To address the heavy backpacks and bikes - you can put racks and panniers on the bike so you're not wearing a backpack. Some of the kids here that I see in the morning have little bike trailers that they put their big instruments on.
I didn't even think about backpacks.
Most kids don't bike to school in our town because the school doesn't have bike racks to secure the bikes during the day.
Way back in my college days, this would not have swayed any anti. They would tell me that a mom dying was god's will, and who am I trying to prevent. I was just a girl who suffered from losing a mom, unrelated to pregnancy, but fully aware this was an awful fate. They don't care about the woman, either.
I just watched the video, and I don't think it will change anyone's mind. I don't think it will do anything positive or negative, either. If you're still neutral (how can you be?!), there's no 30 second spot that will change it.
Women and the men who support them have made up their minds, for better or for worse. The goal is getting the people who support bodily autonomy to the polls, and I'm not sure this will do that. But I also don't think it will cause harm.
I beg to differ. Maybe not at the polls, but it's still harmful to people dealing with grief around pregnancy loss.
Is it so emotional that people might mute it or change the channel like the sarah mclaughlin ads for spca? But, if so, won't they already be siding with pro-choice? Or is this one of those things that people don't realize how far reaching into every day lives these bans have been?
I know why they did it but I’m not sure it’ll be effective. Those of us who have any empathy at all have already heard the stories and are on their side. The rest don’t give a shit about others and their experiences and it isn’t going to change anyone’s mind.
everyone here knew for years that designating an embryo as life would completely shut down IVF. And yet, a few months ago that became reality and we watched how quickly so many stupid clueless people turned on a dime? I really think the right has its head in the sand and ‘abortion’ is anything a teen mom or BIPOC person needs but anything they need shouldn’t count. In all those stories you read there is always someone in the equation who never thought this could apply to them/their daughter/etc, .
I agree with fernweh -- there are already stories on the news and on social media of women being denied abortions in cases like these. They either don't believe them, or think the doctors are exaggerating, or the lawyers are being purposely obtuse.
Post by redheadbaker on Apr 12, 2024 9:56:00 GMT -5
Saw a Biden ad last night featuring a couple going through a memory box from their pregnancy loss, with captions about how she miscarried but couldn't get an abortion, so was sent home until she became septic, almost died twice and may never be able to get pregnant again. It ends with "Trump did this."
I'm almost 14 years out from my loss (how has it been that long??) and it still brought me to tears. I wasn't expecting such a pointed ad.
I get that they want to drive the point home, but .... this was already going to be a very painful election for a lot of people. This piles on the pain.
I guess I'm just posting for awareness, so others aren't caught as off-guard as I was.
Also read the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (recommended on here), I had kind of a tough time getting through this one, but ended up liking in the end.
I just started this one! I heard about it through a book group on Facebook, though, I don't remember seeing it mentioned here.
Post by redheadbaker on Apr 10, 2024 9:35:46 GMT -5
I finally finished The Winners by Fredrick Backman. Sad that the Beartown trilogy is done. It was a little slow at parts, but the end brought me to tears.
Also recently read Red White and Royal Blue -- I tend to not read really popular books right away because I'm afraid they won't live up to the hype. This was a really fun read, though. Totally predictable, but still enjoyable. It was a nice balance to The Winners.
It's funny because we all grew up with oily jars of various kinds of achaar including garlic from the regular old ethnic Indian store. So we can't help but find the humor in the woman from Brooklyn selling her fancy achaar.
The woman they ripped off is 1st generation Indian-American.
Yeah I don’t understand why the potential seizure element of this is being breezed over. Whenever there are flashing lights on a show or at a concert etc there is always a warning so why shouldn’t that be part of the email.
I always though the issue was with more of a strobe light type effect - these aren't blinking that rapidly so I wouldn't have associated them with seizures. That said, I and probably most people in this thread are privileged that we haven't had to deal with seizures so I really wouldn't feel comfortable making claims about what would or wouldn't cause one.
