Season 2 Discussion

[Shermie]

It's funny stuff, to be sure, as usual, but I don't like the lame jokes about the hair products and shoes because the hair one reeked of snobbery and the shoe one made no sense.

As mentioned upthread, there's a world of choice between $100 salon shampoo and $1 dollar store stuff. I'm not that picky, but even I wouldn't buy dollar store brands. Why not a middle ground? Because the writers are implying that's all there is - the good stuff for those who have nice hair and the crap for the regular folks? Ugh.

And Dre has lots of shoes. Even if he didn't buy those fancy new ones, have all his other shoes become unwearable? Why buy ugly cheap shoes you hate if you still have dozens of good pairs?

It's these kind of cheap jokes that I hate; they ruin an otherwise clever and sharp show.

[Sheenieb]

 

As mentioned upthread, there's a world of choice between $100 salon shampoo and $1 dollar store stuff. I'm not that picky, but even I wouldn't buy dollar store brands. Why not a middle ground? Because the writers are implying that's all there is - the good stuff for those who have nice hair and the crap for the regular folks? Ugh.

I didn't think the writers were implying anything with the shampoo in regards to 'nice hair,' but I agree that there is a ton of middle ground between super high end shampoo and cheap products. Considering how big the natural hair movement is, Bow could've gone to Target and had her pick of just as good shampoos and conditioners. Get up on that Shea Moisture, Bow.

[Sparger Springs]

It's funny stuff, to be sure, as usual, but I don't like the lame jokes about the hair products and shoes because the hair one reeked of snobbery and the shoe one made no sense.

As mentioned upthread, there's a world of choice between $100 salon shampoo and $1 dollar store stuff. I'm not that picky, but even I wouldn't buy dollar store brands. Why not a middle ground? Because the writers are implying that's all there is - the good stuff for those who have nice hair and the crap for the regular folks? Ugh.

And Dre has lots of shoes. Even if he didn't buy those fancy new ones, have all his other shoes become unwearable? Why buy ugly cheap shoes you hate if you still have dozens of good pairs?

It's these kind of cheap jokes that I hate; they ruin an otherwise clever and sharp show.

I agree didn't understand why Dre went out and spent money on new cheaper stuff. Just wear some of that stuff you already have in the closet. Did all of Bow's shampoo and conditioner evaporate the day she decided to go on a budget.

[mansonlamps]

I agree didn't understand why Dre went out and spent money on new cheaper stuff. Just wear some of that stuff you already have in the closet. Did all of Bow's shampoo and conditioner evaporate the day she decided to go on a budget.

Didn't they say that Dre couldn't wear anything more than once?

[needschocolate]

Maybe I missed something, but I felt like this episode didn't have a conclusion.  They both understood why they have the attitudes about money that they have, but, other than decided that they would both be involved, they didn't resolve the plot that they don't have enough saved for college.  

 

I don't really want money to be a topic in future episodes - I don't want this to become a version of The Middle or Roseanne where there are arguments over money.  I was hoping that at the end they would remember that automatic college savings plan one of them had set up when they first had kids and had not paid attention to since.  

[topanga]

Maybe I missed something, but I felt like this episode didn't have a conclusion.  They both understood why they have the attitudes about money that they have, but, other than decided that they would both be involved, they didn't resolve the plot that they don't have enough saved for college.  

 

I don't really want money to be a topic in future episodes - I don't want this to become a version of The Middle or Roseanne where there are arguments over money.  I was hoping that at the end they would remember that automatic college savings plan one of them had set up when they first had kids and had not paid attention to since.  

I agree. They only said they'd start talking about money as a family. 

 

There were some things that went unsaid that I hoped: I hope Bow learns about money so it doesn't make her sweat and she doesn't leave it all in Dre's hands. I hope Dre learns about money because he obviously doesn't know as much as he thinks he does despite his 819 FICO score (which, impressive). 

