Yesterday, The Simpsons released a Mother's Day video that left viewers with an unexpected emotional reaction - a mixture of disgust and outrage. The video, titled "Unexpected Emotional Reaction to Unusual Mother's Day Gift Surprise," showcased Marge Simpson receiving a spicy ham sandwich covered in vomit and vinegar as a gift from her husband, Homer. What the actual fuck, Homer?
But that's not even the worst part. To add insult to injury, Homer invited Dan Schneider, the controversial Nickelodeon producer, to their house to interact with Bart and Lisa. Are you kidding me? Homer, do you have any idea the kind of disgusting shit that Dan has been accused of? You should be ashamed of yourself for subjecting your children to that creep.
And now, let's turn our attention to Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. His recent Facebook post about Mary getting her jaw stuck wide open after yawning is absolutely revolting. Who wants to hear about a young girl's medical emergency? And to top it off, Charles casually mentions how four random people from their town had to help shove her jaw back together. Disgusting.
But the real scumbags of the day are Mike and Carol from The Brady Bunch. In a recent YouTube video, Mike gleefully recounts the terrifying moment when Cindy had to take cover inside their home during a drive-by shooting. Are you fucking serious, Mike? Your daughter was in a life-threatening situation, and all you can do is film it for YouTube views? You are a despicable excuse for a father.
So, to The Simpsons, Charles Ingalls, and The Brady Bunch - you can all get absolutely fucking wrecked for exploiting your family's personal tragedies for likes and clicks. You are all slime, and I hope you rot in hell for your disgusting behavior. And Dan Schneider, you can go straight to hell with them. You are all a disgrace to humanity.

So the weirdest thing happened yesterday. It's most likely something totally explainable, and no big deal, but it's really bothering me because I'm not able to find a way to explain it myself. And I have been Digging! For a awhile with no luck. I was hoping someone with law enforcement experience could fill in the blanks for me.

 My boyfriend and I were in a small town about a half hour from where we live. He was driving even though his licence is invalid at the moment because I had a migraine. We went through an intersection, and for whatever reason my tailpipe randomly emits a huge cloud of thick white exhaust, just one big poof that's it. Apparently there was a cop behind the car behind us, because he followed us about a mile to our work where we were picking up supplies. He never turned on the emergency lights, he just pulled in behind us, and in a very friendly manner asked us/informed us about the smoke. We thanked him, he got in the squad and left. Like 5 minutes later, we were loading up and he comes pulling back in, approaches my boyfriend, and states correctly "Mr. So and so, you don't have a licence" and then asks us about 300 questions no joke about just everything. During this he mentions my name, but no one gave it to him. Although incorrectly as he had my married name and I went back to my maiden a few years back. After this, surprisingly, he gives us a knuckle bump and cut us free no ticket. (Thank you!!!!!) 

Anyway, how the sam heck, did he know our names like that ... When my vehicle is in my mother's name. He never asked us for ID. I can assume he ran the plates, got my mom's name, but how would her driving record link me let alone the guy i date? We have different addresses, different last names...
I looked up his criminal history there wasn't anything big or bad or anything I wasn't aware of. So it's not really that I'm paranoid he's potentially that recognizable to law enforcement.... He's not that good of an actor. I'm more so just like.... How was he able to figure out who we were like that so quickly following....some kind of paper trail that is really obscure or something idk?
He and I did get pulled over and our names ran at the same time a few years back but it was involving a different matter not involving driving & they ended up letting us go. So maybe we are listed in their records as associates??? Maybe? Still unconnected to my mom in every way tho that I can think of.
I know it wasn't someone at the store we were at, the owner wasnt really aware what was going on at the time. They wanted to call and raise heck with them for harassing us and I was like no no. He was just doing his job. Maybe a little too good but hey that's whatever. A matter of perspective. He let us go and even better was respectful and reasonable. Can't ask for more than that but especially when technically the legalities have you breaking someone's statute.
His demeanor didn't change from friendly curious at all from the first encounter to the second except maybe just going from informative to more inquisitional.
Anyone have any ideas? What else could he have been accessing? You don't think he would have gone off and started Facebook "stalking" do you? If so then he would have had my maiden name not my married name. My page doesn't list him as in a relationship or anything cheesy like that.
TL:DR got stopped by a psychic officer maybe? Magically knew who we were somehow.

Hey everybody.
I recently ported out of Bell to Freedom… I know, stupid…. It was a rash decision and their $34/50GB plan seemed lucrative. At the same time Bell was ripping me a new one for basically unusable data… advertised as 5G, heavily throttled, no service indoors… calls dropping left, right and centre. Freedom works indoors now at work at least, but my house is a dead zone for Freedom and I noticed the further north I drive on the 400 the crappier my service becomes where Spotify stops streaming and my calls are still dropping. And I’ve exceeded 63% of my data on roaming getting warning emails from Freedom already…
Anyways. I have access to the Rogers EPP plans now and they seem relatively expensive when comparing them to the Telus offers I get, I.e. the same CAN/US/Mex plan is $70 at Rogers whereas Telus has it for $55. And even the cheapest EPP plan I can get through Rogers for $45 has the 5G throttled at 250mbps whereas the Telus $45 plan is up to 2gbps. On the other hand I feel like I’ll be having the exact same issues that I was having with Bell by moving to Telus so I don’t even know weather to consider them or not. But 5G capped at 250mbps does not sound like fun especially when your competitor is offering the same plan at the same price but with unlimited network speeds.
So does anyone know if there are any sales coming up for EPP plans? And how to get some great backend deals (if those even exist)?
I guess I put myself between a rock and a hard place by porting to Freedom out of spite… now I’m seeking an immediate out.
Any help and/or advice is appreciated!

BoxOfficeTheory Presale Tracking
USA Showtimes As of May 10
Presales Data (Google Sheets Link)
BoxOfficeReport Previews
DOMESTIC PRESALES
Back to Black EA+Thursday Comp: $0.34M

• abracadabra1998 ($0.29M EA+Thursday comp. Yikes bikes (May 12).)
  
• crazymoviekid ($0.28M Thursday comp. Not great. Let's say $.3M (May 14).)
  
• filmlover (Looking at the sales even for the early shows on Wednesday it's on the anemic side (and nothing that's likely to boost it over the next days). Feels like we're about to see how low a biopic about a famous musician can go (May 10).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($0.45M EA+Thursday comp.)
  
• Rorschach (Zero tickets sold on Thursday and only four on Friday. I don't think I'll be missing much (May 13).)
  

IF Thursday comp assuming $2M for keysersoze123: $1.82M

• abracadabra1998 ($1.23M Thursday comp. My model has been pretty good for animated/family releases in the past, hence why every comp is so eerily similar. Still, looking at others' numbers and how much lower mine are, I am wondering if summer break might be something to consider here; from what I am aware, here in Minnesota most school districts don't start break until June (May 13). Hoping for some real acceleration this last week but not looking good (May 12). One week out, not impressed in the slightest (May 9). Rising against comps as expected, due to the short release window, but I am still failing to see anything that suggests the numbers given by some other outlets (May 5). The release window for this is way shorter than all these comps so those numbers will naturally go up. Decent growth in the last three days (May 2).)
  
• AniNate (I'm gonna guess that Nick IP spot for IF this morning ratcheted up interest, Fri-Sun sales at Canton now close to 200. Also of those 200 about 50 were for XD. Not the usual overwhelming presale split but not insignificant for a kids movie also playing on two standard screens (May 13). 45 sold at the five nearest Cinemarks for Thursday previews so far, so yeah there's evidently some kind of regional variation (May 13). I definitely haven't seen as much of a rush here with Garfield as with IF (May 11). I dunno, I have no comps but I feel like local presales is a pretty sizable haul a week in advance for an original non-Disney kids movie (May 9). I did see a surprising amount of single sales looking at IF charts (May 1).)
  
• charlie Jatinder (Hmm. So no real Regal impact it seems at katnisscinnaplex's theaters (April 30).)
  
• crazymoviekid ($1.95M Thursday comp. Definitely looking around $1.75M Thursday for now (May 14).
  
• DAJK (Selling pretty well so far here (May 4).)
  
• el sid ($2.4M Thursday comp. Friday up so-so 116% since last Monday. I chose Jungle Cruise, Dolittle, Elemental, Minions 2 and Sonic 2 as comps (always counted on Monday of the release week for Friday) and the true Friday number for IF would be 6.6M at the moment. In this case the comparison numbers were very similar, around 6-7M. Overall it was a boring counting today which lasted too long for so few action. And judging from some random samples Garfield also saw no significant jumps (I also didn't expect much, it's still too early IMO). Thursday up 92% since last Monday. I hoped for a bit better jump till today :( but it's also not too bad. So for Friday no big numbers but up 75% since last Monday (and the jump must have happened pretty recently) (May 13). Up 73.5% since Monday (where it had 143 sold tickets). Best sales in California, not doing too bad between the coasts. The number today is ok to me (May 12). Not really signs for a breakout for Friday so far, but very solid. It will not really get 4-6M Thursday e.g. compared to Migration but from most comps the number could be pretty decent (May 7). Looked good for the film, both on Thursday and on Friday (May 6).)
  
• jeffthehat ($2.07M Thursday comp.)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($1.98M Thursday comp. Thinking somewhere in the 1.2m-1.5m Thursday range despite a couple of higher comps (May 14).)
  
• keysersoze123 (I would say it should hit 2m previews or even more if walkups are strong. OW probably in mid to high 20s for now. Its Friday sales are not that much higher than thursday for crazy IM like say Panda 4 (May 14).)
  
• RichWS (15 screen theater near me is giving IF peak Marvel number of showings. I know it's short and the market is quiet, but damn (May 14).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($2.39M Thursday comp. Really not much going on. Don't think walkups will be super strong either (May 13). Not much growth (May 10). Pace is collapsing a bit. Continues its downward trend (May 7). After a strong start, this has cooled off quite a bit (May 4).)
  
