How to make slime for kids

Hello! Sooo I just had a pretty rough encounter at our local dog park. I had just walked in and let my dog off the leash when I noticed a pitbull barrel towards me.
I didn't initially react because usually dogs are eager to say hello or are chasing a ball but instead this one immediately attacked and started biting me.
It blocked it coming for my arms/torso but it bit me in the shin and upper back thigh when I turned away.
The owner was able to get control of it after that. I screamed at her and took down her name and phone number. She was slightly apologetic but I think was on the defensive from me yelling at her. I didn't and still don't know what to do. I asked her not to come back with the dog incase it attacked children or somebody less able to defend themselves than me it attacked children or somebody less able to defend themselves than me (230lb guy). which she immediately disagreed with and said kids shouldn't be there anyways.
My question is what do I do? I went home and cleaned the wounds (two bites broke skin and hace bruising). I think I'm going to go to urgent care for antibiotics/a check up?
But I'm also extremely concerned about the dog. I've seen dogs get in fights with other dogs and broken them up and sustained scrapes/nips in the process but this was different. It totally unprovoked making a b-line for a person is scary, and the owner's lack of accountability only adds to that feeling.
I called the local police department non emergency number and they said they could send over police to take my statement if I wanted to press charges and they would put down the dog which also seems pretty extreme. Any input on what I should do here both medically and otherwise? I've never experienced anything like this and I'm not totally sure how to think or proceed

Hello I am going to keep this as anonymous as possible and really only looking for way I can help. The father is a great dad kind, let him be free, and is a great communicator, but still his son has been not liking him recently. So for context I 22F (will call me Ashley) am dating a 32M (will call him John). He has a 3y old (will call him Bo) with his ex 32F (will call her Jessica). Jessica and John have only been apart a year, and currently he has 5d w Bo and she 2d. So recently Bo has been saying that he doesn't want dad, he wants mom, doesn't like dad and one time I have heard him say he hates dad. To add other thing they used to split time up evenly 3/4 day and would swap, so someone had him 4d one week and 3d another. Within the last two-three months Jessica has been requesting to have sat and sun off to "drink and organize her week" and then three days a week she works as a nurse so she cannot take him. So now it is at 5d with dad and 2d with mom. From then Bo had begun to talk about mom more and I figured typical since it is his mom and he sees her less and we do what we can to let him know she is just working and will come back to get him and we don't discourage him from talking about her. Within the last month I noticed Bo call things moms (ex: that's moms candy, that's moms cereal, that's moms tree, that's moms toy) most of the things of course are not hers as were either at a grocery store or at his dads were he's gotten new toys, and I personally don't do much to correct it. I mean he is a kid, and maybe sometimes I will be like no that's coco pebbles to help teach him the name of things but often time I am not sure what to say and just ignore it. Then too within the last month Bo hasn't been wanting to come to dads it really started one day we had to pick him at 4PM and she had just put him down for a nap and she decide instead of us coming back she was just going to wake him and that made him a bit cranky and he didn't want to leave her house and kept talking about going back to lay down. When he does come back from hers I notice often time he has heavy bags under his eyes and often make John put him to bed an hour or two early just to try to get some sleep. I wish I was kidding but sometimes I am like he should go to bed now cause he'll have double bags and just glossy eyes and noticeable irritable from being tired. Other things I notice too that whenever he comes back from hers A. he has begun to hit the table or will clap at you and point and grunt to get you to do something B. he will also be more upset when we ask him to say please or thank you and says "I don't want to I want to point" C. I understand that she had bought him nerf guns for Christmas he turned one (?? idk what john says) so she plays fight and hits with him so he will hit a lot more the day after hers as well and he doesn't understand when to play hit and sometimes he'll get really ruff and rude with his grandpa especially (his grandpa can barely hear especially high pitched voices so Bo will often hit him after grandpa doesn't hear him and respond). Very boy thing to be rough we get it so we just do our best to say we don't hit and to be kind and move on and D recently (I have picked up on it but from phone calls I have over heard she will say things like "Bo you are such a selfish boy" in like a giggly silly way and he's a huge copy cat so he'll say it back (as he'll say most everything back). Another thing I noticed every time the last 6 times we've picked him up he's got moms favorite, moms epic dude, momma boy, momma something on his shirt. WHICH again is great and cool, but I believe its more of a manipulation thing. A lot of this behavior from her is recent and not typically within the last 4-5M it has started. Ever since I got introduced to Bo he has wanted me and wants to talk to me and accidently called me mom for a month and talks about loving me a lot and about 4-5M ago she did send a huge text to John explaining she wants me nothing near her son and I am trying to take him and how she hates me, then after all that its been all super sweet talk, all mommas boy, they have also been going out more to museums and she's been bragging about taking him everywhere. So after all that context my big question is what can I do to help my boyfriends son from not talking like that and seeing that his dad is good or is there just anything I can do to help or is it just a phase? P.S yes he does punish him and he gets very angry about that, but its only for serious thing like hitting to hard sneaking out of the house or throwing grandmas decorations and smashing them knowing not that's not good, but I cant and probably actually can believe that she doesn't punish him cause she only has him two days shes off both days and can do whatever he wants plus she begged and pleaded for the house John bought so she doesn't have to live at her parents were they have they have more rules cause they don't want their stuff broken our "floor ruined" (I think it sucks but its were he lives and its who his parents are and I get it so, we also have other things to work around)

I feel lost and frustrated because I believe I can do much better in life! I’m 39, more of an introvert but I socialize well with people. I’m open-minded, humble, well-educated and I’ve been always told that I’m very smart with a dark sense of humor.. A family man, dedicating all of my time and efforts to my family; wife and son and my stay-home mother (lost my father 8 years ago). I’ve been through a lot in my life, but I stand strong and become stronger with time to the point where I don’t give a damn about many things in life.. I have a secure job with good income I always appreciate what I have and I truly feel gratitude towards everything that I have especially when you see how miserable life can get for others! I’m nearing my 40’s and I’ve become aware that time flies swiftly! I’ve started to take care of myself like I used to be; dressing well, listening to music, reading, taking care of my skin, stretching, and trying to live the moment.. I want to change myself and how I perceive myself to be more confident and to set up clear goals in my life.. I used to be judgmental and negative in some way.. I’m looking at the bright side of life now.. yet, I feel that I don’t have time for myself to make a life changing decision that can truly transform my life.. and when I double check and look for the main source of this feeling I find that it’s because I want my son and future kids to live a better life.. I get really scared when I think that they would go through things that are somewhat similar to what I have been through.. I feel that I have a lot of potential and many ideas that can really be turned into business, but I’m scared cause I’m never ready for a change, I’m bound to too many financial and family obligations.. I want to invest in something that can really help me secure some cash to feel safe whenever I take a decision to make a new business or create an app, launch a YouTube channel or blog Reading my post is much appreciated, thanks for your time and advice

I’m not really sure why I’m making this post, maybe it’s a cry for help that my subconscious is forcing on me, but whatever it is, I’ve always felt better when I can put all my emotions in one place. Just a few weeks ago, I broke up with my serious girlfriend of a year and a half. I know I probably sound like a loser compared to everyone else, I’m just a 20 year old who doesn’t want to live anymore because a girl he dated for a year and a half wants to break up with him, boohoo. Anyways, she was really the girl of my dreams, someone that I talked about having kids with, and proposing to next year on a vacation to her home country (china) which should just go to show the crazy things that happen when you date a hot Asian girl 😭. We broke up because she felt like I spent too much time at home, and hanging out with her, and I always felt like we never spent enough time together and I just always craved time with her which just drove a stake between us. After we broke up I obviously had a lot a lot of things I needed to say to her, but she wouldn’t sit down with me and talk things about because she needed a lot of distance between us and couldn’t be there for me. I attempted the night of the day after we broke up, wanted to bleed myself to death like a fish, and I turned to her because she’s still someone I depended on and I needed her help, which she did help me, but it drove her further away. Anyways, I’m gonna spend the next week or two enjoying my life as much as possible, and then I’m getting a plane ticket to Washington and I’m gonna hike to Olympic national park because I’ve always wanted to go, and then probably commit via helium asphyxiation. I’ve been doing okay recently because I’ve made friends but I’m just not okay with being alive anymore, it hurts too much still and I’m always alone even though I try to surround myself with people that care. I am scared because I’m going to feel awful doing this to the people that care about me, grandparents; and my three younger sisters, and my cousin. I really feel bad for my mom and my friend because they’ve been there for me and I don’t want them to feel responsible. I’m not commiting because I want revenge, or to make peoples suffer, I just am giving up, plain and simple. Anyways, I hope anyone who sees this has a good day and remember to always check on your friends regardless of how much they smile and care about the people around them.

