It's quite common in Europe to allow your teen to have a Christmas drink (despite being underage). My 14 year old son wants to try a beer this year and I am digging my feet in against it...What are your thoughts and experiences? Will it make him binge drink when he hits 18 if I ban it?
** This is BestofRedditorUpdates. I am not the OP. This is a repost. Original by u/CapnDonkey **
This had been posted on this sub before, but not with all of the updates.
Original (Nov 2019)
AITA if I "cancel" Christmas because I can't afford it this year?
Title says it all, sole provider for family, all credit cards maxed, negative bank balance, upcoming missed payments until my next check, basically destitute for the foreseeable future. My wife and I usually decorate on Black Friday, but this year I don't want to. The thought of putting up our fake tree knowing I'll have nothing to put under it fills me with such a mix of shame, anger, and pain. I would prefer to just let December pass and cut out as many things as I can until I can get my finances under control. Plus, my daughter is 2. She won't know, care, or even remember one missed Christmas. So, AITA? I'm already a failure as a husband and father, so what say you here?
Judgment: YTA
>A very gentle YTA
>
>Decorating with stuff you have wont cost anything but will make your wife happy. Christmas isnt about presents under the tree. Its the memories you make around that tree with people you love. Let her decorate if she wants to.
>
>Youre also an asshole to yourself in this post. Listen. Debt cripples people. It crushes them and spits them out so it has room to gobble up another guy. You arent a failure. You gotta be nicer to yourself man. Good luck.
Updates added to the post:
THIS HAS SPUN OUT OF CONTROL! I never thought my sad man pity party would get this kind of response. I was expecting to be called an asshole, validate my self loathing, and claw my way out of debt by working harder. I did not expect the absolute torrent of love and support that I in no way deserve or can accept.
INFO (And I am so sorry for not making this crystal clear in the original post): Our mortgage and utilities are paid. There is food in our fridge and my next paycheck(s) is secure, even though it, too, will all go to bills with none left over for gifts. I pretended not to notice that we weren't keeping up our pre-child lifestyle without credit cards and I got in over my head and now have to dig myself out of a relatively deep hole meaning I won't have money for gifts and meals out and holiday gatherings and whatnot for a good bit of time to come. But, I have a gre
... keep reading on reddit ➡Edit: contest closed!! I gifted one person yesterday and plan to gift 1-2 more people something small within the next day or two. Surgery was this morning and was more difficult than expected so I’m pretty swollen and in a decent amount of pain. Thank you for all the well wishes!! 💕
Hey everyone! Finals week is over, I made it home safely to my family, and now it's time for me to prep for some wisdom teeth removal on Monday. Two of them are impacted pretty good into my jaw, so it's definitely going to be a great time.
Soooo in honor of SciB losing her wisdom, I'm going to gift some of you wonderful humans! I want you to tell me what your favorite thing to do/eat/drink/use when you aren't feeling well is. Whether you love your fuzzy socks or ramen or Netflix, I want to hear about it!
Rules:
- Use under the weather for the randomizer
- DBA Grinchy grinch
- Tag a friend (or two or seven!)
- Be in the US (sorry intl friends)
- Chat with others! Make some new friends, maybe get some ideas on what to do next time you're under the weather.
Will end sometime between Monday 12/13 at noon EST and Wednesday 12/15 at noon EST. Whenever I'm feeling decent enough to shop. Not sure how many winners there will be or how much the gift will be worth, it just depends!!
I thought this might be funny to share. I dreamed I was on a tropical island in this huge Tiki hut. The bartender was Mick Jagger but he looked like Jim Carrey as the Grinch. Evidently, the apes took over the planet. He was bitching that ever since, "those damn dirty apes" don't drink! I tried to order some kind of tropical drink - a flaming something? but it kept coming out wrong or it was missing ingredients.
My brain is having a fit without the drink.
After reading through profiles and saying to myself "haven't I read some version of this prompt before", I decided to put this to the test and record down the prompts of the next 100 users that showed up. I sorted their prompt responses into different categories and then consolidated similar prompt responses.
