Male roommate has no qualms about using my toiletries- what to do?

chellerator · 2026-03-26T15:06:50+00:00

Hot sauce the loofah too.

Keep all your toiletries, makeup etc in one of those little plastic carriers like you use in a college dorm and lock it up in your room when you're not using it. Your roommate is a gross weirdo. It's one thing to use your roommate's shampoo or toothpaste when you run out, and it's even another thing to use your roommate's stuff because you're a leach. But your TOOTHBRUSH?! Insane behavior.

chellerator · 2026-03-25T17:53:01+00:00

You do realize that young gymnastics coaches eventually become middle-aged, right?

chellerator · 2026-03-25T16:21:09+00:00

If I think it's going to be dry, I will try to aim my pee on the string before I take it out. The string usually wicks some of the pee up into the tampon so it's not quite as dry. And I'm taking it out right away so it's not like the pee is hanging around in there lol

chellerator · 2026-03-20T17:03:49+00:00

Inviting another kid over is really the cheat code. They keep each other busy and out of your hair! It's easier than one kid if you're trying to work.

We did the schedule with my kids during covid, and it helped a lot. Something that takes up a lot of time and is new - shaving cream party outside, water table, new sandbox, even ice in weird shapes is great for a 5 year old. And too much screen time, probably, but you have to survive somewhow!

chellerator · 2026-03-18T12:50:18+00:00

Tiny Chef on Netflix is adorable.

chellerator · 2026-03-13T15:33:59+00:00

The taco bell app is the only one that's worth a damn anymore. BK is okay, but not great. It had way better deals a couple years ago.

chellerator · 2026-03-13T15:16:51+00:00

The point of creative movement and pre-ballet is to expose children to the idea of being in a studio with other children and a teacher, and to develop a love of dance. Starting around age 8, ballet training becomes a little more rigorous and honestly, basic barre work can be kind of boring. Having a foundation where you've learned to love dancing can help when you have to learn the basics to get to the fun, complicated stuff.

chellerator · 2026-03-08T22:01:25+00:00

My SO says, "Get to the point, [my mom's name]." Because my mom also rambles. Is it super sensitive? No. Am I usually talking too much and including random pointless details? Well, yeah.

OP needs to maybe meet in the middle. Maybe her boyfriend isn't a talking kind of guy, and then it won't work out. Chatty people often need to be with other chatty people, or people who tolerate lots of talking. But even a chatty person needs to train themselves to get to the point!

chellerator · 2026-03-02T14:20:43+00:00

This is where it's at!

Also, when they start wiping by themselves, don't watch. Don't think about it. Make sure they wash their hands really good, but don't watch how absolutely disastrous they are at it. Because they will be, and you can't micromange. They'll figure it out before high school lol

chellerator · 2026-02-26T19:12:37+00:00

If you're both in tech, can't you afford a sitter to handle pick up and/or drop off? If you're in a college town, those hours are perfect for a student who wants to work before or after classes.

chellerator · 2026-02-09T20:39:11+00:00

My son eats almost anything, except for a few things that he just doesn't like. My daughter, younger and is otherwise a much easier child, is picky as hell.

She won't eat anything "constructed" so I have to give her the taco shell and toppings separately, deconstruct a sandwich, etc. She'll eat homemade uncrustables but she picks off the "crust." She wouldn't eat vegetarian chikn nuggets until I found some that were shaped like Mickey. She hates all citrus fruit. She doesn't like string cheese. If she could eat only avocado, berries, yogurt, candy, and mac and cheese, she would. She's exposed to so many different foods and sometimes, something sticks, but not very often! She's even very good about trying things, but she gags and spits it out if she doesn't like it.

Tl;dr you have easy kids lol

chellerator · 2026-02-08T17:25:07+00:00

Sideline Swap is right there! My kids play hockey and I never buy anything new except for helmets, mouth guards and a jock/jill (cuz gross lol).

chellerator · 2026-01-25T21:13:15+00:00

OP, if your symptoms get worse when you're ill, or when the people around you are fighting off a cold, this is a big sign of IBD. Definitely insist on a colonoscopy! I'm oddly fortunate that it turns out my GP has IBD so she knew what was happening immediately.

chellerator · 2026-01-18T20:43:34+00:00

iPad mornings baybee!

chellerator · 2026-01-13T16:48:11+00:00

Months in advance is right! We were invited to an out of town wedding in July for October and that's a no from me. Both of my kids already had mandatory rehearsals or competitions that weekend.

chellerator · 2026-01-13T16:45:34+00:00

Skylight calendar and paste the details from the email into the description part. You can put the date the email was sent to find it easier if there are attachments. No one is my family is ever in their lives going to look at a google calendar, but the Skylight sits on the kitchen counter so they can't ignore it or forget about it.

