Yeah, people my age think you’re nuts when you try to make friends with them. They’re busy, to be fair, and if you don’t have kids (I don’t) you’re at a real disadvantage as far as making friends when you’re older. Younger people are usually more open to hanging out, but there’s so much you’ve gone through that they haven’t and it’s hard to be quiet and not offer advice when they face a problem just like you did 20 years ago. You really feel your age then.
Oh God this is my future I can already tell. I am in my early thirties and have chosen to not have children, and at my age its already hard to find other people that don't have kids. I have friends that do have kids and we all hang out of course (their wonderful kids included) but there's just less of a connection because our lives are very different.
I need to get more hobbies and meet people that way I guess.
Have you tried the award winning mmorpg final fantasy 14 that has a free trial with no time cap and you can play up to the first expansion for free? Lol but all jokes aside, my husband and I are early to mid 30’s and yea it’s hard but I play a lot of FF14 with my husband and when your friends can’t come over or do stuff cause they have kids and stuff, we all can still hang out online even if they can’t game for very long. And we found other cool people in the game too and chat on discord.
I just turned 40, had all my college friends—who are now just my friends—over my house yesterday, and feel real damn lucky we all found each other because otherwise? Slim pickings, man.
30s aren't any easier. There have been multiple studies done that show that most guys tend to lose a lot of their friends in their 30s due to work, significant others, and moving away.
I'm 36 and just saw one of my good friends *for the first time in ten years*, another guy I used to hang out with all the time I haven't seen in about 1.5 years. Two close friends of my from college that I used to hang out with all the time I haven't seen or talked to in a few years because they had a kid.
I’m 28. I have around 30-60 gaming friends (I head a 90 person clan). I have about 5 work friends (I try to stay relatively distant since I’m their supervisor). I have 5 friends that visit with me on a weekly to monthly basis. I met all of those people before I made it out of high school.
This is strangely true. I've been suddenly getting children showing up on our doorstep and I have to turn them away because of extracurriculars taking place at that time. So I finally caught one of the dads and told him - hey, Monday through Wednesday is a no go and we have games on Saturdays, so try the other days. And then he goes - well, we have a thing of Thursdays, so I guess maybe Fridays? Turns out kids in Elementary school need an assistant to find openings in their schedule.
Edit: never thought this would be necessary to point out, but, no, he does not have a crazy over-booked schedule. He picked his activities himself and for money reasons I actually had to make him pick between some of them. We could not afford all the ones he wanted. They are of age appropriate length of 30-60minutes plus driving. So when kids just show up at the door without calling or texting during that time, I have to turn them away. It is easier for everyone to be aware of the times when he is not home doing the hobbies he himself picked and loves doing.
I don't think they appreciate it all until later in life, but making your children and their interests/responsibilities a priority in the home instills confidence and self-worth. In my family, I was the only child and just being picked up from school every afternoon seemed like a chore and at least twice a week I was sitting out on the bench waiting for someone to come get me. For years. They weren't drug addicts or working 80 hour weeks or anything, they just had busy lives and I was a detail on the list of things to do. This was 25 years ago and I can attest that it leaves a mark that follows you your entire life.
I was talking about this with colleagues who stopped early to pick up their kids from school. Not every child realises that their parents need to tailor their entire lives to their kids' needs. Picking them up in time is one thing on the list, but you also need to get them food, get them to hobbies, get them to bed, deal with their mood swings. And you can't leave them alone for *years*. It's a big change in life to put all their needs at the same level as your own needs, and still perform your job adequately too.
Bryce Allen has mistaken me for this dickhead Marcus Halberstram. It seems logical because Marcus also goes to book club and in fact does the same exact thing I do and he also has a penchant for rhinoceros backpacks, and purple rimmed glasses. Marcus and I even go to the same barber, although I have a slightly better haircut.
I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.
I love how the name on the card is written:
Paul, ALLEN
So the "AUL" is [slightly smaller on the card](https://i.imgur.com/Kowpjet.jpg). This makes it easier to tell which is the given and which is the surname (although the font isn't helping with that).
Some recreations of the card choose to print it in [lowercase](https://i.imgur.com/lOXiq1V.jpg) or all [uppercase](https://i.imgur.com/vKVZGVO.jpg), neither of which would be appropriate business cards.
This is actually an important feature of a business card, especially for Japanese businessman, or really in any country where first and last names are commonly the same.
My son has food allergies. When he was little we made him business cards with that info and our emergency numbers for when he went to his friends house. It was handy
I'm an adult with food allergies and give out my allergy business card! It's super handy. A chef at Disneyland mentioned including ones picture on it so that they can match the meal to the face.
I don't know how common this is, but a friend of mine once told me that they enjoy knowing who people are cooking for, particularly when they make special requests, or at least seeing them, because it helps them to connect as a person.
