This is skivvy. 100% inappropriate. The subject matter is too complicate for children, it is making them into little pawns in a public policy debate that they are not mature enough to participate in, and at that age should not be hitting people up for money without an adult right there. If the adult wants the money, they can stop being a coward and come ask for it. Poor kids! I have to wonder what that mother was thinking. We never have anyone younger than about 13 come ask door to door for anything, and when they do, it is the local band kids. We do not have any scout troops in our town, and 4H has different methods of fundraising that do not require this type of soliciting. Thank goodness. I do support the band kids though because funding is so low for their program. One year the band director didn't even have a supply budget and was handing our reeds and valve oil paid for out of his own, bizarrely under-paid pocket.

I communicate Margaret. She is fine. Busy busy busy with ranch and scouts!

Saraha, you received a Non-apology apology which is her way of weaseling out of truly acknowledging how she treated you. It is about as much concession as you are likely to get from her. However, this witch needs to receive the consequences of her actions. Do not do anything of any kind again unless she directly asks you, not DH, and she is kind and genuine in the request, not setting you up. And frankly, be very very picky what you choose take on if anything at all. I would be fairly inclined to leave her hanging. She wanted control, micro-control in order to neglect mil who needs a staffed facility, she can take the consequences for seeking it, and everyone else can wallow for supporting this. You have had far too much on your plate. Her drama is just beyond ridiculous, crappy, and stress inducing so do not feel guilty about washing your hands of the whole situation.

Epic fail!

This sounds like a good plan. Are there any churches in the area that provides meals for people who are confined to home? Some United Methodist Churches have done this in the past. They organize a group of individuals to make meals and deliver.

I am so sorry you were worn right down from doing that! Hugs

Happiness is little sprouts! I am up to 10 pea plants, 9 lettuce, 3 cherry tomato, 3 cucumber, 8 broccoli, but only 1 our of 8 pots of bell pepper has a sprout. Ugh. Those things are taking forever to germinate.

I was babysitting little kids for hours at a time in 6th grade. Dd had her 1st babysitting job at that same age. Our sons began staying home together for a couple hours at a time when they were 12, 11, and 9, our three musketeers. One thing we did do at that point was to disconnect the router for internet. It was kind of that new age of the web, and we already worried about the negative effects of web surfing and inadvertently getting into bad sites. They always had emergency contacts close by. In the case of our sons, it was a retired couple next door who really loved being around our kids and were happy to serve as a helper in time of need.

From "The Uninhabitable Earth", pg. 113, excerpt of Lancet articles pertaining to air pollution, particularly high CO2 but other contaminants as well: " The public health damage is indiscriminate, touching nearly every human vulnerability. Pollution increases prevalence of stroke, heart disease, cancer of all kinds, acute and chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, and adverse pregnancy outcomes including premature birth. New research into behavioral and developmental effects is perhaps even scarier: air pollution has been linked to worse memory, attention, and vocabulary, and to ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. Pollution has been shown to damage the development of neurons in the brain and proximity to a coal plant can deform your DNA." I think it is ridiculous to dismiss air quality as one of the reasons in the bucket of issues that leads to the executive function problems and general apathy we see with many (but not all by any stretch) students and young adults today. Water quality as well. My own eldest grandson, while academically brilliant, is having behavioral symptoms related to lead exposure in gestation and infancy. The impulsivity is real, very real though the lead exposure was diagnosed at 12 months of age, a whole house reverse osmosis filter put in place immediately, and steps taken to ameliorate the effects. This could very well be a lifelong problem for him. At the time of dd's pregnancy with him, and during his infancy, they lived in a very middle class neighborhood of Schenectady, NY on city water. It was the city water, not the pipes, that was the source of the lead. It was a very well known problem in the capitol region of NY, and nothing was really being done about it. It was found on routine bloodwork that nearly all the pediatricians in the area were doing on infants and toddlers. Dd and husband could not afford that filter and installation. We paid for it. And there is such a huge difference between he and his younger brother, born in Huntsville (to a rental home that we had installed that same filter system to the minute they moved there just in case) that it is startling. Anecdotal yes. But the reality is we have known about lead exposure and its effects on child development, adult neurological and behavioral issues for decades. NRDC.org. 2021, 61 million people experienced long term exposure to lead levels well beyond the 5ppm established by the EPA. That is 1/5 of the population, roughly, and this had been going on for many years. Coming to a classroom near you..... I truly believe that when added to the digital age issues, pandemic school shut down disasters, and especially high rates of depression in the US, less sense of well being (we are so far below the Scandinavian and most Western European countries, Japan, etc. for general wellness), and the absolute travesty that passes for foundational education, it is no mystery really why we have a lot of students/young adults who are not functioning well at all. If we don't clean up this crap, it is only going to get worse.

