u/Strong_Emu_7018

A coworker was on lunch, she telling me and anther coworker she was on the phone to her best friend, and the call consisted of them both laughing about the best friend’s daughter, who is apparently getting a full sleeve tattoo tomorrow. She is 15.

Coworker was laughing about it, and another coworker was laughing too, saying something like, “Oh my God, I don’t think she knows how much that’s going to hurt.” I was just sitting there thinking… what?

I said “So her mum knows she’s doing this?” She said yes. I asked whether the tattoo shop knew she was only 15, (Obviously they didn't, just wanted to point it out) and she said, “Well no, she gave them a fake ID.” I just sat there like... blank look on my face.

Both coworkers were still laughing, acting like it was a little teenage rebel story. I could not understand, why they thought it was so funny. I said “So, she has used fake ID to get a FULL sleeve tattoo, she is 15, and his mum knows and does not care?” Coworkers response was basically, “She told her not to get one, but you can’t stop her, can you?” Yes… surely you can? If you know your 15-year-old is using fake ID to get an illegal tattoo, you contact the tattoo shop and tell them. It is not a tiny impulsive tattoo, it is a full sleeve, something permanent, and painful.

I shook my head and look back at my computer, coworkers could see was not laughing. She said 'Oh don't be like that, she's 15 everyone wanted a tattoo when they was 15... She's lucky to have a mum like that.' I stoped. Looked at my coworker, and said, 'No, it's not cool, it's actually more along the lines of poor parenting, teaching the girl she don't need to follow rules, that it is ok to brake the law, and to put a business in a lot of danger. As well as pretending that saying 'no' is good enough, to say that 'she trained to stop her', lets just hope she don't get an infection, or that tattoo shop doesn't get closed down, or everyone around her finds out she let her 15 year child get a tattoo, because at the end of the day she's a child'. They then acted like I was being uptight and unable to take a joke.

I don't think I am unreasonable here, but they are both acting like I am completely mad? I personally believe that children should not be stabbed with needles repeatedly for vanity, but oh well, apparently I am the crazy, uptight one in the room right now.

*Coworker has shown me an image of the sleeve she wants done... it's packed tight, very intricate, it was a typical Pinterest picture of a full feminine sleeve, there is also a lot of black out. (which means the whole are is tattooed black, it very painful.)

*Also there is nothing I can do to stop this, if I knew where this child was going, I would call them, to tell them a 15 child will being coming in to get a full sleeve tattoo, and they have used a fake ID.

*One more add, this is not a dig, but she hasn't attended school since year 7 ( she was 12 ) Because she didn't want to. So it's not like a school will see the tattoo. The mother says she cant force her to go to school, she's too big. ( I know this is from previous conversations with coworker, who also believes this is sooo funny...)

I'm pregnant and currently in the phase where I'm tired ALL the time.

I work a standard 9–5, Monday to Friday, by the end of the day I'm completely shattered. The second I get home I want to sleep. It's not really practical. I already have a child, so dinners to make, homework, baths, bedtime routines, and being a parent.

My husband had taken on the cooking because I'm struggling so much with the exhaustion, but I at least need to stay awake long enough to help with our child while he's making dinner. My husband works longer hours than me, his days are 12 hours long, and sometimes works on Saturdays too.

I find myself fighting to stay awake until I physically can't anymore and then I just crash on the sofa. Leaving work isn't an option, it's too early for the plans we've made around maternity leave.

I've already had tests done and everything has come back normal. I'm drinking the maximum amount of coffee that's recommended during pregnancy, so there's not really anywhere else to go on that front either.

Which has led me to a question ' can I have a nap at work? '

I'm considering taking a 20–30 minute nap during my lunch break because I'm so exhausted, but when I told my husband he said that It an odd thing to do but to do whatever will make me happy, to try it to see if it makes a difference... is it odd?

My conspiracy theory is that our generation isn't actually broke... we're just paying 47 subscriptions that society has somehow convinced us are essential for survival. "Back in my day" (I say this at the grand old age of 32 something), if you wanted something, you just... bought it.

Now everything comes with a monthly fee. Want to watch TV? Great. You need Netflix. Oh, your mate recommended a series? That's on Disney+. The one you've been waiting six months to watch? NOW. The film everyone is talking about? Apple TV+. Did you see this? No where can I watch it? Paramount+.Can I just pay £5 to watch the one thing I actually want? No. Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. I don't watch a trailer and think, "That looks good, I'll watch that." I think, "What subscription is that on?"

Oh... and you have a family? Absolutely not. You may all live under the same roof, eat the same food and share the same Wi-Fi, but if your husband wants to watch a film upstairs while you're watching something downstairs... That'll be another £8.99 a month, thanks.

Music? Spotify. "Oh, you don't like adverts? That'll be a monthly fee." Your partner also enjoys music? How selfish. Please upgrade to the Family Ultra Mega Premium Platinum plan 3000 for the price of your kidney. Apple Music... I don't know anyone who actually uses it

Trying to get healthy? Peloton: "Just spend £2,000 on a bike, then keep paying forever." Apple Fitness… you've got enough money. Have a day off. Calm: "Feeling stressed? Pay us every month to stop feeling stressed."

