mam521

The answer is simple, IMO. Education, autonomy and financial health. Women in the US weren't allowed to open their own credit card accounts until 1974. Before that, they required a spouse or father's permission/co-ownership. Women's health is poorly understood an research pertaining specifically to women is SIGNIFICANTLY under funded. Contraception and access to it is being challenged. Fertility, both male and female, is being jeopardized by environmental factors. Child rearing is not exclusively a woman's job. The choice to have children and take on the responsibility of child rearing should be shared, not assumed. Yet, women shoulder the majority of the burden, especially in circumstances where the men become absent. Very few developed countries offer sufficient maternity AND parental leave. The US claims to be a developed country, yet it does very little for families and has the poorest infant and maternal outcomes of any developed country. Texas has the worst maternal mortality rates of the lower 48. Newborn babies should NOT be in daycare, yet it's not uncommon in the US. School is NOT daycare. A capitalistic government is NEVER going to put the people first. It's always all about the $$$ and keeping the pockets of the top 1% lined. Even in mixed or social economic markets, it's a tough sell when governments are offering "incentives" for families to have babies because those incentives come from taxes they've already paid. A place like Korea, you pay high taxes to look after the super aged 20% of the population and then you pay again to have some given back if you have a baby...seems like a lot of work for little gain. Salary disparity between men and women is 100% a thing. It's pretty significant, too. Women perform the disproportionate majority of unpaid household work. Baby boomers still own nearly half the real estate wealth in the US, despite representing only about 20% of the population. Affordable housing is challenging, as a result. The world is a proverbial 💩 show. When this guy is saying he doesn't have an explanation for why people are having fewer children, it's not that hard. Socio-economic status is always going to be the most influencing factor over birth rates. People are becoming more educated and prioritizing their own self worth and autonomy and don't want to spend every last dollar treading water to have a kid. Additionally, people are recognizing violence. For years, women used to be trapped in abusive relationships because they lacked autonomy. Marital rape wasn't outlawed in all US states until 1993!!! 43 countries still do NOT have legislation protecting women from their husbands. There are well over 100 countries that still allow child marriage. Who wants to have a kid, let alone more than one when this is the case? Sorry for the pessimism, but I am in a decent financial position, so I could afford to have kids. However, I watched my mom struggle as she raised my brother and I in an absent father household and had to work her behind off to keep us housed, fed and clothed. If told she was going to have to ride the struggle bus for a good proportion of her life, I suspect she'd have chosen not to get on. People are better able to see that bus coming and are saying "nah, bro...not for me. I want better for myself."

Monster Monty is climbing his cat wall and playing with toys. I'm waiting for the zoomies to REALLY start.

Awe...hopefully the rescue managed to trap the mother, too. TNR programs are soooo important. So many strays out there that deserve better.

Last day of school!!!!

My mom has concluded that her goal this GS season is to find a working transistor radio. She bought one as a kid and we used it camping when I was a kid. It was red and I'm pretty sure by the time we were using it, it was being held together by masking tape. Anyway, she claims she can't find it. I'm guessing it lived it's life and got tossed at some point. Sounds like you're a high roller with this ability to disregard fuel prices and traipse the countryside in the T-B mobile! Just fought with Kid2 over the weekend to get 2 ELA assignments done. The jerk was tossed a hail Mary from his teacher because he shouldn't have had the opportunity and he should have failed the class. 1 more regular day, then 3 days of testing and FriYAY is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! I'm delighted!!! Agree Update on my friend who busted her arm. She finally had surgery on Friday. It would appear that she has 2x2+1 plates and like way too many screws to count. They've kept her in hospital because she has tingling in 3 fingers. Well, yesterday, the nurse gave her a "splint break" and it's no wonder she has tingling in those fingers...her poor arm and hand is swollen like crazy. Hub's foot did the same when he busted it 10 years ago and he ended up with ridges on his toe nails that eventually grew out. There's no doubt that the swelling is putting pressure on all of the nerves that run through the carpal tunnel. She's really just wanting to go home so hopefully today the surgeon will allow that. She'll have her velcro dog and be much more comfortable at home. I wish it would hurry up and rain already. The humidity is gross and the skies are grey. If it's going to be grey and miserable, like lets have it be for a legitimate reason!