I just cried sleeping beside my mum for god knows how long and finally woke up to ask for advice. I'm broke as shit and the last time I tried to ask my parents for therapy, things went so bad that I almost wanted to puke. Thats why I'm here on reddit. please excuse me for any grammatical errors as I can barely see and think through my tears and brain fog.
Siblings fight each other, right? its normal. I've fought with my brother plenty of times before when we were children and we always forgot about it. i have many fond memories with him, memories that make me smile whenever I think about them. But recently I've been seeing just how spoiled he became. here's some context:
he's 24/7 on laptop or tv playing games and watching anime. i mean literally 24/7. from the second he wakes up to the second he sleeps. my parents are great, they provide us with so many things, everything except love and attention. they think that just because they sacrificed buying something for themselves, we are supposed to feel like they love us. don't get me wrong, I do appreciate it, but i'd much rather stay at home and play monopoly with them than go to a 5-star hotel to watch them fight about how expensive it is and how I should be more grateful while they stay on their phones all the fucking time. anyways, my brother is extremely neglected emotionally and I know for a fact that he has terrible anger management issues.
i know this because I'm the one that has to put up with his upbringing. We once went out to a family gathering with all of our extended families, and if you guys know asian families, a LOT of people will be present. We were all talking when I caught him seeing anime girls on yt shorts on my mom's phone. mind you, he isn't even 12 yet. see, I'm in no way a good person, I'm probably very very fucked in the head but I did not want him to be like that. the day I got into porn was the day a part of my soul died and even tho I quit now, I never recovered from that. i didn't want him to go thru that so I told him to stop and we fought abt it. mind you, we were still at the gathering so I was being quiet and telling him that we'll talk later. i don't remember what exactly triggered him, but he started hitting me and grabbed my arm. i have long nails, and I scratched him while trying to pull away. he started crying and screaming and yelling while grabbing me and hitting me non-stop. he isn't thin or weak by any means, so it stung. a lot. and I had to just shut up and be quiet and endure it without a word because hey, I'm the "good" kid, right? if I had said something, my parents would have scolded me for humiliating them. well, it isn't like they didn't scold me anyways, I provoked him, apparently. its my fault either ways. they entire family ended up yelling at me, saying things like "I know elder kids, they're always making fun of the younger ones." and stuff that really stung.
this other time, he hit me in an office lobby while we were waiting for my mom. today, he hit me at my cousin's house because we made a joke abt him. i walked over to him knowing he'll get offended and told him "I'm not making fun of you. I'm sorry for saying that, we didn't mean that and you know it." and we all apologised to him. the joke btw, was about how he went swimming w another cousin of ours and we saw him playing at the pool w a girl. we knew it wasn't a girl, but when we said it was he used to get irritated and chase us around laughing, so it was an old joke. well, as soon as I was done, he slapped my face. it wasn't hard, but he slapped me. and stormed off and complained to my mom saying I was making fun of him. my mom came and lectured me in front of my cousins, and I had to smile after she left because hey, I'm a good kid. because I'm obedient and disciplined. oh god, this brings back memories about how my dad used to slap me in front of many people and I had to pretend that I was wrong and smile at people while I died on the inside. i was 11. why don't they yell at him like they yelled at me? why me? they don't even hug me. they push me away. why cant I be hugged? don't I deserve to be hugged?
whenever they do realise that my brother's being an ass, they yell at him and it always, ALWAYS fucking ends with him yelling screaming crying at the top of hid lungs and slamming doors and my mom always goes and hugs him and comforts him. if she can hug him even when he does so many awful things, why can they hug me? i go to hug her and she fucking pushes me away saying "please, stay away". the face she makes while saying it, I think I die a little everytime she does it.
she hugs me sometimes, but immediately pushes away, after she feels satisfied with her parenting. i know I'm not a good person, and I haven't done great things, but do I really not deserve a fucking hug?
I'm sorry, I'm spiralling out of the main topic. its 2 am and I'm hiding in my washroom and typing and my laptops gonna die soon. i just don't know what to do. i didn't ask to be my brother's parent. i didn't want to raise him, and I did a terrible job at that. i passed down my generational trauma to him. no doubt. he asks me for help and I criticize him rather than helping. i will end the generational trauma by ending the generation. i don't think I'm fit to be a parent. i think that's because I'm fucking 15. I love my parents. they sacrificed their lives for me. but I didn't fucking ask for it. oh my god, I remember the time I got sexually harassed in a bus and my mom rolled over and went back to sleep as I yelled. lololol. good times. anyways, good night. i shall go and cry some more.
edit: forgot to mention, I have a viral infection and my left jaw is swelled and it hurts. badly. he slapped me there knowing this. for the second time today btw, he hit this morning at home but I forgave. also, I apologised after we got home because.. you guessed it. I'm the good kid. i will always be a good kid. nothing else. just a 10/10 certificate in studies for them to brag about. i wanna go away from home, but I guess this is home.

Hi, so right now we’re very low contact with JNMIL. She’s said and done some pretty awful things, the latest is includes posting “happy birthday” messages to all my husband’s ex’s but not me, messaging husband’s coparent and getting her involved since “I won’t let her speak to her own son”, getting his siblings to send messages for her, and messaging me directly to say that her family has never been so torn apart since I came into the picture. Taken one at a time, we just brush it off and maintain our boundaries, but it’s piling up. Husband has told her that she needs to realize her role in the damage and make things right before there will be any more visits or real conversation and she continues to push that boundary while saying she hasn’t done anything wrong. So we’re holding the line.
Today she sneakily dropped gifts on our porch, trying unsuccessfully to avoid our camera. She messaged husband saying it’s birthday and Easter gifts that she didn’t get to give. Aside from how annoying that is, we realized they are only gifts for my husband’s daughter, nothing for my kids from a previous relationship. I’m hurt. My kids are hurt. I know we can’t demand that she include all the kids and I can’t make her see us as family but man it bites. It sucks for the kids, it sucks that I can’t heal this part, and it sucks that it hurts my husband. The more this goes on, the more I wonder if we’re ever going to be able to sort through all this and come out the other side. I’ve said it before, but right now it just…. sucks.

My family and I just moved into a very nice apartment complex that is brand new. We moved into the bottom floor because it was the only option left. This is the first time living below someone for all of us, so I need help understanding the situation and to see if we are over-reacting. There are two small children that constantly run up and down the unit (I am assuming we have the same floor plan because we all hear it in all of our bedrooms). I'm assuming one kid is 5 and the other is maybe 3 or 4?
Anyway, the kids have nonstop been running for hours since they moved in 3 days ago. It is bad. It shakes the walls and it even gets through my noise canceling headphones. It starts around 1 and lasts all the way until I go to bed at 7pm, however last night I woke up and still heard running at 10:30pm (10 is when our quiet hours are in effect).
Now I will admit, I do not like kids. No one in our family likes kids. But I am also understanding that kids will play and be theirselves, so I'm trying to be patient. I am so frustrated because of how persistent this stomping is. It starts when I get home at 1 and continues well into the night. It is all i hear when I am home.
My husband knocked on their door on Monday and they were nice and said sorry and that they didn't know we could hear the kids. When my husband got back inside the noises persisted the exact same as they did before he went to them. I went up about 30 minutes later to ask them again to be quiet and was told they are working on getting carpet to soften the noise. We have carpet in our bedroom, and I'm assuming they also have carpet in their bedroom and I am certain carpet does not help.
Please give me advice. I understand living under people will have the sounds of them living their lives, but these constant noises feel excessive. We dont mind hearing their doors close or the adults walking around, that is totally fine and expected. We are so frustrated we might actually approach our leasing office. We do not want to be mean or make them uncomfortable, but god damn these little feet are tap-dancing on my nerves and I need help thinking straight and to react in the most polite/understanding way.
Edit: we tried giving them time to move in, but the running goes on for so long and consistently we wanted to address the issue before it is too late :(