• Tinalera (Pretty quiet Vancouver and Calgary area (May 13).)
  
• vafrow ($0.5M Thursday comp. It's going up, but slowly. The thing that hit me looking at the numbers is that the most popular format so far is the VIP theatres, which are 19+. With such low sales, you can't read too much into anything, but it kind of speaks to how this isn't grabbing the family crowd (May 14). Some marginal movement, but we're running out of time for this. At this stage, I expect my market is an anomaly, but I still hope and expect it will close the gap in the final few days (May 13). Still nothing (May 12). Still nothing happening. I did check Friday sales, and it was a lot stronger with 51 tickets sold. That's better, but still not tremendous. I also checked the wider radius, where it's pretty much exactly where Haunted Mansion was, which hit $3.1M opening (May 11). Still nothing really happening here (May 10). Since the last update, they released full showtime sets, and it actually lost two showtimes rather than gain. From the sound of it, it might be doing better in other Canadian markets, particularly BC (May 8). Numbers are still really low, making the standard track fairly useless. I did do a larger 100km radius track, encompassing the broader southern Ontaro market (~8M population, MTC4 being about 70-80% of the market). Even against Haunted Mansion, which underindexed here, it's not doing well (May 4).)
  

The Strangers: Chapter 1 Thursday Comp: $1.12M

• abracadabra1998 ($0.88M Thursday comp. Not a good update at all but I am wondering about the summer break deal here as well. For Back to Black it shouldn't affect it much I would think (May 13).)
  
• crazymoviekid ($1.23M Thursday comp. Weird comps. Let's go for $.5M-$.75M Thursday comp.)
  
• el sid ($1.6M Thursday comp. From what I saw, it had an ok jump till today but the jump till Wednesday will be way more important. But so far, decent presales (May 14).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($1.4M Thursday comp. We could have a preview battle on our hands! (May 14).)
  
• Rorschach ($0.48M/$6.03M/$4.16M Thursday/Friday/Thursday+Friday comp. Tarot had more tickets sold for Thursday compared to its Friday showings when I checked the Monday before it came out; hence, why the comps are so all over the place at the moment. The Thurs + Fri comp does appear to be a reasonable middle ground (May 13).)
  
• TwoMisfits (TMobile deal for May - $5 ticket to The Strangers Chapter 1 next Tuesday (May 9).)
  

Furiosa Thursday Comp assuming $5M For keysersoze123: $4.31M

• abracadabra1998 ($5.46M Thursday comp. GxK obviously really propping the average up but for now I could see that settling at around $5 Million, still good pace! (May 12). Really good stuff in this market (May 9). Reallyyyyyy good day 1 here. I want to note that: NO I do NOT think preview numbers will be that high; it's just highlighting the fact that this is likely a movie that will be running hot in my market, as cinephile blockbusters usually do. Next update I will have T-14 comps, which will be a lot lower due to the short release window (May 8).)
  
• AniNate (Skimmed through ThuFri and Valley View (Cleveland vicinity) has sold roughly 60 Furiosa tix so far while Tinseltown (Canton) has sold 40. I'm guessing the upfront audience does lean more toward the urban/cosmopolitan sensibilities (May 9). Presales show there's definitely some hype for this. Regal gonna irritate trackers again, offering no upcharge IMAX for Furiosa (May 8).)
  
• Charlie Jatinder ($3.05M Thursday comp.)
  
• el sid ($5.8M average Thursday comp (without Exorcist 2) (May 12). Furiosa continues its strong performance in "my" theaters. The movie yesterday had already 1.310 sold tickets (for Thursday, May 23). Up 15% in ca. 24 hours which isn't bad at all after the first rush. Already comfortably in front of The Fall Guy's final sales (it had 1.071 counted on Thursday for Thursday) and almost on par with Civil War's final sales (1.357) and also the Apes finally had not more than 1.657 sold tickets in my theaters (May 11). I also can't complain about Furiosa's presales in my theaters, not at all. Already 1,138 sold tickets (in all of "my" 7 theaters) for May 23. 14 days left. Promising start. Civil War on Thursday of the release week for Thursday had 1,357 sold tickets and The Fall Guy finally had 1,071 sold tickets (May 9).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($3.51M Thursday comp.)
  
• keysersoze123 (It has way stronger sales than Garfield and that is expected. I am thinking of 5m previews for now (May 14). I think this is a solid OD presales. With a short PS window its probably looking at 5m+ previews (May 9).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($4.44M Thursday comp. Keeps climbing at a strong pace (May 11). This continues to grow at an excellent rate (May 10). Really strong day 2. The short presales is for sure a factor (May 9). Not seeing much of a breakout. Still pretty solid start to presales (May 8).)
  
• vafrow ($2.9M Thursday comp. It had a good day (May 12). Mediocre day 2 (May 10). Not the hottest start. IMAX is the format of choice though, so, ATP will be high (May 9).)
  

Hit Man

• vafrow (Getting a theatrical release up here in Canada, and early signs are that it might get a pretty decent screen count. Not super wide or anything, but a pretty decent amount for a weekend that has a lot of other releases (May 14).)

The Garfield Movie EA+Thursday Comp: $2.24M

• abracadabra1998 ($0.76M EA comp and $1.19M Thursday comp. Still not really accelerating, and the EA is falling against comps (May 12). Good EA numbers, but many of these comps were PLF-only EA, which this is not, so I think the ATP will be quite lower and that should be adjusted for (May 9).)
  
• AniNate (I definitely haven't seen as much of a rush here with Garfield as with IF (May 11).)
  
• el sid (The very even sales are a good sign (May 7). For Sunday, May 19, I can already report that also in my theaters it looks very good for Garfield. They will for sure add shows soon. It has so far only 1 show/theater and the shows are almost sold out, between 1 and 4 seats are still available. So my guess still is that this movie if it's not totally bad (and first reviews here were quite positive) will become a (big) hit. Seems not much on Thursday but it's a step in the right direction (May 6).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex ($2.52M EA+Thursday comp.)
  
• keysersoze123 (Its definitely weaker than even Elemental. That said these movies tend to finish strong and so I am not writing it off so early. Just that the long PS window is irrelevant for them. They could rather start presales like a week before release and it would be all the same. Meh. We have to wait until next week to gauge where its going to finish. It has very low ATP as well and actual would be even lower as its going to see tons of kids tickets (May 14). Early shows are regular digital shows at 1PM this sunday. So ATP will be very low. I think 500k ish at best. Preview let us see how things go in the final week. Presales at this point are almost non existent (May 13).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($2.14M Thursday comp.)
  
• vafrow ($0.4M Thursday comp. Comps don't paint a pretty picture though. EA shows are doing okay (May 11). Still no sales for my core sample for previews. But I did the larger sweep, which shows the interest right now is the Sunday early access shows. Looking at sales patterns, it's mainly blocks of 3/4 tickets, so likely families grabbing some. It's worth noting that the May holiday in Canada is the weekend of May 17-20th, not the weekend after with Memorial Day. I can see families prioritizing getting out the holiday weekend when they have more time (May 4).)
  

The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Re-Releases (June 8-10)

• BoxOfficePro (Fathom Events has also announced that select Regal Cinemas will present the films in 4DX on June 22/23/24 for Fellowship/Towers/Return respectively (May 14).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Up to ~1,400 shows now with new locations picking it up and others adding a second showing. LotR1 has sold 831 seats OD, LotR2 sold 715 seats OD, and LotR3 sold 735 seats OD. For comparison, Phantom Menace didn't break 800 tickets until T-3 and we're still over a month out. JW3 comp is currently around 9m (it was at 1,670 tickets sold at this point!) (May 6).)
  

Inside Out 2 Average Thursday Comp: $7.22M

• AniNate (I do see a few 1-2 spots for Inside Out on Saturday. Think some M-F workweek adult fans might be putting down money for that (May 14).)
  
• katnisscinnaplex (Already at 180 shows for previews in my areas and still has a few theaters left to post. For comparison, Godzilla x Kong finished with 197, Kingdom of Apes 190, and Kung Fu Panda 205 (May 14).)
  
• keysersoze123 (Too early to judge presales as ticket sales just started early this morning. Families dont book tickets on weekday mornings. Wait until evening today to judge it. From a release perspective its way bigger than all animation movies seen recently including Panda 4. Easily the biggest I have seen in a long time. Only movie which is not comparable is Mario but that was not just a family flick (May 14).)
  
• Porthos (On the Saturday of release weekend (ie NOT EA) there is a special event screening for IO2: INSIDE OUT 2: FUNKO FAMILY EVENT! (2024) Sat June 15th. Might boost the OW slightly, depending on how wide this event is and how much more these tickets will presumably cost (May 11).)
  
• TheFlatLannister ($7.22M Thursday comp. Well, I can't really tell if this is a breakout or not yet. Looks very good especially in the first few hours. These are probably terrible comps, but might as well try something (May 14).)
  
• TwoMisfits (I'm kinda shocked at the opening set from my Cinemarks... 2 screens (1 PLF, 1 not) and 6 showings at my PLF 14 for Thursday (and 11 showings on the same screens once it runs full day - 7 PLF b/c 1 is 3d on the reg screen, 4 not)... 3 screens (.75 3d, 2.25 not) and 9 showings at the non-PLF 12 for Thursday (and 12 showings on 2.25 screens once it runs full day)... So, 2 and 2.25 screens for the weekend presale sets... Disney must be charging a huge % for themselves b/c this is an Elemental opening set at my PLF...a little more generous for Thursday at my non-PLF, but then they too drop to an Elemental opening set after the adult Disney base Thursday rush... (May 14).)
  
