@hellopartyof5 - Yes, FTM. When we looked at the cars it was pretty much, "These are the cars we really want, and oh hey, they have the car seat anchors, good enough!!"
Many of those who are involved in mass shootings suffer from o Antisocial personality disorder. Many convicted criminals show symptoms of or have been diagnosed with Antisocial PD. These individuals lack the ability to feel empathetic and often don't see right vs wrong the same way others do. It is most commonly associated with what is often called "psychopathy".
The problem with this is that those who suffer from this type of PD don't see an issue with how they behave. They don't realize that it is life debilitating and do not seek treatment for it.
On a totally unrelated and much more trivial UO topic, I really dislike Lily Pulitzer stuff. The highlighter explosion of colors and patterns just make my eyes hurt.
@muchwanted That totally makes sense. My husband isn’t particularly tall & we still struggled to find a car seat that he would be able to drive my car still. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the Dionos because I read several things that said they aren’t great forward facing and I didn’t want to have to keep replacing car seats... which we have to do anyway since we have Chicco Nextfits and they are too wide to get 3 across. But Dionos and then different car seats after would be cheaper than a new vehicle if you don’t need/want it!
@pumpkinpancake In NY, we have to pass a vision test every 10 years or something like that (I think, I go when they say to and don’t really pay attention to timing). Do they not have that requirement where you are? Still no extra road tests and honestly the vision test is a joke... if somebody is barely passing it, I don’t want to be on the road with them. It is a pretty lenient test.
On a totally unrelated and much more trivial UO topic, I really dislike Lily Pulitzer stuff. The highlighter explosion of colors and patterns just make my eyes hurt.
*googles Lily Pulitzer*... yowza. Yeah, not my thing.
For those talking about car seats/cars and three across, aside from the Dionos, I’ve heard really great things about the Clek car seats. They’re supposed to be some of the safest on the market, and they’re very slim.
@pumpkinpancake yes! They’re also pretty expensive from what I remember... and weigh a ton, so if you have to move them a lot it’s something to consider, but that’s a great reminder and I forgot about them. My boys will be almost 6 when the baby is born so I’m considering moving them to high back boosters. Either that or it will be just a forward facing harness seat that hopefully converts to boosters. I haven’t really looked into it much yet because testing car seats in the snow is even less fun than when it’s warm out.
@kimberbeep if you have a local buy buy baby you can actually try out all the car seats! The important thing for convertible car seats is to try them out rearfacing AND forward facing. My graco 4ever doesn't even really fit in my car forward facing at the recline needed for under 40lbs.
@purplegoldfish2 yes I did also read that they are pretty expensive! I haven’t looked into them too much because we have a chicco nextfit, but eventually if we need a smaller one I might look into the clek.
@eireyes I'm laughing so hard because I definitely woke up at 12am to buy some of their stuff w/ the new Pottery Barn collab. I am super not girly in anything else, but something about the bright colors just makes me so happy.
@kimberbeep if you have a local buy buy baby you can actually try out all the car seats! The important thing for convertible car seats is to try them out rearfacing AND forward facing. My graco 4ever doesn't even really fit in my car forward facing at the recline needed for under 40lbs.
And buckle them in instead of just setting them on the seat. The seatbelt/latch holds the car seat in tighter & it creates more room front-to-back than just putting the car seat on the seat.
@chopchop25 the Pottery Barn thing is totally what prompted my UO! It popped up on an add and I'm PB obsessed, but I just couldn't get on board this time
@kimberbeep if you have a local buy buy baby you can actually try out all the car seats! The important thing for convertible car seats is to try them out rearfacing AND forward facing. My graco 4ever doesn't even really fit in my car forward facing at the recline needed for under 40lbs.
And buckle them in instead of just setting them on the seat. The seatbelt/latch holds the car seat in tighter & it creates more room front-to-back than just putting the car seat on the seat.
Yes!!!! Or can be very tricky! Also keep in mind that after your child is 45lbs (usually... sometimes less) you HAVE to use the seatbelt install, so make sure you like the way that works forward facing.
@DunkinDecaf Also ftm hoping not to do the epidural. Partly because I want to know what it feels like, partly because I don’t want to give up control of my lower half, and partly because if I don’t feel that I need it then I don’t see the point of getting it. Then again I love marathons, mountaineering, and I used to be a rugby player so I’ve probably got some masochistic tendencies myself.