Shopping? Amazon Prime. "Thank you for spending thousands with us. As a reward, please give us another £95 a year, and some ( not all ) of your times might be next day delivery.” Then you buy a Kindle, because it is handy… You buy the device. You buy the book in the device. There are no adverts. So naturally... "Would you also like to pay £6.99 every month?" WHY? I already bought the thing.

MY DOORBELL has a subscription. I bought the doorbell. I pay my electric bill to charge the doorbell. I pay for the internet the doorbell uses. Now I have to pay every month just to watch the video my doorbell recorded? WHAT? 

FREE TO DOWNLOAD!.. Wow something that is actual ffff… Oh ‘Unlock basic functionality for just £8.99/month.’ Fine! That is it I am canceling it… "You can't cancel in the app." What? Why not? ‘We need to add loads of hard instructions so hopefully you just give up.’ ‘Please visit our website. Now log in. No, not with Google. Reset your password. Confirm your email. Tick this box. Tick this other box. Are you REALLY sure? Would 5% off change your mind? How about 10%? How about we can give you PREMIUM for a discounted £100 a month? No? Fine, please tell us why you're leaving. Would you like to sign up to our marketing emails? Congratulations! Your subscription has been cancelled...at the end of your next billing cycle.

We should not have to keep paying for something we've already bought. You buy a fridge. To keep your food cold, please subscribe to Fridge+ for only £7.99 a month. You buy a car. Please subscribe to this so you can you the built I app on the car… OH WAIT THAT ALREADY HAPPENED! We've somehow accepted the idea that owning something doesn't actually mean you own it anymore. We're all just renting features that used to come in the box.

I (32F) work from home and every morning I take my coffee into the garden before starting work. 6 months ago a duck started visiting, just the one. I don't feed it, I don't encourage it, it just waddles in, sits by my pond for a while, he isn't doing anything wrong, he's a duck and then leaves at some point in the day.

Last week my neighbour knocked on the door and said, completely seriously, "Can you stop letting our duck into YOUR garden?" Apparently the duck also visits their garden and they've been feeding him frozen peas. She said her kids love the duck, and wants to keep it." I said 'Oh, so it is not actually your duck? It's a wild duck then." I also said "I don't feed him, he just turns up, I don't care what a wild duck does."

Neighbour is frustrated? I think, and says "Well he clearly prefers your garden now." Again... he's a duck living his duck life, I don't care. I asked "Ok... That's nice your kids like the duck... But I cant actually control the duck." She just, leaves. Says nothing and goes.

Few days later, I go outside, and there is 9 plastic ducks in her font garden... I thought, ok. She is crazy. (Duck is still coming into my garden, just existing.) My husband then saw her in her PJ's at the font of her house throwing peas all over her font garden. My husband is a petty man and thought to put a tiny chair in the garden next to the pond for the duck.

OBVIOUSLY THE DUCK DOESN'T KNOW TO SIT IN IT, WE ARE NOT ENCOURAGING A DUCK, IT'S A LITTLE WOODEN CHAIR. Anyway, Big mistake. Neighbour saw it. That afternoon a note appeared in our letterbox saying, "Mocking children is disgusting." What?

Anyway, fast forward to yesterday, one week later. Duck lands in garden as usual, has a little chill, I go to work inside. About forte five minutes later. 9.45am. I hear shouting outside. My neighbour is in the ROAD pointing at my house, telling another neighbour, "See? She's trained him, she would let my kids have him."

TRAINED HIM?! It's a duck. I was annoyed, I want outside with a massive grin, 'hello, I don't suppose you are talking about me? Like I have said before, it is a wild animal.' (neighbour she is talking to swings head round to me after I said that). 'I don't own him, nor do you or your children, I CANNOT control what that duck goes, I don't feed it, or encourage it to stay.' I walk away and leave.

Now, I need to work, but I can see her watching me through the window... My mum says I should scare the duck off 'just to keep the peace'. My husband keeps referring to duck as "our son" and has named him 'Darwin'... so he's not helpful because he does not work from home like I do!

So now I am encouraging the duck, Darwin my son. He shall have anything he wants, including a rabbit hut I have gotten for free online, filled with straw... don't even know if that is right... And whatever ducks want, Darwin will get. My mum and my dad think I am being a AH.. and that I am asking for trouble now.

Hi everyone,

My son is in Reception and has school dinners every day. The school has a really good system where parents choose meals online from four options: a meat option, a vegetarian option, a cold option (usually sandwiches) and a jacket potato with anything they want on top. The variety is genuinely great and he normally enjoys his lunches.

For context, my son has just turned 5 (literally two weeks ago). He's an average weight, healthy little boy, and we've always encouraged him to try new foods but never forced him to eat something he genuinely doesn't like. Not everyone likes the same things.

Yesterday he had coronation chicken in a wrap. We'd asked him the night before if he wanted to try it and he said yes. When I picked him up, I asked how lunch was and he immediately looked upset. His little lip started wobbling and he burst into tears.

At first I thought it was just because he didn't like the food, so I cuddled him and said, "That's absolutely fine. Well done for trying something new. We never have to pick that again." But he couldn't stop crying.

Eventually he told me that he told the dinner lady he didn't like it and she said he had to eat it all or he wasn't allowed to go and play with his friends. He said he really tried but it made him sick. I asked him what he meant by that and he said he was trying to eat the "yellow chicken" and felt like he was going to be sick, but nothing came up. So he was gagging.