Most of all, I hope they continue to use a good financial planner. They need to stay on top of college funds, retirement funds, and overall wealth building. 

 

This was one of my favorite episodes of this season--even though it wasn't as funny as some others--because it dealt with some very serious, very real issues. Many people of color, even people with good incomes, don't have wealth. Dre and Bow learned that this episode--do they have any real assets besides their home? It doesn't seem like it, I hope that changes for them in the future. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

The funny thing about Dre and Gigi speaking Vietnamese and even arguing in Vietnamese was that they apparently spend so much time the salon that they have leaned to speak Vietnamese!

 

I thought that was hilarious.  Along with, "Can a brain tumor wear an open-toe sandal?"  But I like Anthony Anderson's delivery and over-the-topness, a lot.

[ari333]

The only kid I see of those four being able to get into college is Diane. :)

[luvly]

Maybe I missed something, but I felt like this episode didn't have a conclusion.  They both understood why they have the attitudes about money that they have, but, other than decided that they would both be involved, they didn't resolve the plot that they don't have enough saved for college. 

 

 I actually liked that this episode only had a semi-concrete ending because it seemed more realistic. Bow and Dre both realized that their attitudes towards money came from their parents, but that they needed to change it because their circumstances were vastly different. I'll admit to identifying with Dre more because most of my friends and I were also first generation college graduates of parents who often lived paycheck-to-paycheck and it's weird transition from having no money to now having excess money and telling yourself that you can't just spend all this excess money, lol. You figure if you could survive when you were broke, you can definitely survive now, but again, our circumstances were vastly different from our parents, including expenses.

 

That's why I loved seeing the sit-down with the kids at the end because a big part of their problem was that they learned their behaviors by example, by default, because their parents just straight up didn't talk to them about it. Either because they didn't have the finances to plan for like Pops said or because they didn't feel knowledgeable enough like Alicia. It felt like the first step towards change and I don't really know if there would have been any other way to wrap that story up besides a surprise windfall that solved all their problems.

Edited January 26, 2016 by luvly

[tenativelyyours]

I think part of the non-concrete ending goes back to the fact that they don't have money problems.  Now.  It is in a few years when their spending will increase as the kids get older that it becomes an issue if they don't address it now. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'll be honest and admit I didn't, and really don't think too much when watching, so stuff about the money and the way this episode ended, didn't really bother me.  I'm just happy when it's an episode that can make me laugh, which this one did. The few ones before weren't as funny to me.

 

Then I feel like a hypocrite, because I remember losing my shit so many times over ignorance and stuff that just wouldn't happen in NBC's Outsourced, since I am East Indian. So I can understand why some of you get upset with this show, which is so much better done and written, by the way.

[LadyintheLoop]

Why buy ugly cheap shoes you hate if you still have dozens of good pairs?

 

 

Because it's a sitcom trope (like Niles Crane, with his giant wardrobe, buying a cowhide belt). It would have been more realistic, though, if Dre had worn something a bit out of style and his assistant had called him on it.

[OnceSane]

After Dre notices that his neighbor Janine has never invited his family to any of her pool parties, he assumes she is racially profiling them as a family that doesn't swim. The kids are shocked to find out that, in fact, Dre doesn't know how to swim. At work, Dre shares the story with his colleagues, and Daphne Lido is not convinced it's a race thing, so Dre confronts Janine directly. Meanwhile, Jack and Diane are a part of the Girls' and Boys' Rovers Organization, and they envy each other's activities.

[Yolapukka]

Humour aside, I thought the point being made about the shampoo and the shoes was precisely that they went out and spent money on cheap stuff that they didn't need. They practised false economies instead of managing their money.

 

I think part of the non-concrete ending goes back to the fact that they don't have money problems.  Now.  It is in a few years when their spending will increase as the kids get older that it becomes an issue if they don't address it now. 

 

This^ They understand relationship between income and expenditure but their problems, such as they are, are more related to long-term planning and dysfunctional attitudes about money.

