h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd like today to be over, please.

Work was fine--about like you'd expect the day before a 5-day weekend.

After work sucked. What almost makes it worse is that it's stuff that I don't want to post here, so I can't even vent. But in general: misunderstanding, making myself look like an idiot *twice* resulting in a couple of wasted hours, ultimatums, and the phrase "the mother" being used about me by someone who knows my name, attached to the all-but-stating (bit stronger than an implication, but...) that Tom and I aren't raising the girls correctly. By people I can't just avoid (small town, amongst other things).

Everyone makes mistakes, and people get cross and say things they don't really mean. Or things they think, but not as strongly as they said it.

Everybody always thinks they can bring up your children better than you - there's a whole television industry about looking at other people and seeing how much worse they do things than you do. But your neighbours will probably calm down and go back to being polite.

You just go on doing what you're doing and do it well. Others will eventually realise you're doing it well.

Dan Ayckroyd and John Belushi were in a movie called "neighbors," about two very strange neighbors who moved in next door and set a new standard for weirdness.

I try to live my life how I was brought up by my parents, and I try not to judge others. People who stand in judgement over me/you really need to look at their own lives.

There is no book on parenting. Children don't come with a manual. On the day Laura was born I looked down at this tiny bundle in my arms and thought "Help!" but everyone I asked (or didn't ask) told me different things, how they'd do it, or "you should do it this way", which could be completely different to the previous advice. I remember getting conflicting advice from my mother and my midwife. I didn't know which way to turn! By the time I had Helen, I determined to do it my way, by instinct and by what my baby was telling me, and we were both much happier. Unless you are abusing your children or allowing them to put themselves in danger, NO-ONE can tell you you are a bad parent.

I hope you enjoy your 5-day weekend, and a very happy Thanksgiving Day to you. I've been looking forward to 28 November for a different reason, Comet ISON reaches perihelion and I'm almost having kittens waiting to hear if it even survives its close encounter with our star, if it does, whether it keeps its tail or maybe grows another.

I wish it were neighbors--I can ignore/avoid them easily. Oh, and I'm not taking the criticism to heart--it just pissed me off.

But thanks, everyone

I think someone should talk turkey to them.