Rachel Fairbank

The unfamiliar is scary, even if it’s a good unfamiliar. It’s hard to trust that it will last, or that it won’t come with hidden strings attached.

joey does n't share food while sitting on the couch Alt: Joey from Friends yelling “Joey doesn't share food” while sitting on the couch

When it comes to sharing his food, my husband is basically Joey from Friends, which is why it’s especially hilarious watching my son steal his food. Anyone else, and they’d get their hand bitten off.

One of the nicest compliments I’ve gotten from an editor is “your fact-check came back very clean.” It’s always a little nerve-wracking, but better to figure it out before publication.

My son’s name is not complicated — two syllables for the full name, one for the nickname — and people still get it wrong all the time. It’s even getting to the point where MY SON is pronouncing it wrong.

This year marks yet another year of not doing elf-on-the-shelf, with zero regrets.

In our house, the elf is a snitch, and snitches get stitches.

Same

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

‘Tis the season to get emails and texts from every company you have even briefly interacted with in the past ten years.

Bodies can be so mysterious.

I get this too. As far as I can tell, I don’t have MCAS. I’m not quite sure what it’s about, but I’m leaning towards it being a dysautonomia response, as most of my symptoms fall under that general umbrella.

A boy in a red shirt is holding a snake. His mom, who is terrified of snakes, is nowhere to be found.

My son is currently obsessed with snakes, which I am perfectly happy to be a father-son bonding activity.

My son gets to hold snakes; I get to stay home. It works for everyone involved.

I love the pettiness, and the willingness to hold a grudge for eleven years.

I respect the long game

Yes. You can program it to alert you immediately once it goes over, or after a period of 1 or 3 minutes. It’s easily their most useful feature.

A lot of respect for Mamdani, it's not easy admitting you don't know something on live TV.

I also learn words by reading. I messed up the pronunciation of acetaldehyde while being interviewed by National Geographic. (Acetaldehyde is briefly produced by the body while metabolizing alcohol, and is thought to be responsible for the majority of alcohol's negative health effects.)

Thank you. The worst is over.

I’ve had a lot of issues with my teeth, due to poor healthcare during childhood. As an adult, I estimate that I’ve spent the equivalent of a decent car just to keep my teeth in my mouth.

Also, tooth pain is miserable. Being able to relieve that pain shouldn’t come at a cost of thousands of dollars.

I had a root canal this morning, and all I can think about is how much of a privilege it is to be able to afford dental care.

Teeth should not be considered luxury bones. Teeth issues can cause a huge amount of health problems down the road.

At this point, I’m expecting to see a heavily redacted set of files, with DEMOCRATS written on it in Sharpie pen.

thehill.com/homenews/sen...

When my sister got married, I was no longer attending church, which meant I got to fly to upstate NY to sit outside the temple while she got married.

Nothing says “family values” quite like banning family members from weddings due to a difference in religious beliefs.

And to give you a sense of the consequences: Drinking coffee and tea means you fail your temple-worthiness interview, which means you are no longer allowed to attend weddings in the temple.

And to give people an idea of how seriously Mormons take this, people used to argue about whether it was okay to get hot chocolate (which is not a sin) from Starbucks, as walking around with a Starbucks cup gave off the “appearance of evil,” which we were supposed to avoid.

No “hot drinks” except that hot chocolate is totally okay. No “hot drinks” except that iced coffee and iced tea is also a sin. “Hot drinks” means caffeinated drinks, except that now caffeinated sodas are totally okay. And if you get confused, or slip up, it’s because you’re a sinner.

The restriction against coffee and tea (and at one point, caffeinated soda) is from a text called The Word of Wisdom, which states we should avoid “hot drinks,” which was later interpreted to be caffeinated drinks.

Some of the things I’ve since been told: “You took it too seriously!”

Well, yeah, that was kind of the point, we were all taught to take it seriously, that our eternal salvation relied on taking it seriously.

Also, to add on to this, I was raised Mormon, during a time when drinking caffeinated soda was considered a sin. It’s a little surreal to be told that not only is it no longer a sin, but to also be told that I must be remembering wrong, as it was never “really” a sin.

Some women found that liberating and some found it hurtful. For years they had been slut-shamed if they wore shoulder-baring tops, several women told the Cut, but now they were suddenly informed it was fine because some elderly men said so.

For generations, practicing Mormons had been told that their garments — the sacred vestments worn under clothing — were doctrinally required to cover shoulders. This year, the church announced that a sleeveless version would now be available.