Kidlit
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Posts posted by Kidlit
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I looked into participating when my older children were about that age. It was too intense for us! While I wouldn't require a child who had an aversion to it (especially at this point in my parenting journey), I would be tempted to overlook how I feel about it personally for her sake.
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21 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:
My dog who passed away last year didn't save a life but he was the best dog for my DS. I've told this story here before but will share a short version again.
DS has Tourette Syndrome and wanted a puppy. When DS was 9yo, he saw a puppy he fell in love with at a 4H horse show. That puppy belonged to someone else and wasn't for sale but we were given the breeder's information and I contacted her. She had 4 puppies left; one of which, a male, was spoken for by guard at a nearby prison. We met her at the local AKC clubhouse and she brought the three puppies that were available. DS was so excited he was ticcing, a loud peep and a head/shoulder jerk. None of those three puppies wanted anything to do with DS. They would growl at him and run away if he moved toward them. He was crying. I was crying. It was a mess. All he wanted to do was play with the puppies. The breeder told us she had the one puppy left that might play with DS and let the other puppies know DS was okay to play with. She brought out that puppy and it ran to DS, jumping in his lap, licking his tears, wagging his tail, and just being the most awesome puppy ever. The plan didn't work and none of the other puppies relaxed or showed any kind of interest in DS. The breeder let DS and that puppy play for an hour. At that time, I knew we had to leave without a puppy and with a heartbroken little boy. I have never hated Tourette Syndrome so much in my life.
The breeder asked me if she could talk to DS about the puppy and I agreed, praying she was going to be the one to let him down about the wonderful, loving puppy. When they came back, DS was carrying a diaper bag full of supplies and the puppy. She had "sold" that puppy to DS for the money he had in his pocket.
That puppy would be with DS through the worst TS could do to him. He would lie with DS through the worst of his seizure like tics. He was the only one of us who could touch DS at times because his body hurt so bad. If those two were together, I never had to worry. The little puppy who was supposed to be trained as a prison guard dog became the very best friend a young boy could have asked for.
I owe that dog a debt of gratitude and his love for my DS is why I continue to mourn his passing.
That is wonderful. Our ACD was purchased and given to us after one of my children went through intensive treatment and partial hospitalization for OCD. The mom of the family that purchased her had worked at a psychiatric hospital before becoming a teacher, so she has a lot of compassion for mental illnesses. The only child of this family was killed in an automobile accident a few years before that, and they started a scholarship fund in his honor. (My nephew was the first recipient.) My dd named her dog after the son. She's a special dog!
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9 hours ago, Pippen said:
We had a Hungarian Sheepdog that would round us kids up all the time. Everything was okay until he bit the Avon lady. Not when she arrived. When she tried to leave. Just doing his sheepdog job.
Yes! I used to worry about her biting because ACD puppies are SO nippy, and she's still on high alert all the time. (She is simply not going to ever be cuddly or that dog that will lie by your feet and relax with you. She likes pets and is affectionate, but she is STILL moving all the time.). The nipping is gone now that she's a mature woman of 7, but she still likes a good round up. 🤣
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4 minutes ago, maize said:
Hmm, I went sleuthing...turns out the Westovers are 5th cousins or so to my family. Not super close...
Yes, I have mad family history skills. Took me about twenty minutes to identify her maternal and paternal grandparents (via obituaries primarily) and attach them to my family tree 🌳
Now if only I could have so much luck with my Swedish line...
You're good!
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Thanks for weighing in, everyone. I did read Educated and was riveted by it. My overall opinion, though, is that it would've benefited from the passage of time. It definitely felt to me like confused memories. That's not to blame Tara--just to say that maybe she should've waited a bit to publish. I was really curious to see if anyone here has actually read the mom's book, but I guess not.
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Because of where I live and its importance in the music world, it's not terribly unusual to see Grammy award winning artists at Publix.