I don't even know where to get started. I'm mainly writing to get everything off my chest in a community of folks who may or may not have had similar experiences in the past or present. I'd also like to add that creepy, unexplainable things have always happened around me since I was a little kid. So, here it goes:
I moved into my apartment in September 2023. I've always felt comfortable and calm in my home. Besides my usual nightmares (always had them, generally not too scary), everything was copacetic. Either at the very end of December or January 2024, things started getting weird.
It's important to note I live alone in a 1 bedroom apartment. The first time something happened, I was sound asleep and was awoken to 3 knocks on my bedroom door at 3 am. I usually slept with the bedroom door open and just started closing it at night. It was loud and deliberate. I just told myself I'd imagined it and while I was very scared, I drifted back off to sleep. The next day I was on the phone with my sister and told her what happened. Out of curiosity I knocked on my bedroom door and it was the exact same sound.
Over the next few months I heard 3 knocks at my bedroom door, bathroom, or front door around 3 am, 1 am, or 11 pm. I even had a friend visit in March and he was awoken to 3 knocks at the front door at 1 am. Around this time is the first time I heard my daughter's 7-8 year old voice say "Mom?" next to my bed then again a couple weeks later behind me at the head of the bed. My daughter is 12 and lives full time with her dad, so I knew and told myself "that isn't my daughter". I also expierenced what sounded like claw scratches across my stand up heater across each metal section (looks like a radiator) when I was fully awake laying down in bed. Another time I was in bed and for a couple seconds smelt sulfur next to my bed and got up and left my bedroom. After this I took my first actions.
I have a favorite tarot readepsychic I found on (a popular social media app I can't type because it isn't allowed) last year when he was first starting out doing free readings. I was on his live the night after hearing my daughter and asked him and the 13 other people in the live for advice. Him and a few people suggested burning sage (I cannot because it would set off the smoke alarms in the building). Next suggested using sage incense, making loud claps all over the apartment, in the nooks and crannies, to break up energy and get it moving throughout the apartment. Lastly, to open a window and ask whatevewhoever is they to please leave through that designated window. I couldn't find sage incense at Walmart so I got a plug in wax warmer and picked up palo santo/sage wax melts. I went home and did the ritual and I didn't have disturbances for 3 weeks.
During this time, I started leaving the bathroom light on with the door cracked, the bedroom door cracked, and the kitchen light on in the kitchen every night and slept with my winter hat with the top open for my hair as a face mask. Cut to Sunday night, I was woken up to the sound of wooden "pop!" hit the floor, like a staff or the wooden end of a broomstick next to my bed. I thought it was time to get up to go over to get my daughter up for school, but noticed it was completely dark outside. I had my hat over my eyes and told myself to stay calm and rolled over to pretend like I went back to sleep. A few minutes pass and I hear it again and this time feel the vibration on the floor (I sleep on an air mattress on the floor). I ignore it, then it happens 2 times in a row, I keep ignoring it, then it happens another 2 or 3 times in a row. I jump up and say "fuck this shit!" and dash to my living room, grab my purse, shoes, and leave my phone. When I got to the bottom floor I noticed it was 12:15 am. I slept over at my ex-fiances on the couch because I was so scared.
I go back to my apartment Monday night and start hearing a loud wooden "pop!" noise like when a house settles, but live in a concrete building and never heard it before. I was on the phone with a friend until midnight and kept hearing the loud crack/pop noise in the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom every 5-10 minutes for around 2 hours. I fell asleep on my papazon chair (ouch) because I was nervous about sleeping in my bedroom again and was woken to another pop at 2 am. I decided to just bite the bullet and fell asleep on my bed, but woke up every half hour or so, but no disturbances that I noticed. I left my apartment at 5:50 to get my daughter up.
I get back home at about 7am and decide I needed to take a nap from not getting a lot of sleep the last couple days and doze off at about 8 am. I was awoken at about 9 am to what sounded like a loud flick against the air mattress and I felt it, said "nope" and went to lay down (in a ball) on the papzon chair. I was woken up to the loud flick of the air mattress twice, then was awake and heard it again (like flick and air mattress moved). I decided I was leaving, packed up, wen to the bathroom and heard the same sound of the air mattress moving, got in my car and drove to my Dad's a hour in a half away, in part to see him, but mostly to get away from my apartment.
I'm still here now. I've told this all to my friend, sister, and Dad every step of the way and yesterday my therapist and peer support in detail. I'm nervous about being back at my apartment. I have so much fear in my heart and am just scared. I checked with my apartment manager today and no one has died in my apartment in the past. I called a local Catholic Church and left a voicemail with a preist to call me for guidance and hopefully meet up and discuss coming to my apartment with me. I have always been non-religous, but am open to anything at this point.
It's worth noting that I was having horrible, disgusting, wicked thoughts that were so bad I cannot tell anyone what they are because I don't want to be arrested when the disturbances started escalating.
Has anyone had similar experiences? How did you get them to stop? Do you now feel safe and secure in your home? Are you still living with (whatever) today?
Edit: I will not be checking this post while I'm at my apartment so fear of stirring up whatever is there. So my responses might be far between.

My SO(30M) and I(30F) have been together for 2 years. He has a son who is 8 years old which he has 50/50. The first year was really great. I had zero responsibility of taking care of his kid. BM was a little needy but I voiced my concerns and he set boundaries right away. I appreciated that he was quick to resolve that.
Several things have changed coming into year two of our relationship. I would like your advice or opinion. A strong part of me wants to suck it up and pull it through, the other part that fades in and out is fear that this is my new reality and it will get worse.
My SO got a new job in September, way different than his previous 9-5 job. He now works shift work, so 12 hour days either 5pm-5am or 5am-5pm. Given the hours, I often drive SS to and from school. The harder days are the night shifts where I am alone all evening and cooking supper, entertaining his son, and putting him to bed. His son is very good kid. He makes my life easier because of that. But this is still a lot of work.
BM has mental health issues, and is a drug addict. She cannot keep a job for longer than 2 weeks. How does she have 50/50 you probably ask? The court system failed us. She agreed to go to rehab and seek psych help, she also has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She went to rehab for very short time and did not continue her psych help. CPS has been called her several times and they do nothing. Anyways… we recently discovered that she is badly addicted again, and has been for awhile but hides it. So SS is not allowed with her unsupervised. So we have him 100% now. I am super thankful he is in better care. But this puts on so much more responsibility now. I plan everything around a kid that isn’t mine now. My hobbies and friends, they come second now. Grandma is helpful at least, she is able to relieve me for some days of the week.
We are also renovating the basement of his house. He owns the house. Though I’m often told it’s OUR house and the work I put into it I will get back. My name isn’t on the house, we aren’t married, and Im not common law until August. Also maybe worth mentioning this is the same house he bought with BM, so putting work into it does not feel like my own. I don’t feel connected to the house. I feel a little resentful at times. He tells me to try to move past those emotions. In today’s economy state we can’t really afford to move. The house is a great house, if I move past those jealous/resentful feelings it’s more in our favour to stay in it.
I often find myself feeling sad to be in this. the bigger picture is he a great person and good father. He is a hard worker, I don’t know if I could find a person like him again. Things do add up though. Mother’s day just passed and I didn’t get anything because of excuses of “I’m trying to finish renovations before going back to work”. “I’m exhausted” and “BM has me stressed out”. It would have been nice to receive something minor to show appreciation all I do for his son.
He often tells me he is stressed from credit card debt. Renovations has him in the hole. I haven’t been treated for awhile because of that. I tell him I don’t care about money, he could even do cute social media posts, I like those things they cost nothing but I get the excuse “I’m not a social media person” he does post just doesn’t think to often.
I am feeling defeated. I am a hard worker and independent person. I don’t need anyone to take care of me but it would be really nice to have someone spoil me with love from time to time, take care of me for once. He tells me things will get better once the renovations are done because he will have more time, and more money (we are getting a renter). It’s been 8 months of this though. I feel like I can’t leave because I love him too much, what if things do get better and this is just a rough patch!? The current state is not ideal. I feel so sad this is how things turned out. And also a little niave like what did I expect dating a person with a child.
As an outsider, what would you do?

My husband and I have been together for 6 years. He has 2 children(teens) 14 and 16 and I have one son 14. First let me start out by saying that our children overall used to get along fairly well up until the past year. My ex husband and my husband have a great relationship, and so do we. My ex has always instilled it into my son that he has to respect his step dad and I think our close relationship has helped the relationship between my son and my husband. My son is also very easy going and very outgoing, and I know all children have different personalities. There was a time where my son would mouth off to my husband and his dad, my husband and I talked about his behavior and it never really happened again. He does the typical annoying teenager things, messy etc. My husbands ex……..That’s another story. She is a downright bad mom in every way, I was once pregnant and she told her children that my child would be nothing to them, on her weekends she lets her daughter sleep over at her friends houses. It’s just about a different friend every week. My husband has express how he doesn’t agree with this but it’s her week and he has no say basically. My husband and his son in particular have always had an up and down relationship. There are no rules when his children are with their mother, so of course when they come here, we are always the bad guy for having them do simple chores etc. When my son and my step son started high school together, my son made me aware that my step son ignores him in school. He flat out acts as if he doesn’t know him. They ride the bus together in the morning and my step son will sprint so he doesn’t have to walk with my son. This really bothers me but my son says he can care less because he says he won’t beg for anyone’s attention. He is truly something else lol the whole situation bothers me honestly. I guess what I am looking for is advice, Is this normal, what would you do? I talked to my son about the behavior and told him to ignore him. My son is aware of the hostile situation between my husband and his ex, and he says I know they probably just do it to make their mom happy??? My husband has also talked to son about his behavior and he says he just doesn’t walk with him because they are in different grades and have different friends. I expected them to have each others backs and treat each other like brothers. I understand my son not bending over backwards, I would probably do the same. I also know that they are teens and this is a hard age.
I will also add that unless his daughter is asking for material things, we do not talk. She will talk to me when Sol de Janeiro drops a new scent and she wants it. Which of course I always buy her whatever it is she wants. I try to spark conversation with them but they literally will not talk to me anymore and i’ve stopped trying. His son is the same way. The week they are here, his kids are locked in their rooms and there are times they walk into the house and don’t even address me. No Hi hello or anything? For legal reasons my husband can not try to mend the relationship with his ex. She is spiteful and has tried to get him fired in the past so we just don’t interact with her at all. I feel if we all got along and were on the same page, things would be different. I have a great relationship with my sons step mom and can’t imagine not having a relationship with her. Ultimately she cheated and wanted him back and then he met me and the rest is history. She hates him for not forgiving her and moving on. I wish she would see that her children are miserable here! There is nothing wrong with their father having moved on and it’s also very normal for them to have a great relationship with me. We did at one point but she got super jealous by this, now that they are older they have chosen not to talk to me. I love my husband but at times I am just ready to walk away. I just didn’t expect this to be my life.

