I'm reminded of the joke(?) that an economist is someone who's kept up at night wondering whether what's true in reality can possibly be true in theory...

It was really interesting to watch his analytical head explode as he realized that what everyone had been (emotionally) saying was also mathematically correct

OMG, I still regret that my early-2000s community of Mommy Bloggers--a real community, where I made real friends--were early adopters of FB, which seemed fun (you could throw pies back then!) but basically destroyed our blog-village, like Walmart hollowing out a small town center.

That is to say, our healthcare helps. Childcare is less expensive (tho this varies with the province). Taxes are higher. Gas is more expensive. Housing is OMFG. The "Valley of Death" won't be quite the same, but I bet our actual poverty line is in the wrong place, too.

And of course the one we kept is Canadian, but we've been here 22 years now

Do you do double Thanksgiving now, in Canada, or just one? We did double a few different years (and once we celebrated "Cranksgiving") but it's too much work, in our collective opinion.

* Mainly, it feels bullshitty because my son knows a LOT about car repair, and had no specifics as to what stupid thing AI had told the other kid to do. It's possible this is still true, and the problem is that B's friend didn't know what the bad repair entailed, specifically.

I asked him once what it was like in his brain, before he started meds, and he said it was like rapid channel surfing, one random thing after another, bzzt bzzt bzzt, but it wasn't him controlling the remote. He had to come up with any narrative he could to string it all together.

I don't generally believe in god, but I thank god for ADHD meds every day

Also, therapy was required. One effect of ADHD was that he thought we were LYING to him constantly, because he hadn't registered what we'd said previously. As a result, he didn't trust us. So the meds (plus therapy) saved our relationship as well.

I mean, you're not wrong, haha. It's very gratifying, for the kid as well!

But, look, it's not magic. I chalk it up to having a good imagination, honestly, and to taking all utterances seriously. The kid is TRYING to talk, they MEAN something. You really can guess what it is, quite often.

I met a friend's toddler, not long ago, and she was a little apologetic that he wasn't talking yet. And then I was a little apologetic that, uh, yes he was? There's a word. There's another word. I was worried that maybe I shouldn't be pointing this out...

He had a huge vocabulary, because I'd figured out that when he was upset, I could calm him down by teaching him a new word. So even when his preschool teacher DID understand him, she'd dismiss his utterance as improbable. 3 year olds don't know what molecules are, clearly she'd misunderstood.