Generally, flashing lights between the frequencies of five to 30 flashes per second are most likely to trigger seizures. In order to be safe, the consensus recommends that photosensitive individuals should not be exposed to flashes greater than three per second.
Post by redheadbaker on Apr 2, 2024 13:58:39 GMT -5
DS (12 years old) just rewatched all three season of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Now he's watching Bad Batch, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, any Scooby Doo series he finds (original, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo Guess Who, etc).
If he just wants background noise, sometimes he'll put on the How to Train Your Dragon series, Race to the Edge.
Oh, plus, he and DH just started watching every Godzilla and King Kong movie ever made.
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 29, 2024 16:54:19 GMT -5
DS is in 6th and has missed 1 day for illness, and left early 1 day for a doctor appointment. We're lucky that he doesn't have a chronic illness.
Like Velar Fricative, I won't pull my kid from school for a trip to Disney.
I don't agree with striving for perfect attendence at all costs even if you go to school sick (my mom's approach was, you're going to school unless you're throwing up, and she ended up sending my brother to school with pneumonia). A mental health day here or there, ok. Keep them home when they have a contagious illness, obviously.
But pulling your kid out for family vacations that could be taken any time isn't great, either. Yeah, I get that they're cheaper. That's not really a compelling reason for me (we can't afford to travel during any time of year, so ... no sympathy from me.)
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 29, 2024 16:02:17 GMT -5
I was curious, so I looked up how long it would take to take public transit, bike, or walk to work (6.5 miles away). It would take longer to take public transit than to bike!
They won't consider illness an excused absence without a note? Is that common? Ours doesn't require a doctor's note unless the absence is for three or more consecutive days.
This is correct, no doctor note no excused absence. I always notify the school when DD is sick, the absence is always unexcused. It's hit or miss even with a doctor's note. If they get sent home sick from school, that day and the following day are excused, it seems the policy encourages parents to send sick kids.
That's such bullshit. Not every illness needs to be seen by a doctor. Why waste the parents' money and the doctor's time?
DD got a truancy letter in K and we had to have an attendance meeting, all her absences were due to illness, we didn't go to the doctor for them so the school considered them unexcused. I can't afford $300 each time DD has a bad cold or stomach bug. At the attendance meeting they wanted a plan to improve DDs attendance, I said I guess I could send when she's sick, infect everyone and let you send her home to get the excused absence. They didn't seem to like my plan, but at least I haven't been called for a meeting again.
They won't consider illness an excused absence without a note? Is that common? Ours doesn't require a doctor's note unless the absence is for three or more consecutive days.
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 28, 2024 18:57:57 GMT -5
H turns 50 later this year. I'll probably do a surprise party at my parents' (bigger house, and more accessible for my cousin who uses a wheelchair) with a "Cold One for the Old One" theme (basically, beer. Lots of beer.)
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 23, 2024 12:14:01 GMT -5
I think it's normal to grieve the loss of the child as you knew them. I think I would also cry because of how hard I know their life was going to be going forward.
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 21, 2024 19:33:14 GMT -5
I hate hate HATE the constant ads for sports betting while I'm watching a game on TV. It's even worked into the commentary during the game and during pre- and post-game shows and intermission reports.
Post by redheadbaker on Mar 19, 2024 19:22:08 GMT -5
Since the pandemic, each student is issued a Chromebook beginning in Grade 1 (not kinder). The school says this is because "we live in a technology and media-driven environment, marked by access to an abundance of information, rapid changes in technology tools and the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions on an unprecedented scale. Effective citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills, such as: information literacy, media literacy, ICT literacy (Information, Communications and Technology). The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills, such as: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility."
DS is currently in 6th grade (last year of elementary school). There is a content filter and firewall, though they don't say explicitly what is blocked -- I'm not sure if YouTube is blocked or not. Devices are not permitted at lunch/recess. Students are expected to bring it home every night, charge it overnight, and bring it back to school each day.
How much it is used in class varies from grade to grade and class to class.