Jack Nicholson, Brad Pitt, and Morgan Freeman were some of the celebrities portrayed at the wax museum. I have not been here since I was a kid, so I was eager to see all the new additions! Eventually, I saw a group of girls standing by Elle Fanning’s sculpture.
One girl said, “I always thought she looked a bit like Dasha Nekrasova.” “I see it,” replied another girl. “I’m sorry, who is Dasha Nekrasova?” asked another girl in the group. The first girl said, “Oh my God! Kaylee, you are so dumb!” She continued, “Jenna, can you show her a picture of Dasha?
After a few moments, Jenna showed her phone to Kaylee. Kaylee looked at the phone and said, “This is Dasha?” She is the prettiest girl I have ever seen!” Jenna went to put her phone back in her purse, but Kaylee ripped it out of her hand and said, “Everyone, come here! You have to see how beautiful this girl is!” A large group of people crowded around the girls. After viewing the photo, one man asked, “Is she an angel?” Another man passed out, while another started crying.
The owner came over and said, “What’s going on here? I can’t have people passing out! What are you guys looking at?” Someone handed him the phone; he stared at the screen without blinking for what seemed like forever. Finally, he said, “One of the artists who makes these sculptures is here right now. Let me go get him.” A few minutes later, he and the artist walked to the Elle Fanning sculpture and asked, “Can you make her look more like Dasha?” He handed the artist the phone. “I don’t know if I can make a sculpture so beautiful, but I will try!” The artist said this with a tear running down his cheek. He went to his car and grabbed his tools.
Once he had everything he needed, he got to work. After only a few minutes, the sculpture that was once Elle Fanning became Dasha Nekrasova! Everyone in the museum cheered. One man said, “This is the most beautiful piece of art I have ever seen.” The owner turned to the artist and said, “Can you make all the sculptures here look like Dasha? I don’t want to look at anyone else!” The artist nodded and got to work. Soon, every sculpture became Dasha Nekrasova. Inspired by Dasha’s beauty, the artist moved at inhuman speed. An hour later, he finished. Everyone in the museum stood and stared at the statues, unable to move. The owner went outside and, with a poster board, wrote, “Grand Opening: The Wax Museum of Dasha Nekrasova!” As soon as he put the sign outside, all the cars on the road slammed on their brakes. Everyone started rushing inside! I was getting worried about what would happen next, so I left the museum and was able to drive home.

My apologies in advance if this is long. I was in an abusive relationship/marriage for 23 years. This incident happened when we were still friends. If I had I only known the truth when this had originally happened, I would have been saved from decades of emotional, psychological, verbal, physical, sexual, and physical abuse. (And currently post-separation abuse).
The cast: me, my ex Bub (Beelzebub), my ex-crush B, Bub's gf M, Bub's bf V (It will make sense when you read it.)
TW: Suicide, self-harm, abuse
We met through a mutual friend. We became really close really quickly. He was 17 and I was 19. We would talk for hours about anything and everything. I was raised around domestic abuse, and my family was highly dysfunctional. I suffered severe trauma as a child being raised in this environment with an abusive father and brother. (His namesake). By the time I met Bub, I had been having mental health struggles for many years. To deal with the trauma I still suffered from I would self-harm by cutting frequently. I also had been in a psychiatric hospital twice for suicide attempts. I told Bub about all of this, and he knew that I still did it. He was very supportive and would get really sad when I harmed myself.
Since we were just friends we would talk about our crushes. He had a crush on a girl from high school and I had a crush on one of my ex's B, who was also my high school crush. We only dated for 3 weeks, and we decided we were better as friends then lovers. Though we did have a FWB thing going on when we were both single. He really talked up his crush and I really talked up mine.
Two months into our friendship he got a gf. He told me she was a girl he knew from his home city named M. He claimed her mother would babysit him and his brother. He really talked this girl up. She was into all the same things as him. He said she had beautiful red hair, D breasts, liked the same books, movies and music as him. (Yes, he bragged about these things, as disgusting and corny as it sounds now). I was starting to believe he talked her up to make me jealous, which it honestly did. However, I knew it was petty jealousy and I was very happy for him and expressed that to him.
I don't know whose idea it was for her to start communicating with me, but she started emailing me to get to know his best friend (me). I was totally cool with this and was excited to get to know her. Before I know it, she starts getting really nasty with me for no apparent reason. It really upset me. My natural impulse at the time when I was upset was to cut. It was a maladaptive coping mechanism I had for years, and I did it when I was really upset. I explained this to him, and he said he would talk to her. He showed real concern I was harming myself and he also wanted her to stop.
So, he told me he had talked to her, and she had told him she would stop harassing me for no good reason. I really assumed she was jealous and let her know there was nothing to worry about. We were friends and he had a much longer history with her. She didn't stop. She continued to say the vilest and f'd up things to me, including making crass and insensitive comments about my suicidal ideation and self-harm. Naturally I was really upset and cut myself pretty badly. I still have the scar.
This basically went on until they broke up a month later. He said she was doing heroin, and he was vehemently against drugs. He said that they had a good friend that died of an OD, and he couldn't be with her if she was going to do that. It was over. She never contacted me again.
Not long after that B (my ex-bf) had come back from bootcamp. I spent a good deal of time with him while he was on home for leave for two weeks before he shipped out overseas. We decided in that time that we would no longer be FWB because I was starting to have feelings for Bub. Me and Bub started dating right after that. He ended up telling me that him and M didn't really date, and he had only told me that to make me jealous. AHA! I was correct!
So, I asked to meet her. He was a bit hesitant at first, but he finally agreed. At this point his bf V from his home city was dating her. It was the perfect opportunity to meet her as like a double date. I will say, at that time in my life I could be possessive and jealous. Not proud of it, but I was young and immature. I ended up treating her pretty snidely because of this.
One night we were out with them, and Bub got into a car accident. We ended up having to call his dad for a ride home. When we got to his home, his dad was contemplating letting them sleep there. I whispered in Bub's ear that I was not okay with his ex-gf sleeping at his house. She overheard me tell him this. She pulled me aside and told me they never dated. WHAT? I was furious. Bub made eye contact with me, and by the look on his face, I could tell he knew what she told me. The ride back, to drop them at home in his dad's car, was uncomfortable to say the least.
After he dropped them off, I confronted him. His explanation was I was so pushy to meet her, but he knew how jealous I could be, so he didn't want to actually introduce me to the real M. Ends up V was dating a girl with the same name. I felt so stupid and betrayed. I wanted to end it, but he seemed so remorseful I ended up giving him another chance.
Well, the years go rolling by, and I hear no more about this girl who he was so close with, in the past. Bub was a very charismatic person with a lot of friends. He never stopped speaking to friends permanently and they would come in and out of his life. I found it a little odd that there was no mention of her but didn't think much else of it. I also never really formally met her.
Then Facebook became a thing. He ended up being friends with every person he had ever known. Except her. I would bring it up and he would always have some excuse. We ended up moving in with his brother in 2015. I wasn't really around his brother a lot, so I never got a chance to talk to him at length. I remember at one point I brought her up. I was just so curious at the mystery girl and wanted to see if he was still in touch with her. He told me he didn't know what I was talking about. He said his mother never left them with babysitters and only worked when they were in school.
"What does that mean," I'm thinking. WTF does that mean? I brought it up to Bub and he told me she only babysat a few times so his brother probably forgot. But this didn't sit right with me. He had told me that she would babysit them frequently. He denied ever saying the frequency. What could I do but believe him? It had been almost 15 years by that point. That's a long time to keep a secret like that. Surely, he was telling me the truth. I dropped it for good.
We get married that year. We had a child the next year. We had a stillborn a year after that. All this time until 2022, I started feeling really uneasy about our relationship. I started suspecting that his behavior towards me was abusive.
Sidenote: I didn't include all the abusive behaviors in this post, as it would be a novel if I did. I'm simply recalling the events around the catalyst to my descent into hell.
By the end of 2022 I was broken. I had gotten my first of what would end up being 3 TROs against him. I dismissed the first two. (The second was a dual, as he set up a situation that created the need for me to defend myself. He claimed I wasn't defending myself. That's a story for another day). After the first two, I was still so desperate to salvage my marriage with my eternal hope that he could change. I was just so broken by then I didn't think I deserved any better, and no one else could possibly want a worthless, pitiful broken mess like me.
The summer of 2023, while laying sleepless in bed, the memory of M flashed through my mind. I started remembering details I had long forgotten. Why did I never meet her? Why was she never his friend on Facebook? Why had neither of them reached out to each other? I had met every person he talked about, or he was at least friends with them on Facebook. Why not her? Why did his brother not remember? Why did he say M's mother babysat them all the time? I KNOW he originally said that damn it! Why was her email address, at only 17-years-old, her first and last name? 17-year-olds don't use their names like professionals. They call themselves sparklybutterflies86 for christ's sakes! This was all going through my head.
The next day I confronted Bub. I will paraphrase to the best of my memory:
Me: Was M real?
Bub: I thought this had been settled already.
Me: No. No, it hasn't. You told me your brother just did not remember her and that was the last I spoke of it.
Bub: Deadpanned looking me right in the eye "No. She wasn't real. I thought you knew this by now."
I can't really remember what I said at that point, but it was a lot of "how the fuck could you do that? and other expletives. His excuse was he was an insecure teenager, and he was jealous of B and how much I talked about him. A fucking insecure teenager. Talking up his high school crush didn't make me jealous, so he made up a gf.
He pretended to be a gf, who went on to harass the shit out me. Which caused me to be so distraught that I cut myself. He knew I was harming myself and he kept on doing it. I still bare the fucking scar from that time. He involved a poor innocent girl that I was fucking terrible to. Not to mention the fake story of a friend that Od'd. And his excuse for this deranged, diabolical, INSANE fucking shit was, "I was an insecure teenager." No fucking big deal, right?
23 years. Two kids. One alive and one deceased. 23 years of complete and utter psychological annihilation with this man.
If only I had known.
If you have come this far, thank you so much for reading. I left him for good October of last year, and I have never felt more free.