He said he kept saying he didn't like it but had to stay sitting down while everyone else finished, the tables were put away around him, all his friends went outside to play, and he was left sitting there on his own.

By the time they finally took his lunch away, playtime was basically over and everyone was already going back to class. He's five.

I know this is all coming from a five-year-old, so I'm trying to keep that in mind, and I know children sometimes misunderstand situations. But the thought of him sitting there on his own, crying and gagging over food while everyone else was playing honestly breaks my heart.

I'm not upset that he was encouraged to try it. I'm upset if he was genuinely told he couldn't leave until he'd eaten something he hated. You won't force another adult to eat something they were gagging over eating, so why a 5 year old child.

Would you contact the school and ask what happened, or am I making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be? I can sort of understand both sides, but like I said before, he normally eats everything, he's not a difficult eater, he's not underweight he has been at this school since September and this is the first time he has hated a food.

I'm really torn because I don't want to be "that parent," but equally I don't want my little boy worrying about lunchtime or feeling like he has to force himself to eat until he gags.

Hello,

My spelling and grammar are an actual crime. I'm dyslexic, so I typed everything out and put it through ChatGPT because nobody deserves to suffer through my original version.

This started eight months ago. I (21F, UK) am at university studying mathematics. My boyfriend at the time went to the same university, although he was two years older than me.

Every Friday after lectures I would drive an hour back to my hometown and stay until Monday morning. Partly because I still worked my little Sunday café job for some extra money while studying, but mainly because we lost my mum a year earlier and my family dynamic completely changed. Being away at university was hard on my dad and my siblings, so I wanted to spend every weekend with them.

One evening after finishing my Sunday shift, I popped round to my boyfriend's house like I always did. His mum and my boyfriend were standing in the kitchen grinning at each other.

"We've decided we want to go to Rome!" I said that sounded amazing. Then they asked if I wanted to come too. Of course I did.

Now this is probably a good time to mention that I'm doing a mathematics degree and numbers are something I don’t struggle on. The second we booked, I worked out exactly how much I would need. Flights, Covered. Accommodation, Covered. Food, Covered. Daily spending money, Calculated. Extra money for presents to take home, Calculated. Emergency money, Calculated.I even changed my money on a day with a really good exchange rate and ended up with even more euros than expected. I knew exactly how much I could comfortably spend every single day and still come home with money left over.

The four of us went, me, my boyfriend, his mum and one of their close family friends. Before we left, my boyfriend said, "You should give all your spending money to Mum." I asked why. "So you don't lose it." I said no. I'm an adult. If I want to buy something, I'm not going to ask my boyfriend's mum for permission to spend my own money.

Time passed, we are sat on the plane. “I’ve given all my money to Mum." I just shrugged and said, “Ok, but I'm not." I thought he was just worried I'd leave my money somewhere. We arrived in Rome late that night and went straight to bed. The following morning his mum called us into her hotel room. She was sitting on the bed surrounded by envelopes and cash.She asked, "Have you got all your spending money?" I said yes. Then she said, "I don't want you wasting €50 on a hotel safe. Why don't I keep your money in our room safe? I'll keep yours separate." That actually sounded sensible. I knew the safe code anyway, so I thought I'd just take my own money whenever I needed it. Wrong.

Every single morning she would ask, "How much money do you want today?" I would tell her the amount I had already budgeted for that day. Every single morning she would look at me like I'd asked for the Crown Jewels. "Are you sure? That's quite a lot." Yes. It's my money. I want to buy presents for my family, my friends and myself. Why do you care? I never even spent the amount I took out. Not once. Every evening I'd come back with money left over.

By the end of the holiday I knew I should still have around €400 left.

And before anyone asks... No, I wasn't guessing. I literally study maths. We leave for the airport and before checking out I ask my boyfriend, "Can you get my money back from your mum please?" "Yeah." Nothing happens. We're standing in duty free and I want to buy cigarettes for myself and another pack for a friend who had already transferred me the money before I left. "Can I have my money now please?" "I'll ask Mum." He walks away. Comes back. "Mum says you don't really have much money left." I actually stared at him. "What do you mean?" He repeated it. I immediately listed everything. How much I exchanged. How much I withdrew from her every day. How much I spent. How much should still be left. He looked confused and walked away again. A few minutes later he came back holding €45. "That's all you've got left." I said, "No it isn't." I knew it wasn't. I could literally account for every euro. But we were running out of time and boarding was starting. I bought my own cigarettes but couldn't buy the ones my friend had already given me money for. So I got home and had the embarrassing conversation of explaining that I couldn't buy them and giving them their money back. I was absolutely fuming. I know €400 is not a 'tone' of money but to me it is I am a student... I work ONE day a week.

Now, my boyfriend's mum had always been... odd with money. She complained about supermarket prices constantly. She bought fruit and vegetables that were basically out of date because they were reduced. Nothing ever got thrown away. If either of us bought something she'd tell us it was a waste of money. She would not put the heating up ‘too much money’ would joke ‘are you paying the heating bill’?. They weren't struggling. They have money. So I always thought she was just like that and was just tight. Some people are, no hate. I never imagined she'd actually take mine.

