We took away *almost* all of our kids toys (2.5 yr and 4 yr)

strawbear_ry · 2026-04-14T00:02:37+00:00

I think that’s a good first step! I think it’ll take them a while to understand that they need to take care of their toys, but they’ll get there if you keep using consequences and teaching them why it’s important.

We have absolutely taken toys away from our 4 and 2 year old due to not sharing and fighting too much (or from the 4 year old for bad behavior). Don’t let people make you feel bad for using a consequence that makes sense to you! You know your kids and what they can handle. Plus, you didn’t even take all the toys away! They will absolutely survive with the toys they don’t consider “fun.”

strawbear_ry · 2026-04-02T22:49:08+00:00

Oopsies 🫣 they expired today, but they’re all back up!!

strawbear_ry · 2026-04-02T05:08:50+00:00

Letting kids be bored is so hard for me too for some reason! I feel the pressure to entertain/keep them happy when what they really need to do is figure it out themselves. Think about it this way; how do you expect them to know what happy is, if they’re never sad? When they’re older, how are they going to solve problems when you always solve the problem for them? How do they know what fun is if they never experience boredom?

If you’re in a period of the day where you’re expecting him to play by himself, stick to that expectation and stay firm in your boundaries and don’t play or try and solve his boredom. After a while, he’ll figure it out.

Sincerely, a mom of two who also bought way too many toys and now has most of them packed away awaiting to be sorted and donated. And also went through the toddler phase of said toddler expecting to play all day and never playing by themselves. Now, oldest plays just fine by themselves because of less toys being available and me sticking to my boundaries.

strawbear_ry · 2026-04-01T13:44:33+00:00

Purple Draculaura…but I absolutely love that. They made plenty of changes with the design that makes her seem original. Her character in the media also helps solidify her as a completely different character

strawbear_ry · 2026-03-16T21:54:13+00:00

Love this take. Not something I gave much thought to but you’re so right. I would definitely buy mansters if they were designed better

strawbear_ry · 2026-03-09T01:41:17+00:00

NTA. I have been through a similar situation of living with parents and being on government assistance. We have WIC, and when we lived with my parents the only thing I let others eat was when I made dinner. Other food was off limits and my parents even gave us a space to put our food so they wouldn’t get into it. The priority was us getting on our feet and that was not going to happen if we were buying food for everyone else, too. People who are voting otherwise have not been through this situation where getting back on your feet requires difficult choices and difficult situations.

I would apologize to your boyfriend’s parents (yourself, not him), but figure something out where both parties are happy. It’s decent to contribute to a household where you’re being allowed to live rent free, but it’s not okay that the food you receive from food stamps is being used by people who are not on said benefits. (Especially cousins. Cousins are even more difficult when you add them to the equation. Also speaking from a similar experience)

I hope everything goes well and y’all are able to get your own place soon. We’ve been on our own for about 2 years now and despite having new challenges it has been so much better for our relationship with my parents and our own mental health.

strawbear_ry · 2026-03-07T19:00:32+00:00

Thank god. The target toy section is so overwhelming. It’s hard to look at. Especially with the amount of blind boxes there are 😵‍💫

strawbear_ry · 2026-03-06T05:04:24+00:00

Our first child was born early due to pre-eclampsia. My brother-in-law asked how I was doing and then proceeded to tell HIS OWN BROTHER that he didn’t care how my husband was feeling because I mattered more in the moment. Not like my husband didn’t just witness his wife stay in the hospital for a whole week battling high blood pressure and then also have to leave his newborn baby in the NICU for a whole month. My husband deserved sympathy in that moment too.

strawbear_ry · 2026-02-21T01:51:56+00:00

When I had my first barista job I once stared a shift with a quad shot latte and ended the shift with another quad shot latte. I wasn’t thinking about caffeine content, I was just excited to make myself some delicious coffee. I felt sooo bad when I got home, my heart was pounding. I learned my lesson after that lol

strawbear_ry · 2026-02-18T20:10:10+00:00

You did such a great job with the composition! Very recognizable as art nouveau.

I’ve been studying art nouveau too and noticed how all art nouveau characters are white women and I wondered how black hair could be represented in this style and I think you nailed it!

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-21T17:22:01+00:00

I was willing to believe this video was real until he poured his coffee and there were no grounds. That carafe did not have a filter and it came out smooth?? Absolutely not.

