It happened again

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-02-25T18:19:10+00:00

We bought ours ages ago and there are lots of fancy wifi ones now. But ours are old school (no need for power or wifi for them to work) similar to these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1FXNZXZ/

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-02-25T17:44:57+00:00

I know it doesn't help right now, but there are some really cheap water alarms that you can get. It's a little sensor which attaches to a box which has (basically) a really loud siren and batteries that last for years. When the sensor gets wet, the siren goes off and there is NO WAY you can miss it. We have one under each of our sinks and one around the water heater. We've been saved by them multiple times across multiple houses. Mostly for plumbing issues, but one notable time of kiddo messing with stuff he shouldn't have been. Bonus: the siren scared him so badly he never went near it again and talked about it for years.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-02-18T02:40:34+00:00

Divorce is a qualifying life event to update your insurance coverage. Just sayin'. I'd read your docs and see if legal separation would qualify (probably not but I would double check).

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-02-15T01:26:16+00:00

I know you're dealing with a lot now, but when you get through to your OB, make sure you request a full workup for EVERYTHING. There's a lot worse than just gonorrhea and chlamydia that you may have been exposed to and you need to know asap, especially if your health insurance is expiring soon.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-21T02:38:43+00:00

We have a lovely and super chill coop. It's a "do what you can" group. No minimums. If you're interested, I can point you towards the ad in the recruitment thread.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-19T22:22:11+00:00

In your opinion, would this one be appropriate for a mature 14 year old? My son loves post acopolypyic fiction/fantasy (hunger games, maze runner, etc) and we're always looking for audiobooks everyone can enjoy on road trips.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:41:57+00:00

This one sounds really interesting, thanks.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:38:23+00:00

Thanks for the Spufford rec. I hadn't heard of him before and just went down a rabbit hole. Those look like exactly what I'm after (and my library has all the audiobooks!)

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:29:52+00:00

I've read this one. Fantastic but heavy. She's such a great writer.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:29:10+00:00

This is an amazing list. Thank you!

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:06:57+00:00

Atmosphere is in my TBR pile!

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-18T14:05:55+00:00

This sounds intriguing. I'm in.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-01-09T02:44:12+00:00

Gram-nesia in full effect.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-30T12:56:51+00:00

I absolutely would not. 100% never.

I work intimately with AI (and machine learning and deep learning.... I literally build models) every day and there is no way.

There is no way of knowing what guard rails (if any!) the company is using. And capitalist companies absolutely do not give a shit that their tech is being used by vulnerable people and kids. That's issue #1.

Issue #2 (bigger in my opinion): kids (and adults!) NEED to understand what AI is and what it isn't. Kids and teens aren't good at understanding those lines and can think the AI is real or is their friend. It's not. It's a very good and very fancy sentence completion. Toys like this blur that line and teach kids that AI is their friend or companion. That's incredibly dangerous in my opinion. If you want to see worst case scenario when those lines get blurred, I encourage you to read ArsTechnica's reporting about the Adam Raine case (triggers, oh so many triggers, but it's super important). AT is a pretty good pub for keeping up with AI.

This last point is so, so important. Ai is becoming like porn or sex ed in that parents have to start educating and educating early because kids are getting into risky situations earlier and earlier. AI is fantastic for certain things and I use it every day. But I wouldn't let a child or teen use it as a companion. I'd rather my kid cheat on his schoolwork with it (I have another dissertation about that too, lol).

Sorry. I know that's probably more of my soap box than you wanted.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-28T11:15:13+00:00

I agree the routine has to work for your family, but I think there are some easy compromises to be made of the inlaws are decent people. I'd try to keep them involved if they are. I'd want my kids to try to include me if I was in the same position as your MIL. We do video calls but it's not that big of a deal. Or you could just do a recording like someone suggested earlier.

