the oldest son, though, is the most terrifying, because he was so stoned all the time that he would just sit on the couch and hold a controller and play Tetris, except he didn't play, he just watched the blocks fall and pile up until they reached the top and the screen said game over, and then he would hit start for a new game and do it again. for hours.
Today in labor history, April 25, 1886: The New York Times declares the struggl...e for an eight-hour workday to be “un-American” and calls public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.”
my girlfriend babysat for a family in a small village in Ontario when she was about 12 or 13
the single mother had a half dozen children from a half dozen different men, and was always out on a date, and hated her kids
so she would dope them with cough syrup
so my girlfriend would bring the baby into the kitchen to get something and the baby would reach up and go "ah! ah!" and she'd look up and see that he was reaching for a bottle of cough syrup.
the daughter was allowed to sleep with a hair dryer turned on and blowing in her face, in what i can only imagine is a substitute for the warmth of human affection.
the oldest son, though, is the most terrifying, because he was so stoned all the time that he would just sit on the couch and hold a controller and play Tetris, except he didn't play, he just watched the blocks fall and pile up until they reached the top and the screen said game over, and then he would hit start for a new game and do it again. for hours.
sweet jesus christ em
Eddy on
"and the morning stars I have seen
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
my younger sister (the absolutely heinous one who is obese and cruel) is like a social scientist. i swear she's taken some mentalism training. sometimes when i visit my dad i just sit back and observe her systematically dismantle him (and her mom). she just expertly turns them against one another and viciously goes for the throat.
give us an example i am insanely curious
well the nuance of a lot of it has been lost in the couple of years since i've lived with him. but let me give you an example.
my dad is a gambling addict. he is not wealthy by any means but he is tens of thousands of dollars in debt to loan sharks, bookies, etc. his life is in shambles because of this. so, he tries to lay off the gambling but it'll usually catch up to him- especially if he's getting an unexpected windfall. case in point, michelle's mom has her income tax check coming in. all the sudden, the morning it arrives, michelle starts tweaking my dad gently. every time her mom's around, she'll innocuously ask my dad- hey, do you think it's going to rain today? wanna bet on if mom burns dinner? etc until finally she works up to 'do you think the phillies are going to win tonight? and it's very obvious to me- as i've seen her do this before- that she's planting in her mom's mind "dad is gonna gamble away your check". and mom takes up the cue and slowly her and my dad get into a fight. and my dad realizes michelle's been angling at it and starts yelling at her for starting trouble.
now, michelle's mom has a lot of pride issues because she's been unemployed for a while so she can't contribute to the house financially. at this point michelle defends herself by going 'i'm just trying to make sure the money situation doesn't get too bad!... money's been really tight around here...'
which of course gets my dad to start in on the mom about how she hasn't been looking hard enough for work- pulling the attention off my sister
she does that sort of shit constantly, innocently asking questions from conversations she overheard, guiding discussions when certain people are around, etc. she's evil.
One thing that is basically like dropping an atomic bomb on a kid at work is to, after they have told you why they did something "Like I hit Tommy because he pushed me" as you looking them dead in the face and saying "I don't care why you did it."
The cat is not a big fan of this leash business yet and I've got the scratches to prove it, but soon she will realize that if she wants to hang out outside she'll have to put up with a leash and harness.
it has been brought up to me a number of times that people without kids will often have strong opinions about how kids should be raised, or what behavior is acceptable
I'LL NEVER LET MY KID BE LOUD IN PUBLIC OR WATCH TEE VEE
and I guess that changes right quick when you actually have one
I'm not above using Benadryl and schnapps to sedate my children if they're being unruly.
Not really Xanax though.
Well, maybe a little Xanax.
the oldest son, though, is the most terrifying, because he was so stoned all the time that he would just sit on the couch and hold a controller and play Tetris, except he didn't play, he just watched the blocks fall and pile up until they reached the top and the screen said game over, and then he would hit start for a new game and do it again. for hours.
There is some metaphor here about the futility of trying, but I'm too laz
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Hi I'm Vee!Formerly VH; She/Her; Is an E X P E R I E N C ERegistered Userregular
Oh, also, the "asking a question 10,000 times" thing is, in my experience, generally the result of a kid trying to frame a question without really knowing how to express what they're thinking. The question they want answered is probably one that is related to, but not literally, the one they're asking.
See also: "but whhhhyyyyyyyy?"
Our rule for this is that you can ask why, but only after you've done the thing in question. This is because whyyyyyyyy is a delaying tactic that, if it's rewarded with a conversation, has the dual reinforcing qualities of time spent talking with parent + not doing undesirable task.
Empty the dishwasher.
Why do I have to do it?
You can ask after you're busy emptying the dishwasher.
I'm happy to provide reasonable responses to why, but it needs to be clear that getting the answer is not a precondition. It's something that they can learn once the task is in progress. Also, their opinion of my reason why is largely irrelevant.
This also goes to my very strict rule not to use the common adult construction "this is going to happen, OK?"
We ask each other "OK?" because it's polite, and it's understood as a conversation smoother, not an actual question. Never ask your kids if something is OK when you already know their opinion is meaningless. It just teaches them, surprise surprise, that their opinion is often meaningless.
"It's time to get in the carseat." this is good.
"Get in your carseat, OK?" this is terrible. It's never OK to not get in the carseat, the child has no choice, if he responds "no" he'll get in trouble, it's just stuffed with cognitive dissonance. Don't give your kids a choice with your language if there's not actually a choice. Flipside: look for chances to offer real choice, and be ready to accept whatever the child chooses. Don't offer dinner options when you don't want one of the options! That's just sadistic.
