u/CarolinaCatholic

I am so distraught over JD Vance’s recent passing due to rabies. I’m also scared at the other announcements of more rabies cases. So I decided to make egg salad to cheer myself up! As we all know, 88% of people who are depressed eat egg salad to feel better.

So fam, what are your favorite egg salad recipes for depression?

I am allergic to eggs, so please keep that in mind.

Hello all, entering year 16 of homeschooling next year. We’ve typicallly done book-based learning. However this past year, Child #3 has been taking courses with a video lecture followed by a week of assignments. Kid also has a math course where there are daily videos (~10-15 minutes each). The daily videos lessons are a huge hit and have helped tremendously. The long videos plus assignments format has been a struggle.

Question is, do y’all know of any high school curricula offering daily videos lessons for all (or most) courses? Ideally, there’d be an accredited diploma attached to the course as well.

TIA

Self-taught rock drummer. I’m working on a project where the guitarist wants me to play a Latin beat for one song he wrote. I’ve been listening to some Latin music (not my vibes) and I’m having a hard time understanding the essence of what defines the Latin beat sound.

Can someone explain what Latin beats are? Any advice, places to go read more, etc,? I do have a music degree (not in percussion) so no need to hold back on the explanations! TIA

It’s a clear glass jar that is in a room that gets indirect sunlight. I noticed it’s now kinda green and there are little colonies floating around inside.

Suggestions on what to do with it?

Hey all, have a very sticky legal / custody situation for which I am desperate for sound advice and direction.

TL;DR people: ex wife with Borderline PD says a clothing optional environment in which kids are taught to respect their bodies and the bodies of others equates to sexually abusive behavior and I’m “unsafe,” so she sicced her lawyer on me under the guise of ‘sexually inappropriate behavior.’ Which is projection, and 100% false. Questions, and point of post, is at the end.

I am male, divorced, we had 4 kids (2 still minors, one teenage and one under 10) and up until recently had 50/50 custody. I am devoutly religious (Catholic), as is the family. Ex wife converted, we’ve raised them religiously, homeschooled, etc. Ex wife has Borderline Personality Disorder, confirmed via audio recording where she admitted it. She was physically abusive to me for years, including numerous attempted un-alivings of both she and I. Ex also has a horribly negative self body image. Separation and divorce was her idea to begin with.

The older two have been angry at me for the divorce in general for the last several years, and are firmly on “team mom.” Oldest is married with a kid; #2 lives with mom.

After the fallout of the separation and divorce, we established separate houses and a custody schedule. After several months of 50/50, one of the kids accidentally caught me nude one morning making coffee, well before when she usually woke up. Didn’t make a big deal of it, and just kinda rolled with it. I subsequently talked with the kids about how our religion teaches that the body is good, and being naked is in itself is not wrong at all. Heck, Jesus Himself is documented as being publicly nude on several occasions in the Bible. I told them through many conversations that it’s OK to not have clothes on if it’s more comfortable, and that their bodies are nothing to be ashamed of, nude is not lewd, etc etc etc. They seemed receptive to the message.

To be very clear: NO inappropriate sexual behavior occurred, ever. Quite the opposite, as I used the opportunity to discuss with both, at an age appropriate level, what to do if anyone touches them inappropriately or otherwise sexualizes them. I have NEVER done those things, and repeatedly have vocally condemned that kind of behavior.

The younger kids and I have had a great relationship since the separation. I made time for their friends, took them to parks and activities, and otherwise have been an objectively great dad.

Over the next few months, both the kids and I gradually became more clothing optional at the home. One embraced this, spending more and more time nude (watching TV, reading in the bedroom, stripping down immediately after sports and being nude until post-shower, etc etc). Other was less enthusiastic but still had no issues running naked through the house during bath time for more water, and in one instance even jumped out of the bath completely stark to FaceTime with Grandma and cousins.

Earlier this year, my lawyer called me for an “emergency.” Apparently nudity had suddenly become a problem overnight. This also happened to coincide with ex getting herself (and the kids) kicked out of her living situation with her NPD dad (the 4th time she’d been kicked out a house).

I received a call from my lawyer about an “emergency with the kids” in which I was accused of inappropriate behavior, sexual deviancy, and a lot of other totally false things. Ex even threatened a CPS investigation. By virtue of being male, it’s *the one thing* anyone can just claim where I am presumed guilty until proven innocent.

She leveraged this to seize total custody of the minor children. I haven’t had meaningful time with them in months. We are currently in family reunification therapy (FRT) to work through these things, and it is going very slowly. Meanwhile, ex and her lawyer have explicitly mentioned getting more money for child support because she now has “full custody” of them. The extortion attempt was so obvious to me. She’d been refusing to go to work, instead living off my child support and alimony. Alimony goes down this year, and with the walls closing in on her becoming a functional adult, she pulled this stunt.

My lawyer, upon receiving her complaint and me being honest about the situation, threw up his hands saying “they got us.” Specifically the judge assigned to our case is “old school” and would view this as equivalent to a parent trying to change religions, or encouraging gender reassignment therapy, or changing schools, etc., against the other parent’s will. Basically, he said that she has sufficient grounds for her stealing the kids.

This is despite the fact that she’s contradicted herself in sworn testimony, and has a documented history of lying and domestic violence.

The FRT therapist concluded that no inappropriate behavior took place, and no CPS investigation is required (duh). There are other narratives at play regarding the fact that the older kids are mad at me bc I refuse to engage with their mom (the violently abusive ex wife). They simply don’t understand why I need to NOT be around the person who physically assaulted me every other day and tried to stab me so many times.

Furthermore, ex wrote me a letter *admitting* to violently and verbally abusing me. Lawyer has a copy, as does FRT therapist. He also has a copy of the recording where she discloses her BPD diagnosis, along with claiming a “traumatic head injury” as the reason for her violence.

This woman is clearly unstable (with documentation). The extortion attempt is so obvious. The claim of “inappropriate activity” is utter rubbish. However, my lawyer doesn’t think we can get back to 50/50. We have a permanent custody hearing scheduled in several months, and he is not optimistic.

And for some unexplained reason, I can’t shake the feeling that this case seems bigger than me….

So, I ask:

What can I do to retain my custody rights as a father in light of false allegations?

How can I prove that SHE is actually the dangerous one, given her admitted past violent behaviors?

What legal recourse do I have to resume 50/50?

Is casual in-home nudity really a valid reason for taking custody away from one parent in the “best interests” of the children, when both children are comfortable with it?

Thank you in advance.