Have a Lovely Weekend.

I’m not Joanna, and I don’t have teens (my boys are still pretty little) so I’m not sure mine is the comment you’re looking for. But I feel very much what you’re saying; I have 5 year old twins and I feel like my 8 year old is left out a lot simply because the ‘need’ levels are rather imbalanced.

So I say to you what I say to myself, in the hopes that it may comfort you even a smidgen even if it’s not actually helpful! Love is tangible in the tone of your voice, in the way you look at your kids, in the way you hug them or tousle their hair as they sit on the sofa and watch tv. They know you love them. It also never hurts to express why. To pick out one or two qualities that stand out and make your heart burst with pride, or point out some thing they did or said that made you sit up and take notice. I remember my parents doing this with me; ‘Moni, you’ve made a great point there, you speak very well!’ or some such thing, and my own little heart would inwardly, secretly burst with happiness too.

It’s a pandemic. We’re all struggling to be our best adequate selves. You’re looking after all your littles and worrying about their feelings? I’d say you’re just about the best parent in the world!

My recommendation is to ask them how they’d like to be nurtured, and how they’d like to spend your time together. Figuring out their Love Language would be a great place to start and to get ideas, if you need them. And since your 13-year-old misses the bedtime routine, maybe could you read her a chapter of a book in bed at night, even a few times a week?

This is so sweet and funny.

This is… so weirdly, unnecessarily undermining.

How do you know?

What a strange endeavor, to try and minimize a potential compliment in such detail. (You’re entitled to your interpretation, of course.)

Feeling like maybe we should call the Spider Force to examine why this commenter is so suspicious of the authenticity of Seth Rogan’s comment…

Perhaps we should call the spider force to ask you all why something I thought was adorable is being interpreted as malicious.
If you have issues with my genuinely charmed response because I apparently am over-reading what Seth said, based on my experience living in Hollywood, perhaps you should also have issue with your own comments for over-reading what I wrote?
Thanks, guys! (Yikes!)

I guess I should clarify? That beautiful woman in a bar? She’s leaving, but she still wants you to feel good as she goes (and think she’s beautiful). A Hollywood star still wants you to be a fan – so they tell you things that make you feel good! It’s just an industry norm, and part of being good at being a star and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.
A celebrity interviewer can react to these moments with cynicism or with earnestness – and the latter is kinda refreshing in our cynical times. How Alex took it was incredibly sweet, and I loved that he took it at face value – it was a level of earnestness to aspire to after the years we’ve been through.
Anyhow…. still yikes.

Working with the assumption that Seth Rogen uses that scripted line with lookalikes, how do you know that in this instance he didn’t actually mean it for once?

And a more important question: is it better to be kind or to be “right”?!

K this is such a weird comment.

And, for the record, I saw the photo of Seth Rogan for this article and for a few seconds I thought it was Alex Williams. (I’ve been reading here for a decade now so I know what he looks like…).

Hi Catherine,

A Brit from London here…just came here to call out the same thing!
I can’t believe CN could make such an embarrassingly offensive blunder to Ireland! :-(

Echo that it’s no fault of the COJ team :-)

All the best x

With all due respect ladies, the CN article clearly states “UK and Ireland” at the header of the article… although the link above on the COJ article only says “UK”. That being said, Donegal is now firmly on my list of places to go as it looks absolutely stunning. I miss traveling…sigh!

Totally agree

That picture totally got me too, and I went on a hunt to try to find the recipe (even joined Instagram just to track it down!). I *think* this is it: https://www.designsponge.com/2015/01/in-the-kitchen-with-kerrin-roussets-multigrain-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Agreed.
I especially love Twyla’s.

I bet you looked totally great in your new jeans. I think the trick is to match your outfit with an IDGAF attitude, shoulders back and your head held high – and fake it til you make it if you have to :-) And I also think mom jeans are all about the ankle, bare or not – so check your sock game if it’s still cold where you are :-)

Re your colleague- EWWW. How exhausting and I’m sorry you have had to deal with this irritation/creep. How you respond is a matter for you, based on how you best feel able to cope with confrontation and your workplace dynamic. But you’re not imagining it. It’s really (insert word of your choice) annoying at the very least. I’m not great at challenging people directly (I need to work on it) so I would be talking to my co-workers for support to figure out an effective way to collectively respond which I felt ok about. Can you find some allies at work?

