ThePowerOfGeek

And the pandemic. The effects of the pandemic did a massive number on so many younger kids behaviorally.

So yeah, there are numerous reasons for the upswing in social and behavioral issues in kids over the last several years.

Totally irrelevant side note, but I just realized that he looks like a cross between Benny Hill and a werewolf.

K

L

Ah shit that's unfortunate. Better luck next time, demon.

I just got back from taking one of my kids trick or treating with his friends. It was great. My wife and I got to walk and chat with the other parents while all of our kids knocked on doors and shouted "trick or treat!". Lots of friendly, generous, nice people. And lots of shouted reminders from us for the kids to not walk on people's front lawns, to say thank you, to be careful crossing the quiet roads. There were so many other kids out too. It was pretty crazy, but in a good way. About half of the houses were giving out candy in some way or other, with only about a quarter having an un-monitored bowl.

Then on the way home we drove past a church that was having a 'trunk or treat' in their parking lot. That just looked sad. There was no excitement for going up to the really cool houses that were decked out in amazing props and decorations. There was no need to hone analytical skills to determine which houses were giving out candy and which ones probably weren't. Just going very short distances from one car to the next getting candy. My kid asked why they do that. I said it's probably because they are a closed community who don't really want to associate with 'outsiders'. Give me the conventional experience over that all day every day!

I see the Guardian is going as Captain Fucking Obvious for Halloween this year.

I really hope you're not letting your dog's nose near Uranus.

Yes, the 'Democrat' Gabbard.

I'm kind of surprised Joe Manchin isn't. Though I guess he's not quite as far the along the sham Democrat path as Gabbard.

We have tried several reward systems, including rejigging the rewards and earning rules numerous times. But both us and the kids would frequently forget to award them. Then the kids would remember after 2 or 3 months and it would become a headache to try to assess.

So we've switched to debit cards with automatic allowance transfers. There's also an option with the system we use to reward extra money for weekly chores, all done via the mobile app. It's very convenient. Not least because the kids usually forget to do their chores, so they rarely earn the extra $s.

Additionally, the kids usually forget about their accounts/cards (despite frequently complaining when we say no to requests for treats or extra things). So their modest weekly allowances are gradually building up to a decent little nestegg.

But yeah, I hear ya about the concern about kids having debit cards too young. There has to be a certain level of financial awareness to really cope with them. Though the counterpoint to that is: such a mechanism helps get them to that better awareness.

Edit: fixed some autocorrect errors.

More like...

"That's Fascist Communism!"

But yeah, same level of ignorance.