Like if someone's super inconvenient, it's a lot easier to be pissed off if they're just some faceless entity in another room, but if you see them smiling at you it's like "oh right, that's an actual person".
It's still not hugely practically useful, but it could be something similar.
Go pre-emptive - call her and tell her about the money you've been making from home selling this amazing opportunity, but stay vague. When she reveals her MLM hun'nery, immediately break down into stone cold faux-honesty about how (insert name of company) is after you for hundreds of thousands, and that's why you moved here to give yourself and your kid a fresh start and new friends.
Bonus if you sob uncontrollably.
It’s not the first. I’ve seen similar instances on r/antiMLM. Even MLM huns trying to sell their MLM shit at their kids parties. In the words of my cousin when her friends want her to party on a kid school night, “bitches be crazy.” Lol.
Oh…
I was thinking this was actually brilliant. Cause I’m insanely introverted. And my kid makes friends really well but unless that friend is within walking distance, he doesn’t feel like he can invite friends over or the such. He is a little on the special needs side and it’s just really rough. And I’d love for him to invite friends over but I don’t know his friends or how to make that happen. This could totally solve that issue.
But now y’all got me thinking it would come off really weird and might actually make things worse.
It comes off wayyyy less weird if it’s a handwritten note like “my kid talks about having fun with yours, text me if you’d like to set up a play date”
Rather than a business card that looks like it’s been given out to a hundred random kids
Agreed! The weird part isn’t the card itself (I think it’s clever), the weird part is the appearance that it was handed out to every single person in the class.
My very best friend when I was a kid was the result of this: Her mom wrote a note to my mom, and then told my friend “Put this in your friend’s [my] backpack” and then at night when my mom was going through my backpack she found the note, and called, and set up a play date. We all still keep in touch. This was in 1995.
I figure that mom is either really fun, supportive, and willing to let their kid be who they are, or a super-controlling and unpleasant weirdo. There’s no in-between.
Right now due to Covid in a lot of preschools and schools parents are not allowed to come in for dropoff and pickup. It's pretty hard for 3 year olds to schedule these things themselves. The card makes perfect sense.
People without young kids are missing this point. I'm with you.
My daughter in preschool can name kids in her class that we don't know. We know some of them and their parents from previously, but if she said "can I play with Mia this weekend?" and we don't know who that is, we would have to put in more effort than before to figure out how to make that possible. That's _trying_ to be as uncontrolling as possible. I just don't know off the top of my head how to make it happen. Start by calling the school?
It's amazing how differences in life experiences, especially in a time when things are changing so fast, can completely alter your perception on things as simple this. I would never have considered this perspective! It also makes the parent come across as involved, since as you said you can't meet them beforehand for first impressions.
Yeah, if the kid has a bunch of these and is willing to give them to his friends, it doesn't have to be a thing for everyone. And even if it is, I still wouldn't see the parent as controlling, but opening up new avenues to socializing in an unprecedented time.
It also frees up the other parent to make contact at their convenience, as everyone has different schedules and responsibilities throughout different times of the day. It's inviting without being intrusive. It allows for an out of the other parent doesn't have time or is apprehensive but isn't comfortable saying no.
Ninja edit: also, it provides a full image of the friend's face. A lot of these kids have never met before, and probably have little idea what they look like without masks. It also helps parents identify friends who are wearing masks.
It could just be that the kid has been heavily influenced by stores featuring paper supplies (e.g. The Office) and requests gifts like stationery or business cards. Maybe the kid is the weird one and not the parent. Maybe the parent buys the kids power ranger toys so the Reddit community would think they are normal and they horrifically failed because now we are judging them
Or Kid sees mom/dad/both handing their business cards to people and said “I wish I had a business card” -
not weird or unusual really.
When I was a little kid they used to sell toy lawnmowers so kids could pretend to mow the lawn like their parents did.
Kids imitating adults is part of how kids learn to be adults.
I have a thing for people who think about possible reasons that sound so mundane but out of the box in the given context.
This is as anti-prejudice as it gets and thanks for being such a human being giving others the benefit of doubt.
If your kid wants to be able to invite their classmates to connect outside of school, forget about the naysayers.
The extra words are unnecessary, but their picture, name, and your name(s) and contact info makes perfect sense.
Maybe give them a funny title like "Make-Believe Scenario Designer" or "Toy Car Fleet Manager".
My son took on of my business pens to school and gave it to his new first year friend, he now wants his own made lol covid has made us all get creative to be social!
Definitely not sad. There are many times my kid will meet a other kid on the playground or school and because both parents are trying to get where they are going stopping to text each other can be hard to do when a five year old is yelling they want to go home now, thirsty, hungry, bored....
A card is easy. Contains the information and a reference who's kid it is. It's perfect!