When we got back I told my boyfriend I wanted to go home to see my family. Which was true. But I also didn't want to be anywhere near his mum because I was so angry. A few days later we were talking about the holiday and he suddenly said, "Sorry about Mum by the way." I asked what he meant. He admitted that he also thought she'd taken my money because he knew I couldn't possibly have mixed up such simple maths. He even said she'd been acting really shifty when he asked her about it. I looked at him and asked, "So why haven't you said anything?" His answer? "I can't. She's my mum." I asked him, "If my dad stole money from you and I admitted I knew he'd done it but wasn't going to say anything, would you be happy with that?" I've never seen someone realise they're wrong so quickly.

Two weeks later we had to stay at his mum's house (first time seeing her since). I carried my bag upstairs. And sitting on the bed was THE envelope. The holiday envelope that had MY money in. I opened it. Inside was €105. My boyfriend walked in smiling. "See? Mum just didn't realise she still had some of your money." I looked at him. "No." "There's still money missing." Then he said, "Well... is it really worth kicking off over this? You've still got some of it back."

Some of it. Interesting choice of words. Then he changed the story again. Apparently his mum had decided I hadn't paid enough towards the flights and accommodation and had kept the difference. Except... I HAD PAID. We'd confirmed exactly how much I owed before we even booked!

At that point I started throwing my clothes into my bag. He panicked. "Don't make this difficult." I shouted, "I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK." Then I heard a creak outside the bedroom door. His mum had been listening. So I repeated EVERYTHING he had told me. Every single word. Every accusation. Every single conversation we had about the money, start to finish. (I wanted her to hear that I know what she had done.. and I am NOT happy.)

The bedroom door flew open. ( I din’t think she would actually come in…) His mum looked furious. But not at me. At him. Turns out...

She hadn't stolen a penny. HE HAD. He'd actually gone back to her at the airport, collected the rest of my money and pocketed it himself. He gave me €45 At the airport to stop the kick off at the airport. When he realised the situation was becoming a massive problem, (between how I feel towards his mother and I was not dropping it) he'd put €105 back into the envelope leaving it in his mothers house, hoping I'd think she'd simply "found" more of my money.

His mother was horrified. She immediately tried to give me the rest of the money back. I told her not to. At that point it wasn't about the money anymore. I don’t want this woman’s money. 

It was about the fact that I'd spent weeks believing she'd stolen from me while the real thief was standing next to me pretending to defend me.

Safe to say we're no longer together. He was blowing up my phone, saying his mother is lying…and she took it, and blamed him for it. He had been living with me at university. After we split, he had to commute an hour there and an hour back every single day. Turns out stealing a few hundred euros was a very expensive mistake. We were together for 5 years. Gone.

This all ‘ended’ a few months ago I am over it and thriving, yesterday my dad called and said that my ex’s mother was standing at the door crying, he let her in they had a tea, and spoke. She is ‘heart broken’. She said to my dad she wants us to get back together.. not happening. She confessed that she was one that actually took them money and was embraced to blamed her son in the moment. My dad was shocked. She gave my dad money to give to me, my dad took it, he thought that was the right thing to do. I said I don’t want the money, and I don’t know who did it and I don’t care, I don’t want to speak or deal with them ever again.

My dad said that I need to 'sort it' other wise ex mother in law is just going o keep coming round. I don't want to speak to her ever again, but my dad told me I need to... Do I bother getting to the bottom of it?

Hello,

My spelling and grammar are an actual crime. I'm dyslexic, so I typed everything out and put it through ChatGPT because nobody deserves to suffer through my original version.

This started eight months ago. I (21F, UK) am at university studying mathematics. My boyfriend at the time went to the same university, although he was two years older than me.

Every Friday after lectures I would drive an hour back to my hometown and stay until Monday morning. Partly because I still worked my little Sunday café job for some extra money while studying, but mainly because we lost my mum a year earlier and my family dynamic completely changed. Being away at university was hard on my dad and my siblings, so I wanted to spend every weekend with them.

One evening after finishing my Sunday shift, I popped round to my boyfriend's house like I always did. His mum and my boyfriend were standing in the kitchen grinning at each other.

"We've decided we want to go to Rome!" I said that sounded amazing. Then they asked if I wanted to come too. Of course I did.

Now this is probably a good time to mention that I'm doing a mathematics degree and numbers are something I don’t struggle on. The second we booked, I worked out exactly how much I would need. Flights, Covered. Accommodation, Covered. Food, Covered. Daily spending money, Calculated. Extra money for presents to take home, Calculated. Emergency money, Calculated.I even changed my money on a day with a really good exchange rate and ended up with even more euros than expected. I knew exactly how much I could comfortably spend every single day and still come home with money left over.

The four of us went, me, my boyfriend, his mum and one of their close family friends. Before we left, my boyfriend said, "You should give all your spending money to Mum." I asked why. "So you don't lose it." I said no. I'm an adult. If I want to buy something, I'm not going to ask my boyfriend's mum for permission to spend my own money.

Time passed, we are sat on the plane. “I’ve given all my money to Mum." I just shrugged and said, “Ok, but I'm not." I thought he was just worried I'd leave my money somewhere. We arrived in Rome late that night and went straight to bed. The following morning his mum called us into her hotel room. She was sitting on the bed surrounded by envelopes and cash.She asked, "Have you got all your spending money?" I said yes. Then she said, "I don't want you wasting €50 on a hotel safe. Why don't I keep your money in our room safe? I'll keep yours separate." That actually sounded sensible. I knew the safe code anyway, so I thought I'd just take my own money whenever I needed it. Wrong.

