What little things drive you completely up the wall....?

[poundcake]

Sad, it seems the way things are going, our great grandchildren won't know an actual page-turning book except as something people once read long ago (darn electronic conveniences!)

This reminds me of something that drives me batty: the assumption that electronic devices for kids, especially little kids, are something negative, and a book is always universally superior. It's simply not true. Because of children's cognitive development and limited motor skills, the "swipe" motion allows them to access things in ways that turning a thin paper page can't. Especially, there are some amazing picturebook apps and eBooks that provide not only great textual/story experiences, but allow child readers to interact with the texts in different ways. It's not "better/worse" than a book, it's just a different narrative experience. Some are amazingly artistic. Others encourage teaching certain skills as well as "reading a story." Sure, there are some bad ones, but there are tons of terrible kids' picturebooks out there, too. Please don't disparage technology as something inferior or imply that it's a lazy way of reading compared to "actual page-turning books." They can coexist beautifully, and nothing's going to replace actual books.

[Hollanda]

I dislike it when I am out in town and people in front of me just stop. Dead. Meaning that one of two things happens:
 
- If I have DS with me in his buggy, I end up stopping dead behind them and risk ploughing the buggy into their ankles (something I really avoid doing because it hurts!) or
- I am forced to walk around them, making it difficult for people to pass coming the other way.
 
I get that sometimes things happen, right, and you have to stop suddenly for some reason.  But it is very irritating when it happens.
 
Also (whilst I am on one!):
 
- Overcrowded, smelly buses especially in summer. Don't people know how to wash any more? The smell of BO on some of the buses is just heinous.  It makes me want to hand out soap and a flannel to folk and say "Look, you need to bath." I am not a clean freak, but I do shower every day when it's warm weather.
- People who decide that it is their right to get on a bus (buggy and all) before everyone else has actually got off the bus first.  My not yet 3 year old even knows we wait for people to get off before we can get on, so why don't some adults understand common courtesy?
- People who never acknowledge small gestures of kindness and support.  Example: I opened the door for a lady clearly struggling with a large buggy.  I actually held the door open for her and she didn't even say thank you.  Then as soon as she had got through the door, two other people followed suit, with me just holding the door open. Not one of those people said thank you.  What has happened to manners? It costs nothing to say thank you and please. Don't get me started on excuse me. 
 
I sound like a moany old woman, really I am not.  Hot weather when I have had a long day at work makes me feel a little stabby and I need just a few minutes to calm down between finishing work and getting home to begin the evening routine with DS. 
 

[Redsoil]

Hollanda, if you're a moany old woman, then I am too.

The other day I was stopped at a roadside loo (in outback Queensland), basically in the middle of nowhere.  I was making my way towards the toilet when a car pulled up, and a girl (about 12 or so) jumped out and quite deliberately cut me off, bounding into the loo before me.  I admit, I did say quite loudly "don't mind me!" (sarcastic inflection and all).  She flew straight out again, turning her nose up and saying it was too dirty for her to use!  She hopped back in the car and the car zoomed off.

So it's not like she was about to pee herself (and even if she was, a simple "sorry - need to go now!" would have been okay).  The loo itself was fine - clean and tidy, but being a roadside toilet, quite basic.  (I've certainly seen much worse!)  So not sure what Miss Priss was on about, but I was certainly glad to see the back of her.  Rude thing!

[Betelnut]

The cat throwing up...again...this time on top of my dresser.

[kherbert05]

Sad, it seems the way things are going, our great grandchildren won't know an actual page-turning book except as something people once read long ago (darn electronic conveniences!)

This reminds me of something that drives me batty: the assumption that electronic devices for kids, especially little kids, are something negative, and a book is always universally superior. It's simply not true. Because of children's cognitive development and limited motor skills, the "swipe" motion allows them to access things in ways that turning a thin paper page can't. Especially, there are some amazing picturebook apps and eBooks that provide not only great textual/story experiences, but allow child readers to interact with the texts in different ways. It's not "better/worse" than a book, it's just a different narrative experience. Some are amazingly artistic. Others encourage teaching certain skills as well as "reading a story." Sure, there are some bad ones, but there are tons of terrible kids' picturebooks out there, too. Please don't disparage technology as something inferior or imply that it's a lazy way of reading compared to "actual page-turning books." They can coexist beautifully, and nothing's going to replace actual books.

POD - The other day I had Loren and Brett. We were going to be in the car for an extended period of time. So I let them bring their Ipads. First thing we tried to run an errand for Sis. But when we got to the store she asked us to go to - they no longer offer the service.


We stopped for breakfast. I had the kids Ipads and mine in my purse. The restaurant had wifi. So got out my Ipad to try and find another store in the neighborhood that offered the service (film development for the one use camera Loren had taken to camp). Loren and Brett are building a village in minecraft. They asked if they could work on it while I looked for a store.