@chyvie I think the ear piercings question is interesting. My parents didn’t pierce mine (Im mixed Latina/Jew) and then I asked for it when I was 5 and got them pierced then. I always sort of wished I had it in my baby pics because it is such an emblem of Latina babies and would’ve connected me more to that’s side in my Latin grandparents eyes. Also it’s reversible. But it also imposes a gender marker on a child before they are able to articulate their gender identity so maybe that’s very unfair.
My UO is that we should require people to be proficienct in a second language in order to graduate high school unless a learning disability makes that particularly difficult.
Also hate guns but appreciate the discussion that’s taken place on this thread.
I have some pretty strong
opinions on the topic of guns as well but know I am trying to state them
politely! And know my intentions are to continue this amazing discussion we
have on here as we have all been very civil!
@mama2bofthree
yes most times if there is a gun present not being used in a good way it is
best to flee and NOT pull out your own gun. This should be covered in most Concealed
Carry Classes. That is why training is necessary, to know what to do, how to
react, and get muscle memory so you can override your brain freaking out and
stay calm so you know if you should run or if you need to defend yourself. That
is why firefighters, EMTs, etc train over and over so they don’t panic. Do some
still panic? Yup, but training helps. Self-defense classes are awesome too! In
some classes they can show you how to kill someone, do you ever plan to? I
would say most would say no. Same goes with a gun. I have no intention to ever shoot
to kill anyone, but if it came down to my life or theirs and they were
threatening my life it would be theirs. If it was a bad situation and I could
disarm them with a shot without killing them I would hope to do that vs shoot
to kill.
Areas in the USA with the strictest gun laws have the worst
crime and gun deaths. Chicago is one of those areas.
I have no problem with people carrying, shooting, owning
guns. I have shot an AR and while fun I don’t think I would ever own one. Do I
have a problem with someone owning one? Not really. Why? So many things can
cause injury or death in the wrong hands or by accident but we don’t stop
people from owning them. Alcohol, sports cars -why do you need them? Make everyone
have a Toyota Camry or whatever mini van they want – most roads don’t allow
anyone to go over 85 MPH so why have a car that can go faster? (I think that is the top freeway speed allowed
in the USA), knives, heck even kids in sports is mad dangerous! Just listing
these are there will always be idiots who abuse things and harm others with
whatever they can get their hands on. (look at the warnings on so many
things!). If you have no desire to own or shoot a gun I have no issues with
that. Don’t want one in your house? No issues. Do I have issues with requesting
more training to own a handgun, nope! I
think it would be a very good requirement!
I work with a lot of people internationally and my company employs many from other countries on assignment in the US. I always find it interesting when they speak so many languages. I speak very basic Spanish and German. I wish I was more proficient.
@SweetSweetTooth see, I respect people like you and many others here who acknowledge the fact that asking people for more training to own a gun is a good thing. I don’t agree with your argument about areas like Chicago though. People always make the argument that Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and yet has a huge problem with violent crime, but this argument completely ignores the fact that Wisconsin and Indiana have particularly weak gun laws, and both are extremely accessible for people in Chicago to go to buy weapons. State lines don’t keep guns out, so it’s not fair to isolate one city or state and call them out as proof that laws don’t work.
To counter this argument, look at a country like Japan. They have a list as long as your arm for the steps required to get a gun, and with a population of 127 million, they rarely have more than 10 gun deaths in a year.
Also, I don’t agree with your slippery slope argument that we shouldn’t restrict guns because there are tons of other things unrestricted that can cause harm to people. Sure, there are lots of other dangerous things out there, but the difference is that certain types of guns can kill mass numbers of people in one go, with the attacker barely needing to do anything. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to have any guns at all, but certain types (like assault rifles, high capacity magazines, etc.) have no place in common society, and should be reserved for the military. There’s no reason, in my opinion, that the average joe should have an assault rifle. Period. That crosses the line between arguing that it’s for your own protection, and goes into the realm of more harm potentially than good.
@rc-cola as someone in education I think that while that is a nice idea, it’s not practical. So many children, especially children in poverty are pushed along and graduate with limited proficiency on reading and writing in English.
