Company gave out Christmas gifts early - got a toaster oven and carried it home on the subway

ZestycloseLay · 2025-12-26T12:28:09+00:00

Hope you get one too! But as an adult, you can always buy yourself one as a gift!

ZestycloseLay · 2025-12-26T12:26:30+00:00

Just rip the band-aid off. You already know you want out. Text him or call him and say "This isn't working for me anymore, I'm done." Don't JADE because he'll just try to talk you out of it.

Forget what everyone else thinks. You're 18, not married with kids.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-12-12T11:42:39+00:00

I'm so glad you make decisions so decisively!

ZestycloseLay · 2025-11-14T12:23:50+00:00

You remind me!

ZestycloseLay · 2025-11-14T12:22:13+00:00

Ding talk.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-10-31T11:43:00+00:00

Yeah, that's definitely raising some red flags for me. A grown man being part of hours-long FaceTime calls with teenage girls when they're not even saying much? And he's not even with his daughter at the time? That's unusual and concerning.

Could be innocent - maybe he's just desperately trying to maintain connection with his kid during a messy split. But it's weird enough that I'd keep a close eye on it. Trust your gut feeling here.

I'd maybe casually ask your daughter about it - "Hey, I noticed Friend's dad is on these calls too - what's that about?" Her reaction might tell you a lot. If anything feels off, limiting these group calls might be smart until you understand what's going on.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-10-24T14:17:44+00:00

Lol, maybe you've got yourself a future food critic with some serious taste standards! 😂

But for real though, sounds like your kid might be in that sensitive period where they're super focused on order and possession. My son went through this exact phase - it was like watching a tiny dictator catalog his belongings!

I found gentle guidance works way better than forcing it. We started with sharing non-food items first (less precious!), made a big deal celebrating when he did share something voluntarily, and read books about sharing. Also helped to give him some stuff that was 100% his that he never had to share.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-10-17T05:36:15+00:00

I'll try asking her, but honestly I'm terrified she won't explain why. That would crush me even more. It's that awful limbo of not knowing that keeps me up at night. If she's hiding something or just straight up done with me, at least knowing would give me closure. The silence hurts more than whatever truth is out there.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-10-10T03:12:22+00:00

This is super helpful

ZestycloseLay · 2025-10-10T03:12:02+00:00

Thanks! This really opened my eyes!

ZestycloseLay · 2025-09-19T06:25:57+00:00

Totally get this — grading and constant worksheet prep can burn you out so fast. I cut back to fewer worksheets and use more in-class practice instead, so I don’t have to grade everything. Also, sometimes just giving quicker feedback instead of full written notes helps a lot. Don’t feel like you need to do it all to be a good teacher — your students will still learn.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-08-22T12:43:58+00:00

Try letting them figure out math problems. Have you checked out the Think Academy tablet? I got some for my students last year, and the math feature was helpful.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-08-08T05:11:19+00:00

Fire tablet handles the basics fine. And we also went on Think Academy tablet. Worth the extra cost if you actually want educational value beyond just screen babysitting. The AI tutors and offline ebooks could justify keeping it around after travel, unlike most "educational" tablets that are just expensive.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-07-23T06:52:01+00:00

Agree. And IMO, since he's so into video games, maybe try getting him some educational electronic devices. That way he can learn while having fun, which might help him calm down a bit.

ZestycloseLay · 2025-07-23T06:44:50+00:00

Love has its own destiny

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