UO-Thursday!

AKbadwolf

I think the amount of homework needs to be controlled.  My oldest is in 7th grade.  He comes home with 5 hours of homework.  Recently at the same time he has had 4 large projects (a required Science fair  project, 2 English projects (one individual and one group) plus a Social Studies project.  He was also receiving normal homework on top of the required projects. 

My 10 yr old in 5th grade comes home with 30 problems in math, a spelling list, and typically either a chapter to read and do the questions on in Science or Social Studies. 

Both of their schools also require 30 minutes of reading a night.

My oldest also have half an hour of piano lessons a week and 3.5-5 hours of therapy in any given week.  My middle child has half an hour of guitar and an hour of cub scouts. 

Homework is a necessary evil but it needs to be controlled and worked through.  It is there to ensure kids grasp concepts not to be busy work.  When you can enforce the concept with a single project, while pile busy work on top of it?

 

ghostof5letters

Luckynumbers81 I learned on figure skates, but I'm told that hockey skates are 10x's easier. I'm considering teaching my daughter to skate on hockey skates next year. I was going to buy them for Christmas. She'll be 3.5 by then. 

kmawb

1. Alfredo sauce is disgusting, flavourless paste-like goop.  Maybe I just haven't had good alfreado sauce?  I also dislike Rose sauce.  Give me a nice marinara, bolognese or just olive oil, basil and fresh grated parmigiano reggiano.

2. Homework for a preschooler is pointless and shouldn't be done.

3. If my DD wants to play football or hockey (girls league or co-ed league), I will fully support her.  Hell I'll help coach her team!  I love sports.  Although her first honest to goodness sports equipment was a soccer ball and a baseball mitt - what can I say the kid loves to kick and throw balls.

4. I agree with @suzelizabeth, I don't agree with Russia's politics etc. but I will watch the Olympics because those atheletes deserve to be supported for all the hard work and training they put in.  Plus, woo hoo 2 weeks of awesome TV watching!!  Go Canada Go!!

5. Overscheduling of kids activities is not something I will do and I feel sorry for the kids that are in that situation.  When do they have time to just be kids?!  My rule is no more than 2 concurent after-school activites, school work/studying is very important too.

6. I wish I could see what @ghostof5letters posted about Canadians (can someone please tell me what it was), but I can't at work .

Don't know if it will be an UO or not but, in our house the rule will be you can try/signup for any activity you want to do but you must stick to it for a full season/session.  There will be no deciding to take piano lessons (just an example) and deciding after 2 lessons that you don't want to do it anymore.  Learning a new skill/sport can take time, you need to give it a fair try.  The only exception to this is swimming lessons.  They are NOT optional in our family.  All kids will take swimming lessons until they are fully capable swimmers.  I do not want my kids to be a statistic of childhood preventable drowning.

Jesse835235

tundrabunny said:

I totally agree. I'm a little bit paranoid about opening up a 529 plan for my daughter. I'm like, what if she doesn't WANT to go to college? Any money that goes into that is withdrawn at a penalty if it's not used for higher education. This line of thought is blasphemy in our family - we're all pretty much insanely over-educated. But I was looking into it and 529s can also be used for vocational and technical school so she could use it for training as a welder or hairstylist or whatever. I think she'll probably need some sort of education and training beyond high school, even if she doesn't end up going to a four-year institution.

You can save in an IRA for yourself and make withdrawals for qualified education expenses and not get penalized for an early withdrawal.  If it's a traditional IRA, you'll still have to pay taxes with you withdraw, but not the penalty.  So this way, if your daughter decides not to pursue higher education, you will have that money tucked away for your retirement.  It's a win/win in my book.  The only variable with any tool created by the government is that they can change it just as easily with legislation.  It's an option to think about at least.

mamabc14

@tealowl is community college an option? I'm not sure if nursing is regulated by states or nationally but here in Michigan an associates degree qualifies you to sit for boards to become a RN

kmawb

@tealowl I have a friend who just graduated from nursing school (she's 38), she has 4 kids (16, 14, 13, & 11), and is now a working nurse.  It can still be done if you want to, no need to give up on your dream just yet.

mamabc14

my UO is that my second trimester sucks ball I can't breathe, can't poop, can't sleep can't stand my DH, well that's his fault, I can't brush my teeth without puking my guys up cause toothpaste is gross, im just not comfortable

beff12

Jesse835235 said:

beff12 said:

I'm all for letting kids try whatever extracurricular activities they are interested in, be it dance, sports, music, a club, whatever. However, I think some parents are too free with letting their children explore as they let them do all of these things at the same time. We have close friends that don't limit their children's extracurricular activities at all - dance on Monday, basketball on Tuesday, church on Wednesday, swimming on Thursday...not even kidding. I taught their daughter last year and she had something every day of the week...would you like to guess what her grades were like? And when I sent home a failed test to allow her to make corrections for extra credit, do you think I got the test back? Not once. Like I said, our kids will be allowed to experiment around until they find their place...but all at once? I think that's too much for a youngster!

