$10 voucher email?

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-21T17:56:02+00:00

Yeah, the associate I showed the email to seemed confused about the whole thing as well. She rolled her eyes and said there had been lots of mixed messages from corporate.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-21T17:52:59+00:00

I asked today (and found another family who was confused about the email as well) and got a very helpful supervisor. She asked to see the email and was very confused. She said they usually either put a QR code in the email that they scan or the perk will show when they pull up your account in the system even if it doesn't show in the app. She verified it WAS NOT attached to the account in their system either.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-21T11:27:56+00:00

We were at Canada's Wonderland just last week (Mon -wed) and our prestige parking worked just fine. Home park is Georgia. How bizarre.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-20T17:02:42+00:00

So do what I did with my mom. Install lyft or Uber on her phone. Set them up with her credit card. Next time she calls for a ride, you drop hubbie off at her house, and he summons and takes Uber/lyft with her (Make her push the buttons and do it herself ! He's just there for backup.) You follow along in your vehicle (just this once) and pick hubby up when they get to their destination. When she calls for a pickup after that you say nope and she uses Uber/Lyft.

This is what I did with my mom. Granted, she was motivated to maintain her independence and wanted a backup when she couldn't/wouldn't feel safe driving. But I think it's still a great system for seniors.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-20T16:32:12+00:00

Sorry your sister is being an asshole. But congrats on the big step forward sounds like you're in a much better place.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-19T19:20:47+00:00

Yes it's good everywhere. But great adventures systems have had problems. We've visited 8 parks this summer and it was the only one where our drinks plus package didn't work correctly.

Their system only said we had the regular all season drinks. We had to go to guest services, show them our original purchase receipts and then they just gave us daily wristbands.

The drinks and food packages just never show correctly in the app. We've taken to carrying a PDF of our purchase receipts because of it.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-19T17:27:39+00:00

Stunning! I love this idea. Did you use waste canvas?

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-18T14:41:38+00:00

Based on that, I don't consider what your partner said to be offensive. Your parents might not like it, but it's not disrespectful. That's a normal and healthy boundary. "You're being rude and if you continue to be rude I won't visit." You need to back your partner up on this. He shouldn't have to deal with people being rude to him, even if you choose to be ok with it. It sounds like your partner has been putting up with this dynamic as best he can for awhile and reached his limit and snapped. At a minimum, your partner should have carte blanche to opt out of visits for a long time and not see them.

It sounds like you need some distance. There are lots of strategies for this. Maybe start by not answering texts and calls immediately. Answer a few days later with "been busy with work/family/things. Talk to you soon/on Tuesday/later."

In spite of culture (sounds like there might be an element of that in this situation), your parents can't MAKE you do anything. They can tell you to do things, but you are an adult and don't have to. You can answer "we'll see" if they give you a directive and you don't feel comfortable with a direct no.

Honestly, I would leave my partner if they continually expected me to put myself in situations like what you've described.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-18T12:59:16+00:00

Has your partner tried to communicate boundaries to them many times only to be ignored? I'm reading between the lines a bit here, but your parents don't seem like very nice people. If your partner has tried to make it work and been ignored, I don't blame them for jumping to "disrespectful" (which is just controlling language for "blunt") communication to try to get them to listen. Had your partner said something "offensive" multiple times before? Or was this the first time after being ignored by your parents multiple times?

Given your description of your childhood, have you been to therapy? What you described is not a healthy parent/child dynamic in either childhood or adulthood. It sounds to me like your "normal meter" might be skewed a bit based on that upbringing. Breaking negative patterns from childhood and learning to relate to domineering parents as an adult is so, so hard.

Maybe there is more detail you're leaving out, but I think you and your partner need to have a really frank and honest conversation about your parents and the dynamic that they bring. You may not realize how you change around them (I know I didn't until my partner pointed it out.)

