Spyke

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Those who didn't initially want kids, but got influenced/pressured by their partners, how that played out?

We had a son (4) and a daughter (2) and my wife really wanted a third. I wasn't that excited about the idea, because we had 2 children and one of each seemed like plenty.

I was a pretty firm "no" for a long time, but she eventually convinced me during a particularly hot and heavy night.

Our youngest is now 10 and she's an absolute joy. I can't imagine my life feeling complete without all 3 kids. It's one of the greatest things she ever conned me into doing.

Then I got a vasectomy.

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Jury finds Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter in son's school shooting

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Before he passed away, my kids' grandfather bought all his grandkids their first 22 rifle. Some of the cousins were still infants but he wanted to buy them something. He was a prolific hunter and marksman. My kids guns all lived in the safe until they were old enough to shoot them, and now they live in the safe when not in use. You can give guns to kids all day long, that's not the problem and the gun is not the problem.

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Recognizing when you're living in your best years

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No, you demonstrate love and unconditional acceptance and support. Today they're babbling on about something that happened at ballet, tomorrow they trust you enough to talk about their relationships and teachers and the bully at school.

Kids have enough time in their day to learn social convention - they also just need a safe environment to unpack everything with their parents.

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What nonfiction books have caused a paradigm-shift in your life?

The Sun Does Shine - I was a supporter of the death penalty until I read this book. It totally rocked my world and I realized how totally wrong I was. There are evil people in this world, but I am not God and I don't get to decide who lives and dies. Also, if there is even a small chance that someone was wrongly convicted, we can not kill them - we make ourselves murderers.

Really this book made me rethink my entire view on systematic racism, the prison system, and the death penalty.