[NYGirl]

Ooooh I felt so embarrassed for them.  It was so uncomfortable.  

[Dee]

That was a fantastic episode.

 

The opening rundown of black folks historical lack of access to communal waterways was great.

 

I loved Zoey still being a hustler re: social media & Junior staying just this side of creepy re: girls; also loved them, genuinely, telling Rainbow that she was their hero. Dre's job may get most of the airtime but it's good to see that kids have equal reverence for their Mom's accomplishments.

 

I hollered at Dre being Josh's only Black friend & that one of his personal pet peeves about Dre was "he touches all the donuts before choosing one, or three, or six!"

 

I also had a good laugh at Ruby invoking Black Jesus at the revelation of the twins subverting traditional gender roles. You'd think she'd have learned her lesson from the Rhonda & Sharon debacle, but Ruby is as Ruby does.

 

Jack's absolute pride in his casserole making skills was hysterical! Zest those lemons & fan those beans, little buddy!

 

Diane rescuing Dre was awesome & again she ruthlessly takes credit for Jack's hard work. She's the best.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jack and Diane are tired of being twins, and after much pleading, Dre and Bow give in to letting them explore their lives as individuals. Meanwhile, Dre buys Zoey her first car, and she is over the moon. But when he shares the news at work, his colleagues bring up all the terrible things teens do with cars, and Dre starts to question whether Zoey is ready for one after all.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh this was hilarious. But honestly? I laughed the hardest at the end when the credits were rolling and they made like a music video or whatever of Diane saving Dre, and pausing and freezing on Dre's "Black Jesus!" Seriously. Gut-wrenching laughing until I couldn't breath laughing.

[Eolivet]

I liked the main plot to this episode, but the side plots felt weird and shoehorned-in. Zoe and Junior were conforming to (modern) traditional gender roles -- Diane and Jack were breaking out of traditional gender roles...what the heck does that have to do with being invited to someone's pool party? Even Bow's subplot felt a little off. I suppose one could look at the broad category of "impressions of people," but to me, the plots on this show usually fit together a lot better. This felt like "four discrete plots with nothing to do with one another except they all happen to the same family."

 

That being said, I loved Ruby's surprise appearance after Dre was rescued. She cracks me up.

[jmonique]

I'd like this show a lot more if they could focus on just one person being sanctimonious at a time. Dre jumping to conclusions about why he wasn't invited to the pool party when it was because he was unsurprisingly rude and snarky at and about the neighbor lady wasn't a surprise. Bow playing the martyr about her job wasn't either.

 

Both at the same time was a lot to sit through, however. Add to that Ruby ramping up the dramatics to level 29 during Dre's rescue, as well as my disappointment about losing Charlie for Wanda Sykes as Wanda Sykes, and this is veering dangerously close to "catch up on Hulu when bored on Saturdays" territory for me.

[peeayebee]

That was a fantastic episode.

 

The opening rundown of black folks historical lack of access to communal waterways was great.

 

I loved Zoey still being a hustler re: social media & Junior staying just this side of creepy re: girls; also loved them, genuinely, telling Rainbow that she was their hero. Dre's job may get most of the airtime but it's good to see that kids have equal reverence for their Mom's accomplishments.

 

I hollered at Dre being Josh's only Black friend & that one of his personal pet peeves about Dre was "he touches all the donuts before choosing one, or three, or six!"

 

I also had a good laugh at Ruby invoking Black Jesus at the revelation of the twins subverting traditional gender roles. You'd think she'd have learned her lesson from the Rhonda & Sharon debacle, but Ruby is as Ruby does.

 

Jack's absolute pride in his casserole making skills was hysterical! Zest those lemons & fan those beans, little buddy!

 

Diane rescuing Dre was awesome & again she ruthlessly takes credit for Jack's hard work. She's the best.

