We’re almost to our daughter’s 9th month of life. We’re both overtired and feeling overworked, with precious little of the time we used to spend on hobbies or couple-time. That said, while there’s been a shift towards an expectation culture in the house (vs an ask culture) we haven’t had the sort of challenges listed in that first paragraph.

Some things probably working for us:

• We’ve been together for over a decade and in our home for 9 years

• Our communication style is productive even during arguments (“I feel” statements are much more positive than “you” statements)

• We’re majority wfh so we have the capacity to buffer each others’ needs as parents throughout the day, rather than leaving everything to one person or having additional financial stresses with childcare

Some things definitely working for us:

• Calling each other out for awesome parenting, because very few others will and it’s amazing to feel that validation

• Proactively taking something off of each other’s plates, whether that’s cleaning or laundry, dishes or bottles, whatever task is getting done is one that doesn’t have to be done later

• Knowing about spoon theory and being sensitive to how much bandwidth each other has left. It’s way harder to recharge from past depleted, so being flexible and recognizing when I or my partner are reaching that point and stepping in or voicing a need for support goes a long way for both of us

How do you find the mental fortitude to ignore the stupid bs your partner does or says?

I mean, we’re both sleep deprived so I’m sure there’s stupid coming out of my mouth too. I think it’s much healthier to laugh or work to improve the condition causing stress than it is to feed a negative cycle. If either of us are escalating we missed a chance to bolster each other.

How would you describe love to your partner a year after having a baby?

Gratitude. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a partner who puts in the effort and has put in the effort to help build the communication style that’s worked so well for us.

Is there any way to know if you and your partner are going to make it and remain a couple after having a child?

It really helps to have a relationship built on respect, and knowing enough about yourselves to approach challenges constructively. Build a good foundation with each other, learn to communicate positively, and do your best.

My brother got my wife and me some miyoo minis, and I’m almost through TLoZ: Minish Cap. He loaded the tiny beat set so I have too many choices and haven’t picked what I’m playing next

“I forgot one thing about the guy who had gained the ability to fly - it was actually only for a foot or two, and only an inch or so high”

• The Vandals, An Idea for a Movie

A health insurer being permitted to vertically integrate a pharmacy chain to get around profit margin caps.

Seventy secondth

Tbf, drain cleaning Australia’s synth wave music is pretty rockin but yeah the rest sucks

D…Dad?

That’s what I’ve used them for as well =D

Happy planning / planting!

You can check out the toolkit over at Permapeople.org, though I’m unsure exactly how open the codebase is. I do know they’re hoping to make it community run in the future, and that the devs share pretty much whatever is asked of them.

Less in the spirit of your question, but something I’ve used relatively extensively is the mymaps.google tool. Here’s hoping someone with some better answers than me comes along (and I remember to check back) to give additional alternatives

but just looking and seeing some truly cosmic stuff in front of your unassisted eyes hits different.

It’s so true. I’ve gotten to see them before, way up Maine, but not as brightly as this evening and it was breathtaking. Our whole dead end street was all out at the same time, we could hear each other marveling at it all

I’m so glad you got to catch it this time!

From my wife’s coworker who lives nearby:

Push for it in your state, first. We’re still in the first few cycles using RCV in Maine (I like STAR better) where folks are learning to love it, but there’s no time like now to get that ball rolling. More people need to experience it to shift the national conversation of “whether we should” to “which should we use”

Henry Agard Wallace

Just don’t compare mine to Marth’s …

• Rosalina, teddy bear / sm red wheels
• Lucina

MH4U on the 3ds was my first introduction and I actually kinda miss being able to quickly tap the items that were up on the touch screen to use them. World on PS and Rise on the switch scratch the itch but I was visibly upset that tracking didn’t make it into Rise; it was just a great mechanic and it felt extra satisfying to build out the monster knowledge, and it added some wonderful depth to the gameplay.

I’m not really all that crazy about the fort defense mechanic in Rise, I’d genuinely skip it if I could.

As much as I enjoy the series and still play it, there’s a certain amount of ennui that I’m experiencing when it comes to hunting Jaggis and the rest of the same monsters every time. New mechanics help to make up for it by having the hunt be slightly different, but wow what I wouldn’t give for a totally new experience playing Monster Hunter.

doot DOOOdoodoodoot

There’s just so much hidden goodness inside! My last playthrough has me struggling less, and I found more, but apparently I just wasn’t thorough enough