Here's my attempt at an unpopular opinion: I think teaching abstinence only sex-ed is absolutely unrealistic and instead we should be teaching about contraceptives from a much younger age and giving them to our children as soon as they hit puberty. Not because you want them to have sex when they hit puberty, but so that whenever they decide to have sex at some point after that (hopefully sometime LONG after that), they will be prepared. I was on BC at the age of 16. I did not have sex until my 20s. I don't think putting your daughter on BC or handing your son a condom is saying 'go have sex now', it's just saying 'if you're going to do it, at least be smart about it'. Then continue to have regular discussions about your family values with them about waiting to have sex.
I know mine is really unpopular on this board: I personally am not into professional pics of babies. I like looking at other people's and think that they turn out precious 95% of the time but NMS. I'm trying to get on the bandwagon and have J's done when he turns 1 just in case I have regrets down the road.
edited: this could also be a confession, sorry
I actually agree with this! But by 'professional pics of babies' I mean studio photos (with the exception of newborn photos - though I still prefer lifestyle over the posed newborn shots, but a good lifestyle newborn photographer is hard to come by in my area). Anyways - I think photos taken in scenic locations outdoors or in our own house are going to mean a lot more to me in the future, than one of my child sitting awkwardly in a chair with a white paper background and a fake smile. I still plan to hire a professional photographer every year to take family photos at the beach, in an orange grove, at our house, etc. But I will not be paying for the studio type photos if I can help it. It's just not my photography style/taste. I say this while have about 5 framed studio type photos of my nephew in my house that I do love though! So I am not 100% against them, they can be done well.
This! My dad offered to buy us a package at Sears or JC Penny because I won't do it. I really want to ask him to hold off until September so I can pitch in a few hundred on top of it and we can hire a good photographer.
Aww come on, don't hate on Sears. Yeah, most of the time the photographers have no idea what they're doing and I end up posing DD, but I have actually got some good pictures of her there. I'm debating on going with a local photographer that I go to church with to do her one-year photos but to get a cd of your session is $479. That's a lot of frickin money. I do agree that most of my favorite pictures are the ones I have taken of DD myself.
Some of the best pictures I have of us are from Penneys and a firehouse fundraiser I spent $20 on. I think some (a lot) professional photographers take weird pictures and way over edit.
Here's my attempt at an unpopular opinion: I think teaching abstinence only sex-ed is absolutely unrealistic and instead we should be teaching about contraceptives from a much younger age and giving them to our children as soon as they hit puberty. Not because you want them to have sex when they hit puberty, but so that whenever they decide to have sex at some point after that (hopefully sometime LONG after that), they will be prepared. I was on BC at the age of 16. I did not have sex until my 20s. I don't think putting your daughter on BC or handing your son a condom is saying 'go have sex now', it's just saying 'if you're going to do it, at least be smart about it'. Then continue to have regular discussions about your family values with them about waiting to have sex.
Sorry, I could not agree more. Our children are human beings with the right to an education about their bodies and how to protect them.
I waited until I was 21 to have sex and my parents', schools' and community's opinion on the matter were not a factor. I did it when I was ready. I expect my daughter to do the same and I want her to be prepared whenever that time comes.
I'm reading it because my BFF is obsessed. She swore, up and down, that my life would not be complete until I read this book. Im only maybe a quarter of the way through, and I don't think I can go on with it. I haven't even gotten to the really kinky stuff yet. I'm kind of a book snob, and this is so poorly written it's killing me. It feels like a 16 year old wrote it. ETA: quote fail. I meant to quote blu's UO about 50 shades.
A 16 year old boy. There's much more male fantasy involved than female.
But your description matches my experience with Twilight almost exactly. DH and my friend told me I'd better stop reading before I hurt someone.
I don't know if everyone knows this or not, but 50 Shades was originally a piece of Twilight fan fiction. I have the original manuscripts for the books on my computer and the characters were originally Edward and Bella. Makes me dislike 50 Shades even more...
