Dealing with Childhood Anxiety: A Radical New Approach!

 

This is my shocked face. No, really. I am shocked. From, of all places, National Public Radio, a report on a new approach to help kids with anxiety suggests that the best thing to do might be to–wait for it–“let them face their fears.” I about choked on my coffee when I read that.

Of course, there’s therapy involved. But what is different about this approach from such previous, rather rational (one would think), approaches and conclusions is that in this version of the cure, the child is not part of the behavior-changing conversation, and is not part of the therapy. The therapy is for the parents:

“The parent’s own responses are a core and integral part of childhood anxiety,” says Eli Lebowitz, a psychologist at the Yale School of Medicine who developed the training.

For instance, when Joseph would get scared about sleeping alone, Jessica and her husband, Chris Calise, did what he asked and comforted him. “In my mind, I was doing the right thing,” she says. “I would say, ‘I’m right outside the door’ or ‘Come sleep in my bed.’ I’d do whatever I could to make him feel not anxious or worried.”

But this comforting — something psychologists call accommodation — can actually be counterproductive for children with anxiety disorders, Lebowitz says.

“These accommodations lead to worse anxiety in their child, rather than less anxiety,” he says. That’s because the child is always relying on the parents, he explains, so kids never learn to deal with stressful situations on their own and never learn they have the ability to cope with these moments.

“When you provide a lot of accommodation, the unspoken message is, ‘You can’t do this, so I’m going to help you,’ ” he says.

Lebowitz wondered if it would help to train parents to change that message and to encourage their children to face anxieties rather than flee from them.

And it did!

The key to doing that, Lebowitz says, is to make children feel heard and loved, while using supportive statements to build their confidence. Parents need to “show their child that they understand how terrible it is to feel anxious,” he says. They need to accept that their child is “genuinely anxious and not just being attention seeking,” he adds.

The next step is to tell children that “they can tolerate that anxiety and they don’t need to be rescued from it.” This helps give them the strength to face their fears, Lebowitz says.

The conclusion of the Yale-sponsored study is that “parent training has a lot of potential to advance childhood anxiety treatment,” and that, according to Columbia University psychologist Anne Marie Albano:

“You coach the child a bit but don’t take over. It’s helping the child stumble into their own way of coping and ride whatever wave of anxiety they’re having,” she says. “That ultimately builds their confidence.”

Clearly, the term “childhood anxiety” is a term covering a multitude of conditions which may stem from many different causes, and no doubt this “new approach” won’t work every time. But crimenutely, it’s a very good start.

As young Joseph himself says:

. . . he no longer feels anxiety about being alone. He doesn’t enjoy it, “but I’m OK with it,” he says. He has learned to banish the frightening thoughts that would come when he was by himself and that kept him up at night. “If I get a nightmare, I just change the subject to something happy,” he says. “Then I’m fine.”

New fears come up from time to time — like a recently discovered fear of heights. But with his parents’ support, Joseph says, he’s learning to face these too. “I think I’ll be OK,” he says. “I’ll just try to do it.”

Good for you, young man. And good for your parents for recognizing a problem, finding out what to do about it, and helping you cope.

I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate. The alleged offense? The roommate awoke from a nap to find the target of his complaint — oh, the horror! — watching a Ben Shapiro video. I can’t even. (Full disclosure: I’m not exactly sure what that last phrase means, but I use it as often as I can because I think it makes a privileged old baby-boomer look woke and with it, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to show off my chops.) Apparently, the young fellow’s gripe is that “MSU has roomed me with someone who supports hate speach.” [sic]

Now, we just have to figure out how to enroll almost every college administrator and faculty member in Dr. Lebowitz’s program, and we might really get somewhere…

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  1. She Member
    She
    @She

    Young Joseph’s remark that:

    “If I get a nightmare, I just change the subject to something happy,” he says. “Then I’m fine.”

    immediately brought two things to mind.  First, I remember the lessons of the frightening, scary, patriarchy-intensive fairy tales I luxuriated in as a child.  And so many of those lessons were that life is sometimes ugly, and scary, and unpleasant. And so many of them were about coping techniques for dealing with those things, and coming through intact.  The fact that, these days, acknowledging that life isn’t all butterflies and rainbows, implementing those coping techniques, and having those ideals about the roles of “the good” (girls and boys, men and women) in dealing with “the bad,” are themselves all often regarded as useless, outdated and pretty evil in their own right, makes no never mind to me.  They were a part of my childhood, and, I think, a useful part.

    The second thing that sprang into my mind when I read Joseph’s comment is that he’s probably never seen that culturally appropriative movie of lamentable British privilege, The King and I:

    We do our children no good by pretending that the world started on the day that they were born.

    • #1
  2. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    You may not like hate speech (and bully for you if you don’t). You may not like Ben Shapiro (meh). But it does not follow that “Ben Shapiro == hate speech.”