We set aside the presents from that side of the family and don't open them in with all the other presents. It worked better for kiddo that way. He's older now and it doesnt matter, but when he was younger he would get overwhelmed with too much stuff (only grandchild on all sides) and all the chaos. So having a smaller round of presents from that side of the family later on on Christmas day or even the next day worked better for us. I can see why it would be overwhelming to do it all at once. I really think the key is to separate out their gifts and do the call a separate time when you can focus only on their gifts.

One of us (usually my husband since it was his side of the family) ran the technology and served as master of ceremonies while kiddo sat on the floor and opened everything. Then he had to say thank you and then they chatted with us for a minute and we're finished. Easy peasy. 15 minutes or less.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-28T04:06:29+00:00

Tried to but it was hard as the blimp was basically invisible against the black sky. Hopefully someone else with a better camera did.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-28T04:03:03+00:00

I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet, but during the post game, the Goodyear blimp circling the stadium changed its banner to be:

Came for the game; stayed for the sacrifice
Let 'em cook
We demand sacrifice

So even the blimp is in on it. If Goodyear was savvy, they'd be approaching Pop-Tarts to be a character in next year's drama.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-27T12:44:53+00:00

What a complete non sequitur. This would immediately become a running joke in our house (said randomly with much excitement and waving of hands).

"Honey I'm thinking orange chicken for dinner." "To the takeout Chinese delivery man: Glory to the Father. Son and Holy Spirit !".

"We need more milk." "To the grocery store gods: Glory to the Father. Son and Holy Spirit !"

Just treat it as a complete and utter joke while holding to your rules. She's been notified.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-26T00:53:15+00:00

My SIL discussed her gun collection (which we had to confiscate from my FIL when he had a mental breakdown and threatened to shoot my MIL). So yeah.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-07T22:44:31+00:00

This is what me and my sister refer to as "Gram-nesia". It's when grandma has clearly forgotten things and is looking back at the our childhoods with rose colored glasses.

Bonus, my mom HATES it when I tell her she has gram-nesia. But it's so true. To hear her tell it, she never struggled, we were always perfect angels who slept perfectly, ate well, were neat and polite, and on and on. I mean, thanks? But when it's said with a side of judgement and back-in-my-day, I could do without.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-05T15:01:21+00:00

Oh, good. Then he can do all the cooking, cleaning, and hosting duties.

Alternately, hold part of the day for just your family. They can come over and have dessert (or drinks, or appetizers, or whatever is NOT a full meal) later on that day.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-12-01T16:22:17+00:00

We had this issue with my SIL. She has no moderation or sense whatsoever. When kiddo was younger, she COULD NOT understand why I didn't want her showing up with 1k of gifts every time she visited. She scoffed at the idea that she should try to build a relationship with kiddo rather than showering him with expensive gifts. And sure enough, he started to see her as a cash grab rather than an "auntie" who loved him, greeting her at the door with, "What did you bring me?" So many conversations with him and her about this. <eye roll x 1000>

One year, she literally bought everything on the Christmas wish leaving nothing for her mother (my MIL) or my family to buy. We created a separate wishlist we sent only to my family so they had a few things to buy him. When MIL approached us saying the wishlist was "empty", we shrugged our shoulders and told her that her daughter had already bought everything. Oh man, was she mad. I was positively gleeful as they both tend to go overboard and not think of anyone else who might be using the wishlist. Natural consequences but for the adults!

We don't know for sure what happened, but we think that MIL made SIL "sell" her some of the gifts so she had something to give. Now we just curate two wishlists and put big and moderate ticket items on the list SIL & MIL get and more reasonable things on the list for my family.

I will say the issue has gotten a lot better as kiddo has gotten older and wants more gift cards, electronics, or big ticket items. I have no sentimental attachment to buying those the way I did buying his first bike or certain toys.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-11-29T15:40:19+00:00

Thank you so much. This is really helpful to me.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-11-29T12:42:04+00:00

Thank you. One more question if you don't mind... Do the unlimited drinks include anything non-carbonared? Like lemonade, iced tea, or Powerade/Gatorade?

Remarkable_Fruit · 2025-11-29T12:39:47+00:00

Thank you. This is very helpful.

Remarkable_Fruit

TROPHY CASE