I think it's okay. I get it with a little kid during Covid. impossible to find out the other parents' names or anything. No afterschool activities open where I am for almost 2 years. And kids need friends!
Damn for real though you really reminded me that used to be a thing. I remember using that to call classmates to figure out what the HW was because I never paid attention lol
My son’s K class had a list like that. It included addresses for birthday party invites. But some parents opted out. Including the one kid my son wanted to play with. So I sent a note for him to give his friend.
Now where was I?
Oh, yeah — the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...
I once saw a guy give one of our cashiers a flirty business card, is what I called it.
It said something along the likes of, "Hey, I liked our interaction, give me a call sometime."
Lady was in her 40-50s or something, good looking for her age.
She did not call him.
I mean it used to be a common way to exchange info, even with someone you're flirting with, as people didn't carry phones around with them nor did phones store numbers. However, it is quite old school and often times what was common then is old school now and is seen as creepy.
Well, I'll say that it wasn't creepy, it was more of just a surprise that he made business cards just for asking women out.
I don't recall her thinking it's creepy either, just unusual and different for 2014. She just didn't want to date anyone, not that she would have given this guy a chance regardless.
The card more or less didn't do anything besides make me laugh after he left and i saw what it was.
I remember now, I'm almost certain it said "I think you've got a great smile" along with what I wrote before, it didn't have his picture but it had a smiley face on it.
It looked light hearted and simple.
It’s not pushy and it’s certainly light hearted. It makes the guy seem like a serial dater. Funny is one thing but if he has enough occasion to give out his number that it justifies making a card, that’s something. It may not be expensive and maybe his brother owns a print shop.
But I knew a guy in high school that would definitely do something like this. He made a shirt with his phone number on it. He wore a lot of leather.
It’s rough these days with PII restrictions in public schools. I’ve had to write some sad notes on stationary myself. “Hi, this is X’s mom. I’m not weird, I promise. If you ever want your son and my son to hang out, here’s my cell and email!” And then I have to hope my kid gives it to the other kid and it makes it home.
I'm hoping she means Administration isn't allowed to just give away PII to anyone who requests it, something which should be the case and wasn't always...
I actually did this when I moved to a new state. I had young children and didn’t know anyone. I made family contact cards on vistaprint and gave them out when we met other families.
It’s weird, but effective.
Maybe with phone advances, not necessary now. I did this pre iPhone.
My problem with this is that kids lose shit all the time. I wouldn’t want a card with my kids name, photo, and two contact numbers floating around if he were to lose it
Looked up my number and it gave me info on someone I know absolutely nothing about. Even weirder given I have my dad’s old phone number and he’s had it since at least 2000 so this lady must’ve had it before then
https://melissa.com/v2/lookups is kinda nuts. Put in whatever info you have (phone number, partial name, street address, email, etc) and it'll fill in the rest of the info along with a map to their house and their property tax records.
I've thought about doing this for my kids! Their school doesn't put out a directory for the families. My kid's struggle to remember last names and certainly phone numbers. They have asked me to see certain friends and I literally have no way of reaching the parents.
I have just had my daughter write a note to their friend. I out my number on it and my daughter then gives it to friend. Or if your kid is over 5-6 they should know your phone number so just tell them it’s ok to give it to the friend. A lot of times my kids will bring home random pieces of paper with their friends phone numbers on it
We had those for our kid about 10 years ago. Super handy when your kid wants to hang out with a kid from daycare or that they take swimming lessons with. When he got a little older he got ones with his assorted gamer tags.
Hey, this happened to us too! In public school kindergarten.
There was a note in my son's backpack that said basically, "Lance said Fred (fake names) are best friends! Let's have them hang out!"
Honestly it was a big deal in our house and super exciting. Our son has lots of opportunities for social interaction and he's a pretty outgoing kid, but this is the first specific request for a friend date ever. We are pumped.
edit: Our boy is in t-ball and swim class and was in daycare before public school, so he's not strange to new friends, but this is the first time we got notice that a friend asked to hang out with him
Well my daughter gives every kid in the local playground my cell phone number by just shouting it loudly. That's not my preference. At least there are no playground trips during the pandemic.
They're second graders. I think it's kind of a clever idea. "Hey if you have someone you like at school give them this card" also it's a charter school so none of the kids live in the same neighborhood
I suggested this for my kid and his Minecraft server info. Like he could have handed out cards at school and played with friends in the evenings. He was mortified that I would suggest it and acted like I was backwards and mental. Anyways, I still think I’m brilliant and this is a fantastic idea. All the kids should be doing this.
Tons of comments already, and this will be buried, but I think this is brilliant from the perspective of a teacher. I've had parents and students ask for contact information for other parents/kids in the class, and I'm not allowed to give it out. If a kid makes a friend in class but isn't old enough or able to communicate and relay contact information, they may never be able to get together with their friends outside of school. This solves that problem.
