u/SunLillyFairy

I have zero association with Target and I totally understand why they are not popular right now. Honestly, I'm too poor to pass up good deals for political reasons and because they are still disliked, they have some better than usual deals... so just sharing a shopping tip:

Their grocery prices are just average... but, if you get a Red Card (which is free and can be linked to a debit card so you never have to pay interest) you get 5% off everything you buy with it, and they have further discounts/credits with "Circle Rewards." Last week they had a sale on my laundry detergent, and I got a $10 gift card for buying 3 of them and $10 in "Circle rewards" for spending some amount in a month (I think it was like $60?).

So, I now have $20 in bonuses, which is good because I'm broke until the the beginning of next mo. Currently they have a deal for save $10 when you spend $50 on groceries. So, between the 3 $10 off deals and the 5% off all items, I can now buy $53.00 in reduced groceries and pay $20.35. Yes, I did spend other money there for the bonuses, but it was the best price I could find on my laundry detergent. (I don't spend money just for savings or points or whatever deal, it defeats the point.)

They do carry some items, particularly staples, with prices that are less than most other stores. (Especially their brands. Walmart is still a little cheaper, but with the 5% off and rewards it costs me less at Target.) You can get flour for around $2.50/5lbs, (regular and whole wheat), which I use to make biscuits, pancakes and bread. 2 lbs of rice for $1.89 (brown or white). I'm not going to list out a bunch of stuff, but they do have additional coupons and BOGO deals on their web page.

Anyway, after the extra savings/rewards/coupons - for the next $20 I spend there I'll get what would cost me $75 - $100 or more if I went to a local Safeway or Kroger's for equivalent items. I hope this helps someone.

Edited to fix a typo only

I know this comes up for many of us. My kid is 10, lvl 3 - so he needs a lot of support. Currently he still needs 24-7 supervision and doesn't even sleep in his own room.

I am married, but my spouse and I are older parents (50's) and I worry if anything happened to one of us, let alone if we went out together in a car crash or in quick succession from illnesses or something, that he would be completely screwed. We don't have any family we feel could handle him.

I'm working on estate planning. The money part is pretty straightforward, he can keep the house and any money (which is something but not a lot) goes to him. But he can't manage money, so that has to be set up. But again, there's a process for that and I'm setting that up now. But who would care for him?

Because this ruminates in the back of my mind we do try to focus on independence skills. Our son has some verbal skills and we are working towards teaching him what to do if he's lost or alone, but he also has an ID and is not even safe around traffic without arms-reach supervision. At this point if asked - he can say his name, address and phone number, but would walk away with any stranger and couldn't navigate home or call for help (or wouldn't even think to) if he was a block away. Does anyone else worry about this? Does anyone have some kind of legal document as to who would care for their child(ren) if they passed, and what would that even say when we have no family/friends we think he should go to? It may come up for us more as older parents, but parents at any age can face their final destination.

My kid, 10, has to go under for dental work in 3 weeks. I have gone to 3 pediatric dentists and 1 holistic dentist (who was able to do some treatment). The issues were with primary molars so I was hoping with good care we could just wait them out, which the dentists all said "might work." But, it can't wait any more. Last month a tooth became infected and he had to take antibiotics. Unfortunately it's not loose yet, and now a back permanent tooth has some decay as well, and if it's not taken care of it will just get worse.

I'm having SUCH a hard with this. I know GA is generally safe now, and his pediatrician sent me to the same place she sent her kid to. But, he's 24-7 supervision and I never leave his side. And to turn him over to people I don't personally know and trust his life to them... it's just eating me up with stress. I can't sleep or eat. I'm worried something will go wrong and he'll be harmed.

And I'm SO worried about the trauma. This kid is VERY easily upset, and if he's traumatized by something, (even things that would not upset others), he cannot let it go. I mean... a couple months back he got simple a virus from his cousins, it made him throw up a couple times on one evening, (no other symptoms), and then he wouldn't eat for almost a week. The doc was saying if he didn't eat soon we'd need to take him to the hospital for an NG tube. He was just afraid to eat. Thankfully he started taking food and is back to eating... but that's how he reacts. And he has an ID and he won't understand why I took him there and let people put a mask on his face to put him to sleep and then do stuff to his mouth while he was out. And I'm also afraid the recovery will be brutal for him... he needs a tooth extracted and there will be a hole and blood and pain... and he doesn't understand. He's combative and tries to elope when he panics.

I have of course informed them of all of this and they are working with me on a safety plan. I'm posting because I'm afraid and I don't know what to do with these emotions and all the thoughts and worse case scenarios ruminating through my head, other than to put them out out into the universe. I would not be moving forward if it wasn't truly necessary. Those of you have had kids that have to have surgeries (which I know some of you out there have to deal with stuff like this a lot), how do you deal with it? I am putting on my best happy face, hiding my anxiety as much as I can, because I don't want my stress to negatively affect him. But how do I get through the next 3 weeks and how do I hand him over to them?

Please... all you wonderfully helpful people... please no "just stop worrying, it's safe and fine" responses. I beg of you, it's not helpful. Some of my anxiety is because I have personally had a bad experience with anesthesia, and I know things can go wrong. I am hoping that part goes fine, but even so I know my kid and knowing how hard recovery will be is not "worst case" thinking or paranoia... he was dysregulated for over a month after a simple blood draw, and we used anti-anxiety meds to get through that. I know we can get through it, but I'm having a hard looking at his sweet face and going about our daily activities knowing what's in store for him.

