Praying

I am not so much thinking about nicknames like Matthew called Matt, but nicknames like David called Wombat because of that one time . . . My kids are 2 of 8 living grandchildren. 5 of them, including my two sons. have collected multiple nicknames, all with a ridiculous story behind them. 2 have more ordinary nicknames like Maggie for Margaret. And one has nothing. And she is jealous. Part of the problem is that she is definitely the most sensible grandchild. So there are no ridiculous stories about her that might lead to nicknames. Her given name is something like Polly that is sometimes a nickname but often not and doesn’t lend itself to further nicknaming. Anyway we need to come up with one but we are not inspired.

Wow that is beautiful!

No, also known as people who hate me. Or one person really. I could make ice and she would complain that somehow I made it wrong. My niece won't eat any of my dip. She is not a dip person. She likes plain food. But if I make a plain food she likes, she will eat it. She will also probably take some carrots or pepper slices from the tray with the dip and eat those plain. That's not a problem. She's one of the reasons I almost always serve tray of raw veggies and dip, because I know she'll find something to eat.

I do not like beets, but I plan to fill up on the feta dip, ‘cuz cheese. My two closest living relatives have been infected by a disease called “male athlete adolescence” that causes them to inhale food too quickly to have opinions on it. I believe the rest of the gathering is divided into the following categories. 1) people who would tell you they don’t like beets, but will happily eat what I will describe as “pretty pink princess dip”. 2) people who will try anything, and either like it or pretend to like it out of politeness 3) people who will not like anything I serve even if it is Ambrosia of the gods 4) people who are already planning to fill up on guacamole 5) a stranger 6) people who will choose their dip based on factors like “how many carbs are in this?” So maybe beet hummus is the way to go. I do like spinach artichoke dip, but I plan to serve spinach salad and baked artichokes a few hours later.

I might make beet hummus because it is so pretty.

I like the color idea. Maybe I could fancy my fava like this https://thegreekfoodie.com/greek-fava-dip/ that is three citrusy dips though. I love citrus but some people might not.

We are doing a simple appetizer brunch for Easter and a full meal later in the day. My job as always is the vegetables. I am planning on doing a nice selection of raw and blanched veggies with a trio of dips. I am definitely doing guacamole because the kids like that and this lemon whipped feta with charred scallions that looks good. I was going to do fava but I am not feeling it. Suggestions? We will also have sushi and deviled eggs and some kind of Polish baked good and candy.

If you wanted to hide you'd have to change Obama's name too!

True. I still don't get it. You seem so lovely and normal. Maybe you just need to try jambalaya soup.

What are you talking about? You are one of the best things about this forum! We need you. I'll be honest and say that I am not good at recognizing people, but I'd probably be going around thinking "So sad that Kassia is gone, but that new Aissak is sooo nice! I'm glad she showed up!"

Gumbo is soup. Now I need a recipe for jambalaya soup. I like jambalaya and I like soup so together sounds like a match made in heaven. Edited to say: Never mind, I am off to the grocery store for ingredients. https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/jambalaya-soup/

You could just do a search for “Can I get the recipe for that?” And then you’d find me.

I do not understand how someone could hate soup (all soup? Are there exceptions?) but I agree with you 100% on the rest of this!

We are opposites! If we met we might cancel each other out, like matter and antimatter. I love soup.

If cereal with milk is soup, are root beer floats soup?

Art therapy has been good for my youngest who has had his share of trauma and then some. Knowing you have a plan would probably help too. I think connecting with others with similar experiences would be good. Is there a food allergy camp you could access?

The mayday call led to them closing the bridge to traffic but 8 members of the construction crew that was on the bridge fell and only 2 have been rescued. 5 vehicles are under water, but hopefully those were construction related and don’t have additional people in them. It could be worse but still so terrible.

Sorry, I didn't mean that actual curriculum recommendations would come from a neuropsychologist, but a neuropsychologist comes up with recommendations for a specific child. An educational psychologist generally doesn't. So, figuring out how a kid learns, and making suggestions that can guide a parent or educator in choosing a curriculum, would be more of a question for a neuropsychologist than an educational psychologist.

In the US an educational psychologist doesn't usually deal with individual students, although there are exceptions. They are more of a research psychologist, looking at questions such as whether there's an evidence base for curricula. Neuropsychologists and school psychologist are the two professions that are more likely to see individual students, and do diagnostic work. Of the two neuropsychologists are more highly educated, but school psychologists, because they work in the school system, may have more knowledge of the curricular choices that are available in that school system. Neither profession, in the US, usually makes curricular recommendations. They'll talk in general about the kinds of things a child needs in a curriculum, but taking that information and deciding what resources to use is up to the parent or professional. But that's an aside. What I really wanted to say is that educational diagnoses for kids in September of Kindergarten isn't going to be very precise for a variety of reasons. One is that kids that age, even typically developing ones, often struggle with attention, impulse control, and self-regulation all of which can make the test results unreliable. Another is that kids at that point often have enormous differences in early experiences. So, for example, a lot of what you describe is relatively normal for kids who come to kindergarten without an enriched background, but it might raise red flags for a kid coming from your particular household who has had more academic experiences. So, saying, this pattern of strength and weaknesses can often lead to dyscalculia, but it's just too early to make that diagnosis, seems like a pretty valid response. What led you to do get the neuropsych?

Maybe this is a difference between language country to country, because in the US these are exactly the questions a neuropsychologist addresses in a neuropsych evaluation. I have a lot of thoughts on this, and hope to come back but my first thought is that Kindergarten is very young in terms of neuropsych, and that the picture is going to continue to emerge. What is your hope as far as how diagnoses will clarify things? Are you hoping it will access services for him? Or direct you to instructional materials?

How old is he?

That is a wonderful article and you are very pretty too!

Harry Potter has moved in.

I read this as your cat making friends. Like you have friends who make cats, and here is a picture of them with wildlife but not snakes.