It may be too much for some, but not all.  If the child enjoys the activities and they are able to keep up with school, I think it's fine.  Everyone's different.  Growing up, I was always in a million different things and it definitely helped me be disciplined with my time.  By the time I got to high school, I had found the activities that I was passionate about that I would commit more time to.

ETA: Ditto on trade schools.  Many jobs around here (power plant, welding, etc) that only require a two-year degree pay significantly more than your average bachelor's degree (except for engineering).  The thing is, we need both white collar and blue collar workers in our society.  Why not encourage kids to explore their niche without burdening themselves with student loan debt first.

You're right! I didn't think about kids that can handle all of it well, I guess because I haven't come across many of them (I deal with little kids all day). If they can handle dabbling in everything all at once, then by all means they should - I just grow concerned for the children that sign up for everything and drown in the pressure, not being given the chance to really excel at any one thing. It's also depressing to me when they can't get their homework done for the next school day...I only give about 20 minutes or so of homework a night and it makes me sad if they can't find 20 free minutes to devote to reading and doing a few math problems!

eortman

 

BPaws said:

I don't understand why there is so much outcry over the weight loss of that Biggest Loser Contestant; Rachel Fredrckson. Yes, she looks unhealthy. Yes she looks too skinny. But the show isn't called "Losing Weight to a Healthy Point and Stopping!" It's called "Biggest Loser". She was under the care of professionals during the taping. I think it's hypocritical to judge her for her weight loss on a show designed specifically to judge people on their weight loss. And skinny shaming is equally as unhealthy and rude as fat shaming.  

Yay! Totally agreed. And really, isn't this a game show? I would have no problem getting an bit too skinny to win $250,000.  Take the money and go buy a burger.  I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner. Why is it okay to take things to the extreme on other game shows, but not this one?

emineminem

milestrellas said:

I kind of miss the "Join our FB group" ladies that like to pop in every once in a while. I saved some awesome gifs to use for their next thread and I'm sad I haven't had a chance to use them.

My UO? I cannot WAIT to join the real FB group! My TK board started one fairly early and I absolutely love those ladies and that group. I agree it's better to wait with a BMB, but damnit I was tempted! Mostly because I only bump on mobile and the app hates me. :-P

Salsera29

missquela said:

I kind of miss the "Join our FB group" ladies that like to pop in every once in a while. I saved some awesome gifs to use for their next thread and I'm sad I haven't had a chance to use them.

My UO? I cannot WAIT to join the real FB group! My TK board started one fairly early and I absolutely love those ladies and that group. I agree it's better to wait with a BMB, but damnit I was tempted! Mostly because I only bump on mobile and the app hates me.

Why yes, your TK FB group is especially awesome :-) Although between you, me, and this whole BMB, it's a little puppies and rainbows for me sometimes.

abunai523

Jesse835235 said:

tundrabunny said:

I totally agree. I'm a little bit paranoid about opening up a 529 plan for my daughter. I'm like, what if she doesn't WANT to go to college? Any money that goes into that is withdrawn at a penalty if it's not used for higher education. This line of thought is blasphemy in our family - we're all pretty much insanely over-educated. But I was looking into it and 529s can also be used for vocational and technical school so she could use it for training as a welder or hairstylist or whatever. I think she'll probably need some sort of education and training beyond high school, even if she doesn't end up going to a four-year institution.

You can save in an IRA for yourself and make withdrawals for qualified education expenses and not get penalized for an early withdrawal.  If it's a traditional IRA, you'll still have to pay taxes with you withdraw, but not the penalty.  So this way, if your daughter decides not to pursue higher education, you will have that money tucked away for your retirement.  It's a win/win in my book.  The only variable with any tool created by the government is that they can change it just as easily with legislation.  It's an option to think about at least.

This is what our financial adviser told us to do as well. Flexibility ftw!