This. And in times past, children who had trouble learning were just labeled dumb and lazy. It is entirely possible pollution was negatively affecting them. Lots of kids, particularly those in urban, industrialized areas were labeled this because school wasn't easy for them. But of course, it is just easier to call negatively label people. We actually can change things. We can find out where the complexity of issues lies and tackle them one by one. However, mostly, society doesn't care enough to boot out the leadership and the money controllers who clearly don't give a crap. Anyone who would dismiss lead in water and what it does to developing brains when the science is so incredibly settled just makes my brain twitch. I also do not understand this glowing view of the past as if these problems did not exist. They existed aplenty. History is written by the victors, usually the white, rich victors, or those seeking to paint a rosy glow over the reality of millions and billions. Have we forgotten the abject pollution of workhouses, factories, inner cities, the smog alerts that kept children from being able to go outside and produced lung damage in small children in L.A. schools? Do we honestly think those kids didn't have major problems in school living through that? They did. But they were the forgotten children that no one seemed to care about. Just because the smog could be seen, doesn't make unseen co2 of today, heavy metals in the air from exhaust, etc. less dangerous, less of a major issue for the development of children.

Still doesn't excuse the flagrant, stalking behavior or the security concerns that the paps create. Many more do not invite them to come, they are just already there, like the twat that hiked through forest, climbed privacy hedges, and stalked Megan Markle in British Columbia in order to get a glimpse of Archie. He wasn't asked onto the property. No excuses. Personal responsibility to be a person, a decent human being.

I think so. I have no expertise of course, but this adds up to me.

Agreed. I consider the actions of the press towards not just royalty but many celebrities to be depraved. Sure. There are many who choose to live a public life. But a public life should not also automatically mean depraved, papparazzi behavior should be tolerated or considered normal. Just no.

Here is another piece of the puzzle, possibly. I am reading another book on climate change and air pollution. I just started the chapter on indoor air quality falling since 2000, and how badly it is falling. There was a comprehensive study of elementary schools in Texas just a few years ago, and found that the average air pollution of just CO2 was 1000 parts per million with some schools as high as 3000 parts per million. At 930 parts per million, there is a 21% decline in cognitive ability. NASA and other entities who have reason to very much worry about indoor air quality and CO2 accumulation sees a 50% decline in cognitive function, reaction/response times, ability to perform basic tasks at 1400 ppm. Our buildings and air pollution could be damaging Gen Z and Gen Alpha's brains across the board, an epidemic of brain damage when you consider years of this kind of exposure not just a few hours or a few minutes. Scott Kelly talks about what it was like to be on the space station and have even a small function in the CO2 scrubbers and how hard it is to "mind over matter" through the repairs or filter changing. It is 100% noticeable below 930 ppm, and anything above it they feel very acutely. Of course we all know that urban, inner city, and often poor schools have it the worst with old buildings that do not have updated air ventilation systems and sensors. Who knows what the middle and high schools are like. Probably worse when you consider that children in elementary usually still have recesses/play periods outside. So if the air quality outside is better than inside (that could be hit and miss for sure in urban environments), then they get a break from the CO2. But the older kids do not, and then we ship them off to college, trade school, and licensing programs with brains that have been poisoned for years. Add to that things like lead in the water, and we are just poisoning millions of children who become adults suffering from all that damage. In Flint, Mi, there are teachers who will have upwards of 35-40 children per elementary classroom and 100% of the class is on IEPs due to brain injuries from the lead. They are lowest paid teachers in the state on average, but the city was angry with them the other day when they were offered and insulting teaching contract and instead voiced their anger with a sick out day. Flint isn't the only community with this going on. The capitol region of New York has a terrible lead in the water issue. Many many places. I am sure that there is a great deal of complexity to why young adults are struggling with cognitive and execution issues, attitudes about work and academics. But, after what I just read and knowing what the children of Flint face, I have to wonder if this is not a significant part of the issue which is going to get worse as air quality declines and CO2 isn't he environment increases. Short term help is available. Spider plants, bamboo plant, snake plant, and golden pothos plant all do a fine job of using up CO2 and exhaling oxygen. Turning elementary school rooms into little plant nurseries is a low cost solution to improving air quality. It doesn't take a forest of plants to see a noticeable increase in oxygen. Caring for plants is good for children as well. Propagating these plants in middle and high school life science would be a nice laboratory activity for students, and excess new plants could be sold in the community. Many a grandparent will pay more for a plant that junior grew than they would at the nursery in order to be supportive. Obviously though, just an emergency stop gap measure.