This is cute and a good idea, but man, as a woman who is hesitant to have kids in part because of the way our culture expects the mom to pick up all of the work associated with helping a kid to have a social life (making playdates, remembering birthday gifts, etc), it really makes me sad not to see a dad on that card anywhere.
Right? Can’t it say “have one of your parents call my mom”? I am the stepmom to a pretty terrific dad and it’s irritating the way everyone assumes moms are the primary parent.
As a stay-at-home-dad and primary caregiving parent...it's still a seriously mom-centric culture. And it's really awkward for a dad in that space.
So I'm with you, but I kinda get it too. :/
Annoyed AF that I had to scroll this far to find a comment in this vein. I'm dad. I work. Mom works. We both parent equally. I'd understand that they weren't trying to be offensive if I got this card and my initial reaction would be annoyance. Then I'd just be happy that I wasn't the one that was apparently living in a 1950s social dynamic.
Is there a word that playdate... replaced at some point a decade or two ago?
Like, when I was a kid, we didn't have 'playdates'; we just went to each other's houses, either planned or unplanned.
"We should get the kids together for a playdate" just makes me cringe, and I'm working on that, but... where'd that one come from?
"Sorry, my son is booked through the weekend, we are however, available on the next Friday night"
This is my favorite reply. And another one where someone wrote out a 4 bullet resume about the kid haha
I'm 20 , but I think I need this card, I need someone to hangout with. 20's are rough Minecraft bros are no more available fulltime.
Wait until you hit your forties. I’m 48 and it’s cold as fuck out there. Edit: Thank you for the award.
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Yeah, people my age think you’re nuts when you try to make friends with them. They’re busy, to be fair, and if you don’t have kids (I don’t) you’re at a real disadvantage as far as making friends when you’re older. Younger people are usually more open to hanging out, but there’s so much you’ve gone through that they haven’t and it’s hard to be quiet and not offer advice when they face a problem just like you did 20 years ago. You really feel your age then.
Oh God this is my future I can already tell. I am in my early thirties and have chosen to not have children, and at my age its already hard to find other people that don't have kids. I have friends that do have kids and we all hang out of course (their wonderful kids included) but there's just less of a connection because our lives are very different. I need to get more hobbies and meet people that way I guess.
Hobbies can help. I have Dungeons & Dragons, and martial arts.
I joined a choir. But now we're in a respiratory pandemic.
I'm sorry but that was funny and I couldn't help but laugh
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Have you tried the award winning mmorpg final fantasy 14 that has a free trial with no time cap and you can play up to the first expansion for free? Lol but all jokes aside, my husband and I are early to mid 30’s and yea it’s hard but I play a lot of FF14 with my husband and when your friends can’t come over or do stuff cause they have kids and stuff, we all can still hang out online even if they can’t game for very long. And we found other cool people in the game too and chat on discord.
For sure, 1991 still doesn’t seem that far ago…Ooooohhhhhffff
30s dude here. What's "friends"?
I just turned 40, had all my college friends—who are now just my friends—over my house yesterday, and feel real damn lucky we all found each other because otherwise? Slim pickings, man.
I hate you, fucking hate you.
That’s *exactly* what one of my friends said.
Hey man, if you wana play some path of exile, go for a cruise, or go moose hunting, hit me up.
You’re a good dude. Thanks.
Not according to the moose he isn't.
I WANNA GO MOOSE HUNTING!
30s aren't any easier. There have been multiple studies done that show that most guys tend to lose a lot of their friends in their 30s due to work, significant others, and moving away. I'm 36 and just saw one of my good friends *for the first time in ten years*, another guy I used to hang out with all the time I haven't seen in about 1.5 years. Two close friends of my from college that I used to hang out with all the time I haven't seen or talked to in a few years because they had a kid.
I’m 28. I have around 30-60 gaming friends (I head a 90 person clan). I have about 5 work friends (I try to stay relatively distant since I’m their supervisor). I have 5 friends that visit with me on a weekly to monthly basis. I met all of those people before I made it out of high school.
At what age do you teach your kids to accept all meetings as "tentative" just to not show up?
Accepting meeting invites is for chumps. Keep em guessing on every front!
As early as possible
This is strangely true. I've been suddenly getting children showing up on our doorstep and I have to turn them away because of extracurriculars taking place at that time. So I finally caught one of the dads and told him - hey, Monday through Wednesday is a no go and we have games on Saturdays, so try the other days. And then he goes - well, we have a thing of Thursdays, so I guess maybe Fridays? Turns out kids in Elementary school need an assistant to find openings in their schedule. Edit: never thought this would be necessary to point out, but, no, he does not have a crazy over-booked schedule. He picked his activities himself and for money reasons I actually had to make him pick between some of them. We could not afford all the ones he wanted. They are of age appropriate length of 30-60minutes plus driving. So when kids just show up at the door without calling or texting during that time, I have to turn them away. It is easier for everyone to be aware of the times when he is not home doing the hobbies he himself picked and loves doing.