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I don't like wedding favors. It seems odd to me that I need something to "thank" my guests for coming to my wedding. We are having a big party with food and drinks to thank everyone! Plus IMO wedding favors are often useless ( why do I want a candle with your names on it) or overkill (homemade cookies are nice but we just ate cake.)
I realize some favors can be nice and if it's your wedding, more power to ya. I just think they end up being a waste of money.
I've never gotten a wedding favor that wasn't tacky and useless. IMO, give them something to eat instead of a "dust collector." A nice sugar cookie or something.
I agree with you, in principle, that the reception should be enough.
I don't like wedding favors. It seems odd to me that I need something to "thank" my guests for coming to my wedding. We are having a big party with food and drinks to thank everyone! Plus IMO wedding favors are often useless ( why do I want a candle with your names on it) or overkill (homemade cookies are nice but we just ate cake.)
I realize some favors can be nice and if it's your wedding, more power to ya. I just think they end up being a waste of money.
I've never gotten a wedding favor that wasn't tacky and useless. IMO, give them something to eat instead of a "dust collector." A nice sugar cookie or something.
I agree with you, in principle, that the reception should be enough.
Our favors were a donation. We made a donation to a charity for a disease that affected both DH and my grandmothers. We had a note at each place with a single Ghirardelli chocolate square telling people the donation was made and why it was an important charity to us.
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I told my dad were doing favors at our wedding and he looked at me like I had three heads and said we don't need them. Needless to say, he was very surprised when he saw them at the end. We still have boxes full of them in my parents basement. Why 600 brownies and monogrammed bottles of champagne were ordered for 300 people I will never know.
I think booze is a worthwhile wedding favor! But other than that...yeah, a waste of money. We did them and looking back I wished we had skipped it. If we could have done small bottles of wine we would have, but the reception place wouldn't allow it.
I don't like wedding favors. It seems odd to me that I need something to "thank" my guests for coming to my wedding. We are having a big party with food and drinks to thank everyone! Plus IMO wedding favors are often useless ( why do I want a candle with your names on it) or overkill (homemade cookies are nice but we just ate cake.)
I realize some favors can be nice and if it's your wedding, more power to ya. I just think they end up being a waste of money.
I've never gotten a wedding favor that wasn't tacky and useless. IMO, give them something to eat instead of a "dust collector." A nice sugar cookie or something.
I agree with you, in principle, that the reception should be enough.
Our favors were a donation. We made a donation to a charity for a disease that affected both DH and my grandmothers. We had a note at each place with a single Ghirardelli chocolate square telling people the donation was made and why it was an important charity to us.
I don't like wedding favors. It seems odd to me that I need something to "thank" my guests for coming to my wedding. We are having a big party with food and drinks to thank everyone! Plus IMO wedding favors are often useless ( why do I want a candle with your names on it) or overkill (homemade cookies are nice but we just ate cake.)
I realize some favors can be nice and if it's your wedding, more power to ya. I just think they end up being a waste of money.
I got a christmas tree ornament once. I was like, WTF am I supposed to do with this?
I've never gotten a wedding favor that wasn't tacky and useless. IMO, give them something to eat instead of a "dust collector." A nice sugar cookie or something.
I agree with you, in principle, that the reception should be enough.
Here's my attempt at an unpopular opinion: I think teaching abstinence only sex-ed is absolutely unrealistic and instead we should be teaching about contraceptives from a much younger age and giving them to our children as soon as they hit puberty. Not because you want them to have sex when they hit puberty, but so that whenever they decide to have sex at some point after that (hopefully sometime LONG after that), they will be prepared. I was on BC at the age of 16. I did not have sex until my 20s. I don't think putting your daughter on BC or handing your son a condom is saying 'go have sex now', it's just saying 'if you're going to do it, at least be smart about it'. Then continue to have regular discussions about your family values with them about waiting to have sex.
I hope this isn' that unpopular!