And a dead whistleblower too. I don't really buy the "self inflicted wound" line. Not saying it isn't, just that at the moment it seems mighty convenient for them!

It is so disgusting to be treated that way after years of loyalty. I really hate the way corporations treat their customer base.

By the way everyone, we spent two hours on zoom with our new rocket team this afternoon. My first impression is that they are going to be a great group of young adults to work with. They are deliberately challenging themselves and stepping outside their comfort zones in order to grow personally and professionally. So I just want to say, this generation is not all bad. Some of them are pretty neat people! Don't lose hope.

I agree with this. I wish we had more opportunities for kids to explore, and love the idea of the forest schools/kindergartens of Denmark.

Marmee. Our grandson had, at the time of his arrival, six grandmas/great grandmas alive so it was important to figure out some names so he could keep them all straight. I felt too young to be a grandma 😁 (47 at that time), and decided if I had to be a grandma then I would like to be like the Susan Sarandon version of Marmee when I finally grew up. I really like that name now, and it sounds so adorable coming out of the mouths of the now 8 and 4 year old grands. T is only a year so he isn't saying it yet.

That tracks. Our honorary daughter was told by her boss to come back to work only four days after she had birthed baby A who was stillborn. She couldn't afford to be fired, so she did it and passed out on the job. I hope the Princess takes the whole 12 weeks plus a bunch more. The Paparrazi can stick it where the sun doesn't shine! I feel like sometimes the British tabs are worse than the American ones.

This could very well be a huge part of the issue. I think most of us had faith that the vast majority of adults were looking out for kids, that the police officer is trustworthy, that even hard nosed, unfriendly teachers ultimately care about your safety, that the nation's leadership might bungle some things, yet would for the most part, be competent and care about the citizenry. I am pretty sure a large percentage of teens and young adults today do not believe this at all. I wish we had a major, prime time, non cable media conglomerate tackle positivity for one hour three or four nights a week in which all they do is highlight stories of the good things happening, the groups and countries tackling climate change, the folks fighting for the Flint water system, the police officers that DO protect and serve, and very valiantly, the people volunteering to help migrants, and underprivileged kids, and the homeless, the communities that are tackling these issues and having success because to be sure, there are a lot that are doing it. If someone would do a reverse John Oliver on primetime, advertised heavily to the youth of our nation, maybe a step could be made in the right direction. I think if we could convince kids to stay off social media, that would be great. Maybe some newspaper group would tackle running front page, positive messaging stories along side all the horror stories, kids could recover some positivity. I also think, and I know this sounds really simplistic, too much play time outdoors has been robbed from children in their young years. They need to play a lot more, time spent without worry, without plug and drill, without listening to the grown ups talk. I think it would again help with that foundation of emotional well being prior to being expected to shoulder heavy burden. But, I know. Still. Not really having any real solutions. I just don't have the knowledge/expertise to figure it out. I am also feeling to strongly today. One of rocketry alumni, a college senior, just gave up on her team and pulled them out of their competition for a lot of the same issues Regentrude describes. It had reached a level of safety issue, and as team captain, she had to blow the whistle on them for lack of listening, following directions, working diligently, documenting processes, a whole array of immaturity issues, and all of it culminating in a rocket launch that could have gotten someone killed. She is shaken up, and the effect on her confidence as a leader is palpable. I do not like to see someone who is soon to graduate with a double major in mechanical engineering and nuclear physics enter the workforce feeling like an utter failure. She is amazing, and has so much to offer. So when I respond to these posts, just keep in mind that I am hurting today for 22 year old who did her level best to pull 9 other adults through this major project, and these folks could not or would not pull their acts together no matter what she did. Her sense of failure is acute, and while I held it together and was very mature and professional going into that meeting with her, I shed a few tears on her behalf when we were done, and now have to get it together so I can meet with my own, new team.