My guy is 10, ASD and ID. He has never done original art. We've tried to get him to trace circles and such, and celebrated the stick figures he finished with coaching, but he's never shown any interest in creating anything on his own. Today he randomly decided to draw a "dance floor" "cousin" and "lights" (interpretation = his favorite little cousin, a disco ball, and a colored dance floor that he's seen on a video).

I like art, but I've never been one to weep at picture... until today. This is THE most beautiful art I've ever seen.

https://preview.redd.it/djughoak2c0h1.jpg?width=684&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=989e26063e74b4e6540efb0afa1cff90c8f4ae52

I'm looking for a series about a violent crime against a human (or humans) where there is an answer at the end. I like DNA ID, but I enjoy the longer ones that are presented in a series, like a mystery, and they really dig in and take you down the clue and investigation path.
I'd prefer they are either solved, or there is a least some conclusion or partial resolution. Any suggestions?

My 36 year old kid is always complaining about money and asking me for money, and saying they are poor (her immediate family - partner & 2 kids). But they are not poor. Her partner has a decent job, she has some income too. They live in a nice house. Bills are tight and they don't have a lot of disposable income - I do get that. However, they are not frugal at all. They spend their money of a lot of things that are "wants" rather than "needs"... and then ask myself (other the other grandparents) to pay for needs when they come up - like the current requested $1600 for a car repair - because they don't have ANY savings.

What they spend their money on is not my business/concern... until they expect me to pay for things that they cannot. The way I was raised was that once you were out on your own and your parents got older, you hoped you could help support them (which thankfully I don't need, but I'm also not wealthy, and trying to keep they money I did put away in savings so I don't end up in need... I am retired but likely have 20-30 years left).

I've seen other parents of adults complain about this - but that just means there are other folks out there with irresponsible kids. I can't tell if it's a widely spread generational thing or just my special blend of family disfunction.

Hi all. I have a special needs kid who has a little inflatable raft (it's more like a glorified pool toy, but I guess considered a 3-person inflatable fishing boat), and he really wants to put it in the water. Like... he's asking us daily. I'm looking for a lake (pond, whatever) that's big enough to put a little boat in, and it's allowed, but it's calm/still water (not a river unless it's VERY slow moving) and also not too cold at this time of year. (Not the water, it can be cold, but I mean I was going to take him to Lake of the Woods but at this time of the year even on a sunny day it's very cold there.)

Also, we can get over rough ground, but can't really hike in for any distance.

Many of you out there may know this, I'm sure it's come up on here before, but I didn't so I'm putting it out there in the simplest way I can.

Most know that you don't qualify for ACA tax credits if your employer offers (and you can enroll in) an "adequate" plan - which ACA defines as one that does meets MEC (minimum essential coverage) & MV (Minimum value). If not, can get ACA credits to help pay for an ACA plan.

This is the spin I didn't know...

It is becoming very common for employers to offer a plan that meets MEC, but does not meet MV. (This would look like a plan that might have an Rx discount, telehealth, prevention services, immunizations... but doesn't cover things like ER care, hospital visits, surgery lab work.) These plans are common in smaller companies because they need to meet ACA requirements but can't afford (or don't want to afford) regular coverage.

If your job offers one that meets MEC, but it doesn't meet MV, you can still get ACA credits IF you don't enroll in it. But if you do... you lose your ACA credits.

I'll tell you how this can play out.... My spouse's employer offers one of these plans. They really push it as "free" because it's taken out pre-tax and there's some kind of "grant" to cover most of the monthly premium. It sounded more like a discount savings club than an MEC plan. They auto-enroll ALL their employees - to opt out you have to sign specific forms, and if you don't opt out with their HR AND the plan's carrier, (separate actions), you're enrolled. If that happens, he'd loose his ACA credits.. which for my husband is around 8K a year.

I guess the basic ACA legal premise is that if you're willing to take the crappy coverage, you still have some kind of coverage, so you can't get credits for an ACA plan.

I just wanted to get this out there for anyone who doesn't know. Every time I think I have all the details down, I learn something else. I had no idea that the little "free" "employer sponsored discount plan" that my husband's employer as auto-enrolling him in (he was told for his benefit, but it's more so they meet their numbers) could have cost us $8,000 in ACA credits come 2026 tax time. (It was just a lucky catch.., I ran into some side info while researching the plan. )

AITA? I live in a basic suburbia... Houses have like 12 ft of distance between them, with a fence for separation- decent neighbors/neighborhood, dead end street. The guy that owns the house next door was renting it out but now he's moved back. He's got a big truck and he's choosing to park in front of my house because we have a tree that gives that spot shade. Where he's parking is at the edge of our property lines, but definitely in front of my house, not his. Space is not the issue, he has an empty driveway he's choosing not to park in. We have parking in our driveway, so that's not the issue. It's hard to see around when I'm pulling out and when I want the spot open for my visitors.

I politely asked him if he'd mind leaving it open for our use and he looked annoyed. He said "um... yeah... I guess tell me when you know you have people coming" and abruptly walked away. AITA for asking him not to park there?

I don't want tension with my neighbor.. and it is a public street... but he has his own open driveway, and I thought it was just basic neighborhood etiquette (I wouldn't do it to my neighbors).