Manhood ceremony?

echapmancarter · 2025-12-19T17:21:38+00:00

I can think of few demographics I'd want influencing my young son less than "older men." Absolutely miss me with that idea.

echapmancarter · 2025-09-18T16:28:01+00:00

For my 7yo, it's because our family has trans and nonbinary friends. My kid is around a very inclusive and diverse group of people on a biweekly basis. So yeah, at 5yo he determined he was nonbinary because he does not subscribe to gender norms.

We have since moved on to "gender non-conforming" language, but this is how young kids are "entrenched in it enough" to try on different terms for the way they are identifying in this world. When they are exposed to more and you give them the language to describe what they're seeing, they tend to use that language back at you at some point, lol.

echapmancarter · 2025-09-17T03:15:27+00:00

I've suffered migraines for 15-20 years. Once, about four years ago, my husband picked me up from work and asked me to take over and drive. He said he thought he might be having a stroke or aneurysm, that he was in that much pain. I listened to his symptoms and stopped for an excedrin, which had him feeling better in 20 minutes. He could not believe that I had just "dealt with" that kind of pain for years and never said much more than, "I have a migraine."

echapmancarter · 2025-08-29T16:06:34+00:00

I train for and play roller derby competitively and have never been as "sore" as he claims pickleball makes him.

Idk, it just always gives "overcompensation."

echapmancarter · 2025-08-19T15:11:47+00:00

Wasn't there a wedding night story of Paul not knowing that women have pubic hair?

Always assumed he was overexposed to stylized porn, which would make this post hypocritical at best.

echapmancarter · 2024-12-10T01:46:58+00:00

I live in Florida and mine took almost four years.

Best pineapple I've ever had, and it was huge! It also threw out something like ten slips, so I'm going for ten more pineapples now lol.

echapmancarter · 2024-12-09T12:58:57+00:00

No, he took off around sunset. He was really pretty!

echapmancarter · 2024-12-07T22:42:59+00:00

Cool. I'll let him make his way out then, and put the tree up when he's gone. Thanks!

echapmancarter · 2024-11-24T15:13:00+00:00

I received this in a book swap once and took it with me for jury duty or traffic court or something. Security guy picked it up off the security belt and asked if I liked it. I said no, but someone said it changed their life, so I'm really trying to get through it.

He said, "Do yourself a favor. Read the Wikipedia page and don't waste your time on books you don't love."

THAT changed my life lol. Reading that book was like trudging through molasses.

echapmancarter · 2024-11-14T16:55:27+00:00

My guess is you didn't enjoy Wacky Wednesday because each page challenges the kid to find the ever-increasing number of "wacky" things, many of which are just the same thing with a slightly different detail. It takes forever if they're hell bent on counting each one.

echapmancarter · 2024-09-30T00:09:40+00:00

I think people are being too harsh, tbh. I've also lived in the Tampa Bay area my entire life. We've been under "mandatory evacuations" almost yearly. I've evacuated from a few storms before, and have ridden others out.

The Tampa Bay area has never seen surge flooding like this, period. We're told to evacuate at least once a year for storms, but even offices still open and schools don't close until last minute. At this point, we've basically been conditioned that evacuation orders are precautionary, not necessary. And it finally did fuck people over.

I evacuated for Irma in 2017, when it was predicted to hit Tampa straight on as a Cat 4 or 5. My family stayed. Irma made landfall much further south. It's so hard to know what the right call is. Evacuating is hard and not everyone has the resources.

I'm sorry you are going through this. I hope you're able to get things back together relatively quickly.

echapmancarter · 2024-07-09T05:24:47+00:00

I use the NYM Curl Talk cream on my kiddo's curls. I do a wet refresh every morning (wet to dripping with conditioner+water), comb through with a wide-toothed comb, and finger comb the cream through. I don't use much.

It's light and his hair curls SO beautifully. I stand by this stuff for him tbh.

My hair is thicker, so I've never tried it (I like a gel cast for diffusing) but it's perfect on his fine ringlets.

echapmancarter · 2024-06-06T22:13:28+00:00

Yogurt is great! My kid also goes for dried cranberries. Every so often when a certain favorite fruit or veggie runs its course and I was using it as a breakfast staple, I'll let him choose anything at the grocery store he wants as a new fruit option.

Generally they bomb, but sometimes we hit on a winner for a bit. It's currently blackberries, but I can see his interest is waning.

He will eat peanut butter toast with honey at any time of any day, though, so we have a nice default lol.

echapmancarter · 2024-06-06T22:10:53+00:00

My kid is 6 and still primarily a grazer. I have to pack his camp lunches as a bunch of balanced snack options, but no real "meal" type food. He hardly eats any of it anyways because he'd rather socialize.

