Little One wants stilts.
No good ones seem to be on sale. So it's turned into a DIY project.
Wish me luck, also, advice or recommendations on stilt building guides welcome. 😬
Alex Akselrod
boosted
"Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.
The changes were subtle at first, beginning in the summer after her fifth-grade graduation. She had always been an athletic and artistic girl, gregarious with her friends and close to her family, but now she was spending more and more time shut away in her room. She seemed unusually quiet and withdrawn. She didn’t want to play outside or go to the pool.
The girl, R, was rarely without the iPhone that she’d received for her 11th birthday, and her mother, H, had grown suspicious of the device. (The Washington Post is identifying them by their middle initials because of the sensitive nature of their account, and because R is a minor). It felt to H as though her child was fading somehow, receding from her own life, and H wanted to understand why.
(. . .)
At the time, H was far more focused on what her tween might have encountered on social media. In August 2024, H had never heard of Character AI; she didn’t know it was an artificial intelligence platform where roughly 20 million monthly users can exchange text or voice messages with AI-generated imitations of celebrities and fictional characters.
(. . .)
In the days after H found her daughter’s Character AI chats, H projected an air of normalcy around her daughter, not wanting to do anything that would cause her distress or shame. H contacted her local police department, which in turn connected her to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. A couple of days later, she spoke on the phone with a detective who specializes in cybercrimes and explained what H had been unable to comprehend: that the words she’d read on her daughter’s screen weren’t written by a human but by a generative AI chatbot.
'They told me the law has not caught up to this,' H says. 'They wanted to do something, but there’s nothing they could do, because there’s not a real person on the other end.'
It felt impossible to align that reality, H says, with the visceral horror she felt when she first scrolled through the threatening and explicit messages on her daughter’s phone screen.
'It felt like walking in on someone abusing and hurting someone you love — it felt that real, it felt that disturbing, to see someone talking so perversely to your own child,' H says. 'It’s like you’re sitting inside the four walls of your home, and someone is victimizing your child in the next room.'
Her voice falters.
'And then you find out — it’s nobody?'"
"Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.
The changes were subtle at first, beginning in the summer after her fifth-grade graduation. She had always been an athletic and artistic girl, gregarious with her friends and close to her family, but now she was spending more and more time shut away in her room. She seemed unusually quiet and withdrawn. She didn’t want to play outside or go to the pool.
The girl, R, was rarely without the iPhone that she’d received for her 11th birthday, and her mother, H, had grown suspicious of the device. (The Washington Post is identifying them by their middle initials because of the sensitive nature of their account, and because R is a minor). It felt to H as though her child was fading somehow, receding from her own life, and H wanted to understand why.
(. . .)
At the time, H was far more focused on what her tween might have encountered on social media. In August 2024, H had never heard of Character AI; she didn’t know it was an artificial intelligence platform where roughly 20 million monthly users can exchange text or voice messages with AI-generated imitations of celebrities and fictional characters.
(. . .)
In the days after H found her daughter’s Character AI chats, H projected an air of normalcy around her daughter, not wanting to do anything that would cause her distress or shame. H contacted her local police department, which in turn connected her to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. A couple of days later, she spoke on the phone with a detective who specializes in cybercrimes and explained what H had been unable to comprehend: that the words she’d read on her daughter’s screen weren’t written by a human but by a generative AI chatbot.
'They told me the law has not caught up to this,' H says. 'They wanted to do something, but there’s nothing they could do, because there’s not a real person on the other end.'
It felt impossible to align that reality, H says, with the visceral horror she felt when she first scrolled through the threatening and explicit messages on her daughter’s phone screen.
'It felt like walking in on someone abusing and hurting someone you love — it felt that real, it felt that disturbing, to see someone talking so perversely to your own child,' H says. 'It’s like you’re sitting inside the four walls of your home, and someone is victimizing your child in the next room.'
Her voice falters.
'And then you find out — it’s nobody?'"
Looking for advice from folks who deal with executive dysfunction fucking with motivation.
My kid has asked for help and advice. They describe, for instance, being able to get up easily when there is an outside reason for them to get up, but not being able to get up when they want to without an outside reason. To me this sounds like motivation dysfunction.
I deal with a lot of executive dysfunction issues, but motivation has rarely been one of them, so I'm not familiar with tools or techniques for managing this.