Every single morning she would ask, "How much money do you want today?" I would tell her the amount I had already budgeted for that day. Every single morning she would look at me like I'd asked for the Crown Jewels. "Are you sure? That's quite a lot." Yes. It's my money. I want to buy presents for my family, my friends and myself. Why do you care? I never even spent the amount I took out. Not once. Every evening I'd come back with money left over.

By the end of the holiday I knew I should still have around €400 left.

And before anyone asks... No, I wasn't guessing. I literally study maths. We leave for the airport and before checking out I ask my boyfriend, "Can you get my money back from your mum please?" "Yeah." Nothing happens. We're standing in duty free and I want to buy cigarettes for myself and another pack for a friend who had already transferred me the money before I left. "Can I have my money now please?" "I'll ask Mum." He walks away. Comes back. "Mum says you don't really have much money left." I actually stared at him. "What do you mean?" He repeated it. I immediately listed everything. How much I exchanged. How much I withdrew from her every day. How much I spent. How much should still be left. He looked confused and walked away again. A few minutes later he came back holding €45. "That's all you've got left." I said, "No it isn't." I knew it wasn't. I could literally account for every euro. But we were running out of time and boarding was starting. I bought my own cigarettes but couldn't buy the ones my friend had already given me money for. So I got home and had the embarrassing conversation of explaining that I couldn't buy them and giving them their money back. I was absolutely fuming. I know €400 is not a 'tone' of money but to me it is I am a student... I work ONE day a week.

Now, my boyfriend's mum had always been... odd with money. She complained about supermarket prices constantly. She bought fruit and vegetables that were basically out of date because they were reduced. Nothing ever got thrown away. If either of us bought something she'd tell us it was a waste of money. She would not put the heating up ‘too much money’ would joke ‘are you paying the heating bill’?. They weren't struggling. They have money. So I always thought she was just like that and was just tight. Some people are, no hate. I never imagined she'd actually take mine.

When we got back I told my boyfriend I wanted to go home to see my family. Which was true. But I also didn't want to be anywhere near his mum because I was so angry. A few days later we were talking about the holiday and he suddenly said, "Sorry about Mum by the way." I asked what he meant. He admitted that he also thought she'd taken my money because he knew I couldn't possibly have mixed up such simple maths. He even said she'd been acting really shifty when he asked her about it. I looked at him and asked, "So why haven't you said anything?" His answer? "I can't. She's my mum." I asked him, "If my dad stole money from you and I admitted I knew he'd done it but wasn't going to say anything, would you be happy with that?" I've never seen someone realise they're wrong so quickly.

Two weeks later we had to stay at his mum's house (first time seeing her since). I carried my bag upstairs. And sitting on the bed was THE envelope. The holiday envelope that had MY money in. I opened it. Inside was €105. My boyfriend walked in smiling. "See? Mum just didn't realise she still had some of your money." I looked at him. "No." "There's still money missing." Then he said, "Well... is it really worth kicking off over this? You've still got some of it back."

Some of it. Interesting choice of words. Then he changed the story again. Apparently his mum had decided I hadn't paid enough towards the flights and accommodation and had kept the difference. Except... I HAD PAID. We'd confirmed exactly how much I owed before we even booked!

At that point I started throwing my clothes into my bag. He panicked. "Don't make this difficult." I shouted, "I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK." Then I heard a creak outside the bedroom door. His mum had been listening. So I repeated EVERYTHING he had told me. Every single word. Every accusation. Every single conversation we had about the money, start to finish. (I wanted her to hear that I know what she had done.. and I am NOT happy.)

The bedroom door flew open. ( I din’t think she would actually come in…) His mum looked furious. But not at me. At him. Turns out...

She hadn't stolen a penny. HE HAD. He'd actually gone back to her at the airport, collected the rest of my money and pocketed it himself. He gave me €45 At the airport to stop the kick off at the airport. When he realised the situation was becoming a massive problem, (between how I feel towards his mother and I was not dropping it) he'd put €105 back into the envelope leaving it in his mothers house, hoping I'd think she'd simply "found" more of my money.

His mother was horrified. She immediately tried to give me the rest of the money back. I told her not to. At that point it wasn't about the money anymore. I don’t want this woman’s money. 

It was about the fact that I'd spent weeks believing she'd stolen from me while the real thief was standing next to me pretending to defend me.

Safe to say we're no longer together. He was blowing up my phone, saying his mother is lying…and she took it, and blamed him for it. He had been living with me at university. After we split, he had to commute an hour there and an hour back every single day. Turns out stealing a few hundred euros was a very expensive mistake. We were together for 5 years. Gone.

This all ‘ended’ a few months ago I am over it and thriving, yesterday my dad called and said that my ex’s mother was standing at the door crying, he let her in they had a tea, and spoke. She is ‘heart broken’. She said to my dad she wants us to get back together.. not happening. She confessed that she was one that actually took them money and was embraced to blamed her son in the moment. My dad was shocked. She gave my dad money to give to me, my dad took it, he thought that was the right thing to do. I said I don’t want the money, and I don’t know who did it and I don’t care, I don’t want to speak or deal with them ever again.