Dealing with the mother in law is hard enough, but can you imagine if you also need to deal with his sisters?
His oldest sister is living next door with her husband and her parent in laws. Her husband has a little bro. According to what she said, the brother is spoiled by the parents and she dislike him. Therefore, her front door uses key because she doesn’t want the brother to come so easily and so often. But our front door uses passcode, and she came over to our house every weekends at that time. She stayed the whole day in our house on weekends.
My husbands father has diabetes and needs kidney dialysis. Most of the time, his second sis is the one who took him to the doctor or hospital. But she needs to work, so my husband also needs to help from time to time. However, whenever they ask the oldest sis to help with the dad, she would say, I am married out already. In my memory, she seldom took the dad to the doctor or the kidney dialysis. I am not good at driving, and was pregnant at that time, I picked his dad up from the hospital once (what is ironic here is that his second sis thought it was their oldest sis picked them up from the hospital even though she is the one also complained the biggest never helped), helped his second sis to send his dad to the kidney dialysis ( because she needs people to help the dad get out or in the car), and helped with translation for his dad’s physical therapy when his second sis was not available. In January of 2021, his dad’s situation is very bad and the nurse asked them to make a decision if the hospital should save his life if ….. the chance is only 50/50, and even though he was saved, he would have to do kidney dialysis for the rest of his life, and he also would have to have his leg amputation. Considering his life quality and the care taking part, his mom and second sis agreed to let him passed away naturally if that really happens. My husband had a hard time making the decisions. The oldest sister kept crying over there, and said we should not give up his life. Suddenly, she turned to me and asked about my opinion. Then I expressed my opinion, if you guys decide to save his life then you guys should share the responsibility of taking care of him and help with doctor visit and kidney dialysis, but you guys also need to think about his life quality and the fact that he would lose his legs. His second sis agreed with what I said, and my husband agreed with his mum and second sis at the end The oldest sis also agreed with then after her husband s persuasion. After his dad passed away, the oldest sis is the one cried the hardest, and the mum told one of their aunt on the phone how sad the oldest daughter is, and asked her not to cry so much, otherwise her health might be affected. Mam, you should show your love and contribute more to your father when he s still alive.
After I had my first kid, especially my relationship with my mother in law was like freezing at that time, my husband and I would go to visit my parents every weekend, one reason is that I could escape that prison like house, the other reason is that my parents could help me with the baby there so that I can rest a little bit. However, I accidentally found out she complained to my husband about me in the message why I always showed them bitchy face at home and why would I go back to my parents house every weekend. But the fact is she came over to our house more often when their dad’s situation was bad. And after the dad passed away, she still came over very often, which lead to her mother in law yelling at her at one time(when her father in law was in hospital because of Covid), saying no daughter in law would go back to her mums house so frequently. She’s lucky to have her husband to back her up by then. And she came over to our house to complained about it, and said I was married to her son but not selling myself to his family. My mother in law told her to keep quiet then the situation would become better.
Talking about the message, how I found out she bitched about me and my family is also very interesting. Thats like when my son was like about 8 months old, my husband told me to let his mum to watch the baby a little bit and would go grocery shopping with me after that meeting. I was waiting for my husband in his office room, and his mom was holding the baby to nap. I left my phone in the living room, so I played with my husband s phone. I accidentally went to the message, and saw that the last msg his oldest sis said is if you go bankrupt don’t expect me to help you. I was wondering what would make her say this. Then I went into their msg. The first time I found out that actually she had so many complaints about my family and me. So my husband got my dad a free tablet through promotion and he shipped it to our house for setup. She saw that package with my dad’s name on it. Second sis said it might be sending here for set up. In the text she told my husband that she wanted to get a tablet and ask for suggestion. My husband asked why would u need that, you don’t use that. Then she said is this your father in law s Xmas gift? My husband explained that’s through a promotion, not he buying it. Then she said, I guess he would not get a Christmas gift since you already got him a house! lol my dad paid half of that retirement house. And because my sis and I could not get a good rate, my husband said he could help, but my sis s side will be responsible for half of the mortgage. My husband s name is also on that title! How come this house would become my dad’s Christmas gift? And in the message, she also said she s not as lucky as me, no need to wash dishes at home. But the fact is I am the one who cooked most in our house and did most of the dish cleaning before my baby came out, I am the one who cleaned the house all the time. I didn’t do so many dishes wash after the baby was born because I needed to take care of the baby and power pump is very exhausting for me at that time. For her, she doesn’t cook much at her house, because either her father in law cook or the parent in laws bring food home when they are off work or her mum would cook and ask the second sis to bring food over! And her parents in laws would clean the whole house every Wednesday at that time! Reading this I felt super angry, my face was burning and my heart was about to jump out of my breast! I directly replied bitch to her! I hung up on her when she called my husband s phone. After my husband finished the meeting , I said, “ u r in trouble now, because I just called your sis bitch!” She called my mother in law saying the brother curse her. And MIL came knocking at the door, disregarding if my husband is still in the meeting or my son was napping in her arm. She asked my husband why cursed his sis! I couldn’t stand any more, then I exploded, and questioned her why every time you defend your daughter no matter shes right or not. Do you know what she said about my parents and me in the message. I also directly called her bitch and claimed that it's her who kicked my mom out of our house when she was here to help me! That became a big arguement and I took my son back to my parents house right after the arguement.
Because of my husband, I tried to fix the relationship after half a year, and we had our own house as well.
However, just two days ago (5/14), his oldest sis called him around 10:30pm using second sis s phone because her husband got her a new phone and would like my husband to set it up for her. Her old phone is still usable, why the new phone must be set up now? And my husband is wondering why she’s not using the her husband’s phone to call but second sister’s phone. My husband went to check and found out she moved into our house, where his mom and second sis are living, with her 18 month son . And He traced that she was living there since 3/16. Not sure about exactly when as the history can only go back to two or three months. My husband and his second sis are the owners, and my husband is helping paying the mortgage ( before we moved out, he is the only one paying the mortgage). Why no one telling us about her move in. And we are sure she has no issue with her husband and parents in law because the husband just bought her the new iPhone and she s living in our house on weekdays, but on weekends she would go back to her own house. How hypocritical it is! When my son was about 8 months old she complained we went back to my parents house every weekend. But now she moved into our house even though her house is next door !!! My husband called the second sis and told her about this, expressed his disappointment about not letting him knowing this, telling her this whole shit is basically slapping my face. And also told them we are going to cancel NC trip. BTW, the oldest sister texted my husband asked him to go back to our house help clean the doggie this week, before the NC trip. Why the heck you live there , eat there, free baby sitter there, you can’t clean the dog with your sister?!!!