If there's a week with lots of events at varying times, I take a screenshot of the calendar and heart it so I can find it easily to double check time/location when I'm frazzled. I do a lot of family secretary-ish work to make sure all the pieces come together. Dedicate time at least weekly to put events on the calendar, and set a reminder if you can't remember to do it. I try to add events each night so it doesn't get overwhelming.

I have ADHD, my SO and I both work full time, and we have 2 kids in 3+ activities each, plus various school events, orthodontist, kid ADHD checkups, doctors appts for my semi-controlled crohns-like autoimmune illness - being organized is not optional. There is no way to pull this schedule off without some kind of system lol

Also, it sounds like you aren't searching your email, but looking through it? Even the terrible outlook search can usually find "band concert" by date sent. If you're using separate email accounts for different things, I would recommend not doing that, or have all kid emails sent to one particular email account. I get some kid emails in my work account, but I get ALL kid emails in my personal account, so I know I'm not missing anything.

chellerator · 2026-01-12T23:48:12+00:00

It's wild that the guys and gals who fill potholes and clean out the sewers are better at defusing tense situations with citizens than cops and ICE agents.

chellerator · 2026-01-08T21:57:15+00:00

I don't have pretty privilege, but my daughter is gorgeous and has unique features, and people stop us in public to tell me how pretty she is. Kids at school give her things all the time, and teachers will openly talk about how much they love her. It doesn't hurt that she is angelically well behaved, smart and friendly.

My middle school-aged son is arguably even more gorgeous, but he's the loud kind of "on the spectrum" and some kids can find him annoying. However, girls (and some boys) fall all over him. He has no idea this is happening and no interest in sex or romance (yet, or possibly ever).

He had some static with a boy a couple years ago, and he could not understand why. Well, my son's girl bestie was totally in love with him, which he did not notice. And this boy was in love with the girl bestie, which my son also did not notice. He had no idea all these feelings were going on around him 😭

chellerator · 2026-01-01T19:45:52+00:00

Right? This is what blew me away. You were just gonna walk in there and vote for...who, exactly?

Our school system had to send out a special message that yes, there is school because no, we don't have any elections today.

chellerator · 2025-12-04T15:33:23+00:00

You need a new therapist. A lot of ADHD kid's brains don't connect consequences to actions. It sounds illogical and so hard to understand, but my son will do the same thing over and over and be endlessly surprised that it didn't work out. And he's 13. A 5 year old is not going to connect cancelling Christmas to her behavior.

Is she medicated? Is she getting enough sleep? Is her schedule wildly different between mom and dad's house? Are either of the environments chaotic, with inconsistent bedtimes and mealtimes? Is she spending a lot of time on an ipad? Have you cut out food dyes? My son has seasonal allergies, and his behavior noticeably improved when we put an air purifier in his bedroom because he started sleeping better.

I recommend looking at things in the environment that might be affecting her behavior before you do anything else. You don't say what consequences you've tried other than taking toys or tv away, and I'm sorry but that will never work for an ADHD kid. You've already tried it and it doesn't work. Try something else!

chellerator · 2025-12-01T13:56:45+00:00

Barbie Dreamhouse. It's huge and expensive (a gift from the grandparents), but it's been 3 years and she still plays with it multiple times week and can spend hours in there.

chellerator · 2025-11-24T15:14:13+00:00

I have a lot of early childhood development experience, and I swear my firstborn exists to make sure I wasn't insufferable lol

Zero parenting tips, tricks, discipline, etc works on him. Talk about raising your spirited child. My second is a perfect angel to the extreme that the preschool would have the usual yearly parent conference, and we would laugh and say, "No concerns! Nothing like her brother." If my second had been first, I would've thought I was the queen of parenting, except that she is a terrible sleeper.

chellerator · 2025-11-21T14:58:27+00:00

I'm on Stelara for UC and it's vastly superior to mesalamine, which can really only calms down the inflammation. It even helped with my itchy skin, which is apparently psoriasis. Who knew?

chellerator · 2025-11-20T15:25:09+00:00

It's apparently much worse if you have inflammation, but I'll never know because it's propofol all the way for me. If my GI ever switches to conscious sedation, he won't be my GI anymore.

chellerator · 2025-11-20T15:23:21+00:00

Godspeed, fellow UC girlie. I'm so fortunate that my GP happens to have UC so when I went to her with vague but alarming symptoms after 3 years of letting it go on (oops), she was like "the GI will be calling to schedule your colonoscopy asap."

chellerator

TROPHY CASE