• YM! (n fairness it's only been an hour but yeah sales are softer than I expected. However, it is a month out and will largely skew more towards kids than say TLM/Across so wasn't expecting a blitz like them. Here at Marcus theaters are going all out for IO2 with it having the lion share of PLFs with it getting both screens when there is two PLFs with tentpole like levels of screens (May 14). Was taking a look at Marcus Cinemas to see that they have preloaded Inside Out 2 showtimes which seem to start at 3:00 pm on a Thursday. It seems like Marcus is going all out on it as judging from showtimes it's taking away all of Bad Boys’ PLFs in that theaters that have two+ PLFs are giving all to IO2 (May 11).)
  

Domestic Calendar Dates (last updated May 3):
MAY

• (May 14) Presales Start [Inside Out 2]
  
• (May 16) Presales Start [Bad Boys Ride or Die]
  
• (May 16) Thursday Previews [Babes + Back to Black + If + The Strangers: Chapter 1 + The Blue Angels IMAX]
  
• (May 17) Presales Start [Ezra]
  
• (May 19) Review Embargo Lifts [Garfield 9 PM EST]
  
• (May 20) Opening Day [Monday: Spider-Man Homecoming Re-Release]
  
• (May 23) Thursday Previews [Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga + Hit Man + The Garfield Movie + Sight]
  
• (May 26) Presales Start [Bikeriders]
  
• (May 27) Opening Day [Monday: Spider-Man Far From Home Re-Release]
  
• (May 30) Thursday Previews [Ezra + Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle + Robot Dreams + The Young Woman and the Sea]
  

JUNE

• (June 3) Opening Day [Monday: Spider-Man No Way Home Re-Release]
  
• (June 5) Presales Start [Despicable Me 4]
  
• (June 6) Thursday Previews [Bad Boys: Ride or Die + The Watchers]
  
• (June 8) 1-Saturday Re-Release (1st day) [The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 9) 1-Sunday Re-Release (1st day) [The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 10) 1-Monday Re-Release (1st day) [The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 13) Thursday Previews [Inside Out 2]
  
• (June 15) 1-Saturday Re-Release (2nd day) [The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition]
  
• (June 16) 1-Sunday Re-Release (2nd day) [The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition]
  
• (June 17) 1-Monday Re-Release (2nd day) [The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition]
  
• (June 20) Thursday Previews [The Bikeriders + Janet Planet]
  
• (June 27) Thursday Previews [Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- + Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 + A Quiet Place: Day One]
  

JULY

• (July 2) Opening Day [Wednesday: Despicable Me 4]
  
• (July 4) Opening Day [Thursday: Possum Trot]
  
• (July 4) Thursday Previews [MaXXXine]
  
• (July 11) Thursday Previews [Fly Me to the Moon + Untitled New Line Horror movie]
  
• (July 18) Thursday Previews [Twisters]
  
• (July 25) Thursday Previews [Deadpool and Wolverine + Didi + Fabulous Four]
  

AUGUST

• (August 1) Thursday Previews [Harold and the Purple Crayon]
  
• (August 8) Thursday Previews [Borderlands + Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us + Cuckoo + The Fire Inside + Trap]
  
• (August 15) Thursday Previews [Alien: Romulus + Horizon An American Saga Chapter 2 + Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure]
  
• (August 22) Thursday Previews [Blink Twice + The Crow + The Forge + Slingshot]
  
• (August 29) Thursday Previews [City of Dreams + Reagan + They Listen]
  

Presale Tracking Posts:
April 23
April 25
April 27
April 30
May 2
May 4
May 7
May 9
May 11
Note: I have removed most tracking data that has not been updated for 2 weeks. I think there is value in keeping data for a week or two but at a certain point they start to lose their value and should not be treated the same as more recent tracking data.

I posted a diamond and silver necklace on FBM, I really need the money so I posted it. I have a guy who wrote me asking to buy it. I thought it was strange that he didn’t ask to bring the amount down at all. He asked if I can ship it and said it’s for his nieces graduation. He said he was sending me a check. He sent through usps and the tracking number says it’s in my city and should be here tomorrow. He then said he got me mixed up with someone else and that he accidentally sent me like $600 more than he was supposed to and asked if I will please send back the extra amount. I said of course I will… Anyway we got to talking some and I said how I recently lost my job so that’s why I’m selling my things like jewelry, car, house, etc. and he said keep the extra amount. To me that sounds ridiculous and extreme. I keep trying to figure out if he is a scammer. He has sold things on there, or at least it says he has. His facebook was created in 2024, but so was mine! lol so, I guess I can’t say anything about that. Well, I keep hoping it’s real because I’m desperate for money obviously. But if I get the check and cash it, then what? If I get a check, how can I make sure I’m protected?

There's a lot to explain, and I'm pretty sure that the title doesn't do this situation justice. This is also a throwaway acc- I don't want a suddenly depressing post getting cozy with all my memes and cheery content.
A little backstory- I (16F, Soph) have had bad blood with my mom (36F) for a while, since around the 7th grade. My grades have been iffy, but since freshman year I've been working to fix them. Third quarter, I had an extremely low point. Every day was a haze and I can't remember what sent me through it, and when I snapped out of it, it was too late to change anything. I had straight F's, all except for one of my math classes, which I don't even understand how I managed to maintain. These have plummeted my semester grade, but I've fixed some of them, evened them out to high D's, low C's, and a B. Two of them are unsalvageable, which is completely my fault. I'm still working to raise one more up to a D in the semester.
This all "started" a couple of weeks ago, but I'm guessing it's been building since my last parent teacher confrence. My mother had sat us down in the living room last saturday and informed my sisters (11F and 13F) and I that we were moving, and she's putting our trailer up for sale the first of next month. She said where we find a place is where we will move, so I can't even prepare myself for what I should expect. The main issues I have with moving are;
1- I had to go through it a lot when I was younger and had a really unstable social life, most likely the root of my current social anxiety.
2- I'm nearly an adult- I'm halfway through highschool. It's not going to be easy for me to make new friends in a social climate I have no prior existence in, let alone be able to keep the friends I could potentially make when they move on for college in 2 years. Don't get me wrong, I'd still stay in contact with the friends I have where I'm at, but when you have no friends in the area you live in, it's rough.
3- When I was younger, she promised me that I'd be able to finish my edjucation here, even college if I chose any of them in my area. I know it's stupid to hang on the words of a promise, that things change and promises sometimes can't be held up, but it still hurts being ripped away when I was nearly done with highschool.
My sisters got excited and started looking for new places immediately. I know our place isn't a dream, but we came here, owning nothing but a car. I started the third grade in this town and have been here since. This is my childhood home since the age of nine, I don't remember any other houses we rented. We actually own this trailer too- we're not just renting it from someone. I helped build my own room out of an off limits area when I was 11. It's not perfect, but it's most of what I've known. So are my friends. I can't count how many I've kept since the start of middle school, even if they transfered.
Even if I don't want to leave, I'm no angel. My room is dirty almost all the time, I can't see the floor because of a bunch of dirty clothes. That's one of the reasons my mom is holding against me to make it seem unreasonable that I'm upset about moving- "You don't appreciate your own room." I have no excuse for the way my room looks. It just feels like im paralyzed on my bed afterschool and on the weekends, I'm just tired. I don't know whether or not I'm lazy, isn't being lazy supposed to be enjoyable, at least for the short term in the moment?
The other reason she's giving me are my grades. As stated before, those aren't perfect either, but I'm trying. I've even taken steps to enroll myself into summer school to recover the credits I missed this year. Sure, I have flaws, but does that mean I'm not allowed to be upset over moving at such a crucial developmental point in my life? I'm not even arguing with her about it, all I'm doing is expressing how I feel- I'm not even saying anything to her, I said my piece when she sat us down. I'm just grieving.
Earlier today, she picked me up, everything seemed normal. Then she told me she had a conversation with my dad, (39M), who's out of the picture, but still communicating. She told me that he and her discussed about things continuing "the way I'm taking them." She said if I don't change, she's just going to pull me out of school and make me get my GED. She said she was worried I was going to ruin my career. A GED isn't bad, by all means, but I want an actual diploma. I want to be there with everyone else, dressed in a solid color robe, celebrating the fact that we made it. I won't have the advantages of any early social life at all in the area. I've heard adults say it's hard to make friends once you graduate, and I don't want to be thrown into that early, while being in a new area all at the same time.
I was thinking about all this in the car and cried. I don't think I can take much more of this. It's like she wants my life to follow a certain track, and I'm derailing her train. She dropped out her sophmore year to get married and do hard drugs for a while before she had me, so in my personal opinion, I'm doing way better than she ever had. I know it sounds harsh, and maybe I am being harsh, but when you hear the same story shoved down your throat over and over and over since the 3rd grade, and now said story has been turned into a weapon, it kind of gets redundant to you.
My mom tried cheering me up while we were out for a bit after dropping that by trying to show me facebook memes and telling me funny things my guinea pigs did to eachother that day, but I gave her the cold shoulder the entire time, so now she's pissed. I didn't even say anything, she just started spouting that "I hated her" and "I'm gonna cut her out of my life when I'm older", "I'd rather see her dead than talk with her."
The first two are at least half true at this point, she's been nothing but a source of harsh criticism for years of my life, barely any encouragement or pride in me, if anything at all. If she keeps doing that, I might end up hating her and cutting contact, which just hurts to think about. I don't want to cut contact with the only parent that raised me, even if she didn't raise me well. I still love her at the end of the day, and I think I hate that more than I hate her.
I don't know if this is all just incoherent rambling at this point, I've been crying through 2/3 of the way through this I think. I know I'm not a saint, and I'm at least a partial asshole, but am I completely at fault for this? Did I fall into being a moody, hormonal teen that hates their parents for no reason on accident? AITA?
TLDR: AITA if I'm upset over my mom making me move in the middle of attending high school, on top of threatening to pull me out of school all together for "the sake of my career"?
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I just need help.