Hey everyone,
I joined this subreddit because I haven't been successful finding many resources online that could help me. A little background on me:
I'm 34, turning 35 very soon, and I was diagnosed with ADHD this year. I've been on medication for nearly 2 months which has improved a lot of my symptoms, especially at work. I only was assessed for ADHD because I didn't bring up that I also suspect comorbid Autism. I am still unsure because many of the "common" symptoms are very mild with me. I thought posting here could help me figure out if other diagnosed people have experienced it, or if it has no relation to autism at all. But it's been on my mind for months, there's just a lot that I can't explain with ADHD. I need to mention that I was diagnosed with BPD in the past due to extremely poor emotional regulation, but always felt like it was a misdiagnosis (even my therapist at the time said I barely scored over the required points).
Here's the things I have experienced my whole life (I know some of them are related to ADHD, but this is where the symptoms overlap):
Stimming: I've done it since I can think. As a kid I constantly ran my hands against certain textures I found interesting. I still do it, like when I work on my PC I have to run my fingers across the keys, especially where the keys have bumps, or scroll the wheel on my mouse or run my fingers across the plastic. I also pick the skin of my heel all the time, the rough bits, and sometimes so much that it hurts to walk on it. When I'm out I always have to touch rough surfaces. There's more I'm embarrassed to talk about, but in the past it caused my classmates to make fun out of me because I didn't notice it was out of the norm to do.
Eye contact: Talking to someone and looking them in the eye makes me incredibly uncomfortable and I really have to force myself to do it. When I'm in conversation I usually never directly look at someone's face, it makes me so anxious to do.
Special interests: I had these since I was extremely young and while I know this can also be attributed by ADHD, it is both a hyperfocus for me as well as an extreme hyperfixation. When I'm interested in something it completely absorbs me. I can't stop thinking about it, I have to learn everything I can about it (usually that's where my ADHD kicks in tho, because I get bored very fast and then I move onto the next interest) and, especially in the past, it used to be all I talk about, even to people who are not in the matter. For me it's gone from Disney movies as a child (Disney's Hercules especially, I was nonstop about it), to books, to video games, to anime, you name it. When I'm into it, I am so fixated that everything else is uninteresting. That has gotten better as I got older - I guess I learned to hide it better, or maybe it helps that my partner shares my interests so I don't have to hold back. But also because I have become so non stop exhausted that talking in general is hard these days lol
Things that make me uncomfortable: when I was in my teens, I hated being touched by people and it made me angry when my friends tried to hug me. This has been remarked upon by my friends at the time, after which I tried to mask it better. I am still uncomfortable with hugs at times. I love cuddling my partner and I give my friends or family brief hugs if I know them very very well. If I don't, I still fucking hate hugs. I am, for some reason, especially awkward around my mother. Showing any affection with her is so hard for me and makes me feel extremely bad. I suppose it is because we did have a very difficult past and I had lost trust in her for a long time, so somehow I still cannot associate her as a safe space. But it's so damn hard. Also other people being upset makes me super uncomfortable. I used to not really know how to react, I've taught myself to be better about in the last years, but it is still a very awkward position for me to be in. That said, I definitely feel empathy and sympathy to an extreme degree sometimes. I know when people are mad or upset, sometimes long before they say anything. But that, in my opinion, is a survival mechanism. I had to teach myself to be vigilant to people's emotions due to past trauma.
I also really hate certain textures. Cream or anything oily makes me feel really uncomfortable and I used to not be able to moisturize myself during my younger years because I hated the feeling sooo much. It's better now but I still have to wash my hands immediately if I touch something oily lol
Food wise I'm okay. Textures don't bother me and I can eat almost everything (apart from peppers and spicy food). But I did cause some big scenes in the past when my mum and brother tried to get me to eat something spicy lol
Speaking of outbursts, here we come to why I was diagnosed with BPD before.
It is a LOT better now (unless something really triggers me) but I had the worst emotional regulation for the longest time. Stuff that threw me off was often:
Being made to do something I didn't want to do. Having a plan in my head that I wanted to do and then being told no or something getting in the way/plans falling apart, even if the plan was only in my head. Being slighted. People acting different towards me than they did before. Injustice, personal or at work. Drastic changes with my work routine and not being told early enough. Very loud noises or music. Rejection
I had an incredibly difficult relationship with my mother for the longest time due to my outbursts. My impulsivity definitely has played a major factor here, but also it always was so hard to feel understood. I was told all my life to act and behave a certain way, if I didn't I was in trouble. I was always the odd one out, especially at school, but also within my family, which is why I cut off contact with everyone but my mum and my brother.
It is hard to make friendships because masking is hard and I usually spend so much energy doing it at work that my social life is barely existent. My boyfriend always jokes about me taking things very literally because I can't figure out he's being sarcastic and this has become an inside joke between us.
But there are things that I do that argue against autism. Here is where I'd like some insight from others. I can be pretty spontaneous - however, if I think about it, even my "spontaneous" trips have at least a little mental preparation behind it. I don't have difficulties figuring out how a person feels by their body language, tone or expression. I am quite quick to spot how a person is feeling. I can do small talk (although it literally has no meaning to me, I just do it to have some social contact from time to time). I like routine but due to ADHD I am used to not having one. But I like to do things a certain way I guess and I have a hard, hard time breaking out of that way, or thinking out of the box. I just am unsure if that ticks the list or not because I don't get too upset if I have to do something differently.
Sorry, this got longer than expected. But any insight or your personal stories are extremely appreciated!

Venting here because I don't know anywhere else others would be able to understand / empathize. I Would love to know how other preemie parents whose babies are now toddler+ feel about it all?
My son was born extremely premature at 27+1.
We have been very diligent in going to his post-NICU follow-ups with the developmental pediatrician every 6 months. Our NICU follow-up program actually allows us to be seen with them until our child is 5 years old, if needed. But most stop at around 2 unless needed.
A couple days ago was his 2-year visit. Because he turned 24 months a week and a half ago, they are now assessing him as a 24-month old... which, okay, I was always told that at 2, they no longer do corrected age for developmental things. As both my first child and first preemie child, I didn't really understand the implications until now that we're here.
A 21-month old is still so very different from a 24-month old. Why is a 21mo corrected age toddler being held to the same standards as a 24mo toddler? There is SO MUCH DEVELOPMENT that can happen in 3 months?! I know there eventually has to be a cut-off age, but... I feel like it should be a scale?
(I don't know where, but I read a 'theory' of multiplying weeks born early by 10 and that being the cut-off point. For example, a 27-weeker is born 13 weeks early, so it could take 130 weeks (2 years 6 months) to catch up developmentally. I don't know how scientific that was, but it sure makes more sense than randomly at 24 months for ALL preemies.)
The doctor did a Bayley4 assessment, and of course it all comes back as him having a bunch of developmental delays because he is considered 24 months old now. But the results pretty much all show him as average for his corrected age of 21 months old.

Bayley 4 Scale 4th Edition:
Cognitive: AE 24 months
Receptive Communication: AE 21 months
Expressive communication: AE 21 months
Fine Motor: AE 22 months
Gross Motor: AE 20 months

Anyway, now my kid is now being monitored for autism, even though he is developing at a typical pace for his corrected age.
I just really don't want another thing to worry about.
Thanks for attending my TED Talk.

TLDR: I wanted to become something else but ended studying for teaching in kindergarten but can't give up for multiple reasons. Yet I want to pursue my dream still. How do i move on from here ?
Hello there. i'm on my first year of studying for a kindergarten teacher degree. A lil' backstory. I've through hell and back and managed to pass my country's big exams to get accepted into a public uni. I wanted to go to something illustration related, like graphic design (animation, concept arts etc), but because the only public one (not a rich family oriented person, i work to support us) is two hours away, rent is expensive and student residences provided from the university are hard to get (appliction forms fill immediately), i randomly chose some places and got accepted as a kindergarten teacher (basically the system here is studying some classes more advanced than the others , separated in branches and i picked the art one so had few choices). At first i was happy i got accepted. But then other stuff started getting into my head. One relative answered : " i thought you were stubborn and would fight more to get were you wanted" and other stuff. My experience doing the first microteaching was awfull due to lack of preparation (not in front of kids, fellow students THANK GOD) and i've been having these instances of getting pessimistic and wanting to give up. But here's the thing, i can't. It's my family's pressure and i don't want to go through hell again and possibly damage my future. Yes there is the possibility of keeping it as a hobby, but being a teacher is time consuming and i maybe won't have the time to do so. I want to go big with the illustration stuff so i don't know how this is going to happen. I want to do something like a comic/manga or do the concept art of something and maybe expand from there in other stuff. I have a life in front of me, again i know, but i'm scared and don't want to not waste my youth on my dream but do so in teaching (if that makes sense). I like kids in general but i'm a bit introverted so idk how this is going to work. Can someone help me swallow my pride/delusion/whatever and deal with it and cope ? Or at least some tips...?
If any mistakes in grammar and or spelling happened, i apologise as English is not my first language
Thanks, Those who had succeeded in becoming true kindergarten teachers You deserve everything

First off, congrats to everyone for the past application cycle! No matter what your outcome was, it's a big accomplishment to have gone through the whole process. I'm a non-trad who was accepted to Queen's this year, on my 2nd application cycle. I will be 27 when I start this Fall. It feels surreal and I always told myself I'd write a post about my journey if this day ever came - and here we are.
I didn't decide to apply to med school until after I finished undergrad, and while doing my research, I always wished I could read/hear perspectives from others with my background. Even though everybody's path will be different, I hope that my story can provide some insight (or even hope) for other non-trad applicants out there.
Before we start, here are my stats because that's important:

• cGPA, OMSAS: 3.53
• wGPA, UBC: ~85%
• MCAT: 515 (127/129/130/129)
• Casper: 4th
• IP: BC and ON

I'll go in chronological order, briefly describing some of the major events that led me to today, starting from high school. Please ask me any questions in the comments - (almost) nothing is off limits :)
TLDR: I was a software engineer who quit after a year to go to grad school and pursue medicine. It took me 4 years from when I decided to pursue this to getting accepted at a Canadian school. I did a Masters in stats and applied 2 times. My biggest takeaway is to do a lot of what you are passionate about, do it well, and take it far (for me, that was teaching and research).
Some demographics:

• My parents and I immigrated to Canada from Asia when I was 3
• I grew up in the GTA and did undergrad in Ontario
• I'm the first person in my family to pursue med school. My immediate family and I are the only people in our whole family who live outside of Asia, and nobody in my parents' network of family friends is in healthcare either.

High school, 2011-2015: I was always interested in medicine as a kid, but math was always my favourite subject. I applied to several science and math programs, and was choosing between Western Med Sci and Waterloo Math. I did not apply to Mac Health Sci and looking back, I'm not sure why (perhaps a sign that I didn't believe in myself). I ended up choosing Waterloo Math and giving up on the medical school route in grade 12, for a few reasons: the math program had 6 co-op terms, meaning I'd graduate with 2 full-time years of job experience, and I wasn't particularly good at biology and didn't have strong reasons for pursuing medicine back then. Med school also seemed like an impossible goal, especially since I didn't have any mentors in the field.
Undergrad, 2015-2020: This was honestly a fun time for me. I double-majored in stats and CS and I did 6 co-ops, 5 of which were in software engineering roles. I had originally planned to do actuarial science, but quickly saw the earning potential in the tech industry and made it my goal to get a job at a big tech company. A lot of personal stuff happened during this time as well that affirmed my decision pursue a software engineering career. One part of it was that I didn't want my parents to worry about me, and being able to show them that I was able to do well for myself in tech felt really good.
Halfway through my co-ops, I realized that I wasn't feeling the most fulfilled in software roles, but management roles also didn't appeal to me. I didn't really take the time to fully explore this feeling, and it was easy to put it away in light of the high income and getting to live in big cities for internships. Still, I did well in my co-ops and built up my software skills. After realizing that "grades don't matter for getting tech jobs", I let my grades slip. It wasn't until 4th year that I decided I wanted to keep the door open for grad school, and starting taking classes I liked and getting better grades. I graduated with an 82% average, with my grades all over the place (which I'd later learn was bad for calculating my OMSAS gpa lol).
Throughout undergrad, I still wanted to be involved in clubs and stuff, so here's a list of all my undergrad ECs. All these were only 4-8 months long.