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This is Tara Westover's mom, and she says she was pushed to finish her memoir to "set the record straight" on some things Tara wrote.
Anybody read it and willing to share thoughts?https://www.amazon.com/Educating-LaRee-Westover/dp/1735486507
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What a sweetie! We have a heeler and her body looks heeler-ish, though our girl is much stockier (which may be due to your girl being underweight.)
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Beautiful!
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I feel this way about most home improvements we made in our last house. We completely remodeled our kitchen, and the 2020 shutdowns (everyone was home to work!) allowed us the time to cover our ceiling with tongue-and-groove whitewashed planks. It was sooooo pretty. We also added a copper apron sink.
then we got a wild hair and sold it a few months later.
our "new" house (which we've lived in for three years now) has a very dated kitchen, and I reminisce longingly about the one we left. Some day. . .
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Our ACD (blue heeler) tries to herd anyone in our pool out of it. She barks and barks and circles the pool repeatedly. She hasn't saved anyone from drowning, but it's not for lack of trying. 🤣
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I think of classic children's lit as comfort reads. Top of that list for me would be Anne of Green Gables, though actually anything by LM Montgomery will work. (I especially love some of her adult novels!) For adult authors, I'd have to go with Leif Enger and Wendell Berry.
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4 hours ago, KidsHappen said:
Perhaps I shall try and change my usage of saying I am OCD because I do not wish for people to think that I am speaking in the metaphorical sense when I am not. I am bipolar and I have both OCD and ADD. Unfortunately this is not terribly uncommon and all three effect each other. I have had times when my OCD was very bad and others when my ADD was worse. Over many years and through many trials of various medical cocktails I have found that when my bipolar is well managed then I have less problems with the other two as well.
Before figuring this out there were times when we tried to manage my OCD which made my ADD worse and the other way around. I can not take any anti-depressants (which is what they tried to use to manage my OCD, anxiety and depression) because it would cause severe manic phases and if I take the wrong meds for ADD it makes my OCD and anxiety worse. I have been on my current cocktail for near on 10 years now and it seems to keep pretty much everything in check. I occasionally have mild bouts of depression or mania, very rare bouts when my OCD acts up and while I do still have some cognitive issues we are no longer sure if it is due to ADD or other issues.
In any case, I think this is a perfect example of problems with in group and out group language usage. Although I belonged in one group (people who suffer from OCD) I did not interact with many others that belonged to that group and therefore did not realize how my language use came across to others in that group. At least on this particular issue, now that I know better I shall try to do better. I can not speak to some of the other issues brought up though because I do not belong to those groups and there does not seem to be a consensus within the group as to the correct usage. I do try my best to address people as they wish to be addressed but it can be stressful when you don't know that ahead of time.
That is a lot, @KidsHappen. You're doing great. Ultimately for yourself, of course, it is a personal decision. (((HUGS))) and much strength on your journey.
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My teens have worked restaurants (chain and local) and a grocery store. While they had to jump through the hoops of the chain restaurant, I'd say that in all cases (save maybe one, but this place has very high turnover and not great management) it helped to have a contact at that store. One of my teens is in process of going to work as a docent at a local historical site, and going in person helped there, too.
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13 minutes ago, lewelma said:
I also had clinical OCD, twice in different forms. I would never say I am OCD. In my experience, people who use it this way are just saying casually or in a joking way that they like things in a certain way (not referring to you, Kidshappen. I hear that we all use language differently). These casual folk have NO idea how dibilitating it is.
Also, there is currently some muddling up of the concept of mental disorders with the concept of neurodiversity. Often people who are neurodiverse want to reclaim their right to be who they are, and not be judged as broken or having a disorder. However, OCD is NOT neurodiversity. It is a mental disorder that you want GONE. You don't embrace it as an identity. Nope.
You said it much better than I did. Thank you.
