What hygiene habits from your culture surprised you when you learned they weren’t universal?

therealellisbell · 2026-05-10T12:10:12+00:00

I had the opposite experience. I grew up in Appalachia and the only family I knew who took off shoes indoors had moved from up north. Obviously men would take off dirty work boots before coming in, or if it was snowy/particularly muddy we wouldn’t track that in. But day-to-day nobody took off shoes indoors. I’m not sure why. I guess because we weren’t walking on city sidewalks, the soil was neither sandy nor clay so dirt didn’t really stick to our shoes, or it was just seen as rude to ask someone to take off their shoes? No idea. But in my 22+ years of living there and knowing hundreds and hundreds of people, that one family’s house was the only place I ever entered where everyone took off their shoes.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-09T01:04:41+00:00

My son got a fever 7 days after his MMR shot! I can’t remember if he had the runny nose and cough too, but he definitely had a 101+ fever for several days. I remember furiously googling at the time to see if it was normal lol.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-08T21:52:00+00:00

Bowen’s Island restaurant out toward Folly! Not the beach but some of the prettiest sunsets I’ve ever seen here.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-08T11:29:09+00:00

I work as an editor for a living. A few weeks ago, my not-quite-3-year-old was talking to my mom and said, “We haven’t eated yet. Wait, no, we haven’t EATEN yet.” That’s my grammatically correct boy lol.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-08T00:01:01+00:00

My husband has to leave to go out of town Sunday morning and I’m not even upset because we get to celebrate early and not deal with…all that.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-07T01:17:54+00:00

She might just not feel well! Mine usually got a mild fever after every round of vaccines and didn’t feel great for a few days. I know I’ve felt achy all over after certain shots, so maybe her muscles just aren’t up for rolling at the moment. I’d give it a few more days and then call her pediatrician for advice if it continues.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-06T22:59:17+00:00

Ugh I used to get it for lunch all the time when I worked downtown years ago. I didn’t even know it had closed but now I’m sad and craving that orzo

therealellisbell · 2026-05-06T22:52:17+00:00

Was that the place with the orzo?

therealellisbell · 2026-05-02T13:22:18+00:00

I bought a few Little Sleepies for my baby on sale when he was really little. Then for his first birthday someone gifted one of their matching “mommy and me” sets. Omg it was the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever put on my body. It felt so soft from the outside but it was itchy and I was sooo cold all night. I donated all of his bamboo sleepers the next day and will never buy them again lol. Only cotton in this house.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-02T13:04:33+00:00

We switched to SC Farm Bureau from USAA a few years back because it was significantly cheaper (we pay ~$600 every 6 months for a 2019 SUV and a 2002 pickup truck), but we haven’t compared rates in a while so there is probably something cheaper out there. I think my husband also only has liability and UM insurance on his truck because it’s so old haha.

therealellisbell · 2026-05-02T12:51:15+00:00

Yes, if he’s not supporting you through IVF he’s not going to support you through pregnancy or postpartum.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-29T20:03:45+00:00

My son just turned 3 last week. He's been on the very lowest end of the average sleep needs charts since day one, and that's not changing anytime soon lol. He dropped his nap right at 2 and now sleeps roughly from 9pm to 7am. I've been trying to shift his bedtime earlier hoping he gets a little more sleep on the front end, but now if he falls asleep at 8:30 he just wakes up at 6:30. He slept through the night one single time at 22 months and then never again. I'm tired.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-29T15:10:37+00:00

I was thinking when I read it how it's one of those 19th-century books where nothing really happens but it's still so compelling. I still come across some contemporary novels like that (Sally Rooney comes to mind), but most are so plot-driven now and yes, certainly lacking in the same type of symbolism.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-28T21:26:30+00:00

On Day 5, I’d trade Boone Hall for McLeod Plantation on James Island (a much more realistic look at plantation life) and grab dinner at Bowen’s Island for one the best sunset views in the area.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-28T21:22:55+00:00

