Giving birth is a major medical event . Sure, millions of people do it, and some people do it with very little medical interference, but it's still a big deal. You're in an immense amount of pain and discomfort, and it takes every bit of energy you've got. Not to mention, it's a visceral experience. Your body is doing things it has never done before. All that to say it's understandable that you would be choosy about who's in the delivery room when you're getting it done. Common sense says it sh…

Commuting to work is a necessary evil that most of the working world has to deal with. Aside from those lucky remote workers, most of us have to figure out a way to get our behinds to the office and back every single day. If you're especially blessed, you might live within walking distance from your job. But most of us either have to drive or use public transportation to get where we need to go. It might not be a fun part of having a job, but it is a necessary one. And the thing with jobs is th…

Family dinners can bring out all kinds of clashes within a family unit

Children need positive reinforcement . If we were never told we're good at something, or that our efforts paid off, we might never follow up on our interests. Sure, there's such a thing as over-praising or infantilizing, where we over-blow our children's achievements, thus giving them a distorted sense of reality. This can be a fine line to walk. But when your child genuinely accomplishes something worth praising, it is our job as parents to praise them. Even if it means putting a little more w…

Everyone is allowed to do whatever they want with their diet. It's your body, so you get to choose what you put in it and what you don't. Sure, we all might have to make compromises when we're eating at someone else's house or traveling to another country, but ultimately the only person in charge of what we eat should be us. That's why one Redditor was so upset at her family after revealing a secret they were holding about their cooking, and what it meant for her dietary choices. Every vegetari…

Having your relatives stay with you is not always the most pleasant experience in the world, especially if they have kids. If you're anything like me, you value your space and privacy. You love your home and have worked to have it the way that you like it. Odds are, you probably don't take kindly to anyone coming in and disturbing your hard-earned peace. Some would say, though, that's what the holidays are for. You make sacrifices for the ones you love because you expect them to do the same for…

Allergies are no joke . If it's an environmental one, like pet hair, then any space that has or has had a pet in it can become a no-fly zone for people with severe allergies. It's just not worth the risk of a flare-up. But what happens when you're dating someone that has a pet? Dating is no easy task on its own. It can take a lifetime of meeting people, dating, and breaking up before you find someone you'd like to spend the rest of your life with . So if you find that person, you probably want…

Teenagers and technology are not the best mix. Anyone who has grown up with social media knows how damaging it can be to your mental health. It can distort reality, dampen your creativity, and make you irritable. So it's no wonder that some parents want to restrict how much access their teen has to their phone because left unchecked, some kids might spend all day on their device. But this is not always a popular decision among the teenagers themselves. If there's anything that they hate, it's b…

Having children over at your house is no simple task . If you're used to existing in the adult world, having kids suddenly enter your space can be jarring. You realize quickly how much breakable stuff you own, how many sharp edges there are, how many possibly dangerous items you have lying around, and how kids have no regard for that kind of thing. It then becomes the job of the parents, or whoever is in charge, to make sure that the kids stay in their lane, as it were. That's just called good…

Every family who celebrates Christmas has their little version of tradition. They've honed their ritual-- what they eat, where they go, and when they open presents. Some folks go to church the night before, some on the day, and some don't go at all. Some eat a traditional roast and some mix it up. Santa might wrap your presents or leave them unwrapped. You might have a stocking or just do a gift exchange. Everyone does it a little differently . But what happens when two families, and thus two t…

Nicknames can be a tricky thing. They usually start as a form of endearment when you're little, turning your adult name into something more befitting of a little one. Gregory becomes “Little Greggie” because a baby named Greg would be unsettling.

Babysitting is no simple task, that's why we pay babysitters and nannies the big bucks. Children, especially toddlers, can be notoriously difficult to wrangle. You need the right amount of patience, level-headedness, and willingness to tire yourself out. Not to mention it's a huge amount of responsibility. If something goes wrong, you need to be ready to snap into action. This is why it's no fun to ask someone to babysit at the last minute. Unless you're a seasoned pro or a parent yourself (eve…

Sometimes a grudge comes up for seemingly no reason . Someone just starts to treat you differently and you have no idea what happened. You rack your brain for reasons you might have spited them and you come up empty. Did you fail to wave back at them on the street one day? Did you accidentally say something off-color at a party? Did you just happen to look at them the wrong way and now everything is different? You may never know. It's especially hard when this happens in your own family because…

Drop everything, I guess

As any parent can tell you, parenting is a full-time job . It may not pay the bills, but it sure takes a lot out of you. It doesn't stop when you go to sleep, or when you're watching TV, or even when you're on vacation. You're a parent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You don't get to choose whether or not you're ‘on duty’ if you're a parent, you just always are. And for couples parenting together, it's important that you both understand that. Otherwise, conflicts are bound to arise. That's what…

There's no perfect age to move out of the house . Lots of people do it when they're 18, as soon as they get the chance. But a good amount of people take a little longer while they save money, go to school, or work on their mental health. There's no right answer, as long as everyone is cool with it. Problems arise, however, when someone is preventing someone else from moving out. Everyone should have the freedom and autonomy to do what they please after they're 18 years old. Even if that means h…