They worked on that - and face timed a friend for advice (voice levels were appropriate for a public space), while I found a store. They even placed my order. I had walked outside to talk use the phone - because of the adults using loud voices at another table. They were aware enough that they had put away their ipads, when the waitress was walking over with our food. I had found a place to take the cameras. We then talked to each while we ate.


The adults who had been very loud. Walked passed us and stage whispered how horrible it was people let their kids have electronics in restaurants. (Note they had been using their phones - yelling into them during their meal)


When we got to Kemah, the kids played and had fun. They took out their Ipads from my bag a couple of times, to take pictures. At lunch, they asked if the restaurant had wifi because they wanted to text their parents. Loren is dyslexic so she is encouraged to communicate in written form. She is required to use standard English in her text.  They also had me video them after riding The Beast (a speed boat), so they could show their parents and friends that they looked like drown rats.


On the way home they used my hot spot to look up information about Galveston Bay.  Please note a child who is so severely dyslexic that she was diagnosed in kinder (usually they won't even test till the end of 2nd/beginning of 3rd because of brain development) was willingly not only reading but doing research.

[Dragonflymom]

Mental Magpie - we had a lot of non RSVP's for our wedding.  What worked for us is sending a mass email to all of them, saying we hoped they could be there and asking if they'd let us know so we could get a head count to the caterer.  Or something like that, it's been quite a few years so I can't remember the exact wording.  Used BCC of course so nobody felt called out in front of a group.  As I recall that got us close to 100% of a response rate.

Good luck and hope all goes well 

[Mental Magpie]

Mental Magpie - we had a lot of non RSVP's for our wedding.  What worked for us is sending a mass email to all of them, saying we hoped they could be there and asking if they'd let us know so we could get a head count to the caterer.  Or something like that, it's been quite a few years so I can't remember the exact wording.  Used BCC of course so nobody felt called out in front of a group.  As I recall that got us close to 100% of a response rate.

Good luck and hope all goes well 

I messaged a lot of people under the guise of "I hope it didn't get lost in the mail!"  Turns out, two did!  I got a lot of immediate responses, mostly "I don't know yet, depends on...when can I let you know by?"  My first thought was, "The fifth, so two days ago, like the invitation said" but I gave them another week so I can order the seating chart (having it printed).  I'm still annoyed that I had to track them down; most of them are married and now how much of a pain a seating chart can be!

[Hollanda]

Mental Magpie - we had a lot of non RSVP's for our wedding.  What worked for us is sending a mass email to all of them, saying we hoped they could be there and asking if they'd let us know so we could get a head count to the caterer.  Or something like that, it's been quite a few years so I can't remember the exact wording.  Used BCC of course so nobody felt called out in front of a group.  As I recall that got us close to 100% of a response rate.

Good luck and hope all goes well 

That drove me crazy too.
 
We had non-RSVPs and also 2 people RSVP'd yes and then didn't come. Meaning their food had been paid for, but there was nobody to eat it.  Now I know that an invitation is not a summons, but just to either not reply or reply yes and then be a no-show (barring an absolute emergency) is just a bit rude IMO.  In one case, the person in question had a "stomach bug" (which I later found out was a lie, she had been out partying the night before and was thus so hungover she made herself ill - needless to say, I was relieved in a way she didn't turn up to our wedding!).  The other one had booked a holiday before realising it fell on our wedding day, but she at least called me 4 days before the wedding to tell me.  The "stomach bug" girl left it until the morning of the wedding to text me and tell me.  That's right.  She didn't even have the guts to call me.  It's a good thing she didn't call me, my mother would probably have had her guts for garters!
 
I just chased up non-RSVPs myself, and most of them were received back eventually, albeit a few days later than the date, but most did actually respond one way or another!
 
Hope everything goes OK!! 

[Adelaide]

I'm pretty exacting when it comes to amounts, bills, and totals. A lot of my friends aren't. When we go to a restaurant, I always order water and there are various other reasons my bill's significantly lower than theirs. So when the time comes and I have the waitress print out separate checks. Most people are like "Oh, we could have just split it down the middle!" No, I'm not paying three or four extra dollars every time I go out with you.  Or when I owe someone something like $1.75 because they bought me coffee and they're like "I hate change. Can you just give me $2?" Usually something like "If you hate change so much I can just give you $1" shuts them up. Is it nickel-and-dimeing people to death? Maybe. But now I have a jar with about $75 worth of nickels and dimes at home.

[nuit93]

Why can't the walls of the house be made of rubber? 

Maybe you should start a Kickstarter campaign 

On that note, have you all seen that Kickstarter for the guy who wanted to make potato salad? So far he's gotten more than $17,000 in pledges.  And now Kickstarter is littered with dozens of copycats who I assume are hoping for similar "success"--"I want to make a pizza like the one in this picture!" "I want to make a cake for my girlriend!" "I want to make bacon cupcakes, but I don't have bacon--help!" and the latest gem, "I want to have a boiled egg with my tea." Yeah, really cool, jam up Kickstarter with your stupid non-legitimate needs.