@cdepperschmidt that’s a fair point. But I do think language skills should be treated with the same importance as math, science, and other fundamental skills. I don’t think it should be optional.
@cdepperschmidt and @rc-cola in Canada we are mandated to take french from grade 4 up to grade 9. Being a bilingual country and all. I excelled in French but now have forgotten it as we don't use it.
Me 33 DH 41 TTC since 2016 Due: October 12, 2018 Location: Ontario, Canada
As far as the guns go- maybe for "city dwellers" such as yourself but when someone that has a gun they bought unregistered that wants to break in and rob you and your family, how will you protect yourself? They could kill you before a cop could help. If you had a gun to protect yourself, you could possibly prevent it. Also, I grew up in the south out in the country where we have coyotes. We have an arsenal. We go deer hunting and feed our family for most of a year. Guns are useful for many things- but most of all they are useful for protecting ourselves. As long as its a responsible person behind the gun, it shouldn't matter. Remember, its the psycho idiots that kill people. No matter what type of gun control we have, there is no way to get all the guns off the street so crime would run rampant. My father is a Marine and he is loves his guns and is proud to be an American because he loves our Constitution and he fought for our country and he raised me the same way. Don't care if anyone disagrees with me.
@rc-cola We had to take foreign language starting in 6th grade until sometime in high school, maybe 12th, but maybe only 10th or 11th (I haven’t been in school in quite a while, so I don’t remember exactly). We had a choice of Spanish or French. I didn’t have to take one in college because I was in engineering, but the majority of majors had to take at least 2 semesters there too. Of course, I haven’t actually used the foreign language since graduating high school, so I’ve forgotten most of it anyway.
@kadorno0904 I'm all for gun rights, but with stricter regulations, so I agree with your views to an extent. However I feel like your post came across a little more snarky than necessary, especially when we're already a pretty close group of ladies and you've never posted on this board before. I'm sure everyone would agree that we'd love for you to stick around but please introduce yourself so we can get to know you the way we're learning each other.
Regarding foreign language- I took Spanish from 6th Grade through 11th Grade. I’ve dated a couple of latino men through the years, but not long enough or seriously enough to pick up/retain it.
However, I spent about six months doing 2-4 hours of conversational language self-study before my Mom and I went to Ecuador a few years ago. That was enough that by the end of the trip, I could pretty effectively communicate with our drivers and street vendors. (Apparently, my aunt, who had lived there for five years, was a bit jealous, because she had no idea what we were talking about half the time...)
My point is, that if you learn it in school, and try to pick it up again later in life, it is easier than you realize.
That said- I’d rather have 10th Graders reading in English at a 10th Grade Level, than speaking both English and Spanish poorly.
@knottieamusements what did you use for the self study? I took Spanish in high school and imagine I’d be able to pick it back up pretty easily, but I’m considering learning French for business reasons. Think the program you used would be good for basically starting from scratch?
I used a system called Synergy Spanish. As far as I am aware, they only offer Spanish. It would be fine for someone who is just getting started, but I would suggest supplementing it with some vocabulary.
What I really liked about Synergy Spanish was that it was primarily an audio course. The lessons were about 15 minutes long, which fit neatly with my commute. Also, it uses a lot of repetition, and concepts build on each other both within lessons and between lessons. Finally, while I find it to be rather light on vocabulary, the focus is on conversational pieces that you will actually use, rather than random stuff you likely don’t need.
For additional vocabulary, I used iPhone games that were really directed at younger kids (guessing 7-10 years old). I don’t have any games in particular that I like because the ones I was using fell victim to a major software update. I downloaded some new ones since them, and don’t like them as much.
As far as the guns go- maybe for "city dwellers" such as yourself but when someone that has a gun they bought unregistered that wants to break in and rob you and your family, how will you protect yourself? They could kill you before a cop could help. If you had a gun to protect yourself, you could possibly prevent it. Also, I grew up in the south out in the country where we have coyotes. We have an arsenal. We go deer hunting and feed our family for most of a year. Guns are useful for many things- but most of all they are useful for protecting ourselves. As long as its a responsible person behind the gun, it shouldn't matter. Remember, its the psycho idiots that kill people. No matter what type of gun control we have, there is no way to get all the guns off the street so crime would run rampant. My father is a Marine and he is loves his guns and is proud to be an American because he loves our Constitution and he fought for our country and he raised me the same way. Don't care if anyone disagrees with me.
