And with babies, you have sonic grenades you can fling at the enemy if you need to.

I've said something very similar in the past. Which is why it's a good thing I never had offspring.

Unrelatedly, I am continually amazed at how one of my smarter FB friends has bought into the anti-vax movement. (He and his wife are the primary caregivers for their nephew, who is on the autism spectrum, so I'm sure they've done lots of research with the intention to do what's best for him. But that's led them down a rabbit hole of anti-vaxxers, and they totally buy into it, and it blows my mind every time he posts articles about vaccines and autism. I just roll my eyes, hide the post, and keep going, but it really does boggle my mind. I want to yell "You're smarter than this! Correlation is not causation! What is wrong with you?")

If the opposing forces are riding oversized cats they'll be in big trouble. Mine freak out whenever neighbor toddler starts wailing.

(By the way, if the kid's big enough to walk up and down stairs, shouldn't she be talking more than screaming and crying? I know temper tantrums are a thing until at least 3 or so, but I'd expect more downtime between emotional meltdowns based on my little cousins.)

I see kids old enough to be in school--I think--in the supermarket have screaming tantrums. I just want to go up to them and say "Aren't you too old for this?" Then again, they're competing with their screaming younger siblings for Mom's indifferent attention.

Regarding autism, vaccines, and correlations, I use this example in class:

[link]

Heh.

It reminds me that the guy who invented the Flying Spaghetti Monster noticed there's a negative correlation between the number of pirates and global warming.

Can someone talk down to me and explain why IO9 is so sure everyone's had this hallucination: [link] If I have, I've certainly forgotten (I've had a few, and wonder if tinnitus counts, but never reached for the phone when it wasn't ringing...)

IME tantrums can continue into the school age years, but parental tolerance usually peters out around preschool.

I've had it (heard phones ringing), and long before the era of cell phones. Also: hear my name being called, feel my phone vibrate when it's not, see people moving on the sides of my peripheral vision.

Er, is that a problem? As a kid I thought it was a problem, now I just think it's how my brain works.

Also: hear my name being called, feel my phone vibrate when it's not, see people moving on the sides of my peripheral vision.

Me too. Although the peripheral thing is smaller for me -- I definitely think there's a mouse in the corner sometimes. And the name-calling thing, for me, is more like wishful thinking -- a lot of words kind of sound like my name.

Can someone talk down to me and explain why IO9 is so sure everyone's had this hallucination

The talking-down answer is that the study showed no more than 80% had it, but SEO and click-bait rules require them to say "EVERYONE."

I've had parents tell me that crying kids don't bother them as much now that they're parents--empathy and all that--do you find that's true?

Er, is that a problem?

I think they're trying to normalise it, but I just don't see their grounds for it. Sweeping statement is sweeping. Due to tinnitus I have heard noise 100% of the time for the last 20 years, and can't chalk it up to phantom phones in any of that time, or before.

eta:

The talking-down answer is that the study showed no more than 80% had it, but SEO and click-bait rules require them to say "EVERYONE."

Har. I'm sure those same rules are why so much is "stunning" for them. After a while they just start looking stupid, if they're stunned by so much.