My dad said that I need to 'sort it' other wise ex mother in law is just going o keep coming round. I don't want to speak to her ever again, but my dad told me I need to... Do I bother getting to the bottom of it?

My friend is expecting her second baby and I'm completely stuck on what to get her. She already has most of the usual baby stuff from her first child, so I don't really want to buy more clothes, blankets, toys, etc.

The two kids will be sharing a woodland-themed nursery with forest animals, mountains, trees and all that kind of thing. She's mentioned a few times that she wishes she'd done more with the room before the baby arrives, so I'm thinking something nursery-related might be nicer than another baby gift.

I usually end up buying boring presents, so I'm looking for something a bit more unusual or personalised that feels special and could be kept for years. Budget is around £30–£60.

Has anyone received or given a nursery gift that was genuinely appreciated? Looking for ideas that are decorative but also practical.

I basically just need to rant because what happened today was so ridiculous I had to share it somewhere. My boss has ALWAYS been difficult, she's become genuinely incompetent. The problem is she owns the company, so nobody can really do anything about it. Everyone just tolerates her. Everyone loves it here, we all get a long well an all do our jobs perfectly, she is the problem.

She hasn't bothered to come in work for about a week and a half. (Normal) This morning she swans in and announces she has something important to tell everyone. We all stop what we're doing, wondering 'what is it this time?'.

She then tells us that *someone* has been STEALING from the company. Everyone is just looking at each other like 'what?' We're a very small company and most of us have worked here for yearsss. The newest employee started around 8 years ago. So...

She tells us that £50 has been taken out of the company account every month for an AI service. Everyone is confused because nobody uses AI at work... Apart from me... occasionally use ChatGPT for emails, so she is looking at me.

She asks if it's me. I tell her no, I use the free version and have never paid for anything. I ask what AI company the payment is going to. Her answer: "An AI company." I ask again which company. She said AGAIN : "An AI company" Like I AM being the idiot in this conversation.

I ask to see the bank statement so we can actually figure out where the payment is going. \*I am the only person here that is of a certain age, everyone here thinks I am a IT Wizard\* She refuses, says she's disappointed nobody is admitting it, and storms off.

I don't care. It's not me.

About 10 minutes later she comes back, comes to my office, tells me to look at the statement. I open the transaction details and immediately find the company name. It literally says it right there. I point it out and tell her who the payment is going to. She just says "oh" and walks away. No thank you... nothing. \*this is normal behaviour\*

About 20 minutes later she's sitting in her office, doing what she normally does, absolutely nothing, while loudly chatting to her 'bestie' on the phone. A coworker can hear the entire conversation.

According to boss, she'd had to "give everyone a talking to" because someone was stealing from her company, and she'd personally solved the mystery. The mystery thief? Herself?

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE! The AI subscription was on her personal account and had been paid for using the company card... She accused EVERYONE of theft, interrogated, and *discovered* it was her.

She doesn't know what we all know it was her... She keeps sleuthing around and even said in the kitchen to another co worker that she is 'heart broken that someone woulds STEAL form her'!!

Everyone finds it funny at this point, at how pathetic she is. But I don't find it funny, I was the one that she pointed out. I know that everyone else knows it OBVIOUSLY was her and not me, but still, what if she tells other people, what if those people know me, or my family and I am the one who 'stole for the company'.

I basically just need to rant because what happened today was so ridiculous I had to share it somewhere. My boss has ALWAYS been difficult, she's become genuinely incompetent. The problem is she owns the company, so nobody can really do anything about it. Everyone just tolerates her. Everyone loves it here, we all get a long well an all do our jobs perfectly, she is the problem.

She hasn't bothered to come in work for about a week and a half. (Normal) This morning she swans in and announces she has something important to tell everyone. We all stop what we're doing, wondering 'what is it this time?'.

She then tells us that someone has been STEALING from the company. Everyone is just looking at each other like 'what?' We're a very small company and most of us have worked here for yearsss. The newest employee started around 8 years ago. So...

She tells us that £50 has been taken out of the company account every month for an AI service. Everyone is confused because nobody uses AI at work... Apart from me... occasionally use ChatGPT for emails, so she is looking at me.

She asks if it's me. I tell her no, I use the free version and have never paid for anything. I ask what AI company the payment is going to. Her answer: "An AI company." I ask again which company. She said AGAIN : "An AI company" Like I AM being the idiot in this conversation.

I ask to see the bank statement so we can actually figure out where the payment is going. *I am the only person here that is of a certain age, everyone here thinks I am a IT Wizard* She refuses, says she's disappointed nobody is admitting it, and storms off.

I don't care. It's not me.

About 10 minutes later she comes back, comes to my office, tells me to look at the statement. I open the transaction details and immediately find the company name. It literally says it right there. I point it out and tell her who the payment is going to. She just says "oh" and walks away. No thank you... nothing. *this is normal behaviour*

About 20 minutes later she's sitting in her office, doing what she normally does, absolutely nothing, while loudly chatting to her 'bestie' on the phone. A coworker can hear the entire conversation.

According to boss, she'd had to "give everyone a talking to" because someone was stealing from her company, and she'd personally solved the mystery. The mystery thief? Herself?

