rose: lately i've changed my approach to dishes. since eamon was about 20 months old, we've been making him carry his own dishes to the counter. i'd discovered that he did that at daycare, so i knew he was capable of doing it at home too. but last week, i decided it was time for him (and brendan) to start putting their own dishes in the dishwasher. it's made a huge difference. after that stuff is done, there's hardly any dishes left for me to do. it's really great.

thorn: up until last week, i was really enjoying having the doors open at next, or having them unlocked while i worked there, with a sign saying "you're welcome to come in". then one day, a man came in to meet up with someone, but she wasn't there yet, so he just waited for a half hour. he seemed harmless, but my imagination wandered to how he could potentially harm me while no one else was there. i shared that with brendan, who lectured me about how i need to not be naive about that. i got mad because he was mansplaining at me about the vulnerabilities of being a woman. he later recognized that too. anyway, since then, i have been more reluctant about putting myself in that position, and that's really disappointing to me. i hate that that's how life is for women.