Agree with this all, particularly about the opening and black people's lack of access to pools. Many people are completely unaware of this.

 

I thought all the stories meshed together. I saw them as about people playing or subverting the roles that society lays out for them, and people placing others in certain roles. 

 

I actually thought Wanda Sykes was ok in this ep. All of their reasons for being annoyed at Dre were great, esp the last one that he likes pudding too much.

 

My absolute favorite part was when Ruby came rushing into Janine's backyard because of her mother's intuition that Dre needed help. "Black Jesus" will never not be funny.

 

Oh, and I also liked that while Janine had a good reason not to invite the Johnsons over for pool parties (because she knows they don't like her), she also exhibited some racism when she answered the door hesitantly because she was suspicious of a black man. And of course didn't recognize Dre.

Edited February 11, 2016 by peeayebee

[stillhere1900]

That was a fantastic episode.

 

The opening rundown of black folks historical lack of access to communal waterways was great.

 

 

I totally remember learning this fact in Social Studies class. I also remember my GG telling about it. I think the most famous person it happened to (at the time) was Dorothy Dandridge. 1950. She put her foot into the hotel swimming pool and the hotel actually drained the pool.

[Boofish]

I found this hilarious because myself, all 6 of my sisters, my mother and none of our children can swim and we are not ashamed. Actually think it's hilarious. All of my sisters grandchildren can swim thank goodness so our family is not a total lost.

 

Although Bow is just as dramatic as Ruby (but in a lovable adorable way) I thought her assessment of those ladies was spot on. I call BS on her being a surgeon with all that free time on her hands. I would have felt better if she had just defended being a SAHM. They didn't need to give her a "real job" just to put Bow in her place. It wasted what could have been a good moment to take down the "women who stay at home don't have real jobs" nonsense. 

Edited February 11, 2016 by Boofish

[luckyroll3]

Great episode.  I also loved seeing Brittany Daniels and hope she's recurring.

Black people:  Learn how to swim!! Sea level rise is coming!! :-D

[topanga]

I found this hilarious because myself, all 6 of my sisters, my mother and none of our children can swim and we are not ashamed. Actually think it's hilarious. All of my sisters grandchildren can swim thank goodness so our family is not a total lost.

 

Although Bow is just as dramatic as Ruby (but in a lovable adorable way) I thought her assessment of those ladies was spot on. I call BS on her being a surgeon with all that free time on her hands. I would have felt better if she had just defended being a SAHM. They didn't need to give her a "real job" just to put Bow in her place. It wasted what could have been a good moment to take down the "women who stay at home don't have real jobs" nonsense. 

First of all, learn to swim! Thousands of kids (of every race) drown every year, and most of them can't swim. 

 

And I know moms like the ones Bow encountered. And no, most of them do not work outside the home, let alone as surgeons. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a SAHM, but don't try to guilt-trip me if I can't volunteer for every committee or chaperone every field trip or send my child to school with friggin' homemade Valentines!!!!  

 

I liked the Jack and Diane sub-plot but wish their parents would have chimed in more to support their "gender role switching." And I thought Ruby got upset because she though Jack was saying he was really a girl and Diane was saying she was a boy, meaning both kids were transgender. But watching it again, Ruby was freaked out by Jack cooking and Diane swimming. Simple as that. 

[Boofish]

First of all, learn to swim! Thousands of kids (of every race) drown every year, and most of them can't swim. 

 

And I know moms like the ones Bow encountered. And no, most of them do not work outside the home, let alone as surgeons. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a SAHM, but don't try to guilt-trip me if I can't volunteer for every committee or chaperone every field trip or send my child to school with friggin' homemade Valentines!!!!  

 

I liked the Jack and Diane sub-plot but wish their parents would have chimed in more to support their "gender role switching." And I thought Ruby got upset because she though Jack was saying he was really a girl and Diane was saying she was a boy, meaning both kids were transgender. But watching it again, Ruby was freaked out by Jack cooking and Diane swimming. Simple as that. 

