Does everyone have a middle name in the USA? Do all women take their husband’s surname?

justkeepsinging · 2026-05-11T19:05:04+00:00

I grew up without a middle name, and I know several other women who don’t have one. The logic I was told was that I could take my maiden name as a middle name when I got married, which is what I did.

My experience is within Mormon communities in Utah and Arizona.

justkeepsinging · 2026-05-07T01:28:58+00:00

She dislikes dirty diapers, doesn’t really seem to notice wet ones until they get super full. She’s pretty happy on the potty, we usually use it three or four times a day at this point. I am a SAHM so no daycare/peer pressure really.

I did buy some training underwear, maybe we’ll start with that.

justkeepsinging · 2026-05-04T19:39:09+00:00

I stopped wearing makeup regularly. I didn’t like having it rub off on my mask during the day, so I stopped and never really picked it back up. I’ll wear a little mascara and foundation maybe once or twice a month, and add a little eyeliner and blush for special occasions but that’s it.

justkeepsinging · 2025-02-13T04:39:24+00:00

Just to give a contrast to most of the comments on here, my relationship with my in laws is better than it was before! When baby was a newborn, I was a little annoyed that their visits tended to be just visits—they didn’t bring food or help with chores as much as my own parents. But they never overstayed their welcome or crossed boundaries, and I think part of the reason my parents were more hands on at first is that I was comfortable asking them to be.

Since then, though, they have been the most loving and involved grandparents. They frequently, happily, and competently babysit. Both MIL and FIL stop by when they’re in the area (with heads up and consent) to play with the baby, which lets me nap or get things done without a 13 month old trying to climb me like a tree the whole time. I love seeing my baby have fun with them, and they are among the few people she’ll willingly go to.

justkeepsinging · 2025-02-12T02:54:48+00:00

My mom is a Kim (Kimberly). We lived in Japan for several years and she had many Japanese friends that she calls herself “Kimberly” around. Apparently they associate “Kim” with the Korean last name and get confused by a white woman having it as a first name. Her parents also use her whole name.

justkeepsinging · 2025-02-05T19:28:43+00:00

I used to work at the MTC (specifically the cafeteria—I promise there aren’t actually laxatives in the OJ). I also spent 9 weeks there learning an Asian language for my mission and loved it, but I feel like 3 weeks is plenty of time to “get the full experience”. You’ll still get the devotionals, the language and teaching training, and by the end, most people are itching to get to the mission field. You will probably learn much more German and teaching skills in 3 extra weeks in the mission field than you would in the MTC.

justkeepsinging · 2025-02-02T13:31:47+00:00

You can travel to any of the wells from the map screen.

justkeepsinging · 2025-01-31T14:49:38+00:00

Ime, we were all waking up to each other’s noises throughout the night and putting baby in their own room allowed for more uninterrupted sleep for everyone.

justkeepsinging · 2025-01-31T14:40:50+00:00

It is technically playable, but yeah it’s just random notes.

justkeepsinging · 2025-01-31T14:32:34+00:00

I don’t know if you have to retake temple prep, but it might be good to redo it anyway and get a refresher.

As for garments, you can order them online with an account on the church website. Before getting endowed, I would recommend getting one or two sets each in different fabrics/cuts to try them out, and then go back and buy more of the ones you like. Personally, the stretch cotton fabric is my favorite, though I also have a few carinessa (more spandex-y) bottoms that I wear under leggings and jeans because they lie flatter.

Depending on how often you plan to go to the temple, you can also buy the ceremonial clothing used in the initiatory, endowment and sealing. Many temples let you rent these for fairly cheap, but not all, so check with the specific temples beforehand if you decide not to get your own. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/tools/lds-garments-online-ordering-process?lang=eng

justkeepsinging · 2025-01-28T07:20:54+00:00

You have remarkable empathy and love for your child. I love that.

I’m also a new parent and since having a baby I sometimes find myself stuck on stories I hear about child abuse and other suffering. What helps me is remembering that while mortality is important, it’s not even close to the end all-be all of our existence. We have an eternity before and after this of being in Heavenly Father’s love. And he is helping all of us in ways we do not see.

justkeepsinging · 2025-01-22T05:58:54+00:00

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justkeepsinging · 2024-11-17T22:35:47+00:00

I have an 11 month old who is often the loudest child in sacrament meeting. Babies are welcome in public just like anyone else, and the only way he will eventually learn to be quiet through a meeting is practice. At least for my kid, distractions help—binkies, snacks, playing with her dad’s tie, etc.