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE! The AI subscription was on her personal account and had been paid for using the company card... She accused EVERYONE of theft, interrogated, and discovered it was her.

She doesn't know what we all know it was her... She keeps sleuthing around and even said in the kitchen to another co worker that she is 'heart broken that someone woulds STEAL form her'!!

Everyone finds it funny at this point, at how pathetic she is. But I don't find it funny, I was the one that she pointed out. I know that everyone else knows it OBVIOUSLY was her and not me, but still, what if she tells other people, what if those people know me, or my family and I am the one who 'stole for the company'.

Me and my best friend have been best friends since we were 10, and this year we both turn a big birthday. We always said we wanted to do something big together for it because we’ve spent most of our adult lives working, looking after everyone else and just being responsible and we just wanted something for ourselves.

We started planning a big group holiday and invited all our close friends and family. It’s ended up being just over 30 people which sounds massive, but we all genuinely know each other really well and everyone is so excited for it.

At the same time, me and my partner had been trying for our second baby for 5 years and finally — finally — I found out I’m pregnant. I’m still really early, due around November-ish.

Originally the trip was planned for December, but once I found out I was pregnant I said that felt way too close after giving birth, so everyone agreed to move it to April instead. I felt SO much better about that because baby would be around 4 months old by then.

My partner is genuinely amazing and I love him to bits, but he is a huge introvert. Like, happiest-person-alive-sat-at-home kind of introvert. I’m way more social than he is and we have a really big friendship group, so there’s constantly birthdays, dinners, weddings, celebrations, random get togethers etc. I go to pretty much all of them, he barely goes to any, and honestly that’s always been fine. I’ve never forced him and he’s always joked that my friends are basically his friends because he doesn’t really keep close friendships himself.

Anyway, everyone’s been planning this trip for months and obviously the plan was always for him and our child to come too.

Then the other day he randomly asked me if we were cancelling the holiday now.

I was genuinely confused and thought something bad had happened, so I was like “what?? why would we cancel it?”

And he said because I’m pregnant and the baby will be too young to fly.

I reminded him that’s literally why we moved the trip from December to April.

And he goes, “wait, THAT’S why you changed the date?”

Then he said he’s uncomfortable flying with a 4 month old baby.

I asked him what specifically worries him and he just kept saying he doesn’t know, he’s “just uncomfortable with it.”

Now I feel conflicted because part of me is thinking… am I being unreasonable here.. But another part of me is like surely cancelling a huge milestone birthday trip involving 30+ people because of a vague feeling is a bit extreme?

We have already moved the trip because of the pregnancy, and everyone was very understanding and happy to move it. And I don’t feel like flying with a 4 month old is some insane irresponsible thing people never do.

Hello! I’m around 4 weeks pregnant and only told my boss because I was sick at work this morning. I haven’t even told my mum yet because it’s SO early. This is my second pregnancy, and I’ve been trying for years so I’m honestly over the moon.

I also explicitly told her not to tell anyone at work yet. Obviously.

As soon as I told her, she immediately started asking me when I’m due, whether I’ll be here for certain dates, when I’d be coming back from maternity leave, and she also started talking about getting replacement cover already, which honestly threw me a bit because I’ve only just found out myself. WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME ALL OF THIS?

I told her I do plan on coming back after maternity leave. I already returned to work after my first child, I came back to work after only 2 months.

But then she started asking things like “what are you going to do with the baby?”, “who’s going to have it?”, and “is that reliable?” which made me feel like she basically doesn’t believe I’ll actually return to work. She then asked if I’d told my mum yet. I said no because it’s WAY too early and I only told her because I was literally unwell at work.

She then said something like “yes that’s probably for the best beca

use you never know what might happen…” and then kept kind of repeating it in different ways, like she realised it sounded bad halfway through and tried to backtrack, but it just made it WORSE.

I also told her not to tell anyone yet. Obviously. Later, I was eating my lunch and she said “oh hungry are we?” in a really loaded kind of tone that felt very “wink wink nudge nudge” about pregnancy cravings. One of my coworkers even picked up on it and said it was weird, and I agreed because it was!

Now I honestly can’t tell if I’m being overly sensitive or if the whole conversation was actually inappropriate. I just walked away feeling like she thinks I’m screwing the company over by being pregnant, and I really regret telling her now. At 4 weeks it’s still so early and I only said anything because I was sick at work.

It honestly feels like she’s trying to replace me already. I get that she might be thinking about cover, but the way she jumped straight into replacements and kept questioning whether I’ll come back made it feel like she doesn’t see me actually returning. 

*No, I could not have just lied about the sick in the morning, everyone heard it. It’s going to happen every day from now till whenever, just like my first pregnancy. These is no point lying about it now.* 

I am new to Reddit so please be nice 😭 I genuinely still don’t know if I handled this situation correctly and it’s been bothering me for like a month now.

I’m in a friendship group of 8 women, all around 27–30, and we’ve all known each other since school. Most of us are in long-term relationships. One friend is single, we’ll call her Banana. Another girl, Mango, joined the group 2 years ago but feels like she’s always been part of it is in a 8 year realtionship.

A month ago we went to a birthday party at a friend’s house. Her boyfriend had a friend staying over for the weekend, early 40s, first time any of us had met him. Banana and him instantly hit it off and were flirting all night. We were all excited for her because she recently said she wanted to settle down.

