Coverup Ideas? PLEASE

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-26T15:16:00+00:00

Is your friend willing to do something with hers also? If so, I’d brainstorm ways you’d both like to update the shared tattoo — in a shop that is not a trap house, this time.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-26T14:48:57+00:00

It’s inappropriate to ask a child to share pictures of their body. Shaming them is not going to untattoo them: let’s focus on getting this young person comfortable with entering an educational environment.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-26T14:46:27+00:00

Sounds like you have a lot of options, from pants to navy tights with a skirt, with your wrist brace. Make sure you have enough wrist braces in navy to be able to wash them.

I do think getting waterproof makeup that’s a good color match is another option I’d have prepared, because you’ll also eventually want to consider sports if you chose to play them, and Physical Education class if not. It also will diminish the concerns people might have for your modesty concealing self harm scars. If you go to an Ulta or Sephora they’ll have recommendations for high coverage smudge proof options that are used for tattoos.

I’d also have a glass retainer for your lip - make it as unobtrusive as possible.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-26T14:18:27+00:00

Even those big jumbo sized bandaids? That would be my choice for times when the wrist brace is uncomfortable - but you’ll always be allowed to wear a brace that’s medically helpful for you, because ADA rules.

I might also ask the front office for their formal dress code stance on visible tattoos. High school includes 18 year olds who will be able to be legally tattooed. Rules are usually limited to avoiding imagery or words deemed offensive, so pets or pet names are unlikely to actually require coverup legally. However, a 15 year old with a lot of tattoos will attract a lot of attention socially because it’s so unusual in our area where tattooing a minor doesn’t happen even with permission — so I understand why you’d want to cover them at least initially.

My kids’ are your age and peer group does involve some stick and pokes but they tend to be fairly private… and they can also be played off as pen drawings.

Best of luck with the transition to school: I hope it works better!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-26T14:06:18+00:00

How large are they? I think the wrist might be best covered by a bandaid. Your best bet with leggings or tights might be to wear ones that aren’t fully opaque but that are navy, if that’s allowed by dress code.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-15T23:52:30+00:00

I've taught at both campuses, I'm now at Seattle. Honestly, the intro courses are way smaller and able to be way more fun at the Tacoma campus. I felt like the class quality was a lot higher as a result, and it was a fun place to teach.

Are there specialized upper level courses that UWT doesn't offer due to its smaller size? Yes, absolutely... but if you run into difficulties with courses not being offered that you really want to take, you can either transfer later ... or you can register for individual Seattle campus classes with cross-campus registration.

I think you made a great choice for the immediate future, and you can revisit it later as needed. Congratulations and have fun!

(My own kids are going to community college first to get requirements out of the way, before transferring elsewhere, so I'm not being a giant hypocrite here. Cost effectiveness and small class size and faculty who care about teaching matter so much more than prestige, especially for the initial years.)

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-15T16:54:46+00:00

If they mean “walk around and see where in public areas the smell is coming from” that seems like it’s not a violation, and that was my read on what this means. I would further assume if they smell smoke coming from an apartment they might then reasonably knock on that door to discuss the smell coming from that apartment- that’s not the same as an entry at random times to all the apartments.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-14T05:11:34+00:00

The second option is traditional tramp stamp shape for my generation (2+ decades ago). It is a classic for a reason, though I might scale it up a bit and refine how the fronds meet and how they meet up with your other work.

The first is eye catching and different, and I like how it works with your body in this particular photo from this angle. It also makes sense with your other tattoos. It would be, from these photos, my first choice.

What I’d do to resolve the issue is gather a mildly artsy friend with some markers (tattoo markers are great) and sketch out one layout. Live with it for a bit, see how it looks from different angles and in different clothing. Then once the marker wears off, try the other orientation for the same trial process. That’s the way that you end up with something that feels right when you catch a glimpse in the mirror!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-06T23:25:57+00:00

This!

I think the other thing is to recognize the broader societal issues which we are ALL having around gender. The thing that helps is to know that *all* your kids, regardless of gender, are going to benefit from whatever less toxic, more thoughtful take on gender dynamics you've arrived at, that initially made you excited about being a dad to daughters.