Sending cute outfit vibes and solidarity XX

I would love this too! I also bought some recently. I feel like the Youths of Today wear them with cropped t shirts, and while that looks fantastic on a teenager, I’m 31 and I’m not sure I want to be doing that right now haha. If I wear a sweater/ jumper with them, I feel so boxy and masculine looking and I just have no idea what to do! Help us, please!

That sounds super cute! I’m pretty sure you’re doing it right – I started wearing mom jeans like two years ago, after similarly wearing skinny black jeans to hide my thighs. It was weird at first, but now I LOVE how they aren’t trying to hide anything and really embrace my natural body type… and are also so comfy! I also have a Madewell pair, and wear it with everything from t-shirts to silk blouses tucked in on fancier days. I promise you don’t look weird or like you’re doing it wrong – it’s just an attitude shift after years of skinny jeans!

Mainly chiming in to say: very gross of your coworker and sorry you have to deal with him! I know the type – when they visit in my cube I’ll try to stand up and physically put my chair between us or one time just extended my legs out trying to prevent them from entering, but they just tapped their feet to mine anyways. It’s infuriating!

But that aside – I’m in a very similar boat and just bought my first pairs of these this year too. I have a pretty boring wardrobe that consists of sleeveless linen tops and I’ve found they work really well with those jeans. Front tucked in or with more cropped versions as well – then if it’s cooler I’ll throw a cardigan on. I would love to see some styling as well, but what you did sounded great!

Bea – 2 things = one, if you feel comfortable in dark skinny jeans, ROCK those dark skinny jeans! Sometimes no amount of coaxing, marketing, complimenting will change our mind about a piece of clothing. (All though, I’m sure you looked stellar in the madewell jeans).
Two – with you on that UGH about your coworker. Been there MANY a times. I’m sorry there’s that extra burden at work for you.

Can I ask which style of Madewell jeans you bought? I’m 32, so I went through the same skinny jean indoctrination. Went for a walk this morning and the college kids were out in full force–not a pair of skinnies in sight! While I don’t have any desire to look 22, I realized that my lazy go to outfit was right out of 2014 and could use an update. Would love a styling guide as well!

The key is to not want to look skinny. Once you abandon that as your measure of looking and feeling good you’ll feel fine.

I wear big shapeless floaty dresses, am I fat? Skinny? Who knows! It’s no ones business. I hope that it looks flattering, but only if flattering means “radiates fun and joy and warmth and comfort, can dance on a whim or eat dinner comfortably” this bs where “flattering = skinny” has to stop.

Omg……………………. Wait. There’s such a thing as sexy podcasts? I’m blushing and extremely intrigued.

It’s not a podcast, but I like Dipsea. I had to cancel my subscription (it’s around $50/year) for financial reasons, but I may treat myself for my birthday in August.

Hey Kate! Can I ask what you’ve been reading?? I also identify as bi but have only been in cis-hetero relationships. Would love to explore that side of myself through books before I do in person (my current relationship is semi-open so there is room for that for me).

I love that idea! I got so repeatedly disappointed with the quality of romantic/erotic fiction that I picked up in the past year that I ended up writing my own. Like… a novel. HA! Apparently being in a long-distance relationship during a global pandemic was just the push I needed to really flesh out the fantasy, so to speak. Anyway, I’m *still* looking for quality recommendations for sexy stories (I KNOW there are some) so COJ doing a round-up would answer my prayers.

OMG Talia Hibbert’s books are PHENOMENAL. Incredibly diverse and inclusive and realistic characters and holy heck, some of THE STEAMIEST scenes ever written. Like, oh my god. Each one is about a different sister who is going through very relatable life things while finding companionship and I just adore them.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
Act Your Age, Eve Brown