Suggestions or shared experiences, especially from AuDHD folks, would be much appreciated.
Dane 🇮🇪🏴☠️🖖⚛️☮️☸️🕉️
boosted
It must be the Christmas spirit, because the kid is home for the winter break and we yell "Jesus Christ child!" very often these days...
I SUCCESSFULLY GOT MY CHILD TO EAT SOMETHING!!
hypebot
boosted
We started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with the kid, and since she is bilingual, she noted "Apa" is Hungarian for "Dad".
So now every time she wants something from her father she yells "Apa! YIP YIP!"
She thinks it is hilarious and she's right.
me: "Yeah, this 'no screens' punishment thing isn't working."
A: "And [the 8yo] is using screens responsibly! Right now she's using an app to learn Korean."
8yo: "See? You should let me have screens."
me: "We need to come up with a better punishment! Maybe we should pull out her fingernails?"
8yo: "Hey!"
A: "But that will only work for 10 days"
me: "Oh yeah, good point"
8yo: "You guys are psychos!"
A: "Toenails could buy us another 10 days, but 20 days isn't that much..."
It must be the Christmas spirit, because the kid is home for the winter break and we yell "Jesus Christ child!" very often these days...
We started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with the kid, and since she is bilingual, she noted "Apa" is Hungarian for "Dad".
So now every time she wants something from her father she yells "Apa! YIP YIP!"
She thinks it is hilarious and she's right.
In 1991, right after I finished high school, my band Cadaverous Quartet won Tucson’s annual Battle of the Bands. They made these t-shirts for the finals.
It’s cool that I still have a couple of them. It’s more cool that my daughter wears one all the time. It makes my heart swell a bit, actually. 😍🥹
(A story about the band if you’re curious: https://markwrites.io/26-years-in-the-making-the-exhumation-of-cadaverous-quartet/)
#Music #CadaverousQuartet #BattleOfTheBands #Parenting #Metal
Back of the shirt. A title reads “grand finals, august 28, 1991, finalists.” It is followed by the band names, “Betty Stress, Ghost Town, Prodigal Son, Lestat, Nuclayic Fear, and Cadaverous Quartet,” and the club name/address.
Front of the shirt. It comprises that reads “P.S. productions presents the fourth annual battle of the bands,” with gigantic lettering for the name itself. The text has book-end illustrations of guitar players.
Kristie
and 3 others
boosted
THREAD
1/
Parenting is hard. Good parenting is harder.
My journey as a parent has been long and difficult, and I’ve learned an awful lot along the way.
So, I thought I would share the things that have made the biggest difference in my relationship with my children. Each has required a lot of work and a lot of energy, but now that they are firmly in place, they allow us all to live with some ease.
#Parenting #Writing #Books #Children #Family #Scotland #WritingCommunity #Reading
Angela Antunovic
boosted
The kids were discussing what things their primary-school aged friends¹ get "for free" based upon their parents' occupations.
"Lemony's parents are lawyers, so they get free legal advice."
"Gazza's parents are both builders, so they get free renovations!"
"Paul, you and mum are both, uh, software developers? Developer operators? Network computerers? So we get… uh…"
Me: "No ads. You get everything without ads."
"Oh yeah!!! We do!!!"
—
¹ Friends' names changed to protect the innocent
Marvin
boosted
As the little Hobbit is sick at home we're doing a little art project. Education doesn't stop for no stomach bug though! So we're also learning about ethics 🙂
Theme: racist uncle is bribed by football. We're having fun.
"Daaaad, why are YOU here?"
#notTheMama
#parenting
THREAD
1/
Parenting is hard. Good parenting is harder.
My journey as a parent has been long and difficult, and I’ve learned an awful lot along the way.
So, I thought I would share the things that have made the biggest difference in my relationship with my children. Each has required a lot of work and a lot of energy, but now that they are firmly in place, they allow us all to live with some ease.
#Parenting #Writing #Books #Children #Family #Scotland #WritingCommunity #Reading
I just wanted to share a tiny winter discovery.
My little one absolutely refuses to wear caps — she pulls them off instantly. One day I put a small buff/neck-warmer on her and pulled it up over her ears… and magically she kept it on. No complaints, no throwing it on the ground. It just stays.
So if your baby keeps pulling off hats, a soft little buff can work surprisingly well… and apparently looks cute enough that moms think it's a fashion trend. 😄
#parenting #tip