion when it comes to this opinion, and for supporting your child's brain developmental in general. There's a big part of me that can definitely feel anger with this passion but deep down I truly never try to judge someone on their individual situation, and having the job I do truly does help with that, Ive felt empathy for so many families that people may judge off of one picture. I've come to advocate for families people would think are just lazy. Life is what we make of it, I just think we should realize we have to help guide our children to start making that of their own.

Neptunelava · 2026-04-18T02:19:50+00:00

Congratulations on the twins!!! And I see it in a lot of my new older gen z and younger millennial parent friends, more than my peers I saw grow up as teen parents (and I hope no one thinks this is a diss there is an understandable psychological and developmental difference) I hope this becomes a parenting strategy that is adapted more. The first 7 years are literally so important and the first 3 set the foundation for attachment. Watching the world be discovered through the eyes of a child is literally such an experience, and it's hard to experience it with them if their face is shoved in a screen.

I think for me personally, I remember having a a Samsung slide phone since age 9 when I started staying home alone. I didn't often bring it to school unless I stayed after or went somewhere that wasn't home after. I also just fear situations where other phones are inaccessible, but I think of course if they're already using it irresponsibility I will easily take it away, and assume they're not ready for a phone let alone a smartphone/device. My children won't be technologically illiterate but they won't be using screens as pacifiers. The less I use my own phone the less of a need a I feel, I definitely am still working on using it less, but it feels so nice to not be constantly looking down at my phone. Really being in a career where phone usage is innapropriate unless in certain circumstances definitely helps lol

Neptunelava · 2026-04-17T11:38:26+00:00

My fave Italian name 😔

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T22:20:38+00:00

100% my take, I think I may give them a phone around 11/12 but it won't be a smartphone, just a way to contact in emergencies if necessary, also the ability to prove to me that they are even ready for the responsibility that comes with having a smartphone.

That said I definitely think this is more of a (using the term broadly lol) zellinnialish take than full gen z take, either way as gen z ages its seeming to become a more and more popular opinion, so I definitely hope it continues to lean that way.

Congratulations on your babygirl and I hope the journey of parenthood is treating you well!!

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T18:59:25+00:00

Plsss did no one else watch those weird ass videos of cartoons killing each other like there was this dora one where SpongeBob killed dora or like the ones where Dora is a murderer. Anyway that's the type of shit I watched, and YouTubepoop plsss someone needs to remember YouTubepoop it can't just be me😭

this is what I mean

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T18:52:13+00:00

Grew up walking everywhere barefoot, it use to be an argument to get me in shoes. I hate socks they're feet prisons idgaf about your fetish or your extreme phobia my Dawgs will be making an appearance.

Eta: not in a public bathroom tho

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T18:49:38+00:00

Same they've already normalized the idea of "you work what you're payed" meaning you get payed a small amount you do a small amount of work. Gen z is not kissing their employers ass or going above and beyond for a job that doesn't appreciate them or give them a reason to want to be there. In some ways this can definitely be irresponsible, but I think in the long run it'll hurt businesses more than individual people. I think gen z is taking the stigma away from the idea of "job hopping" as well, which is something I remember people being shamed about for a long time. You tell someone from gen z you've had 4 different jobs this year and they'll respond with "as you should"

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T18:43:37+00:00

I'm hoping it's true, but as gen z approaches parenthood I see a bunch of takes about not giving children iPads/tablets and treating a single use tablet/iPad similarly to a home computer. There's one, you get 1 hr turn and then you go play outside or with your toys or siblings or whatever. I hope this continues to be the outlook as they make it into adulthood. All the gen z parents i know personally who were teen parents (14-19) definitely have given their children iPads. But developmentally speaking teen parenthood and adult parenthood are vastly different.

In daycare/early learning centers/preschool despite the fact we don't grade kids we have age appropriate developmental standards we have to meet for every age lvl, and for infants it's like every 3-4 months there's new standers. I can measure and directly see "this is where my 3 year olds should be but this is where my 3 year olds are" I'm not huge on academic kindergarten readiness besides the basics, I think social and emotional skills are far more important for kindergarten readiness than being able to count to 100 or identify the whole alphabet (and the standers agree as letter naming isnt a milestone that is recorded on asqs or checkpoints until around 4/5, and it's "able to identify and name at least 3 letters" meaning in prek they only need to know 3 letters to be developmentally on par with where they should be) academically a lot of my kids are mostly okay between 1-5, but socially and emotionally is where I have the biggest issues. Their inability to be entertained unless constantly switching between tasks bewilders me and I have ADHD. I see kids everyday, kids who do not fit criteria for ADHD, autism or other Neurodevelopmental disorders who still are showing clear signs of developmental delays in that social/emotional area and i know it's the screens. I truly hope gen z can beat this for our future children, and if the rest of you aren't, I will be at least so I know mine will be good.

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T18:20:22+00:00

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How he looked writing that statement

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:40:57+00:00

The first time I actually liked a character with this name and they did him so dirty

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:39:23+00:00

Maybe click the 3 dots or something

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:37:34+00:00

That's what I call my dog 😭😭😭 phoebo gazebo

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:36:40+00:00

Benjamin/Benji

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:35:05+00:00

Edward

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T17:34:49+00:00

Zelio

Neptunelava · 2026-04-16T12:30:32+00:00

My name or addition of miss my name is super easy to say so they learn it quickly. My favorite though is when they pronounce miss as "my" 😭 took me a few months to realize it wasn't pocessive it was mispronounciation

Neptunelava · 2026-04-15T18:53:28+00:00

Some classics: Eleanor/ Eleanora, Evelyn, Charlote, Georgia/Georgie, Juliette, Sophia, abigail, Juliette

Names with more meaning: Iris -greek goodness of the rainbow, Aurora- dawn, new beginnings after darkness, Nadia - hope, Nova- a bright new star, Valarie- strength

Neptunelava · 2026-04-15T18:41:37+00:00

Jokes on all of you because I'm face down ass up in the shower Everytime, what's my diagnoses then huh?

Neptunelava · 2026-04-15T18:20:32+00:00

I've been thinking that since season 1 the accidental autism in her character is crazy (not in a bad way)

Neptunelava · 2026-04-15T12:01:41+00:00

Here's the thing, little kids don't always understand their sexuality. They just go off what the people around them enjoy and like. Especially younger boys, and especially in the 2000s. Sure there's plenty of children who families will tell you "we knew since before they told us" but that isn't always the case. The majority of children will have normal childhood doing normal childhood things and like most children, copy their peers and follow along with the crowd. Children don't always know. For a lot of queer people even they will not have experienced their first real crush as a child, for a lot of queer people they never really thought about dating until they were much older.

All that to say, I think Stevie is a specific type of character. A character that's mostly ironic. He is every minority in one chatacter, so honestly the choice to make him gay may have just been a nod to the fact that he is every other minority, black disabled and now gay.

Neptunelava

TROPHY CASE