I too think the messaging from adults is a major issue, from leadership and media outlets in particular. I have to wonder if the intent is to deliberately paralyze young people into being a fearful, cowering hoard that is easy to manipulate and dominate. It is working. But the outcome may not be what is expected because once an entire generation hits rock bottom and is fairly desperate, perceived reality vs. true reality or not, they tend to start fighting back hard. But yes. Messaging. The messaging had been absolutely atrocious, and that's a very hard thing for parents to fight back against....one or two voices in a sea of millions gets drowned out.

I agree. There is something very wrong. I definitely do not know how to pinpoint the thing that would help them become far less fragile. I also know that to some degree, there was a lot of major PTSD, depression, all the things after the two world wars, but it wasn't talked about much. I had great aunts who became unable to function for the rest of their lives when husbands/sons did not come home. They literally could not pull themselves up. Family history research has revealed a lot of stories, a shocking number of stories of massive dysfunction after the 2nd WW. I get that the US did not experience anything near the horrors that Europe did. I don't know what the answers are. Possibly one good place to look is lack of hope due to so much insane negativity in the press, in social media. They may be much more bombarded with hopeless messaging. We have had a major change in the way in which leadership acts, and the messaging they portray. That would get into politics so I can't say more. But maybe this is one big factor in why they are more fragile than previous generations are perceived to be. I 100% acknowledge that you are literally on the frontlines of the mess as you try to figure out how to educate these young adults. I don't want to appear dismissive because that is not what I mean. I am just seeking to understand them, the issues. I don't know how to be helpful if I can't get some insight. We meet in 1 hr for the first time with our 2024/25 NASA University Student Launch team. We will be official volunteer to educators for that university, and will have 15 young adults under our wings to see through this very difficult rocketry competition. If I can glean anything from our discussions on this board that will help Mark and I understand what we could be up against, how to navigate it, how to help without doing their work for them which is definitely NOT going to happen, then I am all ears!

This is nuts! I do think it goes back to three things. The foundation of elementary school being so crappy, spinning wheels in middle school to the point that maturity is delayed, and hand holding through high school and lack of consequences related to that like our local high school constantly handing out passing grades for doing nothing in order to keep graduation rates high. Probably included is our 1 size fits all education system. College isn't for anyone and that is not a disparaging comment. We needs trades, we need technicians, we need farmers and master gardeners, and custodians, and road construction workers, and all manner of hard working people in so many areas. Kids are not being introduced to much of anything but "no one will hire you without college now" which is pretty true and totally wrong headed. In our area, apart from cashier and bagging groceries it is next to impossible to get a job interview without at least a 2 year degree. Employers decided that would be the proof of literacy and basic knowledge because high school diplomas are not a signal of foundational skill now. Sigh. I guess, LOL, I can think of one more thing. Gen Z and Alpha are I think depressed, and I am not saying that flippant, and traumatized. They live in fear of being killed at school, they lived through the education nightmare of the Pandemic including college kids who had a total mess on their hands with the shutdowns, they see global warming and their world burning but the people who are supposed to care about them and take action did nothing before or after they were born, and they are inheriting another global nightmare, they hear everyone saying they are the worst generations ever, and they feel like they will never get ahead, the deck is stacked against them entirely, and therefore they are NOT motivated at all. They are in the muck, and emotionally and mentally don't have the bandwidth or willingness to take charge of their lives. It is scary and heart breaking. There were young people in the courtroom yesterday that listened to Ethan Crumbley's father being found guilty. Ethan, a classmate of their childhood, the kid next door, was sentenced to life without parole in December, his mother found guilty a couple months ago. That entire school community of students is suffering so badly, and this next graduating class is coming to the hallowed halls of college academia Fall 2024. They have already also suffered the horror that more than one of their high school mates who graduated in 2022, were in the very same building of the MSU shooting in 2023. How much more can they take? If I were their future college professors, trades instructors, and employers, I would consider it a miracle if they are functioning adults at all. This is rampant even if the student hasn't personally been through a shooting because they live in constant fear of it which just wears them down. We are going to see more, not less of this.

Update: When he talked to the agent of the new insurance company, they offered him a deal to move his renter's insurance and take out a small life insurance policy, and the bundle of all 3 is $30 less than the original quote for just the car insurance. He is very happy, and put his next oldest brother, the archeologists grad school student who will never have the same level of income as he has, as the beneficiary of the policy which really warmed my heart. He said if increases the amount in the future, he is going to add his nephews. I am having a very nice day knowing this worked out after so many quotes all day yesterday. Thanks for letting me vent.