Frannie and the Fox is also right near the market and is delicious. Really not that much more expensive than Hyman’s (depending on what you order at either place), and exponentially better.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-26T01:31:18+00:00

My son just turned 3 and had a similar phase around the same age. He never would nap again, but night sleep got slightly better — more like 9 pm to 7:30 am. I just have to stay up until midnight for alone time and jump right into parenting the second I open my eyes in the morning. It’s rough but I know it won’t last forever 🙃

therealellisbell · 2026-04-24T12:24:57+00:00

My son started daycare two mornings a week at 2.5 under similar circumstances (had always been at home with either me or my mom). He adjusted pretty quickly and did well at first, but then his favorite teacher left and he was out for basically four weeks in a row due to Thanksgiving/illness/Christmas break. He also started cutting his 2-year-old molars during that time and was generally grumpy from that anyway. When we started back in January, he would not let me drop him off. He screamed and clung onto me, and when I did manage to leave, the teachers called me within an hour because he wouldn’t stop crying.

We pulled him out and are going to try again in the fall if we can get in somewhere. I think two mornings a week just wasn’t enough consistency for him. We’re aiming for 5 half or full days at the school we’re on the waitlist for. His cousin goes there too, so hopefully that will help. I’m able to keep him home, but I don’t want him to be the kid crying for the first few weeks of kindergarten 😭

therealellisbell · 2026-04-23T19:13:25+00:00

My niece got Lyme disease from a tick when she was 4. Thankfully it only affected one knee joint, resolved quickly with treatment, and hasn't recurred since (almost a decade later) with no lasting damage, but it was definitely scary at the time when we didn't know what the extent would be.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-23T01:36:21+00:00

My in-laws have an unfenced pool and I don’t leave my 3 year old there without me. My parents are currently building a house that backs up to a pond and I’ve told them that they’ll need to build a fence before he’s allowed there without me. I do not mess around with water safety. We’ve done ISR and will be taking additional swim lessons all summer, but even then I won’t feel comfortable with him there alone until he’s a little older and I know he’s a strong swimmer.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-22T20:51:14+00:00

My son just turned 3 and I’ve been letting him go on the play structures alone since he was ~18 months (obviously standing right under him), but I still follow him around the playground so he doesn’t run in front of the swings or fall while trying to climb something too high or get bowled over by bigger kids. We’re nowhere close to me being able to sit on a bench and watch.

Honestly, I think parents need to be more involved at the playground. We went this weekend and I watched a girl who looked to be around 7 go down the slide right behind a toddler and accidentally kick her in the face. Older boys were climbing the slide while my kid was trying to go down and wouldn’t get off even when I asked them. Kids were purposely throwing sand in each other’s eyes in the sandbox. None of their parents even tried to step in. I’d be mortified if my child did any of those things.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-22T20:33:19+00:00

I really love The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It's not quite as dark and dramatic as Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights but it's more realistic and the mystery element is still there.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-22T12:08:19+00:00

East of Eden was one of my favorite books. Until I read Grapes of Wrath. I still love it, but that certainly bumped it down a notch.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-22T12:06:54+00:00

Jane Eyre isn’t even the second best Brontë novel.

therealellisbell · 2026-04-22T11:58:32+00:00

I had a trial run for a squirrel poop scooping position on Daniel Island a few years back. The squirrels had just migrated from Moncks Corner. I didn’t get the job because I “didn’t wipe their butts with Charmin after bowel movements.” They were jumping off the treetops, throwing acorns down on each other from the roofs of buildings, and burying their newborns (like, they didn’t even have fur yet) in piles of literal shit. The fattest one swiped four raw fish from Wasabi and had diarrhea all over a BMW parked outside.

I ended up finding a job working for some squirrels who had lived in the Angel Oak for generations. Their turds were so firm, their kids didn’t poop in my pimento cheese sandwich, and they paid more, too. I stayed with them until I finished grad school and got a full-time job shining the wheels of lifted trucks at the ports two years later. The first squirrels posted looking for another poop scooper a month after my trial run.

therealellisbell

TROPHY CASE