No. 2
 

:-) Doesn't the M5 Touring have a 3rd row?

No. 2
 

I WAS laughing until you followed the unwanted "advice" with a totally unnecessary hyphen. Good GOD, how much am I expected to take?

No. 2
 

On whose lap will the Swedish au pair sit?

No. 2
 

You're right. I am feeling suitably contrite, let me assure you. I apologize for my grammatic lapse.

No. 2
 

She can follow in the z8.

No. 2
 

Instead of a stroller, steal a shopping cart.

No. 2
 

Not a bad idea. Do they fold easily?

No. 2
 

They do if you run over them with an X5.

Flying
 

I've taken a few flights with my (gasp) 4 year old. Maybe I'm just getting a fear of flying but it seems every landing has the plane frantically trying to right itself when it is almost on the ground. And the landings always seem rough.

Could someone explain this fumbling in a way that is reassuring (or at least honest). I'm trying not to let my stress show to my little one but I'm practically having a heart attack whenever we land. If one wing is way higher than the other when the plane hits the ground, aren't we going to flip over and die terrible deaths? When one pilot is landing the thing, why can't the other one get on the overhead and reassure us how everything is going great? Because otherwise, when the plane is spazzing I imagine all the pilots in the cockpit freaking out, doing the novena and sweating profusely. I am always looking for the flight attendant, watching for signs of horror.

Yeah, I know. Valium.

Flying
 

Yeah, valium. For what it's worth, I loved turbulence as a child. It was like a roller coaster. I don't think kids really appreciate the concept of death or the potential for dying.

Also, when the wings are much higher on one side, it's usually because they're landing with a crosswind, and they dip the wings towards the wind. That way, if a gust comes, it will push the plane down flat. Roughly, but flat.

Flying
 

Translation: if I were Neo i would have taken the blue pill.

making allowances
 

At what ages do you give kids how much for an allowance? And how does it work?

making allowances
 

at 3 or 4 my son had a chore. He had to help me take the garbage cans back in. He wasn't much help, but having a chore helped establish responsibility maybe (we could never get daughter to do fuckall). We gave him a buck or two a week. He always has some job now, and still has that dumb chore. how much depends on shopping opportunities at the age of your kids, no? I mean they aren't on their own at stores right?

making allowances
 

I don't want to tie chores and allowance too closely because the family is not a market economy. Kids should do the chores because they have to do chores, not because they'll be paid.

I want to move to an allowance not because L'il Ty is going shopping on his own a bunch, but because right now we buy him stuff from time to time, and I'd rather get him to prioritize and know where the limits are. A dollar or two a week isn't much, but I'm not sure where the right line is.

making allowances
 

My kid is randomly showered with cash by her grandmother and others (grandma is the worst offender). It is hard to get her to prioritize when she can pull a $100 bill out of her piggy bank, which she did once, much to my surprise. I took it for research purposes.