So I’ve been sick for almost a year now. I count May 16th as my “sickaversary” because that was the day I woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck and thinking “oh sh*t something is very wrong.” Still no diagnosis.
In the past year I’ve become unwell enough that I’ve made the difficult decision to leave my full-time job and move back to my hometown to live with my parents & try to find part-time work there.
Here’s the deal: very few people who know me irl know that I’ve been sick. But I know as soon as I move back to my hometown I’m going to run into a lot of old friends/acquaintances who want to “catch up”.
I’m considering making a good ol’ Facebook post on my 1-year “sickaversary” explaining (vaguely) that I’ve been sick but I’m so thankful for everyone who’s made the past year bearable and I’m still learning how to live in my new normal, but I’m optimistic for the future (all true). With the specific addendum of “all unsolicited comments/DMs offering medical advice will be deleted unread”.
I’m considering this for a few reasons: -Hopefully enough people will see it before I move back so that it’ll spare me from having to explain myself & why I’m back in town 1000+ times
-in mentioning that I’m sick I can source new docs in the area from my FB friends once I get my new insurance figured out
-if people are wondering about my illness I can direct them to the FB post and say “that’s all I feel comfortable sharing right now, lets move on”.
-if people I know irl see me walking around town with a mobility aid, hopefully they can remember I’m sick & be less weird about it?
This all sounds good in theory. But I’m a little worried that in posting online to irl people I’m opening myself up to a level of scrutiny I can’t rightly predict right now. I’m afraid this might backfire & create more problems instead of preemptively solving them.
Have you posted about your illness online to people you know irl? How has it gone? Well? Poorly? Would me posting raise awareness in a good way or just create more problems for me?
TL;DR: do I announce on FB that I’m chronically ill now before I move back to my hometown & inevitably run into old friends who want to catch up?

I’m a Digital Nomad from the US living in Colombia. Therefore, I am a foreigner…an immigrant…for the love of god, I am not an “ExPat.” Please stop using that word (Yes, I’m referring to you…White Americans and Europeans). We are immigrants in this beautiful country.
Anyway, I’ve been here for a year and I decided to try out Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile Colombia uses Movistar towers and has great deals. I didn’t see much about this on Reddit, so I’m here posting about my experience.
Virgin Mobile Colombia:
I purchased a 30 day plan in Falabella (sort of like the Target/Macy’s of Colombia w/an electronics section). The process was extremely quick and had zero hiccups. You’ll just need your Passport. They accept credit card.
I paid 20,000 COP ($5.15) for 40 gb of data, unlimited WhatsApp/Facebook. Free Tinder Gold for a month.
What I didn’t know was the speed is LTE only. So you’ll get a range of 20-40 Mbps.
Overall, I don’t think it’s a bad deal if someone just needs it for calls and basic internet.
Claro Prepago (Prepaid)
When you buy a prepaid plan with them, there’s two types with unlimited social media and without.
I found that either plan you buy, they tend to match that Gb amount as a gift (ie: buy 12 gb, get 12 gb additional for free, 24 total)
With that said, I buy the plan for 31,500 ($8) and it gets me 30gb with 30 gb free, 60 gb total. You can reload at Gana (cash only), Éxito (accepts credit card), and Claro locations, but beware some Claro locations have a “Cash only” policy.
Claro has 5G and has worked for me in Barranquilla, Bogota, Medellin, and Pasto with zero issue. The internet is extremely fast.
A friendly reminder you’ll sometimes need to register with your passport at specific Claro locations. They register your passport, IMEI, and SIM card.
Virgin and Claro only provide physical SIM cards. Claro will give an eSIM if you have a Cédula.
I hope this was helpful. What are your experiences with WOM, Movistar, and Tigo?
Overall, I would pick Claro since I can use it as a hotspot for work.

MATCH RESULTS

Winner	Loser	Match Finish	Stipulation
Sol Ruca	Izzy Dame	Sol Snatcher	Women's North American Championship Qualifier
OTM w/ Jaida Parker	Edris Enofe and Maliq Blade w/ Brinley Reece	In the Mud
Lash Legend w/ Jakara Jackson	Ivy Nile	Big Boot	Women's North American Championship Qualifier
Je'von Evans w/ Trick Williams	Oro Mensah w/ Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend	Hole in the Road
The Good Brothers	Ridge Holland and Riley Osborne w/ Chase U	Roll-Up
Lola Vice w/ Shayna Balzer	Carlee Bright	Spinning Backfist
Tony D'Angelo w/ The D'Angelo Family	Charlie Dempsey (c)	2-1 Fisherman Suplex	For the NXT Heritage Cup

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Kickoff with Noam Dar laid out backstage, Meta Four go to check on him with Oro and Jakara blaming Trick for this while Lash says Trick would never do this.
  
• Backstage Kiana James tells Izzy Dame there's a real she be-friended her over everyone else and says she's going to be a superstar so run NXT while she goes to Run Raw.
  
• Backstage Ava tells Tony D'Angelo and the family that the tag match for the No Quarter Catch Crew didn't catch and demands to know where Damon and Myles are at. Tony says the ref last week just got a bad case of bronchitis and says they had nothing to do with Damon and Myles going missing. Ava threatens to pull the Heritage Cup match tonight but Tony says that'd be false advertising so instead Ava fines them $20,000 which Arianne pays up with a brown envelope and Tony tells her to spruce up her office a bit.
  
• Shayna Bazler says all she knows is dominance and as the longest reigning NXT Women's Champion she's interested into who Ava will pick as Roxanne's next opponent. Lola Vice sets her sights on challenging Rox as well but gets ambushed by Karmen who brawls with her off screen.
  
• In the trainers office Meta Four are told that Noam is out indefinitely after the attack earlier, so Oro steps up to take on Je'von tonight. Noam says he thinks it's Je'von who attacked him earlier and not Trick and Lash believes it's Je'von as well. Miss Jackson starts to ask Lash why she's so quick to believe it isn't Trick but Lash says she doesn't have time for this with her match next.
  
• Backstage Ridge tells Axiom and Nathan Frazer that he's having fun and says Chase is a hell of a guy and Chase U has a lot in common with him. The Good Brothers enter and says Ridge has a anger problem and he's another main roster talent that needs to get the hell out of NXT. Ridge says he actually was in NXT before. Gallows tells Ridge to find a brother and face them tonight and they'll kick him out of NXT but Anderson says Ridge has no friends.
  
• Je'von Evans is interviewed and denies attacking Noam and says it doesn't sound like his boy Trick either but regardless he's taking on Oro next and your boy about to get bouncy.
  
• Carlee Bright runs into Ava and says she wants a match against Lola Vice tonight after she helped break up the fight with Karmen and Lola. Ava says that Carlee really showed out last week in the Combine, finishing 13th, just barely missing the cut and she'll be happy to give her an opportunity tonight.
  
• Charlie Dempsey says he's been in contact with Damon and Myles and they are on their way despite being in rough shape. He says this cup is stained with the NQCC and he'll beat Tony into an inch of his life to defend it.
  
• Wes Lee makes his way to the ring. He says the last time he was in this ring with a mic things were a bit different, he was in the darkest place of his life and didn't know if he'd ever be back here. He says everyone knows how much he loves the NXT North American Championship, and losing it set him down a chain reaction that almost ended his career but he missed this! He says two days after his surgery he was walking again, and weeks later he was in the gym with one goal, to get back here. Wes says he was supposed to be out for a year but was able to make it back in 6 months feeling this amazing energy and honestly doesn't know what to say. Oba Femi makes his way out, he says he isn't there to cut him down, instead he is very impressed at the heights Wes brought this title to was extraordinary but he took it as far as he could, and now it is his time to bring it higher than Wes could ever dream of. He says Wes has a heart of a lion, but he is an actual warrior and he is the mountain that Wes can not conquer but guesses Wes still wants a title match. He tells Wes he has to do what he used to and fight for an opportunity. Wes says every checkbox tick, and while he may not check every single box, when that title was in his hands...but gets cut off by Ivar. Ivar says he knows what it is like to come back from a career ending injury and even went through the same spinal surgery Wes did and he had to fight for everything he got and knows Wes isn't afraid to fight too. Ivar says if Wes wants a shot at Oba he wants a shot at Oba too. Josh Briggs comes out and says they're all so emotional with Wes's comeback story and Ivar showing the world who he truly is, but this is a man's game and the fact is that at Stand and Deliver he and Oba tore the house down and they know how close Josh was to winning the title with broken ribs but now he's fully healed. Josh says he'll through Wes and Ivar a bone once he's champion. Oba says they all have compelling arguments and Wes tells him if he is such a ruler then make it a fatal four way. Oba says there's a reason he is a champion and Wes is not and tells them to fight among themselves and the winner will face him.
  
• Backstage Ridge is interviewed when Chase U approach him and tell him he doesn't have to go in tonight with Andre volunteering Riley to team with Ridge and Thea says it'd be a teachable moment.
  
• Lexis King says he's been on fire lately and offers to take everything else after the live event this weekend. Jazmine Nyx comes by asking if anyone wants to sign a get well soon card for Jacy Jane but everyone besides Lexis leaves. Lexis says he'll gladly sign for Jamie and agrees to sign anyways. He signs but Jazmine reads it and sees he signed it to Jordan and calls him and idiot once he leaves.
  
• Lola goes to beat down Carlee after their match but Nattalya and Karmen run down to send Shayna and Lola to the outside. Karmen tells them there's no more running around, if they really are the baddest then they'll face off next week in a tag match.
  
• Backstage Riley apologizes for losing the tag match tonight, Ridge says it's all good and they just have to trust him. Thea is overjoyed that they can trust Ridge and Andre thanks Riley for giving him a chance.
  