Also, it totally pisses me off that a lot of the same people who are anti-abortion are also pro abstinence only education. I am of the belief that more/ correct usage of contraceptives = fewer unwanted pregnancies = fewer abortions.
-Christiney, the board is slow enough and you are around often enough that there is no way you don't have at least an inkling of everyone's feelings on the bday issue. Just own your instigating biitchiness instead of pretending to be dense. I, for one, would like you a lot more for it.
-Overture, I bought a groupon for Picture People and it reinforced all my hatred of posed pictures. It was the worst afternoon I have ever had and I regret every penny.
-Everyone should spend their wedding favor money on more booze.
-My UOs:
1. if my kid has crapped her pants at the gym daycare and it says on the sign in sheet that I am in the class (which has a specified end time)- don't come get me. It is my hour of alone time and I refuse to spend it wiping azz. It clearly doesn't bother her, so 15 minutes isn't going to kill anyone.
-Everyone should spend their wedding favor money on more booze.
We had already had an open bar but like I said, would have done booze favors if they allowed it and just not wasted the favor money.
Chair cover money should be spent on booze too! (Assuming you have to pay $10 extra for each, like most of the reception places we looked at. I side eye fancy chair covers and a full cash bar.)
-Everyone should spend their wedding favor money on more booze.
We had already had an open bar but like I said, would have done booze favors if they allowed it and just not wasted the favor money.
Chair cover money should be spent on booze too! (Assuming you have to pay $10 extra for each, like most of the reception places we looked at. I side eye fancy chair covers and a full cash bar.)
Chair covers were the one thing my father vetoed that I really wanted (it was a lot more than $10 a chair though). Don't worry, we had a full open bar.
I know mine is really unpopular on this board: I personally am not into professional pics of babies. I like looking at other people's and think that they turn out precious 95% of the time but NMS. I'm trying to get on the bandwagon and have J's done when he turns 1 just in case I have regrets down the road.
edited: this could also be a confession, sorry
I actually agree with this! But by 'professional pics of babies' I mean studio photos (with the exception of newborn photos - though I still prefer lifestyle over the posed newborn shots, but a good lifestyle newborn photographer is hard to come by in my area). Anyways - I think photos taken in scenic locations outdoors or in our own house are going to mean a lot more to me in the future, than one of my child sitting awkwardly in a chair with a white paper background and a fake smile. I still plan to hire a professional photographer every year to take family photos at the beach, in an orange grove, at our house, etc. But I will not be paying for the studio type photos if I can help it. It's just not my photography style/taste. I say this while have about 5 framed studio type photos of my nephew in my house that I do love though! So I am not 100% against them, they can be done well.
This! My dad offered to buy us a package at Sears or JC Penny because I won't do it. I really want to ask him to hold off until September so I can pitch in a few hundred on top of it and we can hire a good photographer.
I agree with the above in bold too. I hate the fakey looking JCPenny photo shoots. SIL uses them all the time. We bought a package and a photographer came to our house for newborn, 6 month and will come for one year. In between we have a family friend who's starting her own photo business come in and do them. I really cannot stand studio shots!
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Mine would be that I think you should have a license to breed cats or dogs.
Completely agree!
I also think that all dogs and cats should have to be spayed or neutered unless owners have a breeding license. Maybe then we wouldn't have the unbelievably sad amount of animals dying in shelters. And bonus- less aggressive attacks due to un-neutured male dogs.
Mine would be that I think you should have a license to breed cats or dogs.
Completely agree!
I also think that all dogs and cats should have to be spayed or neutered unless owners have a breeding license. Maybe then we wouldn't have the unbelievably sad amount of animals dying in shelters. And bonus- less aggressive attacks due to un-neutured male dogs.
I'm reading it because my BFF is obsessed. She swore, up and down, that my life would not be complete until I read this book. Im only maybe a quarter of the way through, and I don't think I can go on with it. I haven't even gotten to the really kinky stuff yet. I'm kind of a book snob, and this is so poorly written it's killing me. It feels like a 16 year old wrote it. ETA: quote fail. I meant to quote blu's UO about 50 shades.