    • #2
  3. She Member
    She
    @She

    Percival (View Comment):

    You may not like hate speech (and bully for you if you don’t). You may not like Ben Shapiro (meh). But it does not follow that “Ben Shapiro == hate speech.”

    Logic?  Pthui!

    • #3
  4. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    She: This is my shocked face. No, really. I am shocked. From, of all places, National Public Radio, a report on a new approach to help kids with anxiety suggests that the best thing to do might be to–wait for it–“let them face their fears.” I about choked on my coffee when I read that.

    I get the impression these days parents believe “failure is fatal”, so they shield their children as much as possible, and do things like give them participation trophies just for showing up.  The reality is, failure is not fatal (in most cases), and failure can teach a child to try harder, or try a different approach.  Learning to recover from failure is a huge aspect of growing up, and parents shouldn’t be afraid to let their kids try somewthing and fail.

    Of course, I don’t mean let them jump off the roof holding an umbrella, thinking they’ll float softly to the ground.  But if Little Johnnie flunks a test?  Better help him with his homework, quiz him, and give him encouragement for the next test.  Little Janie gets stood up for a date?  Introduce her to a pint of Häagen-Dazs, and tell her how many times your date didn’t show when you were a teenager – or if they always did, joke about the ones you wish had not.

    Some snowflakes are born, but I believe most these days are made.

    • #4
  5. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    In one of Jordan Peterson’s many online videos (I’m not even going to try to look for it), he talks about his nephew who was 7 or 8 at the time and how he guided this bright kid to overcome his anxieties and taught him through questions, answers and play to take hold of the things he was frightened of in his mind, overcome the fears and then turn that into a strength. It was all about dragons and was very video-gamesque and brilliant how he guided him by getting him to think about new questions. 

    • #5
  6. She Member
    She
    @She

    Stad (View Comment):

    I get the impression these days parents believe “failure is fatal”, so they shield their children as much as possible, and do things like give them participation trophies just for showing up. The reality is, failure is not fatal (in most cases), and failure can teach a child to try harder, or try a different approach. Learning to recover from failure is a huge aspect of growing up, and parents shouldn’t be afraid to let their kids try somewthing and fail.

    Of course, I don’t mean let them jump off the roof holding an umbrella, thinking they’ll float softly to the ground. But if Little Johnnie flunks a test? Better help him with his homework, quiz him, and give him encouragement for the next test. Little Janie gets stood up for a date? Introduce her to a pint of Häagen-Dazs, and tell her how many times your date didn’t show when you were a teenager – or if they always did, joke about the ones you wish had not.

    Some snowflakes are born, but I believe most these days are made.

    Excellent advice, @stad.  I completely agree.

    The trouble with shielding children from fear, anxiety, and failure is that they do grow up believing that anything they do will, ab origine, result in success.  Parents who do that, are IMO, pretty much teaching their children that if they jump off the roof holding an umbrella, they will fly.  And the first time they apply their talents in that (hopefully metaphorical) direction and come crashing to the ground, their world, and they, fall apart.  It’s a terrible way to raise a kid.

    • #6
  7. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    Hey I tried that umbrella trick, three times if I remember correctly. None worked. There was water underneath. Those damm umbrellas never keep you dry.

    • #7
  8. She Member
    She
    @She

    Hang On (View Comment):

    In one of Jordan Peterson’s many online videos (I’m not even going to try to look for it), he talks about his nephew who was 7 or 8 at the time and how he guided this bright kid to overcome his anxieties and taught him through questions, answers and play to take hold of the things he was frightened of in his mind, overcome the fears and then turn that into a strength. It was all about dragons and was very video-gamesque and brilliant how he guided him by getting him to think about new questions.

    Yes, the world of make-believe is a valuable teaching tool for modeling reality.  Something our ancestors understood, but which I think we’ve largely forgotten.  

    • #8
  9. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    A great post, She! And so encouraging. We’ve turned kids into scaredy-cats and crippled them in their own fear. I’m glad someone had the good sense to study this situation and come up with practical solutions. Thanks!

    • #9
  10. She Member
    She
    @She

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    Hey I tried that umbrella trick, three times if I remember correctly. None worked. There was water underneath. Those damm umbrellas never keep you dry.

    I used to babysit a horrible little boy named Andy (from the age of about seven until he was about twelve).  He had a younger sister who was a sweetheart.  Andy used to torment her unmercifully, and their mother was prone to exclaim how happy she was that I was their regular babysitter, because I was the only one who introduced any discipline into Andy’s life, and the only person he’d listen to (I was in junior high and high school at the time, and the family lived right across the street).

    Andy used to tie a pillow case around his neck and shout “I am Superman!” and fling himself down the stairs on regular occasions.  One day, he broke his arm.  I confess to not being sorry when that happened.  He never did it again.