My UO: Now, hopefully nobody takes this personally, but it drives me nuts when people say things like "if it's a boy we're decorating the room with dinosaurs/robots/fun theme abc". So what if it's a girl? They can't have that? I'm starting to hate Pinterest and stuff because when it comes to girls rooms/clothes/etc it all looks the same! When I was little, even though I was a girly-girl I was horribly jealous of my brother's dinosaur bedspread (mine always had flowers. ALWAYS. I did not get a choice). I just feel like everything with girls is automatic pilot for 'pretty pink princess'. Kids are ultimately going to like what they like but why does it feel like everything for girls is assumed? I don't know what we're having yet but if I have a daughter and she loves hot pink and baby dolls more than something I picked out, cool. But it feels so weird to see adults write off other options purely based on sex.

I hope this makes sense. It's a difficult concept for me to explain with words, but it's been bugging me.

Myanswer true

tealowl said:

Girls are tougher than you think. My girlfriends who played softball were brutal. I still can't get some of their injuries out of my head. Some were tiny and tough, others were big and tough!

Ditto on this. I remember a girl on my high school softball team who got beamed in the face with a ball and her nose EXPLODED (she had to have reconstructive surgery, because there were bone fragments sticking out) and she wanted to finish the game!

ghostof5letters

kmawb said:

6. I wish I could see what @ghostof5letters posted about Canadians (can someone please tell me what it was), but I can't at work .

Don't know if it will be an UO or not but, in our house the rule will be you can try/signup for any activity you want to do but you must stick to it for a full season/session.  There will be no deciding to take piano lessons (just an example) and deciding after 2 lessons that you don't want to do it anymore.  Learning a new skill/sport can take time, you need to give it a fair try.  The only exception to this is swimming lessons.  They are NOT optional in our family.  All kids will take swimming lessons until they are fully capable swimmers.  I do not want my kids to be a statistic of childhood preventable drowning.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/maycie/canadas-response-to-russias-russias-anti-lgbt-propaganda-law

Also, I totally agree on finishing what you started in regards to activities. 

Jbosarge85

DH and I waited to have sex until after we were married. We have a very sex life, my whole family waits till marriage (it's a religious thing) and we are all happily married.

My UO is I don't believe children should be forced to hug anyone. When SS birthmom would pick him up she would force him to hug us even if he didn't feel like it. I hated it. I think it's best to respect your child, some have personal space issues, don't push it. There are other ways to say goodbye or hello, a handshake a hi-5 just saying hi or bye. I just won't ever force my kids to hug or anything else physically that they are uncomfortable with

lindslalala

Jesse835235 said:

tundrabunny said:

I totally agree. I'm a little bit paranoid about opening up a 529 plan for my daughter. I'm like, what if she doesn't WANT to go to college? Any money that goes into that is withdrawn at a penalty if it's not used for higher education. This line of thought is blasphemy in our family - we're all pretty much insanely over-educated. But I was looking into it and 529s can also be used for vocational and technical school so she could use it for training as a welder or hairstylist or whatever. I think she'll probably need some sort of education and training beyond high school, even if she doesn't end up going to a four-year institution.

You can save in an IRA for yourself and make withdrawals for qualified education expenses and not get penalized for an early withdrawal.  If it's a traditional IRA, you'll still have to pay taxes with you withdraw, but not the penalty.  So this way, if your daughter decides not to pursue higher education, you will have that money tucked away for your retirement.  It's a win/win in my book.  The only variable with any tool created by the government is that they can change it just as easily with legislation.  It's an option to think about at least.

This is what our financial adviser told us to do as well. Flexibility ftw!

My UO: Now, hopefully nobody takes this personally, but it drives me nuts when people say things like "if it's a boy we're decorating the room with dinosaurs/robots/fun theme abc". So what if it's a girl? They can't have that? I'm starting to hate Pinterest and stuff because when it comes to girls rooms/clothes/etc it all looks the same! When I was little, even though I was a girly-girl I was horribly jealous of my brother's dinosaur bedspread (mine always had flowers. ALWAYS. I did not get a choice). I just feel like everything with girls is automatic pilot for 'pretty pink princess'. Kids are ultimately going to like what they like but why does it feel like everything for girls is assumed? I don't know what we're having yet but if I have a daughter and she loves hot pink and baby dolls more than something I picked out, cool. But it feels so weird to see adults write off other options purely based on sex.

I hope this makes sense. It's a difficult concept for me to explain with words, but it's been bugging me.