• 1st year: I was a member and president of my first year residence council
• 2nd year: I was in a leadership position at the statistics club
• 3rd year: I was an event coordinator for co-op students in a city away from home
• also 3rd year: I was part of a club that builds software for non-profits

Another activity from undergrad that made it onto my application was a research project I did at one of my co-ops. It was in NLP and I worked on it even after finishing that coop term. It ended up taking 4 years to get published.
Full-time software engineering, 2020-2021: I signed a return offer from one of my co-ops, and had planned to move to Seattle in the summer after graduating to start working. But Covid changed all that. I moved back home with my parents in the GTA and worked at my software job remotely for the full year.
It was during this year that I was really feeling unfulfilled in my job, and did a lot of thinking about how I wanted my career to look. I started to remember that med school was something that I once wanted to do, and I also started reading/watching a lot of content from people in medicine with non-traditional backgrounds. My partner, who is also from Ontario, was accepted to an international med school, and many of our friends were also getting into schools in Canada around the same time, so this reaffirmed to me that it was actually possible. While working for the year, I made a plan to apply to grad school (academia would be my back-up) and take the MCAT. Here's what my 2020-2021 looked like:

• July: started full-time work
• December-January: wrote personal statements and applied to 5 Masters programs in biostatistics
• February-April: acceptances to Masters programs came in, and I was studying for the MCAT
• June: took the MCAT, scored 508, and told my manager that I'd be leaving by August to start grad school

During this year, I also wrote out a 3-year plan that included my masters and 2 application cycles. I wrote out what courses I would take to fulfill prereqs, which schools I would apply to each year, and what my back-up plan would be. I think this was important to do rigorously since it gave me a clear idea of which schools I was eligible for, and how much work it would take me to become eligible for the rest of them.
I will also add that this is a rather objective recount of my process that year. In reality, I completely recognized how insane it was to quit my job to go to grad school, and I'm super lucky that I was able to.
Grad school, 2021-2023: I moved to BC to start my Masters in statistics in August. This choice was partly to gain IP status in BC, but mostly, this was really the best program for me out of the schools I applied to. Even looking back now, I would have chosen this program even without the IP consideration.
Here's a breakdown of everything I did during the first year of my Masters:

• Started a new volunteering role (tutoring) right away. Still doing this today, almost 3 years later.
• Took a first year English class to fulfill the UBC requirement. Side note: it felt very odd being a 25-year-old in a class of 18-year-olds, but I did well in both classes probably because of being older. At first, I dreaded taking these classes since English was never my strong suit. But being older meant that I allowed myself to be truly curious about the topics being taught, and I treated it more as an experience to learn more about the world than to just check off some boxes.
• Took the MCAT again, at the end of my first year of MSc. I had already confirmed a supervisor by then, and thankfully she is/was incredibly supportive of my goals. I took it in June 2022 and got 515.
• TA'd stats courses throughout the year
• Started working on my thesis research with my supervisor

First application, 2022: I applied only to UBC for my first application cycle. In retrospect, I should have just applied broadly right away, but I didn't feel like I had enough references built up by then. And UBC doesn't require references unless you get an interview. I honestly had very high hopes of getting an interview this year, and was crushed to receive a rejection in December with an NAQ of 50-75. I thought that my application was unique, but upon reflection, I realized that the lack of volunteering and community service was a big gap in my application.
So here's a breakdown of everything I did in my second year of my Masters and beyond:

• TA'd stats courses throughout the year, and was the head TA for one of them (I think this showed leadership and commitment to teaching)
• Started another volunteering role at the food bank
• Took another first-year English course
• Continued my research with my supervisor
• Got offered (and started) a lecturer role for an undergrad course at the university, which was such an amazing opportunity. My supervisor helped me a lot with getting this position, since I TA'd for her one semester and she recommended me to the department. This was a class of 150, and I was also in charge of a few TAs. I ended up teaching this class 2 more times after this!
• Finished my Masters in August 2023
• Started working full-time as a biostatistician in September 2023
• A first-author paper I started working on during undergrad was accepted in Fall 2023. I had been working on this on-and-off for the past 4 years so it was incredible for the work to finally pay off!

Second application, 2023: This time, I applied to UBC and every school in Ontario that I was eligible for: Queen's and Mac. I was rejected by UBC pre-interview again. Same NAQ, and my total score didn't change. I was totally crushed and thought it was over for this year. I was very honest with myself about the Ontario applications - Mac was a total throwaway application and Queen's felt like a complete gamble. I was rejected from Mac pre-interview but one fateful day in January, I received an email from Queen's. It had a very generic "Application Status" subject line and I opened it fully expecting a rejection. I was totally shocked when it said I was invited for the MMI! And a few months later, I was also invited to the Panel.
Some of my thoughts and preparation for the interviews:
MMI - Aside from the usual resources that are posted here, I also took advantage of the following:

• Support system: I had a lot of support from my partner, who had gone through MMIs from non-Canadian schools, and many of my friends who were already in med school.
• Resources: I paid for a prep session on AcceptedTogether and had a positive experience there. I also used the BrightStudent question bank and although the questions were good, the explanations and overall experience were mid. But their YouTube video was extremely useful.
• Mindset: Throughout my whole MMI prep, I was honestly very interested in exploring each prompt, and I think this mindset was extremely beneficial for making my answers both unique and genuine. During my Masters, I also took a class that covered topics in social determinants of health, and I semi-regularly enjoy reading about current events in this area, so both of those pieces of background were super helpful for me.

Panel - I was so happy to receive a panel interview, and knew that I could not mess this up. I prepped with a few different friends of mine who were in med school, and another friend who was going through Ontario interviews too. Going in, I felt very prepared, and in the days leading up to it, I even felt like my answers were on autopilot and a bit over-prepared. So I really tried to relax and "be myself"/answer genuinely during the panel. The real panel felt quite cold - I didn't get any feedback from my interviewers, and was a bit thrown off by some of the questions. I was also cut off by the Kira Talent timer at the end, and didn't get to say goodbye or thank you. For the rest of the day, I ruminated on all my answers. The content of my answers felt somewhere between "why would I say that" and "just fine" and "great", but I was definitely feeling a bit bad about the whole experience.
Decision Week, 2024: That brings us to this week! In the week leading up to the decision, I flip flopped between "My panel hated me, there's no way I passed the vibe check" and "My answers were good, my MMI felt good, why wouldn't they accept me". I opened the email at 6am (Pacific time) with zero expectations - I truly had no idea what was waiting for me on the other side. The first word was "Congratulations!" and I didn't read much farther than that before I started celebrating :)
So that's it. I told a lot of people I work with, my Masters supervisor, my parents, and my friends, and it felt amazing to deliver this good news. My closing thoughts about my whole journey are that even though I do think my application was great, I still got incredibly lucky. At any point in the process, I could have gotten an undesirable outcome, and there was nothing I could do to control that (other than my efforts prior). I also relied a lot on my support system, and was so lucky to have had + made friends who are in med school or were practising already.
I just feel so grateful to be starting this Fall, and I'm happy to say that my high school self would be in absolute disbelief if she could see where I am today. That statement is a sign to me that I'm on the right path, and I'm just so excited to be starting this long, hard career that is medicine.
If you've made it to the end, thank you for reading!! If you can relate to any part of my journey and have questions, please send me a comment or DM - my inbox is always open.

I want to make another Haise Sasaki appreciate post. I still see fans hating on Haise and calling him boring when he's one of the saddest versions of Kaneki. Haise is everything that Kaneki wanted when he was human. kids, a job, parental figures, and living a normal life. He can even crake those dad like jokes and some people get it and some don't, he can go back to being a huge dork/nerd like he was at the start before he spoke to Rize. He's able to try and pretend that everything he went through didn't happen at all allowing for a temporary happiness. However the saddest part is that Kaneki knows that this facade as Haise is going to end at one point. He wanted to live that life so bad but in the back of head (quite literally) is the constant reminder that he is a ghoul and can't get rid of that no matter how hard he tries in whatever life he lives. Even the panel when he states he's super happy he's lying to everyone and himself because time is running out and he knows it. On top of that Haise is actually the strongest version if I remember correctly. On top of being an actual half ghoul and not a hybrid he's trained by Arima himself making him extremely trained and good at combat. Then ontop of that Eto and Arima had planned on bring Kaneki back setting him up for happiness that was bound to end tragically like his past life that sent him spiraling into depression and anger. While the ghouls who know that Haise is Kaneki were willing to back off and allow for him to live that life if it meant he was happier than when he was a ghoul and with them. Which is the most beautiful part of Touka's development. It's sad how certain fans only appreciate Tokyo ghoul when it's dark and edgy but rather for the beautiful writing that Ishida put into the story and each version of Kaneki that is presented to us.