The only way he was was if he was cooking his driver's logbook. It's pretty strict in Canada, but many drivers "have ways around it". Unfortunately, he's left with a lifetime of guilt and a small person has been left without their parent.

Very punny, @TBoneTX 🤭

My bestie in Canadia busted her arm last night while fat tire biking in the mountains. Both the radius and ulna, the later in 3 pieces. She's on some good drugs, awaiting surgery. So not jealous of that!

Just a general comment here, but as a parent to 2 neurodivergent kids, I'm getting tired of hearing this and seeing it used as a crutch for behaviors, whether you agree with them or not.

You might be surprised. We have a couple in our hood. They do it because its a quick and easy side hustle with cash straight in their pocket.

I was missing my Old Lady something fierce yesterday. She's been gone 7 months, but she was my soul cat baby for 18 and a half years. I have photos of her laying just out of reach of Kid1 when she was an infant. They really did grow up together. @Lemonslice Devon Rex's? My friend had a Devon. She thought she had 2 of them, but I swear the second one was a Cornish Rex. We used to chuckle about his moobs (man boobs) lol! Her female was more the size and shape of yours where as the boy was longer and more lanky. I joke that their wavy fur reminds me of the perms the little old ladies used to get - the tight waves that seem to go on forever. Animals know when you're not as calm as you're trying to behave. I will say around fireworks time, the older cats were chill and unbothered, the dog was a little bit nervous but we were unbothered so now, as long as she's in the house, she's chill. Monty cat is still nervous when people start popping them off. As long as he's curled up with me, he's OK though. Frank used to ride in a backpack carrier with no issues. We used to walk the trail that way. Then he went through a period of peeing every time we tried to stick him in his carrier. We got used to taking him outside, allowing him to roll on the concrete and then get ready to shove him in the carrier. He'd start to pee, so you'd have to dodge the stream. Absolute nightmare. Anyway, he wasn't eating properly last month so I had to take him to his soul vet (yes, his vet absolutely adores him...she LOVES to see him and has such a soft spot for him). We took him out to roll, expecting him to pee, but he didn't actually fight the carrier and by Frank standards, went in reasonably uneventfully. I had to take him back a couple of days ago (he started Solensia shots, which have made a dramatic improvement in his life - he has arthritis in his back and this definitely helps) to get his monthly shot and we went in a bit more reluctantly, but no pee and no real arguments and he only complained once on the drive. @TBoneTX I'm with @Lemonslice - have you tried either suspending Miu or purritoing Miu for a pawdicure? If you search "cat restraints for grooming" on Amazon, all the options come clear. Or, if she's that big of a challenge to you, have you searched somewhere like NextDoor to see if there's a vet tech that would come to you? Or even a mobile groomer could be of use.

^^This. Boarding passes (print and keep them), photos in places where, if you can, it actually shows the date or it's an event, etc, that can be verified. Your other binding documents are naming one another as beneficiaries on pensions, life insurance, retirement and investment accounts. Fake marriages don't list each other beneficiaries on long term, potentially high dollar investments.

Kid2 has an AP exam today. Hopefully he does well. He has like half a dozen AP's next year because the schools are ridiculous and have cancelled a good chunk of the honors classes. So, the choices are Levels or AP. He's legitimately too smart for Levels and the kids in those classes drive him nuts.

There's deposits everywhere. This was from a couple of months ago and if I had to wager dollars to donuts, I can see a project in OR/NV hitting the ground before the Appalachian project simply because Nevada knows how to mine and have a good number already running. One of my friends is actually working at one of the gold mines there. This one is valued at $1.5 trillion. https://www.jindaleelithium.com/operations/

California (especially Death Valley) tanks or like Texas tanks?