I won't lie, I was tempted to start my own last night.  I could use $17k 

[2littlemonkeys]

This drives me bonkers and I was all bonkered out last night.

Long BG: My ILs live with us.  In the past, because I work and don't get home until 6, MIL handled most of the meals.  She was never much of a meal planner but she was home all day and could decide at 3 to thaw some chicken or whatever.

Then my FIL was put on a super strict diet and we all adapted so he didn't feel left out (DH and I saw it as an opportunity to overhaul our own less-than-stellar diets and get the kids used to better eating habits.)

Then FIL decided if he couldn't eat twice fried whatever, he just wasn't gonna eat.  So there.  Drs said eating crap food is better than not eating at all so eat all the things!

So now we're at a point where my family just can't eat like that anymore.  Not to mention, sometimes MIL just wasn't feeling like cooking only I wouldn't discover this until I got home and had nothing planned.  (I truly don't mind cooking at all, I like to do it.  I just need to know that I am doing it.)

So MIL and I talked it over and she decided to let me take charge of the meals for my family and she'd make FIL and herself something else (he won't eat the food I make because it's 'that health food carp.')  So now I plan supper for every day of the week and shop accordingly.  It makes my life tons less stressful.

end BG

The problem now is that FIL refuses to tell her what he feels like eating until after I've started cooking my meal.  So then she starts cooking something for him at the same time and our kitchen isn't that big.  We are forever in each others way and it drives me nuts.  Apparently, waiting until I'm done is simply not an option. 

And if I have to thaw something like chicken breasts, she snags one and then I'm left to fill in the hole for whatever it is I'm cooking so there's enough.  I've tried asking her if she wants me to thaw an extra breast for her and she never knows.  So then I've tried to thaw an extra one anyway and then he wants pork chops.  So then I have leftovers and I don't love leftovers because they often aren't eaten at my house.

::HEADDESK::

I can't decide who I'm more annoyed with; FIL for being a total pain about meals or MIL for going along with it.  Last night, I was trying to make stir fry while she was trying to thaw and fry him off a steak.  We do not have a huge Viking stove, people...

[fountainof]

Why are people arguing with me over something that annoyed me, anyway?  Just because I didn't do it how you would doesn't make me wrong

I think because you are complaining about the responses before the RSVP deadline which seems rude. Deadlines are deadlines for a reason, if you need an answer earlier, set an earlier deadline. 

[kckgirl]

I can't decide who I'm more annoyed with; FIL for being a total pain about meals or MIL for going along with it.  Last night, I was trying to make stir fry while she was trying to thaw and fry him off a steak.  We do not have a huge Viking stove, people...

I vote for both of them. Tell MIL that if she won't plan ahead due to FIL being a pain in the tuchus, she is to leave what you did plan alone and thaw her own after he makes up his mind. She doesn't get to short your meal due to his whims. Tell her that.

[kherbert05]

I can't decide who I'm more annoyed with; FIL for being a total pain about meals or MIL for going along with it.  Last night, I was trying to make stir fry while she was trying to thaw and fry him off a steak.  We do not have a huge Viking stove, people...

I vote for both of them. Tell MIL that if she won't plan ahead due to FIL being a pain in the tuchus, she is to leave what you did plan alone and thaw her own after he makes up his mind. She doesn't get to short your meal due to his whims. Tell her that.

POD except since it is your MIL your DH needs to tell his parents this Plus they either cook before X or after Y the time between x and Y is the time you get home and cook.

[Tea Drinker]

I'm pretty exacting when it comes to amounts, bills, and totals. A lot of my friends aren't. When we go to a restaurant, I always order water and there are various other reasons my bill's significantly lower than theirs. So when the time comes and I have the waitress print out separate checks. Most people are like "Oh, we could have just split it down the middle!" No, I'm not paying three or four extra dollars every time I go out with you.  Or when I owe someone something like $1.75 because they bought me coffee and they're like "I hate change. Can you just give me $2?" Usually something like "If you hate change so much I can just give you $1" shuts them up. Is it nickel-and-dimeing people to death? Maybe. But now I have a jar with about $75 worth of nickels and dimes at home.

I will calculate things pretty precisely--so a credit card tip might be for $5.45 rather than a round number of dollars--but there are also people with whom I then average the bill, on the theory that it will even out over time. (This includes someone with whom I have been doing this since the 1980s.) But I agree that if someone says they "hate change," it's for them to round in my favor, not the other way around. I was, however, amused recently to see a post from someone who was told his bill was 2.55, and said 2.56 would have been cooler. The shopkeeper let him pay the extra penny, and everyone was happy. Silly, but silliness in the direction of "let me give you a tiny bit extra, because I like certain numbers," not an attempt to get a discount.