… Bourbon??

My universe has just expanded.

I gave my at-the-time eight-year-old my older Ticwatch. They had no interest in the step tracking or even what time it was – they used sleep tracking as an excuse to wear the watch to bed and play games on it.

If the Syncup has some sort of parental controls, or if your child has some sort of impulse control, you might not suffer the same fate. BUT the question I’d ask is why a watch, smart or otherwise. Will the kid actually set and listen to alarms, do you want to be able to send them messages, have they benefitted from knowing what time it is? (parenting hard, I am not a professional, do what works for you and yours)

Small correction, only discovered when I moved across the country: there are two factories producing Girl Scout Cookies – and the recipes have overlap, but each production company has a few unique ones. So sometimes I have to order from my niece rather than my neighbor.

Some of them are the same everywhere, though.

Monster of the Week? Anything Powered by the Apocalypse is going to be much stronger in Game Master support and explanations than D&D. If you want something friendlier there are also games like Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast that has no focus on combat. Wanderhome, as well – albeit that one isn’t modern. You’ve got a lot of options, don’t be fooled by Hasbro!

Hate the idea of the former in a private setting, would like in a business setting. Absolutely adore the idea of directions (drove a car with a “heads up” display but it only integrated with the dreadful in-car navigation system and yet it was still awesome)… But player stats dangling over people’s heads? That maybe my kid without AR glasses wouldn’t be able to see and I could be the cool parent again? Awesome.

Ed Shearing

Nepotism. There’s some story I heard about how he coach surfed in California until he got a contract, and I figured he must have SOME talent, then found out he was staying on Jamie Foxx’s couch, so clearly some he knew someone…

Except unfortunately my 30 second Wikipedia fact check shows he didn’t. He met Foxx because he was invited to be a guess on Foxx’s show and must have made a good impression. He did make seemingly the hardway; he started out as a working musician working with other musicians and worked his way up. Didn’t hurt that he got a positive review from Elton John early on, but the guy apparently has something.

Damn. I thought I figured it out…

Many years ago, long before the advent of cellular phones or even really GPS units, when doing road trips in convoy, the local ritual was “Are we there yet?” “Twenty minutes.”

Said question, over the course of a few years, migrated from “we’re off the highway and approaching our final destination” to as we were departing… But everyone was in on the joke.

I don’t think the people waiting another two weeks are in on the joke.

This is what I get for not defining my acronyms.

… What did I just read? Wow.

JUSTIN BAILEY
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Original NES Metroid was the second game I ever beat, after Super Mario Bros. 3.

The Republicans will obliterate the fillibuster the day they want to, claiming the Democrats are forcing them to.

I’m currently conducting a lot of phone screens for a senior engineer position and I’ve definitely seen InterviewSort lately.

Warner shelved Acme and instead we get the worst Chris?

Good luck! I hope your baby is healthy.

Things that really worked for me/us:

1. Every baby is different and people who’ve written books aren’t always right.
2. Happiest Baby on the Block was the one that worked the best for us, but you can get by with the video ratcher than reading the book (Swaddle, Shake (but do it gently), Shhh… And it’s been a decade, damnit, I can’t remember).
3. Give yourself (and your partner) grace. You’re human and will be tired. Just know you’re both doing your best.
4. C-section? If you can afford it, stay in a hotel for the first few nights. Room service, maid service, and your partner only has to stumble a few feet to get to the loo. (our bathroom at the time was on a different floor than the bedroom!)
5. Check things early: crib, car seat, pacifier (we did one that had a stuffed animal attached, they were great), white noise machine, bassinet, wow thinking about this reminds me how expensive it is…
6. WHATEVER THE PREGNANT PERSON WANTS. I got NO ice cream or milk shakes but got a TON of salads from Subway consisting mostly of banana peppers. Not worth the fight.
7. As someone else said, just do stuff. Don’t wait to be asked. Change the diaper, feed or help with feeding, dress the kiddo, snuggle the baby.
8. Baby breath smells good.
9. Kids become interactive really fast, and they won’t remember a bit of it, but they’re generally adorable.
10. Burp cloths.
11. If you haven’t changed a diaper yet, it’s a thing to learn. I changed my first diaper about a month before my kid was born, and still almost got it wrong.
12. If your child is going to be penis-possessing at birth: yes, you should cover their penis every time you change their diaper. Their range if uncovered is measured IN YARDS.
13. Hat. Baby heads get cold.
14. Do nice things for partner and not just baby.
15. Every baby is different and what worked for me won’t necessarily work for you.

Good luck!

I knew I was excluded and was generally okay with it… Until the kid was about four months old. Family went out to dinner. We were having a good time, baby needed changing, I grabbed him and MY diaper bag (yes, I had my own). I went to the restroom and discovered the only changing table was in the women’s room.

I knocked, said hello, and went in. The only woman (teenager? College student? Younger than me, at least) who came in while I was changing the baby was polite and even offered her help.

But this US chain restaurant didn’t even consider the possibility that someone other than a woman would change a baby. Come on.

Oh, did you mean Brock “The Rapist” Turner? I heard he raped an unconscious woman because he’s a terrible human being and also a rapist.

I watched the first goal, then had to step away. I came back, and it was 3-0.

I took off my sweater in case I was the source of the bad luck, but it isn’t helping.

I pointed out to my partner that judging by the Grammys, God (WTF autocorrect why was that capitalized??) is really busy with people getting awards and doesn’t have time for pesky things like violence and privation.

Clearly it’s a Flatypus.

Bad news. With inflation, it’s not going to be twenty five years for the back half.