One of my all-time favorite concepts is one I learned from Leah: the Friend Poll. There have been times in my life when I desperately needed to take a friend poll. To have someone tell me (gently or otherwise) that I was waaay out of whack. That I didn’t have a street address in the reality-based community.

That big debate on Dooce the other day, about “crying it out”? Some of those mamas could have used a friend poll.

We all could’ve used a friend poll when we were 16/17 years old. Either we didn’t have friends who would be that direct with us, or we didn’t know we needed to say those magic words, “Do you think this is a good idea?” But then you suffer humiliation or hurt and boy is that a powerful lesson.

The good thing is that once you learn why & when to take a friend poll, it sticks with you. Joe, you’re a grown-up with a good sense of what’s right and wrong and a solid support network of clear-thinking people who will give you an honest opinion in case you’re not sure. That’s nine-tenths of the battle, buddy 🙂