I am deathly afraid at this point and I don't go near water including any pool parties I am invited. When I go to the beach I stay far from the water and there are thousands of other people there who can swim so I am secure in the feeling no one's life is in my hands. There are a ton of things I don't know how to do and so far I have managed to live. I understand your point but I will take my chances :)

 

As for the SAHM I guess my intentions weren't clear. I was sticking up for them not saying it was something wrong or that they should be expected to be other people's personal assistant. I have 3 sisters that are teachers and they don't work during the summer and nothing irks them more than people calling them for 3 months asking them for favors during the day. It's very annoying. My sister always say "do what you would do if you didn't know I existed"

[Writing Wrongs]

Bow: "That's Jack's Highlights."

Dre: "She doesn't know my interests."

 

I also laughed at the beginning narration when Dre called slavery "unpaid internship".

 

I still miss Charlie at the workplace.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As for the SAHM I guess my intentions weren't clear. I was sticking up for them not saying it was something wrong or that they should be expected to be other people's personal assistant. I have 3 sisters that are teachers and they don't work during the summer and nothing irks them more than people calling them for 3 months asking them for favors during the day. It's very annoying. My sister always say "do what you would do if you didn't know I existed"

One of my friends is a teacher who doesn't have kids of her own so everyone in her very extended family expects her to do anything family related (take older relatives grocery shopping, babysit, chauffeur people to doctor appointments, help people move, etc) during the summer and holiday breaks. I will have to pass on your sister's line!

Edited February 11, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[funkopop]

Bow's constant use of "ladies of leisure" makes me think the writers were trying to shy away from making it a SAHM vs working mom battle.  The yoga and aerial silk classes seemed to be a problem from her.  Then compound that with the image of Brittany Daniels feeding her husband shrimp and it seems Bow was being overly defensive of the idea of women laying around while men take care of them, regardless of childrearing.

[attica]

When I was a tween, I got my Lifesaver's certificate, so it warmed my heart to see Diane use those skills! And part of my test was to 'rescue' this giant middle-aged dude who thrashed around, just like Dre. He did not shout "Save me, Black Jesus!" though.

 

Whoever was in charge of Zoe's eyelash game in this ep should get a raise.

 

Oh! And Toby Huss (from Halt and Catch Fire) as the swim trainer! It's so weird to hear him without a Texas accent!

Edited February 11, 2016 by attica

[ari333]

"I fanned the beans!"

[monakane]

I totally remember learning this fact in Social Studies class. I also remember my GG telling about it. I think the most famous person it happened to (at the time) was Dorothy Dandridge. 1950. She put her foot into the hotel swimming pool and the hotel actually drained the pool.

 

Unfortunately, it still goes on today.   There was a case a couple of years ago in the Philly area.  

 

www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/justice/pennsylvania-swim-club-discrimination/

[nicepebbles]

The only kid I see of those four being able to get into college is Diane. :)

 

All those kids are going to college. Right now, I can't see all of them not going nless there's some storyline, like Jr for instance inventing something and thinking he doesn't need college. Jr isn't dumb. He's just a dork. (Never change Jr.) I don't even think Jack is dumb. Just naïve. Besides, everybody looks not as smart next to Diane. (Who BTW is still awful.)

 

Until they had Bow's mom explain why they never talked about money, I was like looking at Bow, "Like WTF is up? You smarter than this." Once they talked to their parents, it made total sense why they came off as especially dumb.

 

I'm going to presume that they either got good financial aid packages so student loan debt isn't an issue or they did so well that they have paid them off. Because they can be doing well, but student loan debt is like that monkey on your back.

 

Humour aside, I thought the point being made about the shampoo and the shoes was precisely that they went out and spent money on cheap stuff that they didn't need. They practised false economies instead of managing their money.