    • #10
  11. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    She (View Comment):
    The trouble with shielding children from fear, anxiety, and failure is that they do grow up believing that anything they do will, ab origine, result in success.

    And they grow up afraid to try anything new for fear of failure . . .

    • #11
  12. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    She (View Comment):

    Hang On (View Comment):

    In one of Jordan Peterson’s many online videos (I’m not even going to try to look for it), he talks about his nephew who was 7 or 8 at the time and how he guided this bright kid to overcome his anxieties and taught him through questions, answers and play to take hold of the things he was frightened of in his mind, overcome the fears and then turn that into a strength. It was all about dragons and was very video-gamesque and brilliant how he guided him by getting him to think about new questions.

    Yes, the world of make-believe is a valuable teaching tool for modeling reality. Something our ancestors understood, but which I think we’ve largely forgotten.

    You just hit on something.  Even as a young kid watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner, I knew it was a make-believe world they lived in.  The cartoon violence I watched growing up had zero impact on the result.  Listening to some people today, you would think playing Grand Theft Auto V turns everyone into car thieves, robbers, and murderers.  I play it, and it doesn’t . . .

    • #12
  13. OkieSailor Member
    OkieSailor
    @OkieSailor

    Percival (View Comment):

    You may not like hate speech (and bully for you if you don’t). You may not like Ben Shapiro (meh). But it does not follow that “Ben Shapiro == hate speech.”

    The very term ‘hate speech’ is too nebulous. It cannot be defined by any legal strictures but is subject to individual interpretation. So then whatever is ‘hateful’ to the individual becomes defined as hate speech in the occasion. Passing laws against such things gave the power to anyone willing to use it to shut down discourse they disagree with by declaring it hateful. It is the most insidious and destructive attack on free discourse imaginable in a formerly free society.
    Speech is not synonymous with action. Actions taken by bullies are best countered by actions taken against bullies. The two things, actions and speech, are dissimilar in nature and need to be addressed dissimilarly.

    • #13
  14. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    • #14
  15. She Member
    She
    @She

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    Moochas gracias for the clarification.  Probably should have used a lower-case “U.”   I’d have hoped for better from the cow college though.  

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    Got it.  Sorry I steered you wrong.  Herd you loud and clear.  Thanks again.

    • #15
  16. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    She (View Comment):

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    Hey I tried that umbrella trick, three times if I remember correctly. None worked. There was water underneath. Those damm umbrellas never keep you dry.

    I used to babysit a horrible little boy named Andy (from the age of about seven until he was about twelve). He had a younger sister who was a sweetheart. Andy used to torment her unmercifully, and their mother was prone to exclaim how happy she was that I was their regular babysitter, because I was the only one who introduced any discipline into Andy’s life, and the only person he’d listen to (I was in junior high and high school at the time, and the family lived right across the street).

    Andy used to tie a pillow case around his neck and shout “I am Superman!” and fling himself down the stairs on regular occasions. One day, he broke his arm. I confess to not being sorry when that happened. He never did it again.

    My mother prayed a  novena for me everyday until I got married.

    • #16
  17. She Member
    She
    @She

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    Hey I tried that umbrella trick, three times if I remember correctly. None worked. There was water underneath. Those damm umbrellas never keep you dry.

    I used to babysit a horrible little boy named Andy (from the age of about seven until he was about twelve). He had a younger sister who was a sweetheart. Andy used to torment her unmercifully, and their mother was prone to exclaim how happy she was that I was their regular babysitter, because I was the only one who introduced any discipline into Andy’s life, and the only person he’d listen to (I was in junior high and high school at the time, and the family lived right across the street).

    Andy used to tie a pillow case around his neck and shout “I am Superman!” and fling himself down the stairs on regular occasions. One day, he broke his arm. I confess to not being sorry when that happened. He never did it again.

    My mother prayed a novena for me everyday until I got married.

    You’ve written about your mother.  What a special lady.

    • #17
  18. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Wonderful post.

    When my first child was two or three years old, she became afraid to go sleep in the dark. I naturally put a nightlight in the room. My sister said, “Don’t do that. All you’re doing is teaching her that there really is something to fear in the dark.”

    When Kate went to kindergarten, we moved halfway through the year. It was traumatic for Kate who loved, with her whole heart, her first kindergarten teacher. When we moved to the new town and new school, Kate wouldn’t get on the kindergarten bus. So I rode with her for a couple of weeks, until the principal said, “Please don’t do this. You’re teaching Kate that she should be afraid of buses. You’re confirming her fears.” Again, excellent advice.

    Somehow we have lost this common sense. And I think I know why.

    In this new age of parenthood, parents are confused about how to deal with problems and conflict. Every day they are put under a microscope everywhere they go–if their children are happy, they are good parents. If they are not happy, they are bad parents. Parents don’t know what to do. They lack self-confidence. They are afraid someone is going to accuse them of being harmful or neglectful or just inept and stupid.