Later that night he lost his phone and when one of the girls picked it up to hand back to him, the lockscreen was a woman in a bikini on a beach. Girlfriend confirmed. Banana had no idea.

The NEXT weekend there was another party. I wasn’t there, Banana wasn’t there, but Mango was. The 40-year-old guy was there again (literally only the second time we’d ever met him).

Apparently someone asked him why he flirted with Banana despite having a girlfriend and he said they’d broken up days earlier because flirting with Banana made him realise he clearly wasn’t invested in his relationship anymore. Okay… Not great, but whatever.

THEN Mango, who is in an 8 YEAR relationship, apparently started kissing him. One friend even said she physically pulled Mango away from him, which sounds more intense than a quick drunk kiss to me.

Everyone in the group knew except Banana. I said Mango needed to tell her boyfriend and Banana deserved to know too. Everyone agreed with me… and then nobody did anything.

Weeks passed. One friend said she was going to speak privately with Mango first and give her the chance to tell her boyfriend herself. I fully 100% agreed.

Three weeks later? Still nothing.

So eventually I told Banana because at that point staying quiet started feeling like lying. Everyone was happy Banana knew, despite nobody wanting to tell her themselves. Now the weird part... Someone later casually asked Mango about the party and she remembered random tiny details from before and after the kissing… but somehow doesn’t remember kissing him at all.

Now the group is split between: She genuinely blacked out. OR. She absolutely remembers and is pretending she doesn’t.I personally think she remembers.

The worst part is her boyfriend is LOVELY. Gives us lifts, buys food for everyone, treats us all so well… and we all know this happened. Nobody talks about it now. Everything feels weirdly normal and I feel like I’m going insane because I can’t just “drop it” like everyone else has.

I honestly feel like we’re all sitting on a bomb pretending it isn’t there.

I am new to Reddit so please be nice 😭 I genuinely still don’t know if I handled this situation correctly and it’s been bothering me for like a month now.

I’m in a friendship group of 8 women, all around 27–30, and we’ve all known each other since school. Most of us are in long-term relationships. One friend is single, we’ll call her Banana. Another girl, Mango, joined the group 2 years ago but feels like she’s always been part of it.

A month ago we went to a birthday party at our friend’s house. Her boyfriend had a friend staying over for the weekend, early 40s, first time any of us had met him. Banana and him instantly hit it off and were flirting all night. We were all excited for her because she recently said she wanted to settle down.

Later that night he lost his phone and when one of the girls picked it up to hand back to him, the lockscreen was a woman in a bikini on a beach. Girlfriend confirmed. Banana had no idea.

The NEXT weekend there was another party. I wasn’t there, Banana wasn’t there, but Mango was. The 40-year-old guy was there again (literally only the second time we’d ever met him).

Apparently someone asked him why he flirted with Banana despite having a girlfriend and he said they’d broken up days earlier because flirting with Banana made him realise he clearly wasn’t invested in his relationship anymore. Okay… Not great, but whatever.

THEN Mango, who is in an 8 YEAR relationship, apparently started kissing him. One friend even said she physically pulled Mango away from him, which sounds more intense than a quick drunk kiss to me.

Everyone in the group knew except Banana. I said Mango needed to tell her boyfriend and Banana deserved to know too. Everyone agreed with me… and then nobody did anything.

Weeks passed. One friend said she was going to speak privately with Mango first and give her the chance to tell her boyfriend herself. I fully 100% agreed.

Three weeks later? Still nothing.

So eventually I told Banana because at that point staying quiet started feeling like lying. Everyone was happy Banana knew, despite nobody wanting to tell her themselves.

Now the weird part... Someone later casually asked Mango about the party and she remembered random tiny details from before and after the kissing… but somehow doesn’t remember kissing him at all.

Now the group is split between: She genuinely blacked out. OR. She absolutely remembers and is pretending she doesn’t.I personally think she remembers.

The worst part is her boyfriend is LOVELY. Gives us lifts, buys food for everyone, treats us all so well… and we all know this happened. Nobody talks about it now. Everything feels weirdly normal and I feel like I’m going insane because I can’t just “drop it” like everyone else has.

I honestly feel like we’re all sitting on a bomb pretending it isn’t there.

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I’m honestly getting really frustrated with this.

Every so often I’ll write a comment or reply that is structured, in full sentences, and actually explains my point properly, and someone will jump in and say it “sounds like AI” or “ChatGPT wrote this.” This not just on Reddit, anywhere and everywhereI have received this comment at some point.

It’s starting to annoy me because I’m just… writing normally. I don’t use AI for every comment I make *who has the time for that*, and apparently if you write anything longer than a couple of messy sentences, people assume it must be generated.

What frustrates me most is that if I try to defend myself, it somehow turns into people acting like I’ve done something wrong or suspicious. Suddenly everyone is arguing about whether I’m “using AI” instead of actually responding to what I said.

I genuinely don’t care if people use ChatGPT, it’s a tool, use it how you want. But people act like it’s some kind of killer clown in a dark car park or moral failure.

I’ve even had to delete comments or shorten what I want to say just to avoid people focusing on whether it “sounds AI” instead of the actual point I’m making.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Or is this just the internet now?