Was this a good use of my time? No
Is this meant to be some sort of attack on women and their prompt responses? No, please keep that out of the comments. I am sure that men probably have very similar prompts.
Was there some prompts that didn't make this list? Many including various genuinely great prompts that were unique enough to not be repeated.
Population: 100 Women between the ages of 22-27 within 5 miles of downtown Toronto so obviously a truly diverse and representative look at women around the world /s. (I'm pretty sure I lost count midway through so this is likely more than 100 users)
My internal rules:
- If a prompt consisted of more than one category in a single prompt (i.e. my simple pleasures are coffee and dessert) then I included the prompt in both the coffee and dessert section.
- If someone included coffee in two of their prompts it would count towards coffee twice.
- I grouped similar prompts together to keep things simple.
- I eliminated all results only used once.
The Results (Grouped by Category)
Food / Drink:
Non Wine Alcohol - i.e. Cocktails, Mimosas, Tequila (18 Times), Food - Non Specific (14), Wine (8), Dessert (7), Coffee (6), Ice Cream (4), Pizza (4), Brunch (3), Chicken Nuggets (3), Tacos (3), Milk (3 - wtf), Water (3), Hot Sauce (3), Oysters (2), Ketchup (2), Bagels (2), 15 other foods (1 each)
Entertainment / Activities:
Vacations (12), Music (11), Movies (5), Live Concerts (5), Napping (4), The Grinch (4 - weirdly specific), Euchre (4), Netflix (3), Cuddles (3), Blacking Out at the Bar (3), Skydiving (3), IKEA - Furniture + Building + Food (3), Golf (3), Snowboarding (2), Harry Potter (2), Gym (2), Costco (2), Reading (2), Baking (2), Yoga (2)
Qualities Desired/Held:
Sense of Humour/Laughing/Being Funny (11), Spontaneous / Not Taking Life Seriously (4), Dancer at Club (4), Attracted to Elbows (3), Fast Walker (3), Being Genuine (2), Being Adventurous (2), Life of the Party (2), Good Vibes (2), Ambitious (2)
Animals:
Dogs (12), Cats (2)
Other (Useless imo) Prompts:
Flats vs Drumsticks (5), Looking for a double date (5), Eating Your Fries When I Say
Do your worst!
A few months ago I posted about how my partner's parents are refusing to come to the wedding. Long story short, we had to postpone. But that's not the story.
Partner's parents have been incredibly withdrawn. Since the summer they have refused to call their daughter, even to thank her for the birthday gift she sent her dad. Thanksgiving didn't even elicit a social media or email note. But last week she got a present from her parents in the mail. We opened it yesterday instead of Christmas and it was full of the most impersonal things you could find; they even got me alcohol-related stuff and they know I don't drink.
A later conversation with grandma got us the following information; they refuse to go anywhere where they know they will be in close contact with vaccinated people, apparently. And that includes the grandma. They basically came to her house, exchanged presents, and then hustled off immediately. They think they will either get unwillingly vaccinated or will get the side effects of vaccination/infection (whatever the fuck the conspiracy is) from being around the other.
We have known the parents have slipped mentally since Biden was elected. We suspect they were disappointed with the outcome of January 6th. We know these people have lived through every other vaccine they have ever received.
But this situation? My partner feels like her parents are lost, and will never come back.
At least we know that even if we had NOT required the vaccine for the wedding, they likely would not have shown up anyway, if only because they would have been completely surrounded by responsibly vaccinated people.
Other than this situation, Christmas was good. I made sure to dial back my grinch-ness to make sure she had the best time possible.
She has been feeling down all year, and relatively recently admitted that she thinks she is depressed. But we will work towards fixing that as much as possible....with or without her parents help.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
So. I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant, and HUGE. It's an experience. My due date is january 1st. I think this is a terrible birthday (too close to Christmas for a separate family party, too close to new years for a friends party to be anything but a new years party), and therefore I've decided to sit quietly with my legs crossed for the foreseeable futures, so that the smurf doesn't get any ideas and stays put for maybe like another week of so.