    The media has done such a number on parents in the last thirty years that the parents have no idea what to do. They are just trying to avoid appearing to be bad parents. We watch parents out of some sort of prurient and competitive (“I’m smarter and better than they are”) interest. We don’t help much. We just watch them for our own entertainment and tsk tsk at what we see.

    When it comes to the kids and their parents, we have met the enemy and it is us.

    • #18
  19. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    She (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    Moochas gracias for the clarification. Probably should have used a lower-case “U.” I’d have hoped for better from the cow college though.

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    Got it. Sorry I steered you wrong. Herd you loud and clear. Thanks again.

    Do you think he’s in a better moooooooood?

    • #19
  20. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Stad (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    Moochas gracias for the clarification. Probably should have used a lower-case “U.” I’d have hoped for better from the cow college though.

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    Got it. Sorry I steered you wrong. Herd you loud and clear. Thanks again.

    Do you think he’s in a better moooooooood?

    Well, I am not in a ba-ah-ah-ah-ad  moooooood.

    • #20
  21. She Member
    She
    @She

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    Moochas gracias for the clarification. Probably should have used a lower-case “U.” I’d have hoped for better from the cow college though.

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    Got it. Sorry I steered you wrong. Herd you loud and clear. Thanks again.

    Do you think he’s in a better moooooooood?

    Well, I am not in a ba-ah-ah-ah-ad moooooood.

    Ah, now you’re speaking my language!

    • #21
  22. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    She: I was particularly encouraged to read the above story at almost the same time I ran across this one, detailing a bias complaint filed against a Michigan University student by his roommate.

    Michigan University? There are several Michigan universities, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University, but unless it has been established since 2010, I know of no Michigan University. As an alumni of the University of Michigan (the real University of Michigan, the one in Ann Arbor, not the pretend versions at Flint or Dearborn), I would like to point out this piece of folly was done by a student at Michigan State University, a jumped-up cow college.

    Moochas gracias for the clarification. Probably should have used a lower-case “U.” I’d have hoped for better from the cow college though.

    It is especially pleasurable for me to do so, since my alma mater has become so disgustingly “woke” I have told fundraisers from there that I no longer contribute to the school and will not until they once again judge students by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that if I wished to support Jim Crow U, I would find a time machine and give to an appropriate school in the segregated South of the 1950s. No doubt some UM student will soon commit an act as egregiously clueless as the one committed by the nameless Moo-U undergrad (or may already have), but until then I want it on the record this travesty was committed by someone from MSU and not UM. My vestigial pride in the once-exemplary school from which I graduated demands I do so.

    Got it. Sorry I steered you wrong. Herd you loud and clear. Thanks again.

    Do you think he’s in a better moooooooood?

    Well, I am not in a ba-ah-ah-ah-ad moooooood.

    Boo, hisssssssss . . . (as long as we’re branching out to other species)

    • #22
  23. Joshua Bissey Inactive
    Joshua Bissey
    @TheSockMonkey

    She: But crimenutely, it’s a very good start.

    Crimenutely, indeed.

    • #23
  24. Hank Rhody, Meddling Cowpoke Contributor
    Hank Rhody, Meddling Cowpoke
    @HankRhody

    She: I can’t even. (Full disclosure: I’m not exactly sure what that last phrase means, but I use it as often as I can because I think it makes a privileged old baby-boomer look woke and with it, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to show off my chops.)

    Had it rattlin’ round the old image library.

    • #24
  25. Hank Rhody, Meddling Cowpoke Contributor
    Hank Rhody, Meddling Cowpoke
    @HankRhody

    Stad (View Comment):
    you would think playing Grand Theft Auto V turns everyone into car thieves, robbers, and murderers. I play it, and it doesn’t . . .

    The car thievery, murder, and robbery are entirely coincidental?

    • #25
  26. Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu Inactive
    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu
    @YehoshuaBenEliyahu

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw

    • #26
  27. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    I cast spells for my kids at night to keep them same. They knew it was a game, but was a nice ritual none the less. 

    If they were really upset, we went to them, not the other way around most of the time. 

    • #27
  28. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    She: “When you provide a lot of accommodation, the unspoken message is, ‘You can’t do this, so I’m going to help you,’ ” he says.

    Isn’t that the basic platform of the Democratic Party?

    • #28
  29. She Member
    She
    @She

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    She: “When you provide a lot of accommodation, the unspoken message is, ‘You can’t do this, so I’m going to help you,’ ” he says.

    Isn’t that the basic platform of the Democratic Party?

    I think so!

    • #29
  30. She Member
    She
    @She

    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu (View Comment):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw

    I loved Bob Newhart.  This is just brilliant.

    • #30
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