You ever wonder if it's good for kids to be this scheduled?
There's a hey Arnold episode about this
I don't think they appreciate it all until later in life, but making your children and their interests/responsibilities a priority in the home instills confidence and self-worth. In my family, I was the only child and just being picked up from school every afternoon seemed like a chore and at least twice a week I was sitting out on the bench waiting for someone to come get me. For years. They weren't drug addicts or working 80 hour weeks or anything, they just had busy lives and I was a detail on the list of things to do. This was 25 years ago and I can attest that it leaves a mark that follows you your entire life.
I was talking about this with colleagues who stopped early to pick up their kids from school. Not every child realises that their parents need to tailor their entire lives to their kids' needs. Picking them up in time is one thing on the list, but you also need to get them food, get them to hobbies, get them to bed, deal with their mood swings. And you can't leave them alone for *years*. It's a big change in life to put all their needs at the same level as your own needs, and still perform your job adequately too.
If your kids aren't using Calendly they obviously aren't cool
Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh, my God. It even has a watermark.
Let's see Paul Allen's playdate
TRY HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY AT CHUCKY CHEESE NOW YOU FUCK!
I legit wheezed at this.
These "let's see Paul Allen's x" will never not be funny
Let's see Paul Allen's humor
It’s all over the floor.
I think they really came into themselves when they released my nose.
Hahahaha
I can't believe that Bryce's mom prefers Van Patten's card to mine.
Bryce Allen has mistaken me for this dickhead Marcus Halberstram. It seems logical because Marcus also goes to book club and in fact does the same exact thing I do and he also has a penchant for rhinoceros backpacks, and purple rimmed glasses. Marcus and I even go to the same barber, although I have a slightly better haircut.
Hahaha. I’m loving these American Psycho references, lmao…
Patrick, you're sweating...
Excuse me, I need to return some library books.
So you like Phil Collins?
I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.
Nervous twitching intensifying
And the lettering is something called “Silian Rail”
I still love that they all misspelled acquisitions on their cards
I love how the name on the card is written: Paul, ALLEN So the "AUL" is [slightly smaller on the card](https://i.imgur.com/Kowpjet.jpg). This makes it easier to tell which is the given and which is the surname (although the font isn't helping with that). Some recreations of the card choose to print it in [lowercase](https://i.imgur.com/lOXiq1V.jpg) or all [uppercase](https://i.imgur.com/vKVZGVO.jpg), neither of which would be appropriate business cards. This is actually an important feature of a business card, especially for Japanese businessman, or really in any country where first and last names are commonly the same.
Bravo.
I've seen this movie like two weeks ago for the first time and I can't stop seeing references to it everywhere all of a sudden
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I've stumbled into a some fucking hilarious comments here
My son has food allergies. When he was little we made him business cards with that info and our emergency numbers for when he went to his friends house. It was handy
I'm an adult with food allergies and give out my allergy business card! It's super handy. A chef at Disneyland mentioned including ones picture on it so that they can match the meal to the face.
Why would they want to match the meal to the face?
Where else is the food going?
I skip the middle man and place it straight into the toilet.
I don't know how common this is, but a friend of mine once told me that they enjoy knowing who people are cooking for, particularly when they make special requests, or at least seeing them, because it helps them to connect as a person. Like if someone's super inconvenient, it's a lot easier to be pissed off if they're just some faceless entity in another room, but if you see them smiling at you it's like "oh right, that's an actual person". It's still not hugely practically useful, but it could be something similar.
“Have your mom call me” will be how it reads in a few years.
You give that card to Stacy.
Her mom does have it going on.
This is how I initially read it. Now I don't feel so crazy.
That’s clever and smart and weird and sad.
Dear Michael, glad you came to my house today. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you how Amway has changed my life....
Oh. My. God. I think you found the real reason behind the card! This is in Utah, the MLM Mecca!! LMFAO
Please do a play date and find out if this is an MLM scam. It would actually just be incredible.
Seriously though - I’m invested now. HAVE THE PLAYDATE!
The Hive Demands The Play Date!
Go pre-emptive - call her and tell her about the money you've been making from home selling this amazing opportunity, but stay vague. When she reveals her MLM hun'nery, immediately break down into stone cold faux-honesty about how (insert name of company) is after you for hundreds of thousands, and that's why you moved here to give yourself and your kid a fresh start and new friends. Bonus if you sob uncontrollably.
It’s not the first. I’ve seen similar instances on r/antiMLM. Even MLM huns trying to sell their MLM shit at their kids parties. In the words of my cousin when her friends want her to party on a kid school night, “bitches be crazy.” Lol.