• Backstage Wes Lee, Ivar, and Josh Briggs are all taken out, the attackers are revealed to be the returning Gallus.
  

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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• Be sure to follow @WWE on Twitter and Like WWE on Facebook! You can download the official WWE App on iTunes so Michael Cole shuts up about it!
  
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So I have a different case with adoption then most, as I was a kinship adoption. Technically, it’s not even that, my parent just signed over their rights and my grandparents on my mom’s side got guardianship of me and raised me as their own. So I grew up knowing my mom but I didn’t meet my biological dad until I was 26.
My dad has two other kids who refuse to speak to him or have contact with him due to how things went when him and their mother divorced. ( I’m not going to get into that mess or the details. This was before I ever had contact with him )
I have a brother and sister who just don’t want to see me. My dad has told me they know about me. I did find my bio sister on Facebook and sent her a message just saying who I was, that I was here if she ever wanted to get to know one another but the ball was in her court if she wanted too. Never got a response.
We don’t know one another, and I know I’m not owed a response. We may share a biological parent but at the end of the day, we’re strangers to one another. It just stings to know I probably want ever get to know her or my brother.
I’m aware that this is probably because of the issues my dad had with their mother and since they don’t speak with him, they probably view me as an extension of him and don’t want to see me or talk to me because of that. And as unfair as that feels, I get it. I can understand how someone could view things that way.
I don’t really know why I’m typing this. I guess I just wanted to tell somebody who may understand where I’m coming from and why it can hurt for someone you don’t even know to not want to talk to you.

I know I’m going to get flak for this in the sub, and this is potentially more of a vent than anything else, but lately I’ve been coming to grips with the strong possibility that Biden could lose in November.
Granted, whenever engaged in political conversation, I try to speak to how Biden has been a better president than people give him credit for. That his positions on defending the ACA, the passage of the inflation reduction act, and his ability to negotiate a bipartisan immigration bill were good things. I continue to donate money to liberal causes, and I don’t post stupid shit on Facebook.
All that said, I’m getting to the point where if Biden loses in November, I may just be done caring about any federal politics ever again.
I’m an upper middle class white dude living in a firmly blue state but a rural area. While I care a lot about the future of our country, I honestly feel like I’ll feel too betrayed by the median voter to dedicate any more of my brain thinking about these types of things.
And I understand that I am incredibly privileged and speaking from a place of privilege, but it’s all just so exhausting. If a majority of people (from the electoral college perspective) refuse to vote in their own, or even their country’s, best interest, how can I continue to care?
Again, apologies for the vent. I’m just getting frustrated.
EDIT: Specified this is in reference to federal politics

I took a break from facebook for almost 10 years until getting an IG when I was 30. Now I do not have tons of followers and I did not post often but IG gets me really depressed and so insecure about me. Whether it is sorta friends or coworkers.
Today I had another episode that made me deactive my account. I saw my ex (who friended me) posted a picture of his wife at their wedding celebrating their marriage. He and I both got married within the year. I analyzed everything took a screenshot of the photo and awing how much better she must be from her hair, her dress, her looks and how smart she is. Her wedding was obviously so much more beautiful than mine. I wanted to cry because deep down I believe I suck. I know I sound so extreme.
My husband is a wonderful guy and far more loyal than this guy. But this ex played games with me and made me feel like I was the one.
Even when I had mutual friends getting married this year all I did was obsessed over their looks, poses, I mean it was so much. Like I couldnt be happy for them. Then I would deactivate my account or not click on their story highlighting their wedding.
How do people handle social media? I admire people with thick skin. This goes at work too getting stepped on and feeling inadequate although I am one of the stronger employees.
I am only child and I was raised that nothing was good enough. I worked so hard to go to a better school than I could handle and I never blossomed on the inside that I can…
I am having a day…

**I am NOT OP. u/ThrowRAexnocustody is the OP of this story.**
Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, emotional abuse, drug use
AITA for telling my daughter's biological mother that she doesn't deserve to call herself a mom?, Posted October 14th, 2023
I (26F) am engaged to my fiance (33M) Brandon and have grown close with his daughter Lucy (4F). Lucy's biological mother Natalie (30F) has lost all physical and legal rights to her daughter due to neglecting her severely when Lucy was an infant, not to get into great detail but Natalie is addicted to opioids and Lucy had a withdrawal period.
Lucy and I have gotten close as I have dated my fiance for almost 4 years, Lucy was born 9 months before I came into Brandon's life, we met at the hospital as Lucy had some major health issues in her infancy due to Natalie and I have a chronic illness that pushes me into pancreatitis. She now calls me Mama even though neither I nor my fiance asked her to do so. I read her bedtime stories and I'm helping her learn to add and subtract.
During a get-together for Brandon's birthday I hosted at his house, Natalie showed up with her new boyfriend neither were invited. She tried to give Lucy a hug but Lucy didn't know her. She came to Brandon and me instead and told us a stranger had come. She then asked me to make up her plate because Natalie began to throw a tantrum in the middle of the party shouting about how she was going to take Brandon to court and because she's the mom she'll win full custody because she deserves to be in her daughter's life. During this time Brandon took Lucy inside because she had started crying because she was scared.
I admit I snapped. I told her she has no right to call herself a mother because she abandoned Lucy to go get high and sleep around. She hurt my baby so bad that she's 4 and needs to go to therapy and has physical health issues because of her. That she refuses to put her baby first and at best she's an egg donor. I told her to get the fuck out of my house and never come back. She wailed all the way back to her boyfriend's car.
I admit I think I went too far. I know that drug addiction is a disease and people who suffer from substance abuse disorder need help, I think I went too far saying she was at best an egg donor. Brandon said I did nothing wrong. AITA?
Final Verdict: NTA
Relavent Comments:
NTA
MARRY then ADOPT Miss Lucy

As soon as we finalize our marriage!

NTA but prepare for worst:
It's concerning she got into your birthday celebration. Who told her about the time and place? Who opened the doors? Talk with a lawyer about all the possibities.
Ex-mom is delusional and selfish. There are two most probable outcomes: your extreme and emotional reaction knocked some sense into her that she has zero chance to make it work. Or, worse, she will retaliate and fight for custody just to prove to herself you were not right and she is not a bad mother.

I think my STBMIL told Natalie's mom. As Lucy has a relationship with her bio grandma.

Sounds like it's time for a talk. This may have been a slip up or you may have a leak.

It was a slip up. She posted about the "Last BBQ of the year" And "Happy Birthday!" on Facebook.

YNTA. This person showed up uninvited at your fiance's birthday party and became unhinged? If it happens again, call the police so it is documented. I know she is an addict but she has no right just showing up. Have her parental rights been terminated? It sounds like she has lost her rights but there is thing called a TPR. Also if Brandon had an attorney he should let them know this happened. Let Lucy's therapist know too. You are in effect the mother and I hope you get married right away.

Yes they have been terminated.

OP, in your post you mentioned that Natalie has left the family to sleep around. Do you and your partner know for sure he is the bio father? I have no idea where you live and how family law works under these circumstances, but maybe just make sure you are on the safe side? All the best for you and your little family.

Yes, to get full custody, Lucy and Brandon had to get a DNA test, he's the dad.

Why did he get an addict pregnant in the first place?

He did not know she was an addict at the time and she poked holes in their BC.

Super off topic but right?! And in 9 months he found someone else to essentially become a mom to her. Oof.

We were friends almost a year before we started dating, my room was the one next to the picu, and he'd pop in for a chat every so often when we were there at the same time. He is a walking green flag who takes responsibility for his actions.

So instead of him being concerned for his kid... he comes and flirts with you. You were only 22 at the time and he was almost 30. Why are you fighting his battles for him? He should have been speaking with BM not you. Plus he had a new chick to raise his kid for him. You see green flags while I see red.

He walked into a quiet room while Lucy was getting a babygram... he looked exhausted so I let him play Assassin's Creed II on my console and we got talking. I told him I wasn't perma but was having an extended stay so if he wanted to talk to an adult about anything but babies my room was between the PICU and the Mat ward.

ESH. She shouldn't have shown up causing a scene unannounced. But she's not your baby. This was not your fight to have, it was your partners. You overstepped. You did go too far.
And I don't believe she has anything to do with a four year old being in therapy for something that you claim all happened when she was an infant.

She is in physical therapy for a hip dysplasia that she struggles with due to Natalie dropping her when she was an infant, she also has significant trauma from the severe neglect.

I'm not doubting the physical issue. I'm doubting the therapy. You said she lost custody for neglect when she was an infant were you hyperbolizing or was she actually under a year old?

No she has major emotional trauma from the extreme neglect. She has night terrors and she doesn't know how to explain them. It's play therapy for now, but will transition to talk later on.

NTA
You have been this child's mom. You.
Bio-mom cant just come rushing back into the child's life on a whim. She lost her rights (im assuming) by court decree. That means If she wants her rights back, she has to go through the courts and prove that she has changed. Obviously that hasnt happned yet.
You do have the right to react like you did, but since Lucy is in the dark as to who this other woman is, you would have better served her by just telling the woman to get out of your house. These comments may be used against you later with relatives and the courts, although who knows to what effect. Its still going to be a headache for you.
The judgmental comments (while I agree with them) are something you dont technically have the right to make yet. Once you are married and better established as a family unit, you will have a better leg to stand on. While I hope bio-mom gets her head out of her arse and gets her life together, I dont have much faith in that.
If you eventually are allowed to adopt, please do so, as that child needs you. Keep up with being the good mom that you are though.

Lucy is aware that she came from another mommy's tummy and that I'm an adult who loves her, and whom she considers her mom. She is aware that she has a biological mother and that I am not her bio-mom. She doesn't know her bio-mom was Natalie. If she got clean, Brendan and I would want Natalie to meet Lucy.