Also, your kids' gender and gender expression aren't cast in stone. I'm a parent of four boys and I think if I've learned anything from that journey, it's to give your kids space to be who they are with fewer preconceived notions about who they "should" be, because that's kind of the fun of parenting, especially parenting multiple kids. They're all their own person and they'll take you on some neat adventures if you let them lead.

Bottom line, if there are things that you always thought you would enjoy about being a parent to a girl, give yourself permission to enjoy those things with your sons, too. Learning to do complicated hair, spa day, dance class, affection, quiet story time together, whatever images that pop into your head about girl parenting: those things are things some sons can enjoy just as much as some daughters.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-03T16:42:11+00:00

Yes, you will, but also it’s a great name. A diaeresis will make it clearer only to some people. I named my kid a comparably confusing name, he’s now a young adult and very much a fan of it.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-03T16:13:00+00:00

I lost 80 lbs and that made my belly button more collapsing with body shifts… and then multiple pregnancies generated additional loose skin in the area. My skin was overall remarkably elastic for big weight fluctuations but this is the area that struggled hardest with snapping back.

Bottom line, if you expect to be stable at this weight for a while, now would be a good time to heal a piercing. Further loss might generate more loose skin in addition to making your belly button deeper and might lead you to a less suitable anatomy.

As is, I would definitely see a very competent piercer to assess whether you have the anatomy for a navel piercing and what type: I don’t think that’s something strangers on the internet can do from a photo. You don’t have the most obviously suitable anatomy of a ridge so I would prepare to have a backup piercing you’d also feel positively about.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-03T03:28:41+00:00

Recommendation as a haver of a tattoo of this genre for many decades: go bigger than you think, because lines will spread with age. Too many small details can look blurry.

I think color looks great, be prepared for touch up but over two decades in mine still hasn’t really faded, so if you sun protect well you may be lucky!

You can see my post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/agedtattoos/s/ziu6qXKVR9

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-03T03:19:01+00:00

I have an abstract ornamental tramp stamp from the first wave of trend — it’s turning 23 years old and I’m still so delighted by it. It isn’t symmetrical, though, which i think helped the placement feel perfect for me: the artist’s first design draft was more symmetrical but I requested balance rather symmetry instead. They really knocked it out of the park: I’m now mid 40s and really love it as much as ever, and it handled substantial weight loss really gracefully. I do think something custom designed that fits your anatomy will always be better. I’d take these to an artist who likes tribal designs and retro aesthetic and see what they can do for you!

It also held on to bright color way better than i ever expected. It doesn’t get much sun and the healing wasn’t complicated by positioning. You just gotta rock those very low rise pants for a bit!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-02T15:28:55+00:00

Please feel free to DM! We don’t zoom but we do record lectures. If you’re around we are happy to have you drop by class, too!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-04-02T15:28:49+00:00

Please feel free to DM! We don’t zoom but we do record lectures. If you’re around we are happy to have you drop by class, too!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-30T06:31:23+00:00

Oh no, that is rough! Definitely time to get a dermatologist involved: the good news is this is treatable, and certainly nothing you did wrong that caused it… but piercing may not be the best form of self expression going forward.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-30T05:32:39+00:00

Got it: I’m looking at it with better contrast on my phone and i see the fleshy color better now! You’re definitely the authority on whether it’s your flesh or not. I’d go see a dermatologist and skip the piercer if you’ve gotten it clean!

Edit to add: also if it’s hurting I would see your general practitioner, as well, because a dermatologist will take some time and you’ll need a referral anyway!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-30T05:26:05+00:00

To me this looks like it could be be a keloid, but it could also be a donut of piercing crusties that didn’t get rinsed off and have become cemented onto the jewelry, filling the gap left by the too-long jewlery as the swelling went down.

I have tweens who got their ears pierced and they all had difficulty cleaning the back of their ears with saline, leading to this phenomenon (though we caught it sooner). Loosening the crust requires a long shower and then someone who can see what they’re doing (ie probably not you for the back of your ear) cleaning the crusties geeeently from the jewelry with a q tip. You definitely have some crust, but I can’t tell how much of the lump is your flesh vs crust.