A 16 year old boy. There's much more male fantasy involved than female.
But your description matches my experience with Twilight almost exactly. DH and my friend told me I'd better stop reading before I hurt someone.
I don't know if everyone knows this or not, but 50 Shades was originally a piece of Twilight fan fiction. I have the original manuscripts for the books on my computer and the characters were originally Edward and Bella. Makes me dislike 50 Shades even more...
Now this is TOTALLY a UO... your comment makes me want to read them now
Prior to the vampire craze, I have always loved reading books about vampires (started with Anne Rice), and I truly loved the Twilight series books. I honestly don't know much about the 50 shades except for the sex part, but if your comment makes me want to check it out now
Congrats Starbuck :y & HHB on their sweet baby boys!
Lots of love & luck to Mdluv & Zook
IUI#4 = BFP!!
When the world says give up... hope whispers try it one more time
Here's my attempt at an unpopular opinion: I think teaching abstinence only sex-ed is absolutely unrealistic and instead we should be teaching about contraceptives from a much younger age and giving them to our children as soon as they hit puberty. Not because you want them to have sex when they hit puberty, but so that whenever they decide to have sex at some point after that (hopefully sometime LONG after that), they will be prepared. I was on BC at the age of 16. I did not have sex until my 20s. I don't think putting your daughter on BC or handing your son a condom is saying 'go have sex now', it's just saying 'if you're going to do it, at least be smart about it'. Then continue to have regular discussions about your family values with them about waiting to have sex.
I hope this isn' that unpopular!
Also, it totally pisses me off that a lot of the same people who are anti-abortion are also pro abstinence only education. I am of the belief that more/ correct usage of contraceptives = fewer unwanted pregnancies = fewer abortions.
I'm so with you on this! I am pro-life (or anti-abortion, whatever politically charged name you want to call it) but I absolutely believe abstinence only education is a joke and it makes me so angry that other pro-lifers don't see that this. I had an incredibly thorough sex education complete with photos of nasty STDs you can get and discussions with people who contracted HIV and AIDS because of one poor decision. That weighed on my mind a lot and went a long way in convincing me not to lose it until I was ready and to be smart about it.
That said, I wouldn't put my daughter on BC at 16 just because she might go have sex. I don't think hormonal BC is all that good for our bodies and I wouldn't want her on it until she is actually planning to lose her virginity. In the meantime I will try to educate her as best I can and advise her to always use protection. Another reason not to put her on BC is because it might give her a false sense of security (imo) and she might not think to use condoms every time making it more likely that she contract an STD. I think education and trust are what we can do for our kids. I don't think automotically putting teens on BC is the answer.
I'm the opposite. DH is a photographer (he does landscapes) but I want to hire a photographer for E. I feel like every time he takes her pics he misses the moment because he's to busy checking the results of his last pic and the settings on the camera.
Re: UO Thursday
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Some of the best pictures I have of us are from Penneys and a firehouse fundraiser I spent $20 on. I think some (a lot) professional photographers take weird pictures and way over edit.
Sorry, I could not agree more. Our children are human beings with the right to an education about their bodies and how to protect them.
I waited until I was 21 to have sex and my parents', schools' and community's opinion on the matter were not a factor. I did it when I was ready. I expect my daughter to do the same and I want her to be prepared whenever that time comes.
Burned by the Bear
I don't know if everyone knows this or not, but 50 Shades was originally a piece of Twilight fan fiction. I have the original manuscripts for the books on my computer and the characters were originally Edward and Bella. Makes me dislike 50 Shades even more...
I've never gotten a wedding favor that wasn't tacky and useless. IMO, give them something to eat instead of a "dust collector." A nice sugar cookie or something.
I agree with you, in principle, that the reception should be enough.