If my daughter wants dinosaurs in her room when she's older I would absolutely incorporate that into her room. Until I know her interests she's getting mermaids because I think they're adorable. And the design of a nursery is MUCH more about the parents than the baby. It just is.

mamabc14

,@luckynumbers81 yay I finally have a gif dedicated to me lol. that made me laugh thanks . and I miss scrubs.

kmawb

Bahahaha!!!  Thanks @ghostof5letters, that was great.  We Canadians are pretty awesome!

Skeemer

Jbosarge85 said:

My UO is I don't believe children should be forced to hug anyone.

100% agree. I don't want to be forced to hug people so I figure my son doesn't either. I usually ask & say, "Can you give Grammy a hug?" 9 times out of 10 he does but it's still his choice. He's not being a brat by not hugging everyone he sees all day long.

pfeilele

Jbosarge85 said:

DH and I waited to have sex until after we were married. We have a very sex life, my whole family waits till marriage (it's a religious thing) and we are all happily married.

My UO is I don't believe children should be forced to hug anyone. When SS birthmom would pick him up she would force him to hug us even if he didn't feel like it. I hated it. I think it's best to respect your child, some have personal space issues, don't push it. There are other ways to say goodbye or hello, a handshake a hi-5 just saying hi or bye. I just won't ever force my kids to hug or anything else physically that they are uncomfortable with

I hate when parents make their kids hug me. It really doesn't bother me if they don't want to, and it's awkward when they go up to you and stand there looking at you with those miserable eyes.

pfeilele

I dislike when little girls wear 4 shades of pink or purple. There are other things they can wear, so a suit of pink is NOT necessary.

abunai523

@lindslalala Yeah, I get that. And mermaids are awesome. But why when I search for items and things online is EVERYTHING for girls just pink and frilly? And then I see parents get all excited to design nurseries for boys with whatever their personal style is, but if it's a girl, again, pink and frilly. That last bit is something I've seen more in my own social circle, and I'm sure I'm not explaining it very well, but it just feels like there's this expected autopilot for girls to me and it bugs me, hence the sharing of this likely unpopular opinion.

iris427

pfeilele said:

I dislike when little girls wear 4 shades of pink or purple. There are other things they can wear, so a suit of pink is NOT necessary.

My daughter dresses herself.  She thinks a suit of pink is TOTALLY necessary.  Bonus points if it has sparkles.

INmommy871278

pfeilele said:

I dislike when little girls wear 4 shades of pink or purple. There are other things they can wear, so a suit of pink is NOT necessary.

Yes! My sister layered her daughter in several different shades of green for my two youngest siblings basketball games a few weeks ago. DS wore a cute Kelly green Adidas track suit with a white tee under it, my niece wore every shade of bright green out and looked ridiculous.

ashcross

mamabc14 I feel exactly the same way you do. It's horrible. I hope you feel better. 

Lola825

Wow so many topics covered today: 1. Vocational Schools (or not going to college if its just not for you) are totally awesome in this day and age. Case in point, I went to College and got my Bachelors which I don't use. At all. I have student loan debt for a degree I didn't want and knew I would never use. My brother started a business when he was 16 and it has grown over the past 11 years into something very successful. He and I actually bought a business two years ago and I run it while he stays active in both businesses. He has no student loan debt and is super successful. You don't NEED college to be a success but sometimes it helps. 2. Girls involved in (contact) sports are awesome. I played rugby in college and was hurt all the time, but I had a BLAST. The bonds you form when on a team, even if its tennis are so important in my opinion. I also played softball and pitched. During a game I had broken my thumb, I still played the rest of the game and pitched/batted, etc. Girls are much tougher than we give them credit for! 3. The homework subject really fires me up. You all really nailed it with it being over-kill sometimes and if the kid is failing because of homework but acing the tests, something is wrong there. They clearly get the topic, but for whatever reason the homework isn't being done. While I agree some homework is a good thing as it teaches a work ethic to the student, however, the amount of homework kids are taking home now-a-days is more than I had in college. Its getting out of hand. ETA: WHY NO PARAGRAPHS!?!?!

mamabc14

@ashcross thanks you too!