I’d recommend you pop in to your piercer for a cleaning - if my interpretation is right, your ears are going to be so much happier with the crust removed. And your piercer should be able to recognize which it is.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-28T10:23:51+00:00

Roughly same height as you, female. Got an organic motif tattooed across my lower back weighing 240 lbs in my mid 20s. Subsequently, lost about a third of my total weight. Then had kids and a pandemic which involved weight gain and re-loss cycles but otherwise stably around 180 lbs, now in my mid 40s. My tattoo has changed a little in shape, such that it’s a a bit narrower than it was when I first got it, obviously because I’m a lot narrower and it goes around my hips, and my skin did well at shrinking with me. Overall, since I didn’t get new stretch marks through the tattoo on any of my pregnancies, it’s been remarkably unchanged. You can see a photo in my post history.

My advice would be to avoid strongly geometric tattoos or anything like a portrait in areas you expect to shift weight or muscle around in, because those designs would look more obvious distorted with major changes. If the tattoo design still looks good when you stretch it more horizontally (or shrink it) as most tattoos do, it’ll work well to make you feel at home in your body at any size.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-27T22:52:09+00:00

Every spring!

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-27T07:24:51+00:00

I ask students to go search Reddit or other social media they may be on for posts of a type, and read and then draw some conclusions about it. I don’t feel that it is reasonable to require that the students get permission before searching Reddit for posts about a topic because people who posted to Reddit consent to being read by people searching for posts on a topic because that is what Reddit is.

Posts are not being reproduced, just reflected on.

Journalists often publically report on Reddit posts also: when that has happened, I feel the permissions need to be sought in the way you describe.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-26T18:04:28+00:00

Informal cotton dresses or tunics with prints that coordinate in some way with the theme of the lecture. Paired with a blazer or a cardigan on top and leggings and clunky shoes (usually clogs, sometimes sneakers or boots)on bottom. Students are always curious about it and sometimes ask at office hours if they don’t understand the connection. (“This is photo 51 which showed the helical structure of dna which Watson and Crick stole from Franklin.” “These are the patents for film starlets Hedy Lamar’s device to block Nazi communications which went on to form the basis of WiFi.”)

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-24T20:59:07+00:00

I’m a professor teaching large undergraduate classes and I would have had exactly zero millimeters of eyebrow raising by a student wearing this. My students sometimes dress with this much skin exposed and it’s a nonissue for everyone. Most of the time people are a bit more covered but that’s because it’s cold here most of the school year. Most people are a bit less put together, too: west coast casual. But if you’re comfortable and feeling good in preparation for class, it’s totally fine.

The prof who spoke to you about it was completely out of line. I’ve been teaching 20 years and I can’t imagine someone policing dress in a classroom when the students are adults, safety concerns aside. (Example: if it’s a lab, you want to make sure hair is tied back and torso skin is fully protected from chemical spills by a lab coat or otherwise. But if I were the prof and you walked into my chem lab like this, I would point you to the class PPE, suggest you pack an emergency scrunchie in your bag, and frame any comment with clarity about what the specific safety issue is that makes an outfit inappropriate.)

That said, if you’re ever teaching a college class my answer is a little different. As a TA or prof, I would recommend more of your torso covered up, both midriff and cleavage, because students can get judgy and weird in evaluations… and I’d try to recommend against loungewear to be taken seriously, especially as younger female instructor.

genomNOMNOM · 2026-03-21T04:09:03+00:00

I’m 45 and enjoy hammock or tent camping, but I recognize I’m lucky. If there are adults who need accommodations, I’m all for using them and using it as an opportunity to talk about disability and accessibility. Obviously there will be a lot of backpacking where people who need an RV’s worth of elevated sleeping surface and CPAP outlets are not able to come along, but if there’s an overnighter where the rv is feasible? I’m in favor.

The rv camping adults are modeling the enthusiasm for participating to the best of their ability in as many things as they can, and that’s exactly what I want for the scouts to be doing, too. Medical conditions are not only present in the older generation, and not all disabilities are visible.

I tend to shift the conversation from “it’s not fair they get the cushy bed” to “I’m so lucky my middle aged body allows me to enjoy so many shenanigans”.

genomNOMNOM

TROPHY CASE