#Parenting Insights

[motherhoodtherealdeal]

Why I stand behind banning smartphones (and social media) for children under 16

As a parent, I have always been concerned about the impact of technology on my daughter’s development, mental health and wellbeing. In today’s digital age, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, but are they really suitable for children under 16? We eventually succumbed to giving our daughter a smartphone when she turned 10 – mainly because she was walking back from school by…

[joyful-daddy]

Watch ""Empowering Kids: Strategies for Handling Peer Pressure and Making Informed Choices"" on YouTube

[ghost-comets]

as soon as riz mentioned that thumbs up this was all i could envision for that scene

[tanuandthetriplets]

Monetization On - Now We're YouTube Partners! | Triplet Parenting Stories Episode - 29

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Making and Remaking Memories

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[itspileofgoodthings]

one of the things that continues to strike me on reread is how much the character of Darcy, and Austen through him, finds Mr. Bennet dead. And how much Elizabeth, in growing and changing and discarding her past blindness, has to move past her way of seeing her father and thus of seeing reality, because the two are connected! Darcy’s letter exposes her father’s flaws to Elizabeth in a way she’d never been able to see before. Most especially the way his laziness and neglect of his own gifts have hurt his family and that ultimately he doesn’t. care. Not enough to change. It literally says that she comes home from Hunsford and tries to laugh at her sisters’ and mother’s folly (the way she used to; the way her father has taught her to by example for her whole life) and she can’t anymore! It sticks in her throat. She is grieved by the failures that she sees in him, all the more so because she IS his favorite and she loves him! And the thing about Mr. Bennet is he never changes. The Lydia/wickham situation exposes to him sharply his own conduct and the consequences and he feels it! Because he is neither stupid nor unfeeling. But he, like everyone, has free will. And he chooses not to change when the opportunity presents itself. He even jokes about how quickly his feeling bad will pass and how soon everything will go back to normal, to his laziness and his selfishness. He is set in his ways and he serves as a contrast to Elizabeth’s personal journey because he embodies a version of a person she could have become and was in danger of becoming if her only goal at all times was to laugh at and judge people from the sidelines.

[vaguely-concerned]

just had the thought 'in the end the most important thing varric taught rook was how to make a home for, with, and in other people' and then I had to go lie down on the floor and clutch at my head in unceasing agony for a few hours, as you may well imagine. hawke and the kirkwall crew........ in the end you kind of saved the world a bit in the most characteristically indirect and chaotic of ways. not by anything in particular that you did or achieved or accomplished (lmao imagine!), but just by -- having existed, and by the love that was always there, despite it all, in all its imperfections, even when no one was saved by it in the end. you're not here right now and you're not quite haunting the narrative but I hear your voices bickering and arguing and laughing from the other room. (and so, I think, does varric. all the time.)

'did you think you mattered, hawke? did you think anything you ever did mattered?' yeah actually, varric says with da2 and keeps saying through the series. you were here. and I loved you. and as it turns out that mattered more than almost anything in the world, no matter how long it lasted or how fucked up it was at the time or what else happens, because varric manages to pass that feeling, that intangible... home, that echo of you all as you were together, that love, hopefully the best parts of it, on to someone else for them to bring with them on their journey, with their family. and maybe the world will be kinder this time. you never know. merrill's line of 'Everything affects everything. We were born, a bunch of things happened, and now we're in a mess with our friends.' varric's greatest fear of becoming his parents. even through the wreck and the ruin of the world, ghosts upon ghosts upon ghosts of love -- malcolm hawke, who we never even see, but his life touched hawke's and hawke's touched varric's and varric's touched rook's and rook is passing it on to the family they're creating. the unbroken legacy of love shines through in ways that are stronger and stranger than any magic. help

[borgialucrezia]

“Cesare wanted his brother dead. He waited for the moment when he felt it was right. He knows that it will change him forever and it will never be the same. A part of him thought it was the right thing, and part of him did it out of jealousy and envy. Once he made up his mind, it was set. He didn’t want to talk anymore, because he knew Juan could change his mind. But I think there was something chemical in his hatred for his brother as well that's always been there.” — FRANÇOIS ARNAUD explains Cesare's dark turn. "The final confession is his one chance to unburden his soul and he’s nice. He forgives people. He says he’s been in pain all this time, he notices when everyone else is concerned about him and their own hurting and their own pain. It proves that he’s sort of self-aware and probably hasn’t had the best life, so it kind of makes it even worse that he gets killed." — DAVID OAKES on Juan's finale moments.

