Another CVT here saying it sounds like it is time. I'm so sorry. ?

They might be feeling sentimental about the time you spent together and wanted you to share in the day. I would look at it as an opportunity to reconnect rather than a gift grab.

We used Wordly Wise 3000 level 3 last year. It was just ok for my kiddo. It wasn't very hard for him, but after a while he found the exercises to be kind of tedious and like busy work after awhile. The reading comprehension part of the weekly lesson was probably the best part of it. Aside from that, it seemed to be a collection of random words without any explanation for why they were important to know. We decided to skip WW3K this year, even though we were given several levels for free.

My kiddo isn't much interested in team sports or group instruction. Right now we stick to: Library Lego Club once a month for 90 minutes Homeschool Club once a month at the library for 90 minutes Home Depot Kids Workshop once a month (Sometimes we run into friends there) Art Club once a Month for 90 minutes Library Pre-teen Maker Space Club once a week for 90 minutes Bowling once a week (there may or may not be other homeschoolers there) for about 2 hours Plus a once a week park meet up and various field trips. My kiddo is newly 10, and I expect that a lot of this will change in a year or two. I'm considering adding in art classes, but I want to get into a solid school-work routine before we do that.

Things that have helped me work through a great many problems: Brene Brown Dear Sugar CaptainAwkward.com A few specific forums on reddit (Reddit can be an extremely ugly echo chamber, but I needed a place to dump all the ugliness festering inside me before all there was left was the ugliness) Online counseling is a thing now, too! I was surprised at how affordable it was.

This definitely happens. Some of my colleagues have been tarred and feathered online. Every veterinarian I know has been physically threatened by clients either due to money or the death of the pet. Many techs, assistants, and receptionists have been threatened as well, (I've been threatened). I've called the cops on unruly clients several times. ? I can laugh abot it now, but it wasn't so funny at the time.

I don't think you made the wrong decision. How arrogant and uninformed of them to say that to you. How utterly lacking in compassion and perspective. They won't have a long, happy career taking a position like that. Odds are that if you had done the amputation, you would have spent about 2 months in rehab with the dog, teaching him how to get around on 3 legs. And about 6 months after surgery, the cancer would have metastasized to the liver, spleen, and/or lungs. And then what? Chemo? More surgery? Where does it end? Who does the treatment benefit, the pet, the owner, or the vet? *sigh* This is part of why I will probably never go back to veterinary medicine.

What you are describing happens a LOT. Veterinary medicine does a terrible job of explaining to owners what "end of life" care looks like for pets and owners. It's almost like the profession doesn't want to acknowledge the patients get old and die. Some problems can't be fixed. Sometimes the "fix" is worse than the cure. I've worked with some doctors who privately admit to the support staff that they wish the owner would realize that euthanasia is probably the best option for the pet, but then skirt the issue in the exam room and say "This medication should help. You should see improvement over time...". (How much time? How much improvement? What's the goal of this treatment? What are we trying to accomplish here, doc?) Then those same owners would show up in tears in my ER, saying they'd spent tons of money, done all the treatments, and while Fluffy had improved fractionally, she was still suffering. And the owners are confused and upset when we say "I'm sorry, but I don't think Fluffy has a good quality of life anymore. We could do X,Y, or Z, but euthanasia is a valid consideration, as well".

For what it's worth, I am a licensed vet tech, (worked for 10 years and now I'm home with my child). I also recently put down my 18 year old cat due to quality of life issues, and got a big guilt trip from a veterinarian about it. My personal standard for testing is this: Will the test change how you treat the condition? If the results of the test will impact what you do, then you should do the test. And if you run the test, can you afford the treatment that the test now indicates? There's no point in running a test to diagnose a condition that you can't afford to treat. My question for your vet would be "What diseases are you screening for? What is the treatment plan for those diseases? What is the prognosis for a pet of this age with that disease? What kind of quality of life will they have? What is the prognosis if we *dont'* treat the disease?" The vet would have to present a very, very strong case that surgery would benefit my pet for me to consider it at age 14. Something like "The pet has a large mass that is causing limited range of movement. If the mass is removed, they will be more comfortable and will be able to walk". Something like that I would probably do, (or else consider euthanasia). There are probably other reasons for surgery at that age, but I'd have to know more information about WHAT the doctor was looking for and WHY they want to do surgery. Like...what's the end goal here? Honestly, for a 14 year old pet, I would tell the vet that you are interested in comfort care/palliative care only. They may still want to run some bloodwork to make sure the kidneys and liver can tolerate the arthritis meds, and I think that is fair.

We had a similar experience! I had no idea that kiddo's vision was as bad as it was. He always passed the tests at the pediatrician. No problems reading, either...because it turns out he is nearsighted. ? He had no idea that things weren't supposed to look blurry from a distance. He assumed that is the way the world looked for everyone. I felt terrible about it but also really excited for him once he got his glasses.

The lack of decent secular science is frustrating, (as is the secular group in general, IMO). My aunt is a retired scientist, and I keep joking with her that she needs to write a good quality secular science curriculum for homeschoolers because we'd eat that up!

"You're sweet to offer, but no thank you. They would appreciate X, Y, or Z more", with X, Y, and Z being things or experiences that better align with your family values. Maybe that's books, a subscription box, a savings bond...whatever you find least objectionable. Sometimes the best you can do is look for the Least Objectionable Option when dealing with challenging relatives. For what it's worth, I have a relative that likes to give "special" gifts that they then insist need to stay at their house. My kiddo has started to figure out that this relative is crackers and doesn't seem to expect much from the relative when it comes to "special gifts". Boundaries and managing expectations are frequent topics in my household, thanks to some particularly challenging people who married into my family.

The truancy charge may not stick, but you still may have to deal with a bunch of legal red-tape to prove it shouldn't stick.