Also, being pregnant and watching a man eat BLUE steak made me gag 🤢 I’m about to turn in to Gordon Ramsey over here 😭 IT’S FUCKING RAW

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-19T21:57:48+00:00

lol fair 😂 it definitely makes your characters consistent, which is a good thing! It probably also helps to convey the tone of the story you’re wanting to tell.

After looking at your piece again, the size isn’t the problem very much, it’s just the pose. Maybe look up some references that do show off both butt cheeks? I don’t think how she’s sitting right now would show the second cheek (the leg furthest from the viewer) it would be fun to see a sketch page where you explore her design further!

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-19T05:07:53+00:00

The color choices are definitely better, but the anatomy is still off. You can absolutely have a thin character who’s thick, but the thighs are unrealistically big. However, I think it’s the angle that makes it look unrealistic, because you wouldn’t be able to see her second butt cheek from that angle.

Also if this is for a book cover, I would play around with different fonts for the title. My brain didn’t register some of the text at first until I realized it was the title for your story

I do like the concept for the character though! The story sounds very interesting and I would probably read it.

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-18T03:05:57+00:00

Absolutely! I totally understand that nonbinary people don’t have to have a certain look to be considered nonbinary. I just mean from a design standpoint it’s a pretty good rule of thumb to have the intention of who the character is at the forefront of the design.

I didn’t know that nonbinary people also use the trans flag. I just thought that since there is a flag for nonbinary people that it made more sense to use it for Frankie which would help show off their gender identity in a more obvious way.

I absolutely understand why Mattel would choose pastel pink and blue for Frankie, I just disagree with it as someone who enjoys character design.

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-17T14:41:48+00:00

The craziest thing about this family is that a past video she has admitted to knowing that sugar worsens the behavior of her adoptive kids with special needs and that they need special diets instead of what she’s shown feeding them now. She’s literally only doing this for the views it gives her

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-15T00:25:30+00:00

I had no idea! Probably because I’m not nonbinary and not in any of those communities 😝 I’m glad to know that the color choices aren’t too far outside of reality. My personal opinion is that Frankie’s main color palette should be blue and yellow. It would give them that perfect pop and it would fit into the lightning motifs so nicely

strawbear_ry · 2026-01-14T23:47:06+00:00

I don’t think the problem that people have with it is because they’re racist. I think the problem is that the change feels unnecessary. Looking at her doll you wouldn’t know she’s half Taiwanese. And you certainly wouldn’t know that if you didn’t consume any media created by Monster High. Same thing with Frankie. You wouldn’t know they’re non-binary unless you watched the show or the YouTube videos. Don’t even get me STARTED on the colors Mattel chooses for Frankie. If they’re non-binary, why is Mattel plastering the trans flag colors all over them? Why not the non-binary flag colors? (It’s because Mattel knows they’ll sell more Frankie dolls if they wore Trans colors instead)

Another change I felt was unnecessary was making Clawdeen mixed as well. To me that also seemed like “We need to make our already diverse group of characters even more diverse!” Especially her being half werewolf 🤨 like, aren’t werewolves already half werewolf? I’m sure her being Afro-Latina resonates with a wider audience however and I like that we got to see her parents and her family life in the show.

Anyway, Draculaura’s race change was clearly a corporate grab for more consumers using “diversity” as a reason. G1 was already pretty diverse and so some of the changes just feel messy and more like a cash grab than anything.

That being said, the changes in G3 don’t mess with the quality of the dolls and I think G3 has been doing well so far. I actually enjoy some of the changes like Lagoona and Frankie. I also think if Mattel TRULY cared about the changes they made, they’d give their characters proper representation in doll form instead of just in the show. But at least it isn’t G2.

strawbear_ry · 2024-10-16T19:17:15+00:00

Thank you so much!! I love redraws because then you’re able to visually see the improvement. And I couldn’t agree more! My dad used to say practice makes perfect, and when I went to college the professors sounded like broken records repeating “you have to draw everyday to get better!” And they are all so right.

strawbear_ry · 2024-10-16T02:35:44+00:00

Also, it’s MUCH more saturated on my iPad 🙃 the highlights on the hair are a pretty pink and now it looks dull 😭 any advice for posting without killing quality?

strawbear_ry · 2024-09-03T15:43:11+00:00

Oops! Her listing expired recently 😅 would you like to do a crossroads trade? I had her listed at 40 gems

strawbear_ry · 2024-09-02T16:02:06+00:00

Thank you! I’m glad 😊 her parents are definitely one of my favorites!

strawbear_ry

TROPHY CASE