Is this a specifically US problem? As a Dutchman I can attest to the fact that kids are biking just as much now than they were during my own childhood, probably even more (and much more safely).

While I agree that the prevalence of digital media and the internet is a new phenomenon that requires new Ideas and approaches for parenting, I disagree with the idea that mankind is currently faced with a particularly different world state. While, at least for many people in the place we used to refer to as “the West” life was probably cosier in the 90s or even the 2000s, that is certainly not the case for people in other regions. Additionally I don’t think there has ever been a time when things were “good” in the first place. I was born into a world where nuclear annihilation and MAD was ingrained into society. It felt like an inevitable fact that at some point mankind would face nuclear annihilation and yet people were still able to have families, raise children and enjoy the little things.

Depending on the age and number of children being a stay at home parent is often more stressful than working a full time job. The draining part is that you can never switch off. No coffee break, no lunch break, not even bathroom breaks if you’re taking care of a baby or needy toddler.

We’ll have to wait for a full analysis first. However, Boeing is known for having lackluster quality control that has led to accidents in the past. If the company is indeed responsible for the crash, I fear that the current UD regime will likely do everything within its power to shield it from consequences.

As mentioned, libraries are awesome. I recommend making a habit out of regularly going to the library with your children, even if they can’t read yet. At our library they have a large selection of children’s books that are meant to be read to children rather than read by them. Start with these and make reading a normal part of your day. When your child asks you to read to them, try to make that possible. This might implant the habit of reading in your children.

Yes, the family reunification for people with this status has been a controversial issue in Germany for years. While some people end up with a refugee status similar to other countries, many others are recognised as “with subsidiary protection status” or even plainly have their application rejected altogether. Critics have long since advocated for an end to family reunification for people without full refugee status. Some have even proposed cutting social payments to non refugees like several other EU countries do. For now it’s only this somewhat limited measure, which is still controversial among the left. My personal prediction is that with far right political pressure increasing the current centre government in Germany will continue to develop its refugee and asylum policy more in the direction of Denmark and less in the direction of Merkel.

Canada used to be the largest source of international visitors to the United States by a large margin. I suspect that Canadians especially will take, on average, quite a bit of convincing to travel south of the border now.

I feel this. Our daughter regularly takes off her socks just when we tell her it’s time to put her shoes on. Sometimes it costs more energy to get her to the day care and at the same time make sure that her little brother doesn’t have a meltdown at the same time than the entire work day after that.

The sender of the goods was a company from Spain, and the recipient was from Azerbaijan.

I’m sure these legitimate businessmen could perhaps consider transporting their wares via Turkey and Georgia? You know, along the well established transit route for commercial cargo between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Europe got lucky there. While I’m happy that Romanians chose wisely in the end, the margin is still very worrying for our future.

With initial, preliminary results from actual votes being counted now coming in it looks like Dan only has the slightest of leads thus far. Since this only includes votes from within Romania it now looks likely that the votes of Romanians living abroad will swing the election in favour of Moscow. It seems incredibly frustrating that people not living in the country get to (perhaps) change the outcome of the vote for the people who actually live within the country and therefore need to live with the consequences.

From my experience it’s just part of the cultural differences. While many Americans, at least in the Midwest where I spent a lot of time for work, are very friendly and outgoing, I hardly ever got the impression that it’s deep or meaningful. From my experience it was very easy to have great conversations with people whom I hardly knew or had met just an hour ago but hardly ever did it go anywhere meaningful.

Now to the question of how does one become this outgoing kind of person: just try and talk to people, remain friendly and open. It will likely take some practice and maybe not be reciprocated by your average European.

If I may ask: which two languages do you speak alongside English? Does your child understand (and perhaps already speak) all three?

He is Catholic after all. Luckily I live in a jurisdiction where it’s legal to refer to the Catholic Church as a “cult of child fuckers”, which seems a very accurate description in my opinion.

We had a minor breakthrough after reading a book about emotions in children with our daughter. In a very playful and colourful way the book explains how minor annoyances for small children can have a runaway effect. Unfortunately the book “Mia und die Motzmöhre” (lit. Mia and the sulking carrot) is only available in German. I’m sure there must be similar works in other languages as well and it’s perhaps worth a try - what’s the worst that could happen?

Every time our daughter now starts spiralling we ask her if she has a sulking carrot. That takes her out of the spiral surprisingly often.

Anywho: happy mother’s day!

He seems to be better than the last guy when it comes to Russia’s war. That guy really thought it was the fault of NATO/Ukraine/whoever…

The difference between a unilateral decision that blindsided the cult leader and a coordinated decision where the messaging is supposed to divert any future blame away from the cult leader is easy: was the person supposedly at fault fired? No? Then it’s all just talk, since the overall outcome nicely aligns with the policy goals of the red team.

You can (and some do) insist, that all phones and other digital devices be left outside or out in a well isolated place like a fridge. Furthermore you can use methods of encryption for both physical notes and digital notes. Neither is completely safe from being compromised, but then again hardly anything truly is.

If you want to be fairly certain to not be monitored, always leave digital devices behind and have meetings in varying locations with few or ideally no other people around. Only discuss confidential information with people you know and trust. Even then, experience from places like East Germany proves, nothing is truly safe from being compromised if enough time and energy is spent on the issue.

Ah, I understand. There’s also versions of this type of car with a battery and a small electric motor that allow the child to “drive” at roughly the speed a grown up person would walk.

Is that car self driving or how does it move?