 

I realize that was the point of them going out to buy cheap stuff. It just made them look dumb. They should've explained it away somehow for Bow that she just happened to be out of her products and Dre was acting pretty childish about having to wear the same thing twice.

 

Was it just me who was like, "Why the parents have to pay for college? Just cuz you got money don't mean nothing. They ain't but one generation out the ghetto/commune." You can't pay for your kids college at the expense of your own retirement. The kids will be fine if mom and dad don't pay. Don't even set your kids p to believe that you'll pay because you might not be able to. I mean unless they make some drastic changes, how much they going to be able to save for all 4 in the years they have left for Jack and Diane have to go?

[nicepebbles]

I was just talking about this episode to a friend the other day. He told me about the time he went to a church.  At the 2 1/2 hour mark, the preacher still hadn't gotten to sermon.

[SmithW6079]

Is black people not knowing how to swim really a stereotype? I did not know that.

The body double for Diane was really bad.

More and more, I'm finding the Johnsons unlikable people. I kind of wish Janine had said she didn't invite Dre because she didn't like him.

The end credits were funny, and I liked Dre's line about "Highlights" magazine. One of my doctors also has kids for patients, so when I go, I always read "Highlights."

Edited February 12, 2016 by SmithW6079

[anna0852]

Unfortunately, it still goes on today.   There was a case a couple of years ago in the Philly area.  

 

www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/justice/pennsylvania-swim-club-discrimination/

Google the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine. The manager dumped muriatic acid in the pool when African-American protesters got in the water.

[Empress1]

I'm black and I'm a good swimmer - I can swim a mile and am thinking of doing a triathlon this year! My parents are good swimmers too, we love the water. My brother CAN swim, but he's not great at it. My mom's mom though? Couldn't swim a stroke. She'd sit on the steps of a pool with her feet in the water, or go in the ocean up to her ankles. That's it. 

 

There's no way Brittany Daniel was a neurosurgeon who had time to do yoga 4 days a week and attend school activities during the work day. That is not a thing. 

 

By far my favorite part was the end, when Ruby showed up out of the blue based on mother's intuition and everybody was calling on Black Jesus. Calling on Black Jesus will always get a laugh from me.

[jah1986]

Is black people not knowing how to swim really a stereotype? I did not know that.

 

I'm not sure it's a stereotype but it is not uncommon for black folks not to know how to swim.  I learned as an adult and my mom was in the same swim class as me.  My aunt and all her children never learned to swim.  That's why black folks always give each other the nod when we're at the beach because it's like yeah we're here and we can swim lol.

 

I thought it was a pretty funny episode but I didn't get exactly where they were going with Bow going off on ladies of leisure. Did she think they were lazy, did she think they were looking down on her because she worked? I just didn't get where the animosity was coming from.  Loved Diane saving Dre. Why does Dre have to touch all the donuts before he picks one or three?

[peeayebee]

I think Bow might sometimes have guilt about not being there all the time for her kids. Of course she's proud of being a doctor, but a lot of working women feel criticism from others -- men and women -- that they are putting their families second. I think this is where Bow's animosity came from.

[mansonlamps]

Google the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine. The manager dumped muriatic acid in the pool when African-American protesters got in the water.

But that was fifty years ago and doesn't support the other poster's position that this is still happening today.

I always heard black people had a different center of gravity and that's why they couldn't swim! Craziness all around for sure, but it's enough of a stereotype that this show made an episode about it.

Still not crazy about Diane.

[anna0852]

I didn't mean in the context of 'happening today', I meant in a more historical context.

[SmithW6079]

The more I think about this episode, the more I dislike it. I'm growing so tired of the episodes where Dre is the immature manchild -- which is basically all of them.

Setting up crowdfunding pages so boys can "donate" to buy Zoe things she wants? What she was doing wasn't entrepreneurial. If it wasn't fraud, then it's panhandling at least. Blech. It's not even like companies were donating stuff to her because she's a social media influencer.

