Erica @ Acire Adventures's Profile

Wow! It definitely is one of those topics that gets people going, but everyone is different in this situation. It surprised me how many people said "in marriage all income is OUR income"! That's a very different way of looking at it than I would have, but obviously life experiences play a big part in this. At the end of the day, it's about a couple (or family) being happy. You work out what makes everyone happy and call it even for now. If somebody changes their mind in the future, you talk about it again. And learn to forget it. If your biggest issue is who pays what percentage of the mortgage, or if the house is always spotless, then you're very lucky. It's a privilege to have the time and energy to think about such issues instead of say, survival

I think making edible art supplies is totally ridiculous. It's great to make all children's items so harmless that they could be eaten without causing any problems, but I don't like that they're advertised as edible. What happens when you send your child to daycare, preschool, kindergarten, or a friend's house where the art supplies are not edible? Your child will start munching on chalk, playdough, and paint that is not intended for eating. Gross! Way to make things even more confusing for them... (eating chalk at home is ok, but eating chalk at preschool is not ok?) If your child needs to eat something so badly, give them a snack before art time. I also think that encouraging your child to put so many things in their mouth could put them at a higher risk of choking.

Yep, pretty much the best excuse ever. I have used it to skip classes without losing out on participation marks... Professors who are crazy enough to mark you based on attendance to low level arts classes are way more willing to let it slide if your child is sick then if you have a cold, have a car that won't start, or forgot to switch your alarm clock over for daylight savings time. :)

And it also works well for staying home when I don't want to go out. Nobody can be mad at a poor student when they have nobody but a babysitter (who demands a minimum of $10/hr) to watch their kid (for an hour then use your cable tv for the other 3) and don't really want to fork over the cash for that!

Haha, krgr1428 is right, people love to hate Barbie. And then they buy her anyways. She is too skinny, has ginormous breasts, exaggerated facial features, and on and on. She doesn't wear a bra either. There's a million things to critique.

I think the tattoos are awesome, but then again, I have a bunch. I'm sure the parents that are pissed off about this barbie are those who don't and won't ever have tattoos.

Honestly, I LOVED Barbie as a child. However, I never thought about her features. I didn't grow up and think I needed to wear bright pink all the time, have blonde hair, or whatever. And any self-image issues I have had weren't because of my Barbies, they were because of the images plastered all over my world as I grew older and started to actually internalize the messages out there. And I have never seen Barbie with tattoos before, but I still have tattoos. I think people need to stop thinking that whatever Barbie does is what their little girl will do as soon as she turns 18.

People have minds of their own and parents should realize that the messages they send their children are far more important than Barbies. And if you don't like the message Barbie sends, don't buy them for your child.

I just have a cheap, open top laundry basket in our closet. It's easy to just toss things in and doesn't take up much space. When my son was smaller, I sewed a simple laundry bag that tied onto the side of the change table. I would just untied the bag and dump all the clothes and then the bag into the wash. Now we all just share one.

I like Mommy Montessori's comment (as well as many others). Parents can make decisions for themselves. We used bumpers and loved them, but I totally respect anyone who doesn't want to. However, the point is that we can all choose for ourselves. If bumpers were killing many of the kids who used them, they would already be banned.

Never watched it, but it sounds horrifying. I try not to judge things like this, because it is really not my place to do so. The big thing is, as you said, that the parents often seem completely wrapped up in the event and not the child. The excessive materiality is scary to me because we can all guess at the sort of life lessons the kids are taking away from such demonstrations. However, it's Reality TV. And reality TV is not reality at all. It's real people with cameras glaring at them, causing them to act out of character on film. THEN, said film is edited by detached professionals who pick and choose the most controversial, dramatic elements and paste them all together to create a completely inaccurate collage. When will TLC just give it up?

Fabulous idea, lurker2209!

We got the ikea ones, I love that they are cute, colourful and unbreakable.

Yep, this is awesome inspiration! And that's about all because those price tags are WAY out of my league. :)