Thing is, my fiancée has his Christmas holidays now. He's very charismatic and talkative and has a lot of friends, so normally around Christmas/New Years we're very busy visiting people and doing all sorts of stuff. I've already told him that I don't like the idea of him leaving for a long time right now, especially in the evening (if he drinks, who will drive me to the hospital?) and after some grumbling he agreed.
Now, however, he wants to invite people over to our place, and I find myself also uncomfortable with this. What if my water breaks when there's people here? What if me helping with cooking and whatnot (which i probably will because normally i do all that) makes the baby come early?
But none of it could be a big thing because of Covid anyway, there's a maximum of two guests. I've already agreed for next wednesday, but he wants more/other people to come visit also.
WIBTA if I said I don't want that to happen at all? I deel like the Grinch, and I genuinely cant tell if I'm being vaguely reasonable or if this is a hormones thing...
First off, I DO NOT give permission for this to be posted anywhere else.
I love both of our families. Truly, I do. I realize the small, "mildly no" things are nothing compared to what some people go through with their MILs, ILs, and FOOs. And probably part of my attitude is that I'm also just in a shitty place mentally right now.
But damn it, sometimes I just want to book a 10 day trip with my DH far away from everyone and everything during the holiday season. Screw traditions and expectations. I want to drink a frozen margarita on a beach somewhere instead of listening to my SIL loudly ask "HOW MUCH MONEY IS ON THIS GIFT CARD" for the 50th time (even though it's written on the back of the damn card!!!).
I used to love Christmas as a kid, but as an adult it just feels like another obligation to check off my list. It's not that time with our families is awful, but I'm just tired of everything that needs to be done in advance. All of the expectations.
My ILs are obsessed with gifts, so I can't drop the ball on that (gifts are their love language ...fair enough, I guess). My own family is hard to shop for (they really just want quality time ....okay, again fair enough). And then there's all of the other traditions that both of our families do leading up to Christmas that my DH and I just don't participate in anymore, but year after year, we still get asked and met with disappointment when we say no. This comes mostly from IL side than my FOO side. My GMIL and MIL cannot seem to understand that DH and I would rather attend our church's Christmas Eve service rather than their church's Christmas Eve service. That's just one example 🙃
Plus, I'm working at a job that I am completely burnt out from, which definitely contributes to some of my Grinch like attitude. I'm mad and frustrated that I haven't found something else yet. My time feels planned out for me, full of things that I don't enjoy anymore, and I'm just.... Tired.
We see our families regularly through out the year, and I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, next year will be the year that we say finally decide to make our dream of Christmas margaritas on the beach happen. That might be our last chance before kids become a reality. And I know the familial expectations will be through the roof at that point. Don't even get me started on that lol.
Anyways, I'm sure some of you all know how I feel, and I fully empathize with you.
I was at both parks this past Wednesday , Nov 24. Here are a few tips!
- Yes you can bring in water and food. We saved $ by refilling our water bottles at the park and made some sandwiches back at the hotel. Saved us time and $.
- Try to bring in the smallest day pack ever. The ride lockers are super slim and if you can just slip everything in, boom, saves time.
- Try to ride as many rides as you can as single rider. We did Velocicoaster and Hagrid in the morning in the single rider line. I feel like the employees were trying to downplay single rider, sort of almost hiding? the signs? I guess they want you to buy the Express pass. YES BOTH RIDES ARE OUTSTANDING!
- We stayed at Universal Beachside property. It was very clean, and the shuttle bus to the parks was awesome. The room didn't have a coffee maker, so we just brought our Keurig maker from home (I live in Florida). I drink a ton of coffee and having coffee in my room was heavenly.
- The Grinch show was good and we were able to sit down for a nice 30 minutes and rest lol.
- The Spiderman ride is still my favorite!
- VooDoo donuts are delicious 🍩
Enjoy and have fun!
Credit and big thanks to u/Been-There-Redd-it I've taken the liberty of editing last year's post to share, so worth the re-share!
I know a lot of people are jumping in their vehicles with the kids and exploring Saskatoon for holiday light displays. Sure, there's a list. Yeah, there's a map. But...