And -- ha! ha! -- look, the boy likes to cook and the girl likes to swim and tie knots. How gender subversive they are in the second decade of the 21st century.

Edited February 12, 2016 by SmithW6079

[Shermie]

While this is my favourite of the four ABC sitcoms, I get annoyed by sitcom behaviour that doesn't mesh with how real people behave.

Exhibit A - Why can't Dre just say he doesn't swim? It's not law that everyone at a pool party has to swim. I can swim, but don't care to, especially at a party where everyone gets raucous (I hate getting dunked against my will, water-oriented claustrophobia). Surely he could just be a fun party guest while his kids enjoyed the pool. And did they imply that Dre and Bow have a pool? Why wouldn't he have learned to swim ther over the years, especially with small kids in his home? Or, why not host your own pool party?

Exhibit B - women being judgy that other women work is hardly a thing anymore, especially in a high-end educated neighbourhood. More moms work than not, so Bow being so defensive about it seems like it was cut from a '70s sitcom. And Bow is not shy or timid, why not just say she's committed to 50 hours a week at the hospital and likes to split her off time between caring for two elderly parents and her four children. Or maybe just sign up for a school committee now and then, it's my experience that 20% of the parents do 80% of the volunteering because everyone else hides behind their job. And the irony is that Bow is just as judgy as the yoga moms, just in a different way.

I hate when sitcoms turn funny characters with mild flaws into shrill unpleasant assholes.

[ari333]

I enjoy Nicole Sullivan (the neighbor lady) in almost everything. I love her here too, but I didnt' like that she pulled up the ladder after Dre got in the pool. She suspected that he couldn't swim and gave him no way out or way to save face. He almost drowned, was humiliated. Not cool. Mean. I know, it's just a show.

 

Diane got a good deal. She got credit for the casserole with fanned beans that Jack made and she saved her dad in the water. Win/win for her :-)

Edited February 12, 2016 by ari333

[Driad]

 

20% of the parents do 80% of the volunteering

Experience in my own family:

Mom of 2: The school needs another volunteer for the field trip besides me, could you do it?

Mom of 4: I have four kids, I don't volunteer.

Mom of 2: With four kids, maybe you should volunteer twice as much as I do.

[shura]

Shouldn't that be a reverse relationship? With twice as much work at home, shouldn't the mom of 4 be expected to volunteer half as much as the mom of 2 does?

 

I've never heard of aerial silk before, had to look it up. Learn something every day.

[attica]

I guess I didn't know that 'aerial silk' was the name of that thing. I've seen it performed, certainly. 

 

There is no pastime so revered in all of history as is the giving of shit to other mothers about their parenting skills/styles.

[Silly Angel]

 

Brittany Daniels feeding her husband shrimp

"...like a sea god." I died laughing.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I will be honest. I didn't know that "Blacks don't know how to swim" was a stereotype or ( and pardon my ignorance) what the correct word/phrase for this is.

I'm a child of the 70s. I grew up in a predominantly African American apartment complex/community.  In elementary school, we all got free swimming lessons, and all of us-Me (the only East Indian), the white, hispanic, asian and black kids went.  During the summers, one of the local pools-90% black-adults and kids alike, swam.

 

Even in junior high, same thing. And as an adult.

 

So I’m roughly around the same age as Dre is, so his not knowing, ever learning? Head scratcher for sure.

I will admit, when I’m at the beach, I don’t go out too far, because, Jaws.

 

What?

 

The wonderful late Vincent Price had it right when he did a special about that movie—it wasn’t so much as making us fear the Great White, but the water itself. In my case, so very true!

 

Yes, I’m a wuss.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Is black people not knowing how to swim really a stereotype?

Yes and there's a bestselling sci-fi novel about zombies (by a Black writer) that's built on this very stereotype.

 

This was one of my least favorite episodes. It took me several tries to get through the whole thing because it seemed so basic sitcom-ish.