DD received a mild concussion yesterday. I woke her up during the night last night (per doctor's instructions) but I forgot to ask if I need to do it again tonight. She is still in a lot of pain and still has dizziness and a little blurred vision. Her CT was normal though so the doctor just said to keep an eye on her. Also the ER said it was a mild concussion. They just said that she needed to keep it easy for a few days and that I should keep an eye on her. I was just reading a bit online and now I'm wondering about the classification of mild concussion. She saw a bright light when she first fell and then blacked out for a few seconds. The classification of a mild concussion says that there is no loss of consciousness at all. It also says that symptoms of dizziness, confusion, etc. just last for 20 minutes. Her dizziness has lasted much longer and she is still pretty out of it today. The ER didn't say that I needed to have her checked by her pediatrician unless she had other symptoms (vomited more than 3 times, bleeding from ears, etc.) but now I'm wondering if I should have a followup visit for her.

I just got back from spending 3 1/2 hours at the ER with my dd. She has a mild concussion but the CT showed no fracture or bleeding thank goodness. She is still dizzy and a little out of it and the Tylenol they gave her didn't do a lot for the pain but at least she is going to be ok. I just have to wake her up after 4 hours tonight and of course keep a close eye on her for the next few days. I feel bad since she barely sleeps anyway. We also have to leave to pick up her sister at 7 am tomorrow so hopefully she will be feeling better. The poor girl just walked into her room and turned on the light switch and the light bulb exploded. It's been one of those days.

DD (11) and ds were fooling around and dd fell off her bed. She hit her head. She saw a bright light and then couldn't see for about 10 seconds. Of course they didn't tell me about this until an hour after it happened. She doesn't seem to be in extreme pain. The pain gets a little worse and then subsides and then comes back again. It is mostly the back of her head and her neck but doesn't seem to be severe. She just ate lunch and isn't nauseated. She does feel a little dizzy though and has lost her balance a few times. Should I just keep a close eye or her or should I take her to the ER? By the way, we have to leave the house tomorrow at 7:00 to go pick up her sister at camp (2-3 hours away). My dh is out of the country so I have no choice but to bring dd. Why do things like this always happen when he is out of town?

Last spring I was pretty laid back about the whole swine flu thing but I really think that this fall is going to be worse. Of course I don't want my family to get it but I'm not necessarily more concerned about this particular flu then the regular one. My biggest concern is that if 40% of the population gets it then it will start to affect things like grocery stores, etc. Of course not everyone will get it at the same time but I would like to have the right supplies on hand just in case there is a shortage of supplies or people start panic buying this fall. I also want a supply in case my whole family gets sick at the same time and we're not able to leave the house for awhile. I'm thinking more on the lines of basic medications and other supplies to have on hand rather then long term food storage. I always have at least 2 weeks of food and water, although I'm wondering if I might up that a bit. I did have a good link for this but now the link doesn't work. Does anyone have a list or a link for one?

My ds 11 just got the meningitis vaccine. He got it about 2 hours ago and seemed fine at first. Now he is complaining of his throat itching. His throat looks fine and it seems like the itching is fairly mild and hasn't gotten worse over the past 1/2 hour since he noticed it. I've tried to find side effects of the vaccine online and there isn't any mention of an itchy throat. Should I give him Benadryl just in case or would this mask symptoms if he is having an allergic reaction. I hate to call the doctor yet because it seems to be pretty mild and could just be a coincidence.

Some teachers are very specific, others are not. They actually give a list for freshman but none of the other classes except for Spanish. We usually get a good amount of items I know they will need ahead of time: folders, paper, pens, pencils etc. and then get more once school starts. We learned the hard way last year though completely waiting to buy anything until after school started. The supplies were already well picked through. My dd needed a specific calculator, which was a bit more difficult to find so you may want to find out about that ahead of time. We also found the selection of folders and notebooks was limited.

My kids all get a multivitamin but I'm wondering if it is enough. I've read on here a lot lately about giving your kids extra vitamins such as E and D. Is there a good list somewhere that would show required daily amounts? We don't eat a ton of fruits and vegetables so I think this is especially important. I'm also thinking it might be a good idea to start building them up in case this whole swine flu thing gets nasty this fall.

Interesting. My dd (14) has severe insomnia (sleep onset and also interrupted sleep) After he sleep study we found that she only has hours a night of actual sleep. We've tried everything-even the magnesium and calcium. We'll have to give the Vitamin C a try. Would the dosage recommendations be the same for a 14 year old? Is Trypotopohan over the counter. We've tried Melatonin and Rozerem and it doesn't work along with a few other prescribed sleep meds. We are getting so desperate.

We have a package that includes our home phone and the family talk plan for our cell phones (2 phones included). Every month the bill is about $150. We don't go over our minutes so I know that isn't the problem. Is there a cheaper plan out there? We have AT & T.