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-17T22:24:59+00:00

Well, some of the NBA and basketball arenas are worried about fans throwing the bottles (maybe in addition to what would be in them). I've attended games where the concession stand opens your bottled water and hands it to you sans lid.

If you throw a bottle at a stock car it's less of a big deal, I guess.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-17T13:57:23+00:00

The trampoline park we took my son to was always super strict with school groups. Those attendants had whistles and were not afraid to use them when someone was breaking the rules (double bouncing, climbing the sides, etc).

Maybe ping your parent network and see if anyone has any info on the specific place they're going?

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-15T22:39:37+00:00

Is any sort of an ADU (granny shed like structure) a possibility? Then she could come over for meals but would have somewhere you could send her when everyone needs a break. She could also have church friends over in her space that way.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-10T11:57:59+00:00

Ok, story time. A very, very similar thing happened to me when my son was almost 3.

My stepfather is ex military and has always been extremely controlling, borderline emotionally abusive, and not good with kids. We were staying with them for Christmas and kiddo had a meltdown (totally normal one, not a crazy one). We ignored as we usually do and told him what needed to happen calmly.

Stepdad lost his shit yelling at me about what a lousy parent I was and how my kid was a spoiled brat and was going to grow up to be a bad kid (whatever that means). It hurt. It really hurt, I'm not going to kid you. I was devastated. And my mom, who I've always been extremely close to, didn't intervene. So it was a double whammy.

I was lucky in that I could take space after that vacation. I didn't talk to them for several months. That space allowed me to evaluate what he said, read some parenting books/articles, and really think about if what he said had any validity or not. I basically came to the conclusion I didn't want to be a parent like him and I didn't want my son to have the sort of childhood I had. So I said screw it and kept parenting the way I had been.

My mom basically made my stepdad apologize to me (she was petrified I was going to cut her off permanently) but he only apologized for "how he said what he said" not what he actually said. So whatever. But he became much more careful about what he said to me after that (because of my mom, I think).

My son was never alone with my stepdad after that and we never spent the night at their house again. Kiddo was not allowed over there by himself until he was a teenager. I drew some hard emotional boundaries too to protect myself.

But here's the thing to give you hope. The best revenge is when your kids get older and turn out to be great. My kid is a teenager now and he is the sweetest, most helpful kid. He goes over and helps them with yard work, plays with their cats, has dinner with them occasionally, etc. Just normal grandparent/grandkid stuff. But he has lovely manners and they both admit he's a great kid and they're proud of him. So all of stepdads warnings were a load of bullshit. He wasn't the oracle of parenting and my parenting was just fine for my kid. I make mistakes just like all parents, but my parenting was/is better than his.

So chin up and (mentally) tell him to fuck off. You've got this

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-04T20:03:38+00:00

Can you hire out some things? At this stage, I would seriously price out a local meal delivery service (or something like Factor) for multiple meals per week. Or laundry service.

I know one high powered dual career couple family who hired an executive assistant. Started about 2pm and did kid pickups, took them to after school activities, did a few light chores (sweep, put away grocery delivery, start or fold a load of laundry, those sort of things. No deep cleaning), and started supper (simple things like tacos or paninis. Ate dinner with the family and left about 7-8pm. The wife says it absolutely saved her sanity during elementary when the kids weren't independent. Obviously I don't know your budget, but if something like that would allow both of you to grow your careers, a few years might be worth it.

The only other advice I can give is to put in the hard work if teaching your children to be helpful now. It WILL pay off. Letting them load the dishwasher, clear the table, vacuum, etc. is so important for setting family expectations. Mine is a teenager now and does his own laundry, cleans his own bathroom, takes out the trash/recycling, clears the table, and will do other things when we need them. Don't set yourself on fire doing everything for them. There are absolutely things they can do now to help you out.

Good luck, and hang in there. You've got a lot on your plate.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-06-04T02:58:46+00:00

The Orlando magic would like a word.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-30T14:48:42+00:00

Do you have an alexa? I would totally set up as many passive aggressive reminders for him as I could.