Lola825

Sorry about the huge jumble above, how do I add paragraphs now since the bump doesn't keep it once you post the comment? My UO: I really dislike all the "fashion/accessory" trends most women love. I will never own a Coach purse, wear Alex and Ani or Pandora bracelets (even if they are bought for me) and I don't care who you are heels that look like sneakers are not cool.

kmawb

Lola825 said:

Sorry about the huge jumble above, how do I add paragraphs now since the bump doesn't keep it once you post the comment? My UO: I really dislike all the "fashion/accessory" trends most women love. I will never own a Coach purse, wear Alex and Ani or Pandora bracelets (even if they are bought for me) and I don't care who you are heels that look like sneakers are not cool.

If you're on mobile just type in <b r> <b r> without the spaces and you'll get paragraphs.

mamabc14

BPaws said:

Also- now this doesn't apply to everyone.

I think women HUGELY overplay the roll of cravings in pregnancy. Yes, pregnancy cravings serve a purpose. But, I think a lot of the time a large percentage of these cravings are completely made up and someone just wants ice cream or cookies. There's nothing wrong with wanting ice cream and cookies, but don't automatically blame it on the pregnancy.


I also hate when they pull the "I couldn't help eating 50 cheeseburgers,
I was craving them. The baby made me". No. No the baby did not make you eat 50 cheeseburgers. It's ok to say no.

I only give myself 2 days a week to eat fast food. most times I don't even bother it actually makes me sick. but today I wanted taCo bell at 10am and gave in. I eat good 90% of the time. but I never say baby made me lol. I just say I wanna be fat and have a blizzard

katnipeverclean

My UO is this:

 

pfeilele said:

I dislike when little girls wear 4 shades of pink or purple. There are other things they can wear, so a suit of pink is NOT necessary.

Depends on what the little girl wants. If my three year old wants to wear a suit of pink and that makes her happy then so be it.

marathonmom823

I hate mayo. Like I'm totally skeeved out by the mere concept, and I avoid it at all costs.

Also @ funnibunni- I am an Oreo hater. I never liked them, even as a kid. My DH thinks I'm nuts.

katnipeverclean

Lola825 said:

Sorry about the huge jumble above, how do I add paragraphs now since the bump doesn't keep it once you post the comment? My UO: I really dislike all the "fashion/accessory" trends most women love. I will never own a Coach purse, wear Alex and Ani or Pandora bracelets (even if they are bought for me) and I don't care who you are heels that look like sneakers are not cool.

1) Love my coach purses. I buy them at the outlets and they last forever. I don't really think of coach as trendy either.

2) Sneaker heels are a thing? Who are these women and where are they? I must avoid them.

pfeilele

iris427 said:

pfeilele said:

I dislike when little girls wear 4 shades of pink or purple. There are other things they can wear, so a suit of pink is NOT necessary.

My daughter dresses herself.  She thinks a suit of pink is TOTALLY necessary.  Bonus points if it has sparkles.


--------

I should have been more clear. I dislike when parents dress their child in 4 shades of pink. I'm well aware that in a couple of years, my son is going to look ridiculous much of the time because he wants to dress himself (not saying your daughter looks ridiculous, I would love an excuse to wear sparkles!)

AutumnBonfire

BPaws said:

Also- now this doesn't apply to everyone. I think women HUGELY overplay the roll of cravings in pregnancy. Yes, pregnancy cravings serve a purpose. But, I think a lot of the time a large percentage of these cravings are completely made up and someone just wants ice cream or cookies. There's nothing wrong with wanting ice cream and cookies, but don't automatically blame it on the pregnancy. I also hate when they pull the "I couldn't help eating 50 cheeseburgers, I was craving them. The baby made me". No. No the baby did not make you eat 50 cheeseburgers. It's ok to say no.

I will totally admit that I use "pregnancy cravings" as an excuse to eat what I want. The truth is, I crave junk food just as much when I'm not pregnant, but since I'm in a never-ending battle with trying to lose weight, I ignore the cravings then.

Lola825

SarahVol131 said:

Lola825 said:

Sorry about the huge jumble above, how do I add paragraphs now since the bump doesn't keep it once you post the comment? My UO: I really dislike all the "fashion/accessory" trends most women love. I will never own a Coach purse, wear Alex and Ani or Pandora bracelets (even if they are bought for me) and I don't care who you are heels that look like sneakers are not cool.

1) Love my coach purses. I buy them at the outlets and they last forever. I don't really think of coach as trendy either.

2) Sneaker heels are a thing? Who are these women and where are they? I must avoid them.

To me the purses are just over-priced. I'm not a bag person at all though, so theres that.