Now Rozerem isn't working either. The daytime grogginess isn't quite as bad but now it stopped working. The first few days that she took it she fell asleep pretty much right away but then woke up several times during the night. Now she can't fall asleep for a few hours and is still waking up for several times a night. I'm starting to get into panic mode right now. Of course I keep on telling dd that it will be ok but she starts school in less than a month and will have to get up at 6:00. I don't know how she is going to get by on less than 4 hours of sleep a night.

We have a 125 pound 1/2 golden retriever/ 1/2 yellow lab mix who is 11 years old. His name is Thunder. He used to have a ton of energy (think Marley) but has really mellowed out over the past few years. We also have a goldfish named Tomato. We used to have 3 hermit crabs but they died. The kids and I would love to get a puppy but dh doesn't want one.

I'm sorry to hear this. Feel better soon!

It makes me sad to see very young girls 9 and 10 in full makeup and suggestive clothing. I was shocked to see some of the dancers on stage at our local fair. They had to be 7 or 8 and were wearing booty shorts and a midriff top. The worst part was the actual dance-very suggestive wording and dancing. I'm not just talking about shaking but almost something I would think would be more appropriate for a strip club-very sad. Walking around the fair today I saw several young girls mostly middle school but some younger with a ton of makeup, highlighted hair, teen clothing and an attitude to match. It just makes me wonder what they will be like when they are 16 if they are already allowed to dress and act like that. (and I'm pretty laid back when it comes to things like that). Both of my girls started shaving when they needed to-one was 11 the other was 12 or 13. They were allowed to wear makeup in 7th grade but neither wears very much. My oldest (now 17) still wears very little. My 14 year old has no desire to wear any. My oldest likes to dress trendy but very tasteful-Aeropostale, American Eagle, etc.-mostly shorts and t's or tanktops but nothing showing her midriff or baring too much. My 14 year old wears t-shirts and shorts or capris in the summer and jeans and sweatshirts in the winter. I don't see what the big hurry is for girls to grow up so quickly. Why would you want your 10 year old to look like they are 13 or your 13 year old to look like they are 20? Of course I know that some girls can't help looking older (or younger for that matter) but wearing a ton of makeup and inappropriate clothing just makes matters worse.

We have a skype account. I wonder if dh can use it from Germany.

Has anyone had their child take elementary writing 1 at Home2teach.com. Last year I had my dd take this class and was not happy with the instructor. I'm thinking about giving it another try with my son but would like recommendations for a specific teacher before I sign him up. I want him to take an online class but most of the other online classes are too expensive.

DS (11) almost never cries. He's gotten hurt several times this past baseball season and is one of the toughest kids out there pitching under pressure but the poor guy is upstairs crying on his bed because his dad just left for another business trip. DH has traveled before but this year he has had to travel overseas a lot. He went to China in April, Italy and Greece in June and now will be gone for 11 days in Germany. I can't imagine how people handle it when their spouses are in the military. I give them a lot of credit. I hate having my dh gone. I miss him a lot but I hate what it does to ds. His dad is his best buddy.

I would imagine there would be a discount that time of year. You can just ask the owner. They usually have a website with a rate calendar. We have stayed at Windsor Hill Resort twice and really enjoyed it. We had a 3 bedroom, 3 bath town home. We could have slept 8 but only needed space for 5. We had a full kitchen, washer, dryer, and a small pool on our patio. The subdivision also had a nice pool. They had very reasonable rates. I don't think we spent more than $100 or so a night and that was during spring break! You can also check out disboards.com. There is a lot of information over there.

Actually that was my post and for some reason I could not find it earlier in the day but I was able to find it now. Anyway, dd is only 14 but we're getting desperate. She has been sleeping less then 4 hours a night but school is starting in a month and she will have to get up at 6:00. (She'll be a freshman at a private high school). Since she usually can't fall asleep until 2:00 and then wakes several times during the night (usually 3 times for at least 1/2 hour at a time and then several shorter periods) this will be she is only going to be getting a few hours of sleep a night unless we find something that helps. Right now I have her in counseling just to see if that will help and to see if perhaps she has depression or anxiety. We feel that she might have anxiety but she has had this sleep problem most of her life (just much worse over the past 6 months or so). We've decided to try the Rozerem because her sleep specialist and pediatrician recommend it. I hate having her on it but thought I would give it a 2 week trial before her next followup with the sleep specialist in 2 weeks. In the meantime it seems to help her to fall asleep quicker but she is still waking up several times a night and it leaves her very groggy the next day.