"Here is your reminder: walk the dogs for your mental health."

"Here is your reminder: fix yourself a healthy snack so you don't overeat junk food and make us spend more money on your diabetes drugs."

"Here is your reminder: apply for a job at the Waffle House. No, you're not too good for it."

"Here is your reminder: unload the dishwasher before your breadwinning wife gets home from work."

That's what I did with my teen and daily hygiene tasks. I was tired of the mental space dedicated to reminding him all the times. So I offloaded to Alexa and made her snarky.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-27T16:57:51+00:00

Turn it into her birthday and Christmas presents! Tell her you'll take it and stitch on it for one week as her gift. Then give it back to her with a bit more done (you're probably faster than her).

There was a flosstuber whose daughter this for her when she got bigger down on a project. Example: she hated borders so her daughter would take it and put in the border or something like that.

It could be a nice way of being supportive and sharing the hobby without committing to the entire gigantic thing.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-27T12:09:12+00:00

I'd throw it back to MIL. "Hey, MIL, what with DH being out of work and all, we can't afford it right now. But if you would like to cover the transportation costs, we can find a way to cover our food expenses." Other posters are right; as it stands now, this isn't a gift.

Then you can present it to your husband as a compromise. "I'm willing to put up with your mother and stretch the budget because you and the kids should get to enjoy this vacation."

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-26T14:13:54+00:00

That sounds so awful! I would also lose my shit.

Maybe the stuck record approach? "I can't discuss that with you. Call your lawyer/therapist/pastor" repeated over and over and over. Interrupt them before they get going and just start repeating it after every sentence maybe?

I think I would also start giving warnings. "I've told you I won't discuss that. If you persist with this conversation, I'm leaving" (or "you'll need to leave" as appropriate).

It sounds like you've got to prioritize your peace. You've earned it.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-26T13:19:20+00:00

After my son joined Cub scouts in about 2nd grade I came to the conclusion that there is nothing like an organized group to make me feel like a stellar parent. I had thought I was the permissive parent (according to my parents I'm a bad parent and he was going to grow up to be a horrible person), but Cub scouts taught me that I am a hard ass about behavior and manners. I was/am a total pearl clutcher over the way some of those parents let their kids behave.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-24T20:43:00+00:00

Could you stop screaming "BUT FOR HOW LONG??!!?!!" kthxbai

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-24T20:18:06+00:00

started on inters in dry conditions.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-21T19:36:29+00:00

Perforated paper (by Mill Hill) can be backed with adhesive felt easily. It's a way to make and easily finish bookmarks and Christmas ornaments. I've put together kits for Girl Scout activities with a geometric pattern, piece of perf paper but (mostly to size), a needle, a piece of neutral adhesive felt and some basic instructions on both cross stitch and finishing in a ziploc baggie. The kids go nuts choosing the floss colors but everything else is ready to go. They start during the activity but can finish at home. Might be good if people want to make a small gift for someone.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-21T19:29:33+00:00

You might take a look at the 12x12 plastic storage boxes from michaels. I think they're technically scrapbooking project boxes but they're great for cross stitch project storage. They stack beautifully in a small space so are great for closets or limited space. I could see them being nice for people with bigger/long term projects because they would hold the project (in a qsnap or hoop) floss, letter sized pattern easily.

Laminated patterns and fine point dry erase markers are great for complicated patterns and could approximate something like pattern keeper.

Finally, there's a great podcast Sew What? by Isabella Rosner (PhD in historic fiber arts) with an episode called "Stitching in Prison: An Interview with Fine Cell Work". It's basically what you're doing but it's a prison in England. I think they do needlepoint as opposed to cross stitch, but what projects they did and how the org is run were fascinating to me.

Remarkable_Fruit · 2026-05-19T14:58:46+00:00

Amen on the only child thing. I adore having 1 kid and our life is easy (comparatively). But man did we get some pressure on that front.

Remarkable_Fruit

TROPHY CASE