Ah, I meant "but whyyy?" in the context of a follow up to a question rather than a response to an instruction. Situations where the child has asked something (because they genuinely don't understand something), been given an explanation, and the "but why?" is the follow up question. I've seen people get stuck in loops where the child is struggling to understand the initial response, and/or was really looking for some other piece of information but expressed themselves poorly, and the person answering has responded by piling detail onto their original response.
Interesting stuff about the "OK?", though. That wouldn't have occurred to me. One of the interesting things about interacting with kids is that you really do have to think very carefully about what you're communicating.
do you guys encrypt and decrypt messages in stats? Cause I think we're out of the stats area now.
But we're all pretty much failing. I mean, I talked to my teacher yesterday and he said I had a C/C- and I'm not sure how that's possible, but our final is on the 7th, I'll make sure to run my cheat sheet by you (he allows us a cheat sheet).
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
I hug people if they do something great for me (like when LoserforHire took me from Queens to Manhattan at night), when someone is sad (like when my cousin died last year and I was hugging people left or right) or I want some nookie.
yeah.
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
for Christmas we got my boy the hardcover 3 volume set of every single Calvin and Hobbes. The printing is really high quality and all the sunday strips are in color (unlike in the non-anthology books). We picked it up at costco for $85. I've seen it at Barnes & Noble for $200.
Posts
I want to hug casey very hard
wow
All the news that's fit to print.
I got a big kick out of Stanley Tucci in Easy-A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oTeK2lBpdg
sweet jesus christ em
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
I hope so
I will be sad if I drop my kid or he dies from SIDS
Seriously!
*Thanos looks up and smiles*
well the nuance of a lot of it has been lost in the couple of years since i've lived with him. but let me give you an example.
my dad is a gambling addict. he is not wealthy by any means but he is tens of thousands of dollars in debt to loan sharks, bookies, etc. his life is in shambles because of this. so, he tries to lay off the gambling but it'll usually catch up to him- especially if he's getting an unexpected windfall. case in point, michelle's mom has her income tax check coming in. all the sudden, the morning it arrives, michelle starts tweaking my dad gently. every time her mom's around, she'll innocuously ask my dad- hey, do you think it's going to rain today? wanna bet on if mom burns dinner? etc until finally she works up to 'do you think the phillies are going to win tonight? and it's very obvious to me- as i've seen her do this before- that she's planting in her mom's mind "dad is gonna gamble away your check". and mom takes up the cue and slowly her and my dad get into a fight. and my dad realizes michelle's been angling at it and starts yelling at her for starting trouble.
now, michelle's mom has a lot of pride issues because she's been unemployed for a while so she can't contribute to the house financially. at this point michelle defends herself by going 'i'm just trying to make sure the money situation doesn't get too bad!... money's been really tight around here...'
which of course gets my dad to start in on the mom about how she hasn't been looking hard enough for work- pulling the attention off my sister
she does that sort of shit constantly, innocently asking questions from conversations she overheard, guiding discussions when certain people are around, etc. she's evil.
I don't hug people a lot!
It is like yanking the rug out from under them.
i can't imagine how that kid's life turned out
god that would be ideal
There is some metaphor here about the futility of trying, but I'm too laz
Ah, I meant "but whyyy?" in the context of a follow up to a question rather than a response to an instruction. Situations where the child has asked something (because they genuinely don't understand something), been given an explanation, and the "but why?" is the follow up question. I've seen people get stuck in loops where the child is struggling to understand the initial response, and/or was really looking for some other piece of information but expressed themselves poorly, and the person answering has responded by piling detail onto their original response.
Interesting stuff about the "OK?", though. That wouldn't have occurred to me. One of the interesting things about interacting with kids is that you really do have to think very carefully about what you're communicating.
that was.... really good.
Is this movie better than it looks? I'm starting to suspect it's better than it looks.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Hugging people is awesome what is up with you
I thought you were awesome
that is amazingly toxic!
It was actually a really good movie, and it's got Emma Stone!
twitch.tv/tehsloth
this is a time-traveling post from the future when Arch finishes ME3
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Easy A was a really good movie. I went into with low expectations and came out going, wow that was fun.
It is like a new 10 Things I Hate About You.
do you guys encrypt and decrypt messages in stats? Cause I think we're out of the stats area now.
But we're all pretty much failing. I mean, I talked to my teacher yesterday and he said I had a C/C- and I'm not sure how that's possible, but our final is on the 7th, I'll make sure to run my cheat sheet by you (he allows us a cheat sheet).
depends on emma stone tolerance
You have been warned.
I really enjoyed it. Emma Stone is both really funny and enjoyable to look at.
This is also an appropriate metaphor because they're both re-envisionings of classic tales
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
I hug people if they do something great for me (like when LoserforHire took me from Queens to Manhattan at night), when someone is sad (like when my cousin died last year and I was hugging people left or right) or I want some nookie.
yeah.
It got a lot of really positive notices and my friends who've seen it all really liked it.
This is also very true.
Um did you report this to child protective services
wait
i
but
confused
so will I
also are you going to be on gchat regularly again when exams are over? we should discuss a plan for actually hanging out
for Christmas we got my boy the hardcover 3 volume set of every single Calvin and Hobbes. The printing is really high quality and all the sunday strips are in color (unlike in the non-anthology books). We picked it up at costco for $85. I've seen it at Barnes & Noble for $200.
I know karate! You have been warned :P
Ben and Chris are definitely starting to get less awful
that and smiling