OK, thats fair. When this woman gets clean...
Well, you stepped up to be a mom when you didnt have to. Once you get married, that will solidify your right to claim being Lucy's mom. Time will build on that.
While I doubt that bio-mom will get clean in time to have any real relationship with the child, while she is still a child, I also worry how this woman will behave once she actually does get clean. Ive personally seen too many recovering addicts that have some bizarre notion that now that they are clean, all will be right with the world, they will get custody, and everything will go their way.
I hate being a pessimist.
Like I said though, keep being the good mom that you are to that girl. That is the positive, good, and right thing to focus on.

She is currently not attempting to get clean. - her mother told me this.

Not enough info. So where was the father when the mother was neglecting their child? And how has it come so that the father’s been dating you 9 month after a birth of his child?

He was in Kuwait. He's a veteran. My hospital room was right between the mat ward and the picu. So I was an adult who was alone surrounded by kids and I had my grandpa drop off my consoles at the hospital due to an extended stay, Lucy was suffering with health issues of her own. We met while I was playing Assassin's Creed II in one of the quiet rooms.

Ok. I saw your update where you had written about Lucy’s mother is no more than an egg donor. No, she is more than that. She gave birth. And by your logic you are no more than a caregiver. Lucy deserves to know who her mother is. And the best thing everyone around can do is to help her mother to stay in Lucy’s life. Her father decided to abandon his wife and mother of his child. When did her problems with drugs start? Before or after she gave birth? Like he had no idea what was going on? He did nothing about it. He decided it’s better to go bang another chick and have “a fresh start”. ESH.

She was never his wife. Her problems with drugs started before his deployment. And well before Lucy's birth. He did not know because she hid it from him. When he found out he had her rights severed.

Well I want to apologize. It's a triggering theme for me and now I understand why. You're going through a rough period, I wish you to stay strong. Taking a kid to a safer place is a good decision. Accepting a kid who is not blood related to you is not something everyone might do, and you're a good person. Calling a woman who gave birth an «egg donor» is awful, but people say even worse things being under emotions, your reaction is totally justifiable. I can imagine the Lucy's mother is suffering, but if she can't help herself, she doesn't deserve to be around indeed. You are not the asshole. I am.

You're not an asshole for a trauma response :) Happy Healing!

INFO: have you or the dad done anything to help this victim of the opioid epidemic or have you only demonised them and nothing else? Has the bio mother been given a chance to change and improve their life? How did they get addicted?
Just to clarify both Natalie and Lucy are victims of the opioid epidemic here. Being a victim doesn’t necessarily make the mother in anyway blameless, but how those around her acted and supported her is very important context here.

She started taking opioids at parties, not due to injury. I know because that was a piece of evidence that led to her rights being taken away.

UPDATE: AITA for telling my daughter's biological mother that she doesn't deserve to call herself a mom?, Posted October 20th, 2023
Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/AmItheAsshole/comments/1773wj4/aita_for_telling_my_daughters_biological_mothe
Hello everyone! It's been a very interesting few days and I have an update. So a few days after she crashed the party Natalie got arrested and arraigned for possession with intent to sell an illicit substance. From what her family says, the substance was cocaine, not opioids.
Lucy is doing fine and is loving her first year of kindergarten. My Fiance asked her if she wanted me to become her mama on paper. She said yes and now we're planning on doing family vows at our wedding. We are getting married on the 15th of December, as that is a very significant day for us (The day Brandon and I officially started dating.)
We have spoken to a lawyer and he has told us that even if Natalie got clean she would never get her rights to Lucy back, so we don't need to worry. I hope she gets clean in prison.
I want to add that even though I am not Lucy's biological mother, she will always be my daughter. And Brandon and I are not going to have children together so she'll be our only kid. Thank you so much for your support and your criticism!
**Reminder - I am not OP**

My ex boyfriend broke up with me a month ago to date and it's been extremely hard especially because I know there is still a lot of love between us and a deep rooted friendship after 4 years together. I still miss him everyday, and I know he has regrets about his decision and is reeling as well. Even though I was heartbroken, we remained amicable and I was still on his social media and we are both not social media people at all. He started posting a lot of Instagram stories of just day to day things but it is so out of character, and he also started following random girls and he made a reel (which he didn't realize I was still in) with a caption that was a bit disrespectful (not derogatory but just senseless). We are both almost 30 so this behavior is pathetic honestly. I felt betrayed and I told him to mail me back my things, as we were supposed to meet in a few months when I fly across the country to get my things back originally (some expensive items I don't want mailed). I decided I didn't want to see him again after this social media blitz and we talked on the phone and he profusely apologized and said he was looking for attention and he wasn't doing well (which I knew). I said it is fine, but this is not you and I deserve more respect after 4 years and respect yourself too because you are spiraling and is is apparent to everyone. The conversation went well and amicable and we talked about a few life things. I said you can do whatever you want on social media but don't implicate me (and I told him I would unfollow him if this continued) and take care of yourself because this is not the way to cope. I continue to struggle with having him on Instagram because he is following new women and I can't help but obsessively check. I just miss him so much and don't want to throw away the friendship but with how he is coping, it is really hard to deal with. I have remained mature and respectful even after being the dumpee which comes with such a ride array of emotions :( advice?

My mother had her facebook account hacked and stolen last year. It happened in the middle of the night so she wasn't able to change her password back in time. Whoever has control of it has been posting in her name since, shilling some sort of financial scam. She has reported it and had others report it, but nothing has happened. She tried to tell as many people as she could what happened, but couldn't reach everyone who followed her old account.
An elderly friend we haven't seen for years just emailed her, asking if it was a scam. He has sunk a significant amount of money into whatever the current account holder told him was a good investment. It's absolutely sickening that this thief can play off my mother's good name to hurt people. It seems to me that this could damage her reputation.
How to get her old account taken down? Is it even possible? I'll spend hours on the phone if I have to. Please let me know if you have any advice.

5 years ago on November 14th, 2019, while I was living on The West Coast in Vancouver, I met a gorgeous, tall (like me), bubbly, cute, sophisticated, intelligent, strong, kind woman whom we'll call Elizabeth. She was married at the time and she made it clear from the start she was looking just for friendship but I liked her and appreciated her company especially since she really liked exploring new things with me and learning about me and vice versa. So we became close friends fast despite the 17-year age gap between a 22-year-old man and 39-ywar-old woman. Ontop of it, I was a green virgin at the time and felt rather lonely and lost as a young man from a small ranching town in Ontario transplanting to The bustling West Coast (even despite my extensive North American travel time up to that point, more than even her).
We spent years talking and hanging out, even after I moved back to Ontario through the pandemic and she ultimately divorced as her marriage was on the rocks long before I ever showed up. And eventually, we got together. And losing it to her at 25 and the few blissful months I got to spent together with her when we'd visit each other were the best moments of my life. I'd waited for someone like her. Almost, she was better in every way.
I guess knowing that I was never more than a boytoy or rebound at best, and the one idiot young kid chosen by her to break at worst, hits pretty hard. Knowing she'd never love me the way I loved her. Hell, I wasn't even allowed to post photos of us together on Facebook or change my relationship status like I'd always dreamed of since I was a kid (I have simple goals) because she didn't want to be seen as a "slut" after her divorce so fresh. I really was just something fun for a short time. And she was everything to me. Idk, that just breaks me in a way I really can't accurately put into words. Like even if she did come back like I still hope, I'd probably never be able to get past it because I can't even find the words to explain the feeling and level of inconsolable hurt it fills me with. Its an awful fucking feeling to know the person you care the world for will absolutely never come anywhere even close to returning the sentiment and because she's been leaving men behind since the fucking dawn of time (since I was being born, actually, since she lost her virginity at 17) its just become reflexive to her, like despite how sincere I think everything she said and did was, especially at the end when she was crying, she'll never fucking care enough to actually turn around. She'll never miss me enough. And I really did feel like she was the first and only real person who really wanted and enjoyed having me around and loved me.
I guess I'm saying all this because she played on everything I had fantasized about: She'd remark how us together could make a sex video of the "young, hot, stud nailing the hot, curvy, muscled milf" and call herself my teacher and me her student (which really wasn't far off). She really seemed like she enjoyed it too, like our relationship wasn't just all fantasy and kink-based. We were friends, I loved her, I listened to her, I respected her and trusted her, I believed in her and followed her lead. She really tangled me in deep and I fell for her fucking hard. I mean, she was my first and she was a gorgeous, kind, warm, awesome woman in her early-40s who enthralled me, of course I did.
But she has fucked me up permanently. She's ruined me. I can't really get close to any woman anymore. Its difficult and physically hurts and bothers me and I can't do it anymore. I can have sex, but I'm not fixing this one anytime soon and I can thank her for it. At night I dream of her a lot. Half the time its even just to fucking yell at her and curse her out and listen to her cry. And then the half of me that still loves her tremendously like it probably always will ends up returning back again.
If you truly love your cub. Stay away from him...or prepare to break him.
There's a reason Colts are called Colts. You've gotta break them first.

In case you don't know, the Sun Princess is Princess Cruises' latest behemoth ship. I just got back from a 2-week sailing and took meticulous notes on this epic new vessel. Here's my extremely detailed, no-BS review:

The Sheer Size is Nuts

When I say this ship is massive, I mean it's absolutely nuts how big this floating city is. Especially when you get off in ports and have to walk back down the dock to reboard - that's when the sheer scale of the Sun Princess really hits you. Even though it carries a ton of people, the only time it really felt crowded was during breakfast. The Eatery fills up quick and the International Cafe, which sits outside The Eatery doesn't lend itself well for crowds of people wiaint for their coffees. You kind of end up waiting in the middle of where the walking traffic moves.