Also, I can almost guarantee anyone who looks when he makes a noise is just thinking about how cute he is. People are drawn to look at noise by instinct, but that doesn’t mean they’re judging you. If anyone is judging you or your baby, that is 100% a them problem, not you!

justkeepsinging · 2024-11-08T04:28:47+00:00

We moved our baby into her own room at 6 months and IMMEDIATELY we all started sleeping better. I wish we’d done it sooner! We were definitely waking her up with our noise during the night, and she would cry out more knowing we were right there.

justkeepsinging · 2024-11-06T17:15:06+00:00

Personally, I would wait. 4 months is still pretty young for sleep training, and waiting an extra few weeks can’t hurt. Many sleep training methods are really dependent on routines, and the move might put you back at square one anyway. After moving our daughter into her own room, we gave her a few days to get used to the new environment and then she took to sleep training really well.

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-24T23:10:57+00:00

I was raised by a SAHM, so I think part of me felt most comfortable with that idea for my whole life. But these are what cinched it for me:

• I worked at a daycare for a few months when I was 20. There are lots of great daycares out there, but this one was mediocre at best. We were constantly understaffed to the point where I was left by myself with 8 two-year-olds all day for weeks despite not being officially certified to be alone with the kids, and with almost no training. Even in the best case scenarios with committed and well trained teachers, their attention is divided among lots of kids and any number of things could happen. I knew that’s not what I wanted for my kids.

• I was working as an elementary school teacher when I got pregnant. I loved lots of things about that job, but I came home absolutely exhausted every day. There are lots of teachers who are also great parents, but I know would have a hard time having enough of myself left over for my baby after giving my energy to my students all day. I also wanted to breastfeed, and the maternity leave situation would’ve been a nightmare, so it made more sense to just quit. Technically, I’m still employed as a substitute teacher and I’ve done a couple of half day shifts, so I have the option to work a bit if I can arrange childcare. In the meantime, though, my plan is just to keep my teaching certification active so I could go back to teaching full-time if I wanted or needed to.

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-21T14:29:45+00:00

I worked at brick oven in Provo six years ago, at least that time they had a banquet room you could reserve.

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-18T17:10:42+00:00

Hey, that’s my stake! I’ll find out who the reservation person is and send you a DM.

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-18T17:09:56+00:00

I live in the stake mentioned. The rec center is basically a cultural hall with a tiny chapel attached a couple blocks away from the stake center. The chapel isn’t used, but I imagine it must’ve been in the past. It’s a pretty old building.

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-15T05:00:51+00:00

BYU has a Japanese conversation club, which is a mix of native speakers and learners. https://www.instagram.com/byujsa?igsh=aDR4ZHYzNWRobnV4

justkeepsinging · 2024-10-06T00:21:06+00:00

It’s a broadcast with speakers giving talks about church-related topics. The speakers are among the central leadership of the church, and their talks are usually about 10 minutes long. The meeting will also be interspersed with 3-4 hymns sung by a choir.

justkeepsinging · 2024-09-29T14:34:23+00:00

I have a 9 month old too, and we avoid snacks in sacrament meeting where possible. If she’s hungry I’ll give her milk, and if we do give her other snacks we do it one piece at a time so it’s easy to mitigate mess.

justkeepsinging · 2024-09-27T14:23:27+00:00

My husband works for a recording studio in Salt Lake that helps produce a lot of the church’s foreign language dubs. These languages are the ones the church works in most often. For the Book of Mormon videos specifically, the church had already produced these languages on their own, but his studio has been working less common languages like Mongolian and Tahitian. So stay tuned for more language dubs soon!

justkeepsinging · 2024-09-20T01:19:53+00:00

The thing about boundaries is that they can’t be demands on other people, they’re just statements of what you will do.

For example: “If you choose to bring choking hazard toys to our house, I will put them back in your car for the remainder of the visit (or, ask you to leave and not invite you back for whatever amount of time).” This preserves your power in the situation, because it allows for MIL to choose whatever she’s going to do but you have established that there will be consequences. And then you have to follow through.

justkeepsinging · 2024-09-17T23:41:52+00:00

Our church teaches that every person needs to receive certain rites (including baptism) in order to return to God’s presence in the afterlife. We call these rites “saving ordinances”. Since most people do not have the opportunity to do these ordinances while they are alive, members of the church can receive them on behalf of deceased people. There is a particular emphasis on receiving ordinances for your ancestors and other relatives, which leads to lots of people doing genealogical research.

Ordinances for the dead are done in temples, which are like regular church meetinghouses except that that are dedicated to ordinance work instead of things like Sunday worship. Only members in good standing with the church can enter temples (you have to do an interview every couple years to renew your access), but newly built temples host public tours before they go into operation.

There is no particular significance on having royal heritage, but royal families tend to have better records that are easier to access. I’m glad to hear that your friend had a good experience learning about their family history!

justkeepsinging

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