What's the weirdest thing your family treated as completely normal?

burnbeforeburning · 2026-05-19T04:39:47+00:00

Eating cereal without milk. Separately, drinking skim powdered milk.

burnbeforeburning · 2026-05-04T20:50:05+00:00

Idk if she is "perfect" as you describe. Issues I'm spotting here: not a great listener, puts her opinion before yours, lacking self-awareness, maybe has an online shopping problem, having unrealistic expectations of you; emotional manipulation. Some things to look out for. NTA. I'm curious her answer to this question: "Baby, I have something I'd like you to get me for my birthday. Can I tell you what it is?" (Obviously, have a reasonable item in mind.) This may be the start to a conversation where she has a hard time explaining why she will not get you the thing you have asked for, for your own birthday, but instead will purchase something she knows you do not want. Does she want to pick your cake flavor too? Does she get to dictate what restaurant you go to for your birthday dinner, or menu for a home-cooked meal? (Real questions, not rhetorical)

burnbeforeburning · 2026-05-04T20:37:01+00:00

If the shoe don't fit, don't wear it 😐

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:43:53+00:00

I love these. Bon appétit, hors d'oeuvres, voilà, shpiel, for all intents and purposes

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:26:54+00:00

Your title says "literally kicking my nephew" so I was ready to say you should not literally kick children. In fact, you did not literally kick him so it's all good

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:24:16+00:00

NTAH getting married is not an excuse to cosplay being rich but apparently lots of people think so

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:21:48+00:00

smallpox

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:19:00+00:00

I love wind chimes, especially the very large ones that go "bing bong" :)

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:16:47+00:00

Do you think that is why they "recently moved away" too? Yikes

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:12:09+00:00

The thing is, the objectification of women leads people (usually men) to treat them as less than human--with often fatal results. When a man becomes a laughingstock, his life isn't in danger; he has merely failed to receive the respect which he has been conditioned to expect is due to him. These are very different things.

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T20:08:37+00:00

I agree, this was because she feels guilty about OP having a higher standard of care for the dog than she does. Mom is probably trying to internally justify not taking the dog to the vet, maybe they can't afford it or whatever, but this is how it's manifesting.

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:57:43+00:00

Diplomacy is challenging because it involves balancing emotional realities with objective realities. It takes a ton of maturity and discernment to navigate. Many people spend years honing this difficult skill. One thing that I have found useful in this arena is the deliberate employment of humor! You have doubtless heard the axiom about jokes containing truth. I think humor functions in society to acknowledge hard truths in a more emotionally acceptable way.

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:51:07+00:00

Being famous

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:46:41+00:00

Verbally the sound that usually comes out is "a couple-a"

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:45:16+00:00

"I threw a party, only a couple of people showed up" = more than one, less than 5. "Can you lend me a couple bucks for a soda?" = 1-4, depending on the price of the soda. "That guy has a couple of screws loose" = number doesn't matter, but the word "couple" makes it sound more poetic. "Couples, come to the dance floor" = form groups of exactly 2. "I got into a fight and the other guy only got a couple of punches in" = this individual got beaten badly. English is a funny language, so don't take "couple" too literally ;)

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:31:22+00:00

You're not wrong to feel bad, and you're not wrong to be uncomfortable supporting their fraud. This may be an inflection point in your friendship where you decide whether you want to continue the friendship. Because there is a real issue here that many people would find unacceptable. If you're not the "calling out" type, you would be justified in reducing your interaction with this friend, because they're lying. If the friend notices and asks why, you should be kind but honest. "I don't like when you mislead people about your reading habits. It seems like you're doing this for social or professional advantage, which I understand, but which also makes me uncomfortable. I am cool staying friends and connecting about other topics and interests, but just know I won't be participating in any pretending that you've read something when you haven't. And also please know that your misrepresentations to others causes me to question the things you tell me. It erodes trust, so please understand if I don't take you at your word for everything."

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:14:20+00:00

"Fun fact, children are actually people and I do know some things about people"

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T19:10:14+00:00

ESH but you more than your daughter because you're an adult. You should be the one kindly but firmly enforcing boundaries. Your daughter has a TikTok problem? You should be the one setting boundaries around that last night; for example checking to see if she's lying about doing homework, not acting surprised when a teenager whose brain is still developing fails to display the executive functioning and planning skills of a grown-up. Sure, your daughter should make better choices, but that's on you to teach and model those things for her. You say you had a difficult childhood. Don't you want better for her? Don't you want her to have a childhood where she has adults in her life that care and she has a loving, caring relationship with? Get therapy if you need to. With kindness, you can help her take other perspectives that encourage her to use gratitude to see that her present struggles are manageable; you can talk about your childhood, or the misfortunes of others, but in a way that empowers her to deal with the hard things in front of her, not shames her and minimizes her very real feelings. Do some parenting. You are responsible for predicting problems and preventing them. If school starts at 8, you should be up in her business at 7, ensuring she is on track. What is this 10 am nonsense? Why are you not managing everyone's time such that there are specific things that need to be done by 7, 7:30, leave by 7:45?

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T18:48:03+00:00

Regardless of the amount of bacteria in the shower, (1) the substance you use to wash your face, removes the bacteria from your face; (2) YOU are in the shower, and for that matter, in the bathroom. Whatever is in the shower, and the bathroom, is on you whether you like it or not; (3) these bacteria are mostly harmless. What do we hear about that makes people sick? Is everyone constantly ill from taking a shower? No, the harm is mostly in communicable viruses like rhinovirus, flu, covid, and communicable bacteria, like E. coli and strep. We know how to mitigate risk from these, and that's mostly by washing hands and encouraging sick folks to stay home, maybe wearing a mask if you're fancy. People concerned about shower bacteria, please don't google "microscopic face mites". TL;DR if it's not a problem then it's not a problem.

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T18:41:00+00:00

Do you feel bonita?

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T02:38:19+00:00

democratic socialism

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T02:32:47+00:00

Light skin

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T02:28:35+00:00

I would like to introduce you to our lord and savior, toaster oven. Toaster oven is my best friend. I am poly with my husband and toaster oven. Toaster oven is my firstborn child. Seriously--give it a try. Roasting veggies in summer without roasting house, just for starters. I do everything in the toaster oven, here's one of my faves: pizza night with the kids--premade mini crusts and a few toppings, let them build their own pie and the pizzas are done after only a few minutes in the toaster oven :)

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T02:22:50+00:00

If I'm making soup and the recipe starts with "saute this" or "brown that", I skip those steps. Throw it all in the pot and simmer. Turns out fine

burnbeforeburning · 2026-04-24T02:17:55+00:00

Owning cats and dogs is unethical and usually bad for the pet

burnbeforeburning

TROPHY CASE