We have decided to have dd try this for her insomnia. We were trying to have her avoid it because I'm worried about long term side effects but her life is really being affected by her insomnia. She has tried Rozerem for the past 3 nights. She has actually fallen asleep within 1/2 hour (the first time in over 6 months!). She still wakes up several times during the night so she still is probably only getting something like 4-5 hours of sleep but that is so much better than 2 or 3. The problem is that it makes her very groggy the next day. Of course she has been exhausted anyway when she couldn't sleep and had a hard time functioning but now she feels drugged. If you have had experience taking this drug did you experience daytime grogginess and did it get better after being on the medication for awhile?

dd 17 is a senior this year at a private school. She went to public school as a freshman and has been at this private school since sophomore year. She was homeschooled 4th through 8th. DD 14 will be a freshman this year and is joining her sister at the private school. She was homeschooled except for one semester in kindergarten. DS 11 is in 6th grade and will be home with me until high school.

My dd has a summer birthday (today in fact). She just turned 17 and will be starting her senior year next month at a private school. It seems like it is quite common for the kids at her school to have started school late. She is quite likely the youngest (or close to) in her class. She knows girls that are older than she is that are actually juniors. Two girls on her poms squad are turning 18 within the next few weeks. My dd will graduate when she is only 17. My dd is also very petite. When she started high school she was only 79 pounds and not even 5 feet tall. People kept on thinking that she was a lot younger. My dd was definitely ready academically to start kindergarten at 5 but sometimes I wish that I waited a year. She was still taking afternoon naps and had to drop them because she had afternoon kindergarten (we didn't homeschool then). She is soft spoken and a little shy so that plus the fact that she was very tiny back then (the size of a 3 year old) made school even more intimidating. A lot of the kids have also had their licenses for almost 2 years and dd still doesn't have hers. My ds has a March 31st birthday. He has always been homeschooled so that hasn't been a problem. He is in Little League though and the cutoff for that is the end of April. He was the youngest player on his team this year (just turning 11). Most of the 6th graders were at least 11 1/2 and the rest of the team was 12 and even 13. He actually did well and made it to the All Star team but we did notice a difference in pitching. My son is very accurate and throws a lot of strikes but doesn't have a lot of power yet. He is only 75 pounds while one of the other pitchers weighs twice as much as he does and the 3rd pitcher probably weighs 30 pounds more.

I've been struggling with this with my daughter's pom coach. I was originally praying for my dd and the rest of the girls every day but I've changed that to also include the coach that someway God will speak to her heart. I'm struggling because I have such bitter thoughts toward her right now.

The phone rang this afternoon. I was looking all over the house for it. We have one phone in the basement and one in the kitchen. The kitchen one was missing. I hit the locate button and we could only hear the beeping coming from the basement. I couldnt' find the phone anywhere. So awhile later I went to change the wash. Somehow I put the phone in the washing machine! It's ruined. DH is going to get a good laugh out of this one. I'm so glad that we are going on vacation tomorrow but I haven't even started packing. This whole thing with my dd and poms has been driving me crazy and I'm so worried about my other dd with the insomnia. Hopefully a nice, long weekend away will help all of us.

If this coach is fired or resigns there will be no pom squad. It is a small school. The eleven other girls would be crushed. Even though I know for a fact that at least a few of the other girls and parents feel the same way and I'm sure that even more than that also feel the same way the abuse may be worth it to them. They don't want to speak up for fear of making matters worse. They wouldn't want the coach to quit or for her to be fired. Another problem is that dd doesn't want to let down her team. My dh and I have tried to explain that her coach is the one letting the team down. DD has put forth 110% effort. The problem is that camp is in two weeks and there is competition at the camp. If dd quits now it will mess up the formations, etc. and will cause a lot more work for the other girls. If dd sticks with it until after camp then they have to get ready for another competition (the biggest of the year) 2 weeks after that. They would still be counting on dd. For dd to just hold out until after that competition (for the rest of the girls sake) wouldn't really make sense because that will mean another month of having to deal with this coach. Most likely after school starts things will settle down a bit until the next competition. I'm also starting to believe that the coach is having mental difficulties. (I don't know of how to put it) DD emailed her last night but the coach told her that the email didn't go through. I called the coach 2 hours ago and she didn't return my phone call. I want to talk to her before tomorrow because we are leaving. I ended up sending her an email and discussed some of this with her. I sent it to her school email and also another gmail account that she supplied us with last year and have corresponded with me several times on. I just got back an angry email saying that she doesn't want me to use her personal email. I told her that I only used it since apparently she wasn't getting emails on her school account. Then she sent an email to dd replying to the email she sent last night (the one that she apparently never received). She completely changed everything. Today she told dd that they would have to perform perfectly at the practice or that dd would have to leave late for her vacation. She made it clear that dd wouldn't be leaving practice at 11:00. Now this is what she told dd:"like I told you yesterday, if you can't stay after 11:00 you can just come early to practice on Monday". DD would be more than happy to do that but the couch never told her that before or gave her that option.

She was the spanish teacher last year and several times told the students how much she doesn't like kids. Great for a teacher?