The Medallion Life

Your entire cruise experience revolves around the new Medallion wearable device and app, for better or worse. I'll admit it has some creepy "Big Brother" vibes with how much it tracks your every movement and purchase. But the convenience it provides is undeniable.
The medallion is your modern day "cruise card" that you tap everywhere to make payments, order drinks, unlock your stateroom, get on/off the ship, and more. But what's crazy is the app can use the medallion to detect your location anywhere on board. Order a drink or meal through the app and the server will manage to find you anywhere on the ship to deliver it, usually within 15 minutes. Caveat: there were times when it took longer and other times when our order was marked "delivered" and it never arrived.
The medallion definitely feels like getting on/off the ship is way faster. The only time we ever waiting in line was for the few minutes it took people to run through security.
This made getting food/drinks almost too easy. On port days when we needed to get off the ship early for excursions, setting up a scheduled delivery of my Egg McMuffin, fruit plate in coffee was really convenient.
Fair warning though - if you're anti-tracking and value privacy over convenience, the ubiquitous Medallion system may not be for you.
Story: we were sitting by the Crooners bar having our nightly pre-dinner cocktail. The bar was packed on this night for some reason. A staff member in a suit started wandering the room, made eye contact with me from 40-feet away and then made a b-line for us. He wanted to sign us up for a wine/food pairing event they were having. I have to believe this is because of the tracking being done via the meddalion. They could see we drink our share of wine. It definitely felt like targeted marketing.

Premium Package Was Best for Us

We opted for the Premium beverage package at $80 per day and I'm glad we did for a few reasons:

1. If you need to have more than one device connected to the internet at a time, Premium makes sense just based on that (you can have four devices). The cheaper Plus package only allows one device, which was a non-starter for me needing both my phone and laptop to be online. I'm unfortunately not able to just live off the grid for almost three weeks and need to periodically check in with my clients.
2. The wine selection is way better with Premium vs Plus. As a wine drinker, the upgrade was 100% worth it.
3. Two free speciality dining meals are included, which was clutch on our 2-week cruise to break up the repetition of the main dining rotation.
4. Unlimited premium desserts and ice creams - a nice perk for those with a sweet tooth.

Basically, Premium removed almost any need to think about or worry over costs on board. For $80 per day, the premium drinks, speciality dining, better wines, desserts and internet made it an easy choice for our group's needs.
And for those wondering about the 15 drink per day limit (since there's almost a weekly post asking about it) - it was never an issue for me. I'm a scrotch drinker and to get a decent pour, you basically have to order a double. Even drinking doubles, I never got to 15 drinks/day. This even includes sea days where we'd typically have a mimosa or two with breakfast, a few cocktails/beers at the pool, an cocktail or two before dinner and then wine at dinner.

Staff & Service

I can't say enough about how incredible and friendly the service was across the board on the Sun Princess. Our room steward, waiters, bartenders - everyone went so above and beyond daily, it really elevated the experience. I'm always amazed how they remember everyone's names.
However, we did notice a clear slip in the quality of service in the second week compared to the first, likely due to a crew changeover partway through our sailing. Simple things like forgetting drink orders or getting meals wrong became more frequent from our new set of MDR servers.

Suites & Staterooms

We originally booked a balcony room. When the bid offer came in I followed some old advice and just placed bids on upgrades because "you don't have to take the offer if you don't like it." Well guess what, that's not the case anymore. My offer was accepted and we automatically became the proud recipients of a Reserve Mini-Suite for an additional $500. In hindsight, I'm glad it worked out. The room has noticably more space than a standard balcony room. These mini-suites are spacious, basically a separate living room and bedroom divided by a curtain you can close off. Having two TVs and an extra closet was great.
As mini-suite guests we also received a nice amenity of free premium wines in our room - on the second week they even topped us up with two more complementary bottles! I guess each week is looked at as a new sailing -- so you get two more bottles! Some older posts complained about the wine quality. It looks like it's been upgraded because we received a Pinot Noir and Chard from La Crema. Being California wine people, La Crema works great for us. If you can swing it, I'd highly recommend going for a mini-suite over a regular balcony.
That being said, I'd avoid the "Cabana" balcony suites. The layout is really bizarre and in my opinion a downgrade. When you walk out onto your balcony, it's not really a balcony. There's another area in front of your balcony that connects a few other cabana suites. The idea is that a few rooms share a private balcony with jacuzzi. However, it also means that walking out onto your balcony doesn't give you a private ocean view because there's this 20-30 feet of additional patio in front of you and everyone above you just looks down into your balcony area.

Dining Highs & Lows

Main Dining Rooms

It can be confusing because there are three floors (Decks 6, 7 and 8). We reserved dining in the MDR prior to the trip via the app for the first few days just so we knew there was a guaranteed place to eat. On night one, the dining room manager introduced himself to us and said he went ahead and booked our table for us every night of the trip. If we didn't show, it was fine.
Food quality in the main dining rooms (MDRs) was consistently good across breakfast and dinner. On port days, it's an "express breakfast" which just means a shorter list of options. Nothing mind-blowing, but solid and tasty. My biggest gripe here is the operating hours. On sea days, the MDR closes for breakfast at 9:00am. You basically have to choose between sleeping in a little, hitting the gym, or getting a decent breakfast.
Pro-Tip: Biggest breakfast tip is stay away from the scrammbled eggs -- they're gross. We figured out that the scrambled eggs come from a bag. If you want real, cracked eggs, either get an omelett or over easy/medium/hard/etc.

Reserve Suite Dining Access

The Reserve mini-suite gives you access to the Reserve Restaurant. It's a little bit more elevated of a dining experience and reservations aren't needed -- you just show up. We dined her a few times and it did feel more elevated. Unlike the MDR, the server in the Reserve Restaurant feels more personal because they're handling smaller groups.

Lido Deck

For more casual fare, the Lido deck had some surprises like an awesome made-to-order salad bar station that became my go-to for healthier meals between all the indulgent dining. The burger grill, taco station and pizza areas were pretty standard, but that salad bar slapped.

Lackluster Buffet

On the flip side, The Eatery buffet left a lot to be desired. Despite different themed stations, the quality was mid at best. We largely avoided eating at the buffet outside of quick breakfast grabs. The Eatery closes for breakfast around 10:00 AM. At which point if you move further into the ship, the restaurants that are normall Catch and Butcherblock become a buffet extension that's opened later -- it's kind of funky.
The layout of the buffet is weird and leaves people wondering if they're cutting in line especially when you go to the extended buffet at Catch/Butcherblock.
What's odd to me is you can go grab a million cheese plates, fruit plates or hummus/veggie plates at the buffet. But if you order those things through the Medallion app, it's not "complimentary." You have to pay like $4.99-$5.99 for those items. We still can't figure out why it costs $5 to order a tiny cheese plate but ordering a cheeseburger is free.

Specialty Dining Winners

We used our two speciality dining credits at Crown Grill and Butcher's Block. I was a little worried because I had read mixed reviews on here about both of these restaurants. However, both meals were really good and before you come at me, I'm a foodie guy -- I'd tell you if they sucked.
We chose Crown for my parent's anniversay dinner. The service was awesome and they made us all feel really special. The setup here is like a steakhouse, where you order your beef and then the sides are a la carte family style. We had a group of seven -- the manager just said "we'll bring you out all the sides, enough for your whole party" which was great.
The next week, we hit up Butcher's Block by Dario. I've never left a meal more full on a cruise ship than at this place. It's family style dining and they just bring out everything for you -- almost like a brazilian barbecue place. We started with a bread appetizer and a glass of wine while you wait for them to get the dining room setup. Then there's more bread on the table + veggies. Then the food starts coming out: beef tartar; beef carpaccio; etc. The main event is the massive tomahawks and porterhouse steaks they carve up tableside. They'll just keep putting beef on your plate until you beg them to stop. Finally, there's desert and a grappa digestif.
Both restaurants were great experiences and a very welcomed change from the MDR after a week of repetition. The food, service and overall vibe were a noticeable step up.

Spellbound

We also splurged one night for the Spellbound immersive magic/dinner experience and it was easily a cruise highlight despite the $150/pp price tag. After an elevated multi-course meal, you get ushered by a guy in a top hat into an exclusive hidden club. While waiting for the magic show, you hang out in their bar which is reminiscent of the Dinseyland Haunted Mansion. While enjoying your drink, there's a magician perorming more intement magic for everyone at the bar. Once they're ready for the show, you're brought into the room where the actual magic show takes place. Afterwards, you're welcome to hang out in the Spellbound bar and continue drinking.
If you're from LA, you probably know about the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Spellbound is an extension of the Magic Castle. Just like with the Magic Castle, you show up in formal wear. This means a coat and tie for the men and an evening gown/dress for the woman.
Overall, we really enjoyed it.

Room Service

This was hit or miss for us. You fill out the paper door hangar and place it on your doorknob before heading to bed. Then you hope and pray that it will actually arrive -- which in two of our instances, it never did. Your options are also super limited. You also may or may not receive what you actually ordered. With coffee for instance, you have a choice of ordering it to-go (paper cup) or stay (actual coffe cup). We always seemed to get the opposite of what we ordered to the point where it became a running joke for us.

International Cafe

This became our goto for a lot of things: coffee, snacks, quick breakfast food (pastries, coffee cake, avodcado toast, Egg McMuffins). Werid fact though: if you order the Egg McMuffin through the app, it comes as an egg patty just like McDonalds and with cheese. When you get the one at International Cafe, it's just an over easy egg and no cheese. Why they can't just be the same is odd.

Night Owl Needs

My main dining gripe was the lack of solid late night food options for us night owls. The Eatery buffet closed at an absurd 10:30pm, leaving only spotty room service or mobile ordering as the choices if you worked up an appetite after evening activities. More robust late-night casual dining would be appreciated.