...if you want a rock-solid, efficient, awe-worthy Twinkle Tour, I've got you fam. Head toward Market Mall. Great place for quick, masked 'one last stop' bathroom breaks before the fun begins. Older kids? Stop at Harold Tatler Park on Louise by the french school for an ice skate at sunset. You want to be ready to roll on your tour just before 5:30 p.m.
Now, follow the directions in this order or check out the route map:
Kick things off at the famed 2706 Clinkskill Drive at 5:30 p.m. This place is typically lined up from when the lights switch on at 5:30 until it shuts down at 10 p.m. If it's already jam-packed, it may be worth just parking and walking up. You'll enjoy the opportunity to get pictures and videos and you can typically hear the sound from other vehicles (tune to 89.7FM if you're in the car). I prefer walking up.
Now, go to Murphy Crescent. Or should we say, SMURF-y Crescent. Drive slow. Pull over if other people are behind you. Get the kids to count the Smurfs. Boom. Instant entertainment. This is a drive-by visit. No need to get out.
2614 Cumberland Ave S. This one is an absolute classic display of cutouts. Lollipop Castle, prince and princess, and a train of characters. Definitely worth scoping from your parked car.
Brown Crescent. Charlie Brown-themed displays galore! As you did with Murphy, drive slow and get the kidlets to count the Snoopys. Don't bother getting out.
MacDermid Crescent. At this point, your kids might assume every neighbourhood has a theme. Count the cutout snowmen. No stopping required. Tell the kids these are the snow minions for the Snow King. Psych them up now.
2500 Block Clarence Ave South. Enter: SNOW KING. I didn't catch the exact address, but there is a GIANT SNOWMAN on this block, complete with rake arms. You've likely seen a photo online. You should get one too!
1200 Block Main Street. Getting tired yet? It's only been 20 minutes because you are the MOST EFFICIENT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS DISPLAY TOUR GUIDE TO EVER DRIVE SASKATOON'S STREETS. Sit proudly, suck it up, and drag the kids out for this one: a house on this block has a dazzling display that includes classic Christmas characte
... keep reading on reddit ➡They’re on standbi
It’s that time of year again. In fact, most Jehovah’s Witnesses have been busily cringing for a couple of months now. You can call us grinches or whatever, but the fact of the matter is that every time we go to the store, turn on the radio, or drive down the street... we’re pelted into submission until it’s all we can do to shut our eyes, stuff our ears, and hum song number 23 or whatever. It’s frick’n Christmas again and most of us Witnesses can’t bloody stand it. Good thing it’s almost over, right? I wouldn’t be surprised if others shared the sentiment, but I bet not all care for the same reasons. This thought leads down an interesting road.
Why do we steer so far clear of it we fail to even realize that our problem with Christmas isn’t Christmas itself... It’s us? I know that doesn’t make a lick of sense, but hear me out. We say, “Christmas is a pagan holiday, and so we’ll have nothing to do with it.” but we conveniently forget that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is a pagan something. People in the know say, “Well, we have to have a balanced life, and so we can’t avoid EVERYTHING.”
Why not, I ask? If we are to be no part of the world, and everything in this world has pagan origins, why not avoid it all? Is ignorance of the law excuse for breaking it?
So then… We ignore the things that are inconvenient because they make our lives easier. We’ll buy a Starbucks knowing full well the symbolism behind that company’s logo, or a drink Monster energy drink knowing that the Hebrew form of 666 is pasted right on the can. We’ll make excuses and allowances for the things that matter to us, because they matter to us and no one else cares. Why should they? God doesn’t care about a number on a can or a mythical creature, does he? What about all the other things? Chocolate for one: first domesticated and cultivated by man as part of a worship ceremony to false gods, employed by the same people that ripped beating hearts out of still living victims. They even used the Chocolate seeds as currency for sex in that culture. The wedding cake stems from a worship ritual of a Greek goddess. Until today, you probably never knew that building snowmen was once a pagan ritual used to bring pleasant weather from sky nymphs in Russia or used to scare away Christians by the barbarians of sax-age Germany. No one looks at a friendly snowman with his scarf and his carrot saying, “God’s not gonna be happy about this”. Why not? Surely he knows what we used them for in the past. He
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Pilot on me!!