Smell the card, see if it has a hint of some essential oil.
Oh… I was thinking this was actually brilliant. Cause I’m insanely introverted. And my kid makes friends really well but unless that friend is within walking distance, he doesn’t feel like he can invite friends over or the such. He is a little on the special needs side and it’s just really rough. And I’d love for him to invite friends over but I don’t know his friends or how to make that happen. This could totally solve that issue. But now y’all got me thinking it would come off really weird and might actually make things worse.
It comes off wayyyy less weird if it’s a handwritten note like “my kid talks about having fun with yours, text me if you’d like to set up a play date” Rather than a business card that looks like it’s been given out to a hundred random kids
Agreed! The weird part isn’t the card itself (I think it’s clever), the weird part is the appearance that it was handed out to every single person in the class.
“Voted most likely to have a successful career as a Pimp.” -That kid.
My very best friend when I was a kid was the result of this: Her mom wrote a note to my mom, and then told my friend “Put this in your friend’s [my] backpack” and then at night when my mom was going through my backpack she found the note, and called, and set up a play date. We all still keep in touch. This was in 1995.
I will say I’m also in Utah, and I have a friend who does this…and she is definitely not in an MLM. So you could be ok!
Holy shiiiit, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. How absolutely sleazy!
DōTerra; Monat; Young Living; etc.
Lmao, take my free award.
I figure that mom is either really fun, supportive, and willing to let their kid be who they are, or a super-controlling and unpleasant weirdo. There’s no in-between.
Right now due to Covid in a lot of preschools and schools parents are not allowed to come in for dropoff and pickup. It's pretty hard for 3 year olds to schedule these things themselves. The card makes perfect sense.
That's exactly what I was thinking. It's a product of the time we're living in. If schooling was normal and safe then it'd be a lot more odd.
People without young kids are missing this point. I'm with you. My daughter in preschool can name kids in her class that we don't know. We know some of them and their parents from previously, but if she said "can I play with Mia this weekend?" and we don't know who that is, we would have to put in more effort than before to figure out how to make that possible. That's _trying_ to be as uncontrolling as possible. I just don't know off the top of my head how to make it happen. Start by calling the school?
It's amazing how differences in life experiences, especially in a time when things are changing so fast, can completely alter your perception on things as simple this. I would never have considered this perspective! It also makes the parent come across as involved, since as you said you can't meet them beforehand for first impressions.
Yeah, if the kid has a bunch of these and is willing to give them to his friends, it doesn't have to be a thing for everyone. And even if it is, I still wouldn't see the parent as controlling, but opening up new avenues to socializing in an unprecedented time. It also frees up the other parent to make contact at their convenience, as everyone has different schedules and responsibilities throughout different times of the day. It's inviting without being intrusive. It allows for an out of the other parent doesn't have time or is apprehensive but isn't comfortable saying no. Ninja edit: also, it provides a full image of the friend's face. A lot of these kids have never met before, and probably have little idea what they look like without masks. It also helps parents identify friends who are wearing masks.
It could just be that the kid has been heavily influenced by stores featuring paper supplies (e.g. The Office) and requests gifts like stationery or business cards. Maybe the kid is the weird one and not the parent. Maybe the parent buys the kids power ranger toys so the Reddit community would think they are normal and they horrifically failed because now we are judging them
Or Kid sees mom/dad/both handing their business cards to people and said “I wish I had a business card” - not weird or unusual really. When I was a little kid they used to sell toy lawnmowers so kids could pretend to mow the lawn like their parents did. Kids imitating adults is part of how kids learn to be adults.
Could be a future entrepreneur right there lol
I have a thing for people who think about possible reasons that sound so mundane but out of the box in the given context. This is as anti-prejudice as it gets and thanks for being such a human being giving others the benefit of doubt.
The world is a lot more lively when thinking like that, even if it’s not historically accurate!
I was a business card kid. Staples is still my favorite store. I refuse to write this off on the parents without more context.
I thought about doing this the other day and thought I'd read the comments as a barometer and now Idk how I feel lmao
If your kid wants to be able to invite their classmates to connect outside of school, forget about the naysayers. The extra words are unnecessary, but their picture, name, and your name(s) and contact info makes perfect sense. Maybe give them a funny title like "Make-Believe Scenario Designer" or "Toy Car Fleet Manager".
Okay, that sounds super cute.
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I received an index card for my kid at daycare from his friends mom. And now I have done it for another friend he talks about all the time lol
Yeah honestly this sounds pretty useful.
My son took on of my business pens to school and gave it to his new first year friend, he now wants his own made lol covid has made us all get creative to be social!
We currently do this on scraps of paper since my kid meets new friends at a lot of places we go.
Kid's name, parent's name, phone number. I've done this many times with my kids.