Bars & Alcohol

Overall, great selection of cocktails. All of the bars have their own little theme and different menus. The ladies I was with were consitently impressed at the quality and thought of the cocktails at each bar. They were also super impressed with the quality of the glassware being used. I must admit, everything from the rocks glasses to the martini glasses really were beautiful.
If you just want straight spirits, you have to order a double to get a normal pour (they're actually measuring out the pours). That being said, with either Plus or Premium, you'll get a good selection of top quality booze.
You gotta try really hard to hit the 15-drink max. Some days I had drinks at breakfast, during the day, lunch, before dinner, during dinner and after dinner. I never hit my max.
One thing that impressed me was staff actually being concerned about drink quality. We were having drinks at one of the bars on the Lido deck. The supervisor was upset with the bartenders because they ran out of premium liquor and hadn't requested more. He made sure to remind them that when someone orders a premium drink they get a premium liquor -- no exceptions.
You also must checkout the Good Spirits bar. There's a few times throughout the night where you watch a live cocktail demonstration. The bartenders at GS are so fun and playful -- really makes for a great vibe.

Amenities - Hits & Misses

The gym facilities on board were a bit of a disappointment, especially for a new ship. While they had a nice assortment of cardio machines, the actual weight room was laughably small with only a few pieces of strength equipment that were always monopolized. Not a deal-breaker, but an area that could be improved.
The pool areas were nicely spread out across different sections of the Lido deck. On sailing days, there was typically a band, the DJ and then a random movie on the jumbotron. The random blasting of action movies at 3pm really ruined the pool vibe and it's typically when the deck would thin out. One minute you're relaxing in the jacuzzi, the next an action movie with explosions is shaking the pool area. It made no sense and seemed tailored for a much younger crowd despite this sailing's passengers being mostly older adults.

Technology & Support

In addition to the Medallion app, the overall internet speeds on board were fast and reliable enough for me to easily stay connected for basic work needs.
The technology support via the app's live chat feature, however, was utterly useless. Any time we had issues properly being charged for drink packages or had to modify reservations, the live chat was a time-wasting nightmare. You're clearly just talking to an outsourced rep with zero actual knowledge of Princess' systems or operations. Your best bet is to go in-person to the guest services desk.

Other Notes & Quibbles

• Dress codes weren't enforced at all. We did the whole suite/gown routine for formal nights only to see plenty of people still rocking jeans and t-shirts in the MDR. Same lack of enforcement for the "formal attire required" Spellbound event. Either lose the formal nights or enforce them.
• Our drink package tallies often had errors, with our group's drinks randomly getting combined onto one person's account. Always double check and ask for corrections.
• The "Cabana" balcony suite layout is bizarre - your balcony is just a shared landing in front of other suites, rather than a private space. We avoided these after hearing the lack of privacy.

[Slight ⚠️TW⚠️ For Mentions Of Verbal/Mental Abuse.]
The last MONTH or so I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the last time my bio-father actually supported me. (I call him my “father” instead of “dad” because he is NOT a dad. He is simply a father. My stepdad gets the dad role.) This was about this time back in 2020. I had just switched my style and music taste up from like Katy Perry, JoJo Siwa, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift; cupcakes and rainbows- to Johnnie Guilbert, Black Veil Brides, Andy Black, Jordan Sweeto, Shannon Taylor, and others like that. More dark of music and fashion taste (which I’m still into obviously). I was 11 (I’m 15 now btw). I was on social media, all of my accounts were private of course because I was in-fact only 11. I had selfies of me just learning how to do black eyeliner and wearing my first black lipstick on my Facebook. My aunt called up my father one day asking “what is up with the whole goth thing” in like not a supportive way. For the record it is/was emo, not goth (I’m a PopPunk Emo now, but still). My father answered with “Well, there’s not really much we can do about it. It’s not really hurting anything so there’s nothing we can do about it.” And that was the last time he actually supported me…
Since then, he’s told me things like “It’s good to have dreams but you gotta come back down to Earth because it’s never gonna happen!” Sure, my dreams are extreme, but with hard work and dedication it IS in-fact possible. He says I’ll never get my California custom mansion, my Lime-Green Lambo with the under-glow. Just tearing me down in general with other aspects. He doesn’t support how I’ve evolved since falling in love with dying my hair and falling in love with makeup. The mental/verbal abuse to my mom & I seems never ending. It’s over text too n stuff.
And that day back in 2020 was the last time my bio-father actually supported me. It like actually hurts. Being pushed aside and torn down for years on end has left behind a lot of stuff and changed my mind/brain for the worst. If it weren’t for my mom and grandma, I don’t know where I’d be in life or where I’d be headed. They’ve supported me since the beginning! I just can’t stop thinking about that day.. The last time he ACTUALLY supported me, and he ACTUALLY somewhat cared.

Will try to make this short with TLDR. At a bit of a crossroads.
TLDR: Is it financially stupid to go back to previous employer if they've approached me (albeit on a better wage than previous) for increased work life balance with new negotating power. Both employers very stable secure jobs.

• Current: 180K, WFH 2 days, 80 hou10 day fortnight - Benefit of exposure to newer Cloud systems etc... stronger wage growth potential in future (200K next year or so). Negative: stressful, responsible for other peoples work, days in office are lonely/provide no benefit, taking some days off for mental health...

versus...

• Option: 160K~ with previous employer, WFH unlimited (but happy to go in 1-2 days to see friends face to face), 60 hou8 day fortnight, 5 weeks leave, LSL resumes - straight back into solid leadership team of good friends, direct connection to senior leaders, technical work and can be creative. Use extra weekday for hobbies, life, side business. Negative: back to same systems and red tape, slow wage growth, 'going back to employer is a terrible move'

Detail...
Background: 15+ years with a longterm stable employer. Worked up into leadership role but hands on technical delivery. Strong network, good work friends. Finally left as wanted to see 'other' workplaces, got a bit bored and push income higher. Left on approx $120K in the last year. Previous employer colleagues/leaders have kept in touch checking in since I left.
Current: Landed job in company about one year in now, WFH 2 days, 180K salary (200K next couple of years). Work is stressful (across many projects, under resourced teams, putting out fires from mismanaged development etc), but I'm delivering really well - learned a lot, but mentally struggling, have had to take a couple of days off as I just couldn't log on. Have met with leadership as my line manager said I'll burn out with how much has been put on me (out of their control) - leadership convo had no concrete answers, just broad 'this is the direciton we are going' around high level roadmaps - but nothing about my actual day to day work. Fair bit of staff turnover in my role - many deactivated person accounts I've come across. Do I push through the pain for the hope of a different role (big organisation)?
Option: Previous employers CEO has been asking why certain technical work isn't being completed anymore, answer was it was me. Been approached to come back - I've had the power to negotiate, was an enjoyble conversation. Salary ~160K (hard cap unfortunately), four day work week, five weeks annual leave, WFH. LSL will resume. No staff. Pick my projects. Hands on technical which I enjoy. Superannuation comparable in both orgs but obviously less with the lower wage. Keen to use the four day work week to look at setting up my own side business (expanding on some ad-hoc freelancing I do for free with friends and family members). However the net loss in income.. and how that compounds over years as well as is it a terrible idea to 'go back' (even though they approached me). Do I get the life balance/sanity back and focus on family/hobbies/my own business? Wife is supportive as she's seen the toll on my mental health but I'm the finance guy in our family and the $'s always keep coming to mind.
Expenses: Probably at our peak spending years, aged approx 40. Teenagers/pre teens in private school (total $25k year). Mortgage ~470K (PPOR val ~900K). No other debts. Super 450k+90k. Wife working part time (50-60k year).

How does one get a ticket? Do they get shipped? What if shipping takes weeks? I don’t get it…also, isn’t there a bingo going on too and a KA give away? How can anyone keep track? When I shop at Target, I shop because I need to like it not because I can win something.
Edit: White tickets too!

We as a family don't often go out to eat primarily because of costs and that there's five of us. But for Mother's Day, Mom was already angry after work Friday and then Dad forgot to get her anything on Sunday and kind of grasped at straws to say his gift was dinner at a seafood place she really likes. So I do get that she was upset before everything.
I'm allergic to shellfish and eggs so we usually go to a certain place that takes especial care for allergens, even though it's slightly more expensive than a normal place, if we go as a family.
Mom and Dad had already been snippy with each other the days leading up but when he suggested that restaurant she kind of blew up on me that if not for me, that place would be fine, but because of my allergies we have to go to this one restaurant or nothing else or else we make the entire restaurant have to change everything just for me, and she doesn't want to make some poor worker have to deep scrub the place just so she can have the dinner she wants. She and Dad ended up going together that night but they were clearly still not 100% when they came back and still aren't. My older brother and sister both tried reassuring me that Mom is just stressed and I don't actually make things that much harder for everyone, but I still feel so sick and guilty that I haven't eaten more than toast since Mother's Day. This isn't the first time mom or dad have made comments like this. Dad once got really excited on a trip about having unlimited room service but he couldn't get the dish he wanted because of how small the room was and how he'd have to brush his teeth and wash his hands and clean up almost immediately, just to enjoy one dish. He sighed and said "I guess I'll go without because I love you" kind of joking but I never forgot it, or other times.
I just really - really - struggle with not feeling like I'm this gigantic, unwanted imposition on my family and the world around me. I feel like my friends resent the different cake or desserts at my birthday, or having to double check before I come over about what to serve, or like my family can't just pack up and go out to dinner or even vacation without care like other families can. We only have a few vacations a year and it's usually to a beach town with lots of seafood places, and because of my allergies we either don't go out to eat and cook the entire vacation (which mom hates because then she doesn't get a vacation) or we eat to go and I order a lot of salads because the fries could be done in the same oil as the clams for example.
I know I'm looking for reassurance but I'm open to the truth that I am causing more work for those around me.