SPECIAL FEATURES || BEHIND THE BORGIAS: Juan's demise

[cupoteahatter]

No One:

Me: Anyone ever think about how because Tyler was tricking her, he accidentally ended up as the one person who was seeing Wednesday for who she is and not who everyone wanted her to be? Specifically not who he wanted her to be, because he didn’t even have another image of her to fall back upon? Weems saw her as trouble/her Mother, Gates underestimated her, Sheriff Galpin only saw her Father, Xavier as his childhood hero, Enid blatantly assigned her a social mask but Tyler looked her full in the face and took her as she was? From their first meeting to their last, seeing Wednesday as she is, as she comes, all her dark edges and bright ideas and meeting her as an Equal Opponent, never underestimating her, never covering her up…. Just her. Only her. (And that in turn blinds her to who he is, until she pulls his mask off by accident).

Me: Anyone else ever think about that?

[jdexhusband]

Julien's parents: Janice and Malcom (feat. Implications as to why Julien is the way he is)

[motherhoodtherealdeal]

5 things I wish I knew before becoming a parent: 2024 edition

Becoming a parent is a beautiful and life-changing experience. The latter is probably a massive understatement! From the moment you hold your little one in your arms, you are filled with overwhelming love and a desire to give them the world. It’s amazing, it’s wonderful, and it’s a little bit frightening too! However, as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months, you quickly realize…

[leek-e]

Here is a drawing of one of my favourite changes in choreography in the Australian deh production :)

During Good For You, after Alana and Jared have their little solos, Alana comes to the front of the stage and crouches down with her hands over her head, completely still. At the same time, Jared goes upstage and paces back and forth very quickly - every time he has to turn around he makes stilted and frustrated gestures as if he doesn’t know what to do with himself. I was very excited by this, as it is so unlike the broadway version of this scene where they stand symmetrically on opposite sides of the stage. Instead, Alana and Jared’s reaction to their feelings are clearly contrasted against each other. It seemed so natural too; while they move in formation for a lot of gfy, here it was like they had to take a break from the song because of how overwhelmed they were! Which only made it easier to empathise with them. The whole song was spectacular of course but this particular decision I think was very successful. I have always been intrigued by the contrast between Alana and Jared and it was really brought to the forefront in this moment.

[waitmyturtles]

Emotionally, 23.5 (episode 10) is like a cheaply made puzzle, where like, the edges are cut roughly, so like, you THINK that you have the right pieces next to each other, but when you smush them in, and they don't fit QUITE smoothly enough, you're like, oh maybe there's another piece, but like, you CAN'T find another piece that works, because like, the piece you have in your hand IS the piece that is the right one for the picture you're making, or like, you THINK it is, so like, you keep smushing the pieces together, and you THINK the puzzle makes sense, but you kinda feel like you have the wrong piece, or worse, you're MISSING A BETTER PIECE, because everything's NOT QUITE JIVING.

I hope this post made as much sense as the emotional journey we attempted to take with the script in this last episode. What the FUCK is this script doing to Ongsa? A little more context, some smoother edges, would be really helpful here!

[evilfloralfoolery]

Please enjoy this little bit of snzfuckery between Indigo's incredibly attractive parents, Astralis and Aurora. It's some gross courtly bullshit and I love it.

___________________________

“My lord, I can assure you that this lapse in judgment shall not happen again.” 