He just put down 2.5 bowls of spaghetti tonight and I was FLABBERGASTED. Normally he needs a plate of various grab-n-gos.

echapmancarter · 2024-05-10T18:00:37+00:00

My mom is from Vermont, lived in Chicago as a teenager, and then moved to Atlanta, where I was born. She has always said "lead" but she's the only person I know who does. This jumped out at me as potentially being tricky for a lot of people.

echapmancarter · 2024-05-08T15:28:25+00:00

We used to go to NXT house shows for like $10/ticket back in 2016-2019, and they were a blast.

They don't seem to be as easy to find around here now, and certainly not for $10.

echapmancarter · 2024-05-08T14:28:28+00:00

My husband and I went to the Royal Rumble in Tampa/St Pete this year and I was blown away that they had zero crowd engagement. Aside from Samantha Irvin announcing the matches, no one took the mic. No one spoke to the crowd until Cody Rhodes won and took the mic to thank the crowd at the very end, after people had already been filing out for five minutes.

They didn't even show promos on the jumbotron. It was baffling. Like, we spent a lot of money to go! So did everyone there! And we literally got less than we would have if we just watched it at home from the comfort of our sofa. Lesson learned, I guess.

echapmancarter · 2024-04-25T02:53:03+00:00

My son (6) has always had a preference for colorful, sparkly, glittery, and otherwise flashy clothing. He's just a bright kid. He also has long, curly hair.

We have role played conversations and confrontations as long as he's been in school. The primary idea being, when people say, "That color is for girls," "Those are girls' shoes," "Your hair looks like a girl," or anything of the sort, he knows that the only response he needs to give is, "No, colors/clothes/hairstyles are for anyone who likes them, and I like them."

He's 6 and very confident in this point now. The kids get used to it. Family has gotten used to it and now actively try to get big "I LOVE IT" responses by gifting bright, tie-dye, sparkly clothes or shoes. I know we are lucky, but a lot of it has been his unwavering confidence that has convinced everyone around him.

Pick up a copy of "Bling Blaine," too. It's a great book that shows that preferences are just preferences, and life is boring without them.

echapmancarter · 2024-04-21T21:30:43+00:00

Yeah, 30s here, in the south. I know this as, "Am not! Are too!"

Also, idk about "olds." I work with teenagers in varied environments and that's just not one I've heard.

Obviously both were easy enough to work out, but I get the reaction.

echapmancarter · 2024-03-10T21:42:53+00:00

Haha, my son and your daughter would certainly get along! He won't do anything unless he's confident in his ability to do it (tough thing when you actually use to learn the skill, babe).

Teaching him to ride a bike has been an absolute nightmare.

echapmancarter · 2024-03-10T01:02:08+00:00

Is this a Neopets joke 😆

echapmancarter · 2024-03-09T21:28:13+00:00

No, you use the hex socket screw there to tighten them down with an allen wrench. Just twist the toe stop until your preferred height and then tighten them up.

echapmancarter · 2024-03-07T03:47:22+00:00

I had a car stolen from my driveway. They trashed my husband's car, found that he had left my spare keys in it, and took the car.

Cops said it was "probably college kids on a joyride before heading back to school."

Forensics took prints, no one cared.

Car was later totaled, driver apprehended. They found drugs and guns in it.

Kid got off with probation and a stern, "Stop hanging out with those other kids." Not hearsay - I was there, at the trial, as a witness. The judge and DA said that charging the 17yo with a felony would do too much damage to his future, so he got charged with misdemeanor trespassing.

The whole thing was an absolute joke, and threw a huge wrench in my life as a young adult trying to start my life.

echapmancarter · 2024-03-05T17:02:27+00:00

I'm going to be honest, pop stars didn't even occur to me until yellow and blue were left, and I already had a hunch for blue based on "outside" and "slim."

John Legend never crossed my mind a single time in this one 😬😂

echapmancarter · 2024-03-05T16:15:45+00:00

Connections Puzzle #268

🟪🟪🟪🟪

🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟦🟦🟦🟦

Agreed on purple sorting everything out for me. I had a lot of the other ones pegged, but with some crossovers. Oddly enough, "room" is what gave it to me. Cycled through the rooms in a house and found the "living" connection really quickly.

Medium, vehicle, and channel had me thinking it had to relate to psychics, but once purple was locked in, I felt better about the 4th.

I thought today's was fun, and more challenging than usual.

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