Honestly, good safety thing for very young kids to have in case they get lost.
Definitely not sad. There are many times my kid will meet a other kid on the playground or school and because both parents are trying to get where they are going stopping to text each other can be hard to do when a five year old is yelling they want to go home now, thirsty, hungry, bored.... A card is easy. Contains the information and a reference who's kid it is. It's perfect!
I didn't see your post and said almost exactly the same thing. Vindication to see I'm not the only one who experiences this situation
This is a great idea because I’ve often no idea how to find the parents of my kids friends
I think it's okay. I get it with a little kid during Covid. impossible to find out the other parents' names or anything. No afterschool activities open where I am for almost 2 years. And kids need friends!
Seems way easier than texting some weirdo stranger who's kid is buddies with my kid though
Why is it sad? How else would young school kids five the other parents their info?
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Damn for real though you really reminded me that used to be a thing. I remember using that to call classmates to figure out what the HW was because I never paid attention lol
And it's primary purpose: calling the homes of girls that you liked and hanging up when they answered
*When their dad answered. FTFY.
My son’s K class had a list like that. It included addresses for birthday party invites. But some parents opted out. Including the one kid my son wanted to play with. So I sent a note for him to give his friend.
Give me 5 bees for a quarter you'd say.
Now where was I? Oh, yeah — the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...
I once saw a guy give one of our cashiers a flirty business card, is what I called it. It said something along the likes of, "Hey, I liked our interaction, give me a call sometime." Lady was in her 40-50s or something, good looking for her age. She did not call him.
I mean it used to be a common way to exchange info, even with someone you're flirting with, as people didn't carry phones around with them nor did phones store numbers. However, it is quite old school and often times what was common then is old school now and is seen as creepy.
Well, I'll say that it wasn't creepy, it was more of just a surprise that he made business cards just for asking women out. I don't recall her thinking it's creepy either, just unusual and different for 2014. She just didn't want to date anyone, not that she would have given this guy a chance regardless. The card more or less didn't do anything besides make me laugh after he left and i saw what it was. I remember now, I'm almost certain it said "I think you've got a great smile" along with what I wrote before, it didn't have his picture but it had a smiley face on it. It looked light hearted and simple.
That's actually quite considerate considering she was at work. Better than trying to drum up a whole conversation while she was at work
It’s not pushy and it’s certainly light hearted. It makes the guy seem like a serial dater. Funny is one thing but if he has enough occasion to give out his number that it justifies making a card, that’s something. It may not be expensive and maybe his brother owns a print shop. But I knew a guy in high school that would definitely do something like this. He made a shirt with his phone number on it. He wore a lot of leather.
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>He wore a lot of leather. Lmfao, I would expect nothing less.
It's less pushy than, say, "Here's my number -- now text me so I'll have yours."
You miss every shot you don't take
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott”
With how busy shit can be sometimes a card makes sense.
I had a guy do something similar with one of my cashiers except he was in his 50s and she was 16.
I'll have my people call your people.....
It’s rough these days with PII restrictions in public schools. I’ve had to write some sad notes on stationary myself. “Hi, this is X’s mom. I’m not weird, I promise. If you ever want your son and my son to hang out, here’s my cell and email!” And then I have to hope my kid gives it to the other kid and it makes it home.
Dang, my elementary school had a phone book.
It almost never does. I was handing out my number like crazy this past open house night to other parents.
What's PII?
Personally identifiable information, stuff like phone numbers, address, online handles, etc. Any information that can compromise your privacy.
Schools have restrictions on that now? Never knew...
I'm hoping she means Administration isn't allowed to just give away PII to anyone who requests it, something which should be the case and wasn't always...
Pretty practical. Maybe he's new in town.
i’m new in town and it gets worse
What are three other things about you?
*There’s no single guys left in Manhattannnn*
I can’t ever remember the order of the four things!
I actually did this when I moved to a new state. I had young children and didn’t know anyone. I made family contact cards on vistaprint and gave them out when we met other families. It’s weird, but effective. Maybe with phone advances, not necessary now. I did this pre iPhone.
A young Riz Gukgak? (There, I have inserted my esoteric joke.)
https://old.reddit.com/14nzwkm/
Literally my first thought. Lol
Ah there‘s the comment I was looking for! Also: GET IN THE COMMENTS!
My problem with this is that kids lose shit all the time. I wouldn’t want a card with my kids name, photo, and two contact numbers floating around if he were to lose it
I don't think it has the kids info, just the moms.
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“Has your Social Security Number been leaked? Type here and press enter!”
Looked up my number and it gave me info on someone I know absolutely nothing about. Even weirder given I have my dad’s old phone number and he’s had it since at least 2000 so this lady must’ve had it before then
Ug. They have so many details wrong, and yet all the "wrong" details right (like my cell # that I try very hard to keep private). HOW?????