Even from her vantage point behind the hedges, the guard’s fear is palpable.  As it should be.  Her beloved is as stern as he is imposing, seeming to tower over all who cross his path, regardless of their true height.  Clad in crimson silk and fine etched leather, Astralis is both elegant and terrifying.

Precisely why she had chosen him.  Or rather, why they had chosen each other.

“See to it that you do not disappoint me again.”  The dark propriety of his voice is a resonant purr of sound that does not rely on volume to convey the threat. 

“Y-yes, my lord.”

Astralis waves a hand.  “Away with you, then.” 

The guard bows, retreating with a backward step until he feels it is proper to turn his back and hurry along on his way. 

A wise decision, clearly.

Astralis executes a sharp turn on his heel, his impressive length of ebony hair sliding over one shoulder and spilling down the length of his back like a living thing, obedient to the whims of its master. Although she cannot hear just what her husband is muttering to himself, it is certainly not pleasant.  

Fire flashes in his palm, brilliant and stark against the green of the hedges, and he incinerates a hapless, wayward branch into nothingness, his booted foot dispersing the ashen embers with a fluid step. It is, however, the rosebush that receives the withering, contemptuous sneer.

“Wretched and treacherous beauty,” he grumbles. “I would destroy you all, if I were able.” 

He stiffens to a halt beside the gate, his posture rigid but for a moment.

Surely he cannot see her, not with the hedges in unpruned proliferation around her. It matters not, for all she cares to witness is his most certain downfall.

And he does not disappoint.

His austere demeanor falters, the immovable facade cracking into a flash of annoyance and a sharp, singular hitch of breath. 

“--AHESSSCHuh! EHSHHHuh! ESSHH! ESSCH! EKSSSH!!”

He doesn't not bother with the handkerchief, perhaps because the urgency of the matter is greater than he anticipated. Instead, he barely manages to steeple his hands over his mouth and nose, each sneeze a greater shoulder-shuddering, body-curling event, as if his capacity to release it is somehow inadequate.

Astralis straightens with a pointed, indecent sniffle and brushes a length of displaced hair aside.  “If you do not believe yourself to be visible to me, Aurora, you are mistaken.” 

She huffs a short sigh and resists the urge to roll her eyes. 

Infuriating man.

“Perhaps,” she says as she emerges from the hedge canopy, “I was allowing you privacy for your struggles.”

A smirk curves one side of his mouth. “Is that so?”

His smug expression wavers and this time, he conjures the aforementioned handkerchief with a snap of his fingers.

“AESSSHuh! EHSSH! EKSSH!! Gods.”

Her hand lights upon his arm, smile gentling. “Bless you, love.” 

“Thank you,” he says with a sharp sniffle. “Blasted topiary maintenance. I should install an iron fence instea-hhh…!” His breath heaves and he leans away from her.”--hhuhEKSSSCHU!!” 

“Bless you!” She repeats a bit more emphatically than necessary. Her hands slide to cup his face, threads of his silken hair cool and smooth against her fingers. “Nature is so cruel to you.” 

He chuckles. “I believe it was my wife who ordered the planting of this entire fiasco.” 

“Well,” she says. “She must be quite insensitive to your suffering.” 

“Hmm, indeed.” His hands close up on her upper arms and he jerks her against his chest, “Were she not so stunning amongst the greenery, I would burn it to ash.” 

Aurora runs her finger along the straight slope of his nose, pausing to tap the tip. “Flattery is a wise man’s tool.” 

He summons an obligatory flinch at the intrusion of her touch, gathering her into his embrace.  “Sincerity is a tool far greater.”

It is only with Aurora that the sharpness of his gaze softens to warm, copper honey, his fortress of impenetrable emotional detachment conquered.

“Depart with me now before I am defeated by the whims of my own traitorous body.”  A smirk curves one side of his mouth. “Unless that is your plan, my love.” 

Aurora feigns aghast indignation. “I would never dream of such a thing.”

[bitchfendi]

a prediction for nwos. or at least the reaction to it.

i think people will walk away from the game confused/unsure and it'll take a couple of weeks or months for the definitive consensus