(spoilers for the entire movie)
In another universe, Sicario is a movie that begins with Benicio Del Toro's character's wife and daughter being murdered by a rival cartel, proceeds with him striking a deal with the CIA and Josh Brolin's character, capturing Guillermo, and ultimately hunting down the two jefes in a bittersweet ending. Emily Blunt's character would have been a minor antagonist presented as a naive government agent that gets in the way of real justice carried out by our beloved anti-hero Alejandro.
It would have been a standard Hollywood revenge story, but by swapping the main character to Kate it tells a much deeper story. Sicario is ultimately a meditation on power: the overwhelming power of systems and what it's like to come to terms with your powerlessness as an individual in the face of these systems. The reframing of the story to be from Kate's perspective rather than Alejandro's perspective brings to the forefront the contradiction between the average Hollywood film's message of "a single badass hero can change the course of history" and the reality we all deal with every day, of "every choice you make exists in the shadow of unimaginably powerful systems, there is no escape from this fact."
The movie makes me reflect on how our lives are controlled by invisible yet giant mega-structures beyond our comprehension and how we barely understand our own emotions and our own bodies, yet in the middle lies us: a helpless consciousness that needs to make decisions anyway in the face of this infinite complexity and extremely limited knowledge.
Your own life is a game of chess. It's basically impossible for you to know if any move you make gets you closer to winning or losing, yet move you must.
Some miscellaneous observations:

• Kate is brave, competent, and genuinely wants to make a difference yet she's ultimately a pawn in a massive game being played at the nation-state level. She's also completely expendable. If she had died at the border crossing when her assassin hit his shot, she could simply be swapped out for her partner. The meeting at the office where Josh Brolin's character is evaluating her and Daniel Kaluuya's character shows this: the CIA is free to pick the most convenient pawn for the situation. It means nothing to them but means everything to our heroes.
  
• Everyone passes the buck. Alejandro tells Kate he merely does what the CIA tells him to. Josh Brolin, a stand-in for the CIA, says he's only doing what he's directed to do by elected officials. Elected officials would say their direction is based off what the public wants. What the public wants is dictated by the media, and the media would say they're just giving the public what they want. Within this calcified system, the individuals that appear to have the most agency are the ones that accept their lack of choice. Alejandro knows he's a pawn for the CIA's ambition to prop up a cartel they control, but he makes the most of being a pawn.
  
• I really liked the detail of the inside jokes and casual banter between Josh Brolin (Matt) and the military guys. If Matt or Alejandro were the main characters, these jokes might just be funny but since we follow along with Kate we get the sense that we're walking in on a story that's been going on for years and we feel like a mere side character.
  
• Silvio, a Mexican cop who works for the cartel, is the perfect distillation of a pawn. His choices start and end within the confines of his own home: go to his kid's soccer game or sleep in, coffee for breakfast or liquor. If he doesn't do what the cartel says he dies. At one point he's literally moved forward as a pawn by Alejandro and sacrificed in Alejandro's chess game to get Diaz (the queen), and ultimately Fausto (the king).
  
• Silvio is a cautionary tale to the viewer of what happens when you give up completely in the face of systems more powerful than you: he was a letdown as father and husband. He was an alcoholic that didn't even know his son's greatest passion was football and wanted to sleep in instead of helping him attend his game, which reminds us that even when we're helpless to change society we can still make choices that have positive outcomes for our immediate surroundings. Silvio redeems himself by following along with Alejandro's orders, who tells him "Everything you do now you do for your family" and we see Silvio's sacrifice make a difference for them as they are still alive at the end of the film.
  
• At the end of the film Kate is faced with the "choice" of signing off on the cartel job at gunpoint. She signs it understanding that not signing it would align with her principles but just pass the buck to some other helpless agent, likely Daniel Kaluuya's character. She learns that acting against her principles makes sense in some cases, likely sending her down the same path that Josh Brolin's character went down: once someone who believed in abiding one's principles but worn down by reality over the years.
  
• Kate is also faced with the choice of killing Alejandro. She chooses not to: both of them understand, after everything that's happened, that the choice makes literally no difference to the massive war being fought. She realizes that, at least some of the time, she can act according to her principles, and she chooses her principles. In the chess game of life the pieces aren't just pieces: they're the people and values we hold dear. And sometimes it makes sense to sacrifice them, but how can we ever know it's the right thing to do? This is the absurd joke of life.
  

Now I’m a bit biased as R&C was my first ever set of games, but having replayed the earlier games recently, I was astounded at how well they held up, even over two decades after launch.
The first game, despite being criticised for its bare bones mechanics compared to later games, took the platformer genre to a different level compared to Spyro and Crash etc. The presentation was incredible for an early PS2 title, with almost 20 unique worlds and graphics that are still decent even by today’s standards.
The worlds had branching paths incentivising a semi-open world vibe, with a sense of mystery into exploring those paths that often govern what makes a good open world title even today. One path may lead to a dead end due to you missing a gadget you require on the secondary path of another planet, and so forth. Backtracking can be a chore if it’s not done well but I think R&C struck the best balance of not hand holding you/telling you exactly where to go while also not leaving the player stuck, rather creating a thought-provoking feeling of “right, where do I need to go” and incentivising exploration in the brilliantly crafted biomes of each planet.
The story and humour still bang to this day, creating cool spins on accurate parallels between today’s society and the R&C universe, referencing themes like corporate greed and capitalism and so forth. Not to mention that all of the characters; Ratchet, Qwark, Clank, and so forth, all had very fleshed out motivations, rather than the cartoonishly evil antagonists we got in other platformers for the time.
I also didn’t dislike the mechanics; the lack of strafing and brutal economy system actually served as an additional element of difficulty rather than “jank”, you really had to prepare your strategy for fights rather than the later games where you can just go in guns blazing to most fights. The platforming challenges were also brutally hard and complex. I’m a pretty seasoned gamer and found most of the later games a cakewalk, but I died so many times in the first game, and it was my own fault. Overall I was expecting the first game to feel completely outdated but for a game released in 2002 it had me more invested in the mechanics than a lot of the bigger, badder, RPGs we get these days.
Then only a year later we get Going Commando, pretty much transformed the mechanical experience. Loads of RPG-lite systems like experience points and weapon upgrades based on usage, ship and arena combat, spherical moons (which are baffling to think about in 2003), and much more polished combat mechanics. I know R&C was a main priority for Insomniac back then, and development time/cost wasn’t as significant as it is nowadays, but it does astound me how they managed to take the game that much farther in the space of only 10 months’ development. Especially as they clearly listened to all of the gripes people had with the first game.
Up Your Arsenal obviously streamlined the formula away from platforming into being more combat-focussed to keep up with the trends of the mid-2000s, and while I did miss the exploration aspect of things, they doubled down on what made Going Commando’s combat so smooth. More weapon upgrades incentivising you to experiment and change up your playstyle more, more arena challenges, and the narrative still adhered to the theme of mirroring real life situations but in a more sci-fi and humorous manner that never failed to make me laugh.
Overall the original R&C trilogy are unique to me in the sense that they’re both fun to play as a kid, but replaying the games when older you have a completely different perspective as there’s so much mechanical and narrative depth that I missed as a child that I can appreciate now. Antagonists’ motivations, mature jokes that went over my head previously, how each subsequent game was iterated upon to drive a stronger gameplay loop, and so forth.
It’s no wonder that the formula hasn’t really been changed even for the newer games, barring stuff that wasn’t possible on earlier-gen hardware like the rift mechanics in Rift Apart. I still like (most) of the newer games, and in many ways they’re more polished and so forth, but the Pixar-esque hero story vibe and the more linear approach with fewer and less explorable biomes doesn’t do it for me as much.

I've been used to a very reliable '96 Honda Civic DX, and have loved not having to dote on it too much over the years, or at least since it got dinged up enough for me to stop caring, and it hasn't even hit 120k on the odometer. But, the latest quote on some repairs is hitting a mark that makes me think it's time to get something else (along with the fact that more repairs will be required down the line, surely).
I've been looking heavily at used Chevy Volt's to try to take advantage of the $4k tax credit and because my needs fit within its electric range, but it's a discontinued vehicle and I've read maybe a few too many stories about folks having difficulties with repairs and folks being worried about sourcing parts in the years to come, so I almost feel like I'm back to square one.
While I chew the cud on the Volt, I'm wondering what folks might recommend to me.
It would be used either exclusively for in-town driving or something that could still range a bit (as a bonus). I'd like something that's half-fun to drive, solid stereo (though I've been fine w/ the factory system in the Honda for a dozen years lol an upgrade would be nice), hybrid or PHEV (but maybe I'm ready to give up on this given how pricey a used Prius goes for currently), smallish (think Civic, Corolla, Cruze, Impreza hatchback, Mazda3 hatchback, etc.), and something that I could drive for 8-10 years without worrying about high repair costs for rare parts. It doesn't need to have all the bells & whistles. No kids to cart around so it could even be a coupe, no issues. I'd almost prefer it not to be too modern and still include a CD deck, but maybe I need to be more forward thinking. I wouldn't mind having automatic windows though lol.
I'm not a car guy, wish I were, and also wish I had piles of cash to try out driving some of the gorgeous vehicles that exist, but nope, not in this lifetime I don't think. If you have any helpful thoughts, I'd be grateful.

I get being an adult and falling down the rabbit hole of finding someone or something to blame for your lack of success, I’m not saying I agree, but I could see how someone laches on to something like that to make one feel better even if it’s whacked out conspiracies or groups of people to point out as the reason you are not a millionaire.
My question is, with their kids. They are stunting them from the get go, filling their heads with crap from day one. Sadly they don’t know any better and the hate train pulls out of the station very early in life.