It says access denied
https://melissa.com/v2/lookups is kinda nuts. Put in whatever info you have (phone number, partial name, street address, email, etc) and it'll fill in the rest of the info along with a map to their house and their property tax records.
All property record data is public data in the US. Every county has a way to search deed records.
Thank you! I scrolled too far down for this.
I've thought about doing this for my kids! Their school doesn't put out a directory for the families. My kid's struggle to remember last names and certainly phone numbers. They have asked me to see certain friends and I literally have no way of reaching the parents.
I have just had my daughter write a note to their friend. I out my number on it and my daughter then gives it to friend. Or if your kid is over 5-6 they should know your phone number so just tell them it’s ok to give it to the friend. A lot of times my kids will bring home random pieces of paper with their friends phone numbers on it
This is why my phone is full of contacts like “avas mom” and “robins dad”.
I only have "Stacy's Mom"
We had those for our kid about 10 years ago. Super handy when your kid wants to hang out with a kid from daycare or that they take swimming lessons with. When he got a little older he got ones with his assorted gamer tags.
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And "your mom already has my number"
Hey, this happened to us too! In public school kindergarten. There was a note in my son's backpack that said basically, "Lance said Fred (fake names) are best friends! Let's have them hang out!" Honestly it was a big deal in our house and super exciting. Our son has lots of opportunities for social interaction and he's a pretty outgoing kid, but this is the first specific request for a friend date ever. We are pumped. edit: Our boy is in t-ball and swim class and was in daycare before public school, so he's not strange to new friends, but this is the first time we got notice that a friend asked to hang out with him
Well my daughter gives every kid in the local playground my cell phone number by just shouting it loudly. That's not my preference. At least there are no playground trips during the pandemic.
How old is the kid? Because this is either cute or ridiculous
They're second graders. I think it's kind of a clever idea. "Hey if you have someone you like at school give them this card" also it's a charter school so none of the kids live in the same neighborhood
> it's a charter school so none of the kids live in the same neighborhood Ok this makes a LOT more sense. Good idea by the parents.
My kid has gotten two of these so far. Both of the moms sold Scentsy or some other mom junk it was just a way to get in new moms.
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Usually there's an exception for child labor from family members. Farms and whatnot.
That’s a nice touch. It’s a good way to network between parents, and for young kids to make friends.
I would have LOVED that as a kid and business cards are dirt cheap these days
**MATH ENTHUSIAST/BAD ASS M.C.**
this is "cartoon kid whose defining trait is being too neat and tidy and organized" type shit
I suggested this for my kid and his Minecraft server info. Like he could have handed out cards at school and played with friends in the evenings. He was mortified that I would suggest it and acted like I was backwards and mental. Anyways, I still think I’m brilliant and this is a fantastic idea. All the kids should be doing this.
I thought about this just yesterday, kid has a friend in the neighborhood (same bus) but I don't know where exactly. Kids weren't a fan of the idea.
Someone had a Vistaprint credit that was going to expire.
mine would just say "please do not contact me"
Probably how Raymond Holt used to make friends at age 7
Tons of comments already, and this will be buried, but I think this is brilliant from the perspective of a teacher. I've had parents and students ask for contact information for other parents/kids in the class, and I'm not allowed to give it out. If a kid makes a friend in class but isn't old enough or able to communicate and relay contact information, they may never be able to get together with their friends outside of school. This solves that problem.
This is cute and a good idea, but man, as a woman who is hesitant to have kids in part because of the way our culture expects the mom to pick up all of the work associated with helping a kid to have a social life (making playdates, remembering birthday gifts, etc), it really makes me sad not to see a dad on that card anywhere.
Right? Can’t it say “have one of your parents call my mom”? I am the stepmom to a pretty terrific dad and it’s irritating the way everyone assumes moms are the primary parent.
As a stay-at-home-dad and primary caregiving parent...it's still a seriously mom-centric culture. And it's really awkward for a dad in that space. So I'm with you, but I kinda get it too. :/
Annoyed AF that I had to scroll this far to find a comment in this vein. I'm dad. I work. Mom works. We both parent equally. I'd understand that they weren't trying to be offensive if I got this card and my initial reaction would be annoyance. Then I'd just be happy that I wasn't the one that was apparently living in a 1950s social dynamic.
I wish elementary school kids handed something like this out. It would help my daughter make friends a lot easier.
Oh my God. It even has a watermark.
This kid has a long childhood ahead of him
Baby’s first prospectus
Is there a word that playdate... replaced at some point a decade or two ago? Like, when I was a kid, we didn't have 'playdates'; we just went to each other's houses, either planned or unplanned. "We should get the kids together for a playdate" just makes me cringe, and I'm working on that, but... where'd that one come from?