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   Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 07:37:12 JST Robert McNees

   This is probably the best thing I ever posted on Twitter. The memory is pretty dear to me; I'm sharing it here so it still exists somewhere if that place collapses.

   • Doughnut Lollipop 【記録係】:blobfoxgooglymlem:, clacke and goatsarah like this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:16:52 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Anyway, she's 11 now. Her bedtime is later, and she knows we don't mind if she stays up reading. She still loves books, but there are lots of things – messaging with friends, Roblox, etc – competing for her attention.

     At some point, though, she figured out how to check out books on Libby, and read them on her iPad. She doesn't need our help at all.

     It's the weirdest thing. Someone must have installed the app, entered her library card information, and left the icon there on the home screen.

     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: and clacke like this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:16:53 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     The strangest thing is seeing someone else share it, get a bunch of replies, and try to walk this tightrope where they respond without acknowledging that it's someone else's kid.

     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:16:53 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     I'll add the same comment here that I added when I first shared it on Twitter: The “great dad" replies warm my heart, but my wife was in on it, too. It takes teamwork to run this kind of scam on a savvy kid.

     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: and clacke like this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:16:53 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     In fact, it's sort of a long con initiated by my wife, who was clever enough to spend years writing novels like it's no big deal, leaving the kid to wonder what all the fuss is about.

     https://www.kellyoconnormcnees.com

     clacke likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:16:54 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     It still gets shared probably once per month by "wholesome meme" type accounts on IG and Facebook. Each time I get a stream of messages from old friends asking "Is this you?”

     I've even seen it shared on here; it's so strange when it racks up hundreds or thousands of reposts for other people. Someone will share a screenshot, maybe add 📚 and 🔦emoji, and then half the replies mistake it for an actual post.

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     Ricky Reusser (rreusser@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:17:12 JST Ricky Reusser

     in reply to

     @mcnees This is exactly how I learned calculus, being careful to replace my dad’s textbook on the shelf when I was done. It felt so rebellious.

     clacke likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:17:15 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • T Chu 朱
     • tomathome

     @tomathome @chu Funny you say that! She's 11 now, and at some point figured out how to check out books on Libby to read on her tablet. If I didn't know better, I’d say someone must have installed the app, entered her library card information, and put the icon on the home screen.

     clacke likes this.
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     tomathome (tomathome@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:17:18 JST tomathome

     in reply to

     • T Chu 朱

     @chu @mcnees now I think it’s ensure the tablet is charged. I speak of this as an e-reader…made life so much easier when overseas ✌️

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     T Chu 朱 (chu@climatejustice.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 12:17:19 JST T Chu 朱

     in reply to

     @mcnees

     You have motivated me to buy a flashlight.

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     Michael Friedman (michaelfriedman@mstdn.party)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 18:30:38 JST Michael Friedman

     in reply to

     @mcnees

     “The “great dad" replies warm my heart, but my wife was in on it, too. It takes teamwork to run this kind of scam on a savvy kid.”

     That sound was a hearty chuckle.

     clacke likes this.
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     Tom Walker (tomw@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 18:31:08 JST Tom Walker

     in reply to

     @mcnees I've seen this allll over the place. Even if Twitter does collapse, they'll probably be reposting it for years to come. Similar to the strange afterlife of popular Vines.

     clacke likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 18:31:09 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • Tom Walker

     @tomw “Strange afterlife" is exactly the right way to describe it.

     clacke likes this.
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     Wayne Werner (ketmorco@fosstodon.org)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 18:31:11 JST Wayne Werner

     in reply to

     @mcnees Was it you or someone else who told their kid that they'd pay them $1/book read, and they were up to something like 350 books that year and the kid was convinced they were ripping their parent off 🙃

     clacke likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 18:31:12 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Tom Gauld in yesterday’s Guardian Books.

     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: and clacke like this.
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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 08-Jul-2023 12:06:55 JST clacke

     in reply to
     @mcnees This is making the rounds on other networks!
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Jul-2023 15:12:29 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • clacke

     @clacke Where’d you see it?

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 08-Jul-2023 15:12:29 JST clacke

     in reply to
     @mcnees Some fb groups shared a collage of this and some of the Twitter responses with related anecdotes!
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     Paddy O'Brien (tapi@mastodon.online)'s status on Saturday, 06-Apr-2024 14:25:17 JST Paddy O'Brien

     in reply to

     @mcnees was talking about this post the other night. It inspired similar “rules” in our house where we pretend to not notice their bedside lamp is on while they pretend to sleep.

     They love feeling like they are getting away something 😂

     clacke likes this.
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     Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 06-Apr-2024 14:25:21 JST Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • Paddy O'Brien

     @Tapi Closest thing I’ve found to a parenting cheat code.

     Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell: and clacke like this.
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     Michael R. Johnston (johnstonmr@wandering.shop)'s status on Saturday, 06-Apr-2024 14:25:31 JST Michael R. Johnston

     in reply to

     @mcnees An hour ago it came up in my Facebook feed, so it's out there forever.

     clacke likes this.
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     Idan Gazit (idan@vis.social)'s status on Saturday, 06-Apr-2024 14:25:40 JST Idan Gazit

     in reply to

     @mcnees growing up, we lived in the top corner apartment of our building. It was easy to count the windows to my room. When my parents went out for date night I would stay up reading with a flashlight and quickly shut it off when I heard the key in the lock. Years later my parents told me they knew, because as they drove home they would see the flashlight moving around in my window as I tried to perch it between my shoulder and the pillow.

     We bought our kids kindles with backlights. 😂

     clacke likes this.