Our favors were a donation. We made a donation to a charity for a disease that affected both DH and my grandmothers. We had a note at each place with a single Ghirardelli chocolate square telling people the donation was made and why it was an important charity to us.
I think booze is a worthwhile wedding favor! But other than that...yeah, a waste of money. We did them and looking back I wished we had skipped it. If we could have done small bottles of wine we would have, but the reception place wouldn't allow it.
Donations are a very nice way to do a favor.
I hope this isn' that unpopular!
Also, it totally pisses me off that a lot of the same people who are anti-abortion are also pro abstinence only education. I am of the belief that more/ correct usage of contraceptives = fewer unwanted pregnancies = fewer abortions.
-Christiney, the board is slow enough and you are around often enough that there is no way you don't have at least an inkling of everyone's feelings on the bday issue. Just own your instigating biitchiness instead of pretending to be dense. I, for one, would like you a lot more for it.
-Overture, I bought a groupon for Picture People and it reinforced all my hatred of posed pictures. It was the worst afternoon I have ever had and I regret every penny.
-Everyone should spend their wedding favor money on more booze.
-My UOs:
1. if my kid has crapped her pants at the gym daycare and it says on the sign in sheet that I am in the class (which has a specified end time)- don't come get me. It is my hour of alone time and I refuse to spend it wiping azz. It clearly doesn't bother her, so 15 minutes isn't going to kill anyone.
2. daytime sex > nighttime sex.
We had already had an open bar but like I said, would have done booze favors if they allowed it and just not wasted the favor money.
Chair cover money should be spent on booze too! (Assuming you have to pay $10 extra for each, like most of the reception places we looked at. I side eye fancy chair covers and a full cash bar.)
Chair covers were the one thing my father vetoed that I really wanted (it was a lot more than $10 a chair though). Don't worry, we had a full open bar.
I agree with the above in bold too. I hate the fakey looking JCPenny photo shoots. SIL uses them all the time. We bought a package and a photographer came to our house for newborn, 6 month and will come for one year. In between we have a family friend who's starting her own photo business come in and do them. I really cannot stand studio shots!
Whoa! I hope this doesn't get buried. This is a big deal and deserves attention. Thinking of you and hope everything is okay.
Burned by the Bear
I can get on board with this one. I don't sleep well after having sex.
Completely agree!
I also think that all dogs and cats should have to be spayed or neutered unless owners have a breeding license. Maybe then we wouldn't have the unbelievably sad amount of animals dying in shelters. And bonus- less aggressive attacks due to un-neutured male dogs.
I can agree with that too.
Now this is TOTALLY a UO... your comment makes me want to read them now
Prior to the vampire craze, I have always loved reading books about vampires (started with Anne Rice), and I truly loved the Twilight series books. I honestly don't know much about the 50 shades except for the sex part, but if your comment makes me want to check it out now
Congrats Starbuck :y & HHB on their sweet baby boys!
Lots of love & luck to Mdluv & Zook
IUI#4 = BFP!!
When the world says give up... hope whispers try it one more time
I'm so with you on this! I am pro-life (or anti-abortion, whatever politically charged name you want to call it) but I absolutely believe abstinence only education is a joke and it makes me so angry that other pro-lifers don't see that this. I had an incredibly thorough sex education complete with photos of nasty STDs you can get and discussions with people who contracted HIV and AIDS because of one poor decision. That weighed on my mind a lot and went a long way in convincing me not to lose it until I was ready and to be smart about it.
That said, I wouldn't put my daughter on BC at 16 just because she might go have sex. I don't think hormonal BC is all that good for our bodies and I wouldn't want her on it until she is actually planning to lose her virginity. In the meantime I will try to educate her as best I can and advise her to always use protection. Another reason not to put her on BC is because it might give her a false sense of security (imo) and she might not think to use condoms every time making it more likely that she contract an STD. I think education and trust are what we can do for our kids. I don't think automotically putting teens on BC is the answer.
This is My DH too!