And yes, they are a thing.

lindslalala

futuremrsbrian said:

@lindslalala Yeah, I get that. And mermaids are awesome. But why when I search for items and things online is EVERYTHING for girls just pink and frilly? And then I see parents get all excited to design nurseries for boys with whatever their personal style is, but if it's a girl, again, pink and frilly. That last bit is something I've seen more in my own social circle, and I'm sure I'm not explaining it very well, but it just feels like there's this expected autopilot for girls to me and it bugs me, hence the sharing of this likely unpopular opinion.

I think you need to look at different sites perhaps. I see tons of non pink non frilly clothes for girls online. I am not into pink, and I don't see myself buying it for a daughter, should I have one. I was a tomboy athlete as a kid and am not into princess-y things either so I 100% see where you're coming from!

hgtvmom

My girl will a get teal, green, orange and white nursery. As will my boy :-) whoever comes out is getting the room I have fallen in love with. Bright colors and lots of fun.

My UO: First, this is not a blanket statement for all women, this is based on my peer group/family/friends. The women who end up pregnant by accident (whether wanted eventually or not) are the complainers. They complain about pregnancy. They complain about symptoms. They complain about their doctors, hospital experience, newborns, no sleep, baby colds, etc etc etc. These are not all women who are normally drama queens and I am not implying that they do not love their children. But I hide these fools on FB because they drive me insane.

On the other hand, the planned pregnancies, those that come after infertility or m/c or long planning periods are just surrounded by less complaining. Even if the women have it rough, they just complain less. Even if there is something to complain about, there is a positive spin put with it. This is who I strive to be. Yes, I am a bloated, constipated, pukey mess today, but I'm pregnant! I don't expect to feel better than I do, so I'm ok feeling like crap.

And I love exclamation points! :-)

January Bride

ghostof5letters said:

Luckynumbers81 I learned on figure skates, but I'm told that hockey skates are 10x's easier. I'm considering teaching my daughter to skate on hockey skates next year. I was going to buy them for Christmas. She'll be 3.5 by then. 

I used both and I agree that hockey skates seem like they are the easiest skate to start with.  DH is obsessed with hockey and wants to get our son or daughter on the ice as soon as possible.  He is trying to decide whether he wants our kid to start on bob skates or whether they should just wait a bit and start with the real thing.

I absolutely agree with all that has been said in the college/vocational school discussion so far. However, if my kid doesn't know what they want to do when they are 17, I will most likely encourage them to go to 4-year college as a way to broaden their horizons, try a bunch of different classes to see if they find something that interests them, be exposed to a diverse group of people and experiences, etc.  If they know what they want to do before that and it doesn't involve 4-year college, that's perfectly fine with me.  I want to encourage my child to pursue their own passions and interests and not force them to be carbon copies of DH and myself.  But I think that college can be a great experience to help a lot of kids figure out their future paths.

I also agree with the discussion about boy-themed rooms/clothing that involves dinosaurs.  I am not finding out the sex of our baby until Feb 20, but I've already purchased a few clothing items.  I sure as hell bought a set of pajamas that have dinosaurs all over it - it's awesome!  My daughter OR son will totally rock it and I'm excited   All the pink/purple stuff is fine if that's what my son or daughter wants to wear, but I just don't understand why "girl" clothing can't have dinosaurs or other cool animals on it.

My UO is that I have never heard the term butthurt until recently and I am not a huge fan.  Not sure why it seems weird to me.  I just honestly picture someone's ass hurting after getting pounded and I don't know if that's what the term is supposed to actually mean or not, but that's all I can picture

katnipeverclean

Lola825 said:

SarahVol131 said:

Lola825 said:

Sorry about the huge jumble above, how do I add paragraphs now since the bump doesn't keep it once you post the comment? My UO: I really dislike all the "fashion/accessory" trends most women love. I will never own a Coach purse, wear Alex and Ani or Pandora bracelets (even if they are bought for me) and I don't care who you are heels that look like sneakers are not cool.

1) Love my coach purses. I buy them at the outlets and they last forever. I don't really think of coach as trendy either.

2) Sneaker heels are a thing? Who are these women and where are they? I must avoid them.

To me the purses are just over-priced. I'm not a bag person at all though, so theres that.

And yes, they are a thing.

That's just wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

 

FWIW I agree with you on the prices. There's a great outlet in Lebanon,TN and one in Destin, FL. The last two I bought cost about $100 each. I'm ok with paying that for a bag I will use for years (I stick with classic leather) but the full tag price? No. Way. In. Hell. I would pay that!