As far as the guns go- maybe for "city dwellers" such as yourself but when someone that has a gun they bought unregistered that wants to break in and rob you and your family, how will you protect yourself? They could kill you before a cop could help. If you had a gun to protect yourself, you could possibly prevent it. Also, I grew up in the south out in the country where we have coyotes. We have an arsenal. We go deer hunting and feed our family for most of a year. Guns are useful for many things- but most of all they are useful for protecting ourselves. As long as its a responsible person behind the gun, it shouldn't matter. Remember, its the psycho idiots that kill people. No matter what type of gun control we have, there is no way to get all the guns off the street so crime would run rampant. My father is a Marine and he is loves his guns and is proud to be an American because he loves our Constitution and he fought for our country and he raised me the same way. Don't care if anyone disagrees with me.
I had to take a year in college of a language or take a social studies class. I chose a year of German. I'm so glad I did because I now work for a German company and so it's great to have some knowledge.
I also have some basic Spanish and when I was on a project with associates from Costa Rica is was super helpful.
For those talking about learning a new language now, I would suggest checking with your local library to see if they offer Mango Languages. We were able to download and use the app for free when my DH and I were learning Croatian. They have a bunch of languages to choose from and it works a lot on repeating and letting you listen to yourself practice the words/phrases. It was something we could easily have running on our tablet when doing things like cooking dinner and unloading the dishwasher.
@rc-cola I don't know how I missed your contribution but I agree. I'm not sure about making it a requirement because learning a second language is extremely difficult once you're past a certain age, but I definitely think our youth should be learning additional languages. Now that we're living in a global world with a global market, it's important for success to be able to speak more than one language. We currently have DD (5) in a Spanish immersion class and summer camp because we also agree that learning a second language is important.
Ladybug - April 2013 Dandelion - October 2018 Angel "Aurora" - July 2020 Angel "Sawyer" - May 2021 Angel "Maxine" - January 2022 Angel "Violet" - March 2022 Baby Dove due March 2023
@KFrob it’s easily his best bit. I’ve seen that special so many times. Before I saw him live and decided he’s an irredeemable douche canoe I was a big fan.
Re: UO Thursday (3/15)
The problem with this is that those who suffer from this type of PD don't see an issue with how they behave. They don't realize that it is life debilitating and do not seek treatment for it.
@pumpkinpancake In NY, we have to pass a vision test every 10 years or something like that (I think, I go when they say to and don’t really pay attention to timing). Do they not have that requirement where you are? Still no extra road tests and honestly the vision test is a joke... if somebody is barely passing it, I don’t want to be on the road with them. It is a pretty lenient test.
@DunkinDecaf Also ftm hoping not to do the epidural. Partly because I want to know what it feels like, partly because I don’t want to give up control of my lower half, and partly because if I don’t feel that I need it then I don’t see the point of getting it. Then again I love marathons, mountaineering, and I used to be a rugby player so I’ve probably got some masochistic tendencies myself.
@chyvie I think the ear piercings question is interesting. My parents didn’t pierce mine (Im mixed Latina/Jew) and then I asked for it when I was 5 and got them pierced then. I always sort of wished I had it in my baby pics because it is such an emblem of Latina babies and would’ve connected me more to that’s side in my Latin grandparents eyes. Also it’s reversible. But it also imposes a gender marker on a child before they are able to articulate their gender identity so maybe that’s very unfair.
My UO is that we should require people to be proficienct in a second language in order to graduate high school unless a learning disability makes that particularly difficult.
Also hate guns but appreciate the discussion that’s taken place on this thread.
I have some pretty strong opinions on the topic of guns as well but know I am trying to state them politely! And know my intentions are to continue this amazing discussion we have on here as we have all been very civil!