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1 hour ago, KidsHappen said:
It does and I understand your point. However, I and a few of my children are clinically diagnosed as having OCD. We are medicated for it and we do say, "We are OCD." I don't have as much experience with people outside my family to know if people who say the same actually have it or if they are using it in the manner you suggest. Perhaps it is simply a particular use of language that I picked up and passed on to my children.
My perspective developed through twelve intensive (& intense) weeks of partial hospitalization, months of ERP therapy as well as years of CBT and other therapies, and ongoing conversations with friends our family made in hospital. We are all extremely sensitive to the difference between clinical diagnoses and the flippant use of the term, but of course, others outside our circle certainly may see things differently. One may certainly use "I'm OCD" or "I'm so OCD" and mean the clinical diagnosis, but my experience has not borne that out through conversation. We have had occasion to help a few other people who suffered with what turned out to be clinical OCD just by sharing our story, so it's not something we've kept under wraps. Conversation has abounded. As always, though, YMMV.
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7 hours ago, KidsHappen said:
OCD is another like bipolar where some people say they have OCD and others say the are OCD.
I have years of personal experience with OCD and treatment, including hospitalization. The only time I've ever heard someone say they "are OCD" is someone who is most likely using it to denote a tendency toward neatness or control or whatever. This is not OCD. It could be OCPD, but OCD has certain psychological and behavioral markers, and just liking everything to be so-so is a far cry from OCD. Every person to a one that I know (and I know quite a few with clinically diagnosed, life-altering OCD) would never say they "are OCD," but instead that they "have OCD." I think the consternation around this comes not so much from the actual terminology as it does from conflating something that is a personality trait or preference with something that can be debilitating and often requires medical intervention. Claiming that one "is OCD" because they have to have certain things a certain way (but isn't accompanied by compulsions or doesn't actually affect daily life in a real way) reduces something that IS life altering to what seems to just be a preference.
I hope that makes sense.-
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I have some credits to spend. I am a heavy Hoopla and Libby user, also. I like to spend credits on classics, kids' books we might listen to again, and must-listen new books with long waiting lists that I purchase on a whim. I like literary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries (but nothing very gory or scary), and sweeping sagas. Of course, in audiobooks, the narrator makes all the difference. Does anybody have any recommendations for me?
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I finished the audiobook of The Moonshiner's Daughter by Donna Everhart this morning. It's a coming-of-age story, which is one of my favorite kinds. It deals with some heavy topics (outside of what's indicated by the title), including binge eating. I found the voice of the protagonist to be perfect for her age and her emotional reactions to her life's tragedies to be realistic. The only thing about it I didn't like is the ending, so it gets 4 stars from me.
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Thanks @Indigo Blue for sharing! I just set it up (the free version). I've used various similar apps over the years but this looks like a really good one .
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My girls are into comfy, but generally they like logoed things. My younger dd is a thrift shopper but she tends toward classic/vintage-y stuff. My college student buys stuff at local boutiques so not much in the way of national brands really. They both wear random thrift store T-shirts advertising random stuff. 🤪
I'm no help. Lol.
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Work project deadline moved up by 1.5 weeks, just when I really needed to be doing other things 🤪🤪🤪
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Gorgeous! I'm considering going back to a shorter bob for the summer after working the waves/curls for a while. 'Tis the season!
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Just now, Scarlett said:
I still can’t believe she did this. She flew to Tijuana by herself and had weight loss surgery.
She did not even tell me until she got back.
Wow! That's quite an undertaking to do alone! My sister had it and was in no shape to do anything alone for a while.
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Has anyone read LaRee Westover's memoir Educating?
in The Chat Board
Posted
It has been years since I read it, but I think I agree that her lack of access to educational materials was perhaps exaggerated. One doesn't just magically make that ACT score while deprived altogether of educational opportunity. I do remember the part about community theater and thinking it odd based on how she painted her family that she would be supported in that opportunity. I dunno. I found the book riveting, as I said above, but in a trainwreck and not particularly healthy sort of way.