@mama2bofthree yes most times if there is a gun present not being used in a good way it is best to flee and NOT pull out your own gun. This should be covered in most Concealed Carry Classes. That is why training is necessary, to know what to do, how to react, and get muscle memory so you can override your brain freaking out and stay calm so you know if you should run or if you need to defend yourself. That is why firefighters, EMTs, etc train over and over so they don’t panic. Do some still panic? Yup, but training helps. Self-defense classes are awesome too! In some classes they can show you how to kill someone, do you ever plan to? I would say most would say no. Same goes with a gun. I have no intention to ever shoot to kill anyone, but if it came down to my life or theirs and they were threatening my life it would be theirs. If it was a bad situation and I could disarm them with a shot without killing them I would hope to do that vs shoot to kill.
Areas in the USA with the strictest gun laws have the worst crime and gun deaths. Chicago is one of those areas.
I have no problem with people carrying, shooting, owning guns. I have shot an AR and while fun I don’t think I would ever own one. Do I have a problem with someone owning one? Not really. Why? So many things can cause injury or death in the wrong hands or by accident but we don’t stop people from owning them. Alcohol, sports cars -why do you need them? Make everyone have a Toyota Camry or whatever mini van they want – most roads don’t allow anyone to go over 85 MPH so why have a car that can go faster? (I think that is the top freeway speed allowed in the USA), knives, heck even kids in sports is mad dangerous! Just listing these are there will always be idiots who abuse things and harm others with whatever they can get their hands on. (look at the warnings on so many things!). If you have no desire to own or shoot a gun I have no issues with that. Don’t want one in your house? No issues. Do I have issues with requesting more training to own a handgun, nope! I think it would be a very good requirement!
To counter this argument, look at a country like Japan. They have a list as long as your arm for the steps required to get a gun, and with a population of 127 million, they rarely have more than 10 gun deaths in a year.
Also, I don’t agree with your slippery slope argument that we shouldn’t restrict guns because there are tons of other things unrestricted that can cause harm to people. Sure, there are lots of other dangerous things out there, but the difference is that certain types of guns can kill mass numbers of people in one go, with the attacker barely needing to do anything. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to have any guns at all, but certain types (like assault rifles, high capacity magazines, etc.) have no place in common society, and should be reserved for the military. There’s no reason, in my opinion, that the average joe should have an assault rifle. Period. That crosses the line between arguing that it’s for your own protection, and goes into the realm of more harm potentially than good.
TTC since 2016
Due: October 12, 2018
Location: Ontario, Canada
Edited bc TB ate my post.
However, I spent about six months doing 2-4 hours of conversational language self-study before my Mom and I went to Ecuador a few years ago. That was enough that by the end of the trip, I could pretty effectively communicate with our drivers and street vendors. (Apparently, my aunt, who had lived there for five years, was a bit jealous, because she had no idea what we were talking about half the time...)
My point is, that if you learn it in school, and try to pick it up again later in life, it is easier than you realize.
That said- I’d rather have 10th Graders reading in English at a 10th Grade Level, than speaking both English and Spanish poorly.
What I really liked about Synergy Spanish was that it was primarily an audio course. The lessons were about 15 minutes long, which fit neatly with my commute. Also, it uses a lot of repetition, and concepts build on each other both within lessons and between lessons. Finally, while I find it to be rather light on vocabulary, the focus is on conversational pieces that you will actually use, rather than random stuff you likely don’t need.
https://synergyspanish.com/
For additional vocabulary, I used iPhone games that were really directed at younger kids (guessing 7-10 years old). I don’t have any games in particular that I like because the ones I was using fell victim to a major software update. I downloaded some new ones since them, and don’t like them as much.
Also, no one is saying take the guns away.
I also have some basic Spanish and when I was on a project with associates from Costa Rica is was super helpful.
For those talking about learning a new language now, I would suggest checking with your local library to see if they offer Mango Languages. We were able to download and use the app for free when my DH and I were learning Croatian. They have a bunch of languages to choose from and it works a lot on repeating and letting you listen to yourself practice the words/phrases. It was something we could easily have running on our tablet when doing things like cooking dinner and unloading the dishwasher.
Dandelion - October 2018
Angel "Aurora" - July 2020
Angel "Sawyer" - May 2021
Angel "Maxine" - January 2022
Angel "Violet" - March 2022
Baby Dove due March 2023
Thanks for the suggestions! I’m going to check both of those out!
But I decided to reign it in