Jump to content

Menu

Longtime Lurker

Members
  • Posts

    751
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Longtime Lurker

  1. Great article! As the mother of a 25-year-old with severe autism and cognitive impairment, I know how important this type of information is, Thanks for spreading awareness! We have had both good and bad experiences with emergency responders, but mostly good. The more awareness, the better.

    • Like 1
  2. I do ours myself, first on paper and then I type it all into the IRS Free Fillable Forms so we can e-file. Ours are not super simple, but not super complicated either. I enjoy learning about tax rules and spend a lot of time reading IRS publications and instructions for fun 🙂 I taught DD23 how to do taxes when she had her first summer job and now she has a full time job and and an HSA and some side Schedule C income and she can handle all of it with just a little help from me when she encounters something new (e.g.- first year with an HSA). Even if she ends up using tax software later, I am glad that she understands how taxes work.

    • Like 2
  3. 6 hours ago, Tap said:

    Trazodone.

    It is commonly prescribed for exactly this reason in children with autism. Helps them and the family rest. 

     

    I was just about to post this when I saw that Tap beat me to it 🙂

    • Thanks 1
  4. 2 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

    He has to file his taxes if he works but you can still claim him as a dependent.  However, if you do claim him, when he  files, he has to mark that his a dependent on someone else's taxes.  I don't think he is eligible for standard deduction then since you claimed that when you filed your taxes. 

    Almost this. He does file his own taxes. He does check the box that he can be claimed as a dependent. On federal taxes, if his only income is earned income, he will end up with the same standard deduction as if he could not be claimed as a dependent. However, if he has unearned income like investment income, then his standard deduction is much lower. If his work study income is earned income (likely if they gave him a W-2), then this is easy. OP leaves her taxes the same with him claimed as your dependent, and he files to get any refund he is owed, remembering to check the "can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's taxes" box.

    ETA: On state taxes, his standard deduction is almost certainly lower.

    • Like 3
  5. On 1/24/2024 at 7:04 PM, Drama Llama said:

    When I first came here, people thought I was an awful mother!

    I never thought that. And I remember a couple previous user names for you, so it's been a while. I'm so sorry people thought that. I have always been impressed by how carefully you consider all your parenting decisions. I'm glad your kids have you!

    • Like 7
  6. 8 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

    WTMECW - Well Trained Mind Educators of Curriculum Wars.

    😁

    I am in Michigan and so is Ottakee. We might have one more Michigander here as well. A meet up at say, Sauder Village in northern Ohio would be somewhat central to Northern Indiana, Northwest Ohio, and lower half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. 

    I am willing to go out on a limb and say that if any out of staters want to come to Michigan to experience its glorious, Great Lakes summer, I will meet you somewhere, and if you want me to help you draw up an itinerary to see some of our best things, I am willing to help with that.

    Huge everybody! Especially to Llama.

    Also in Michigan. A beautiful place to visit in the summer! I would love a meet-up!

    • Like 1
  7. Update: We are all doing okay here, although DH is recovering slowly as always. The Paxlovid helped a lot, but now the rate of improvement has slowed again. No rebound yet, though. DS was back at school yesterday, but today is another snow (ice!) day. Mid-week snow days are always confusing for him 😞 I also work for a school, but I don't get paid for days off so that is another bummer about snow days. I am happy for my DD, though, who is a full-time teacher who does, of course, get paid for snow days. She is enjoying the peace and quiet at her apartment 🙂 I think we are almost done with this covid and snow day stuff!

    • Like 5
    • Sad 1
  8. 2 hours ago, saraha said:

    Thanks everybody. I think the waiting, waiting, waiting for some kind of news was getting to me. I was just losing it for some reason, and I didn’t want to bring dh along, so I had a minor freak out bringing you guys along instead.


    I really appreciate all the support. I dropped dh off and picked up dds 19 and 20 and they came with me to fil’s to help me cook. The cooking and moving around with my girls has been cathartic. Im pretty sure I’m going straight to bed when I get home.

    I know so many of you are going through so many much worse things and I am sorry for belly aching about a relatively minor one compared. I hope I didn’t offend anybody

    I think that venting on these forums is a healthy coping mechanism. I, personally, want to hear these updates since I am praying for you and your husband and MIL regularly. There are probably 6 or 7 (at least) people on the forums that I think about and pray for every day. You (not just your husband, but you also!) are going through some major stuff. Please don't ever hesitate to bring it here.

    • Like 9
    • Thanks 1
  9. 43 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

    My big boys should have five full days of school this week - hallelujah!! The weather is even supposed to warm up; 35 degrees is going to feel mighty good after a couple weeks of single and low double digits.

    The fire clean up company will probably be starting work on Tuesday or Wednesday, and will be working for 3 or 4 days. Most of that work should be while the big boys are at school. Hopefully by next weekend Spencer will be moved back into his room.

    That's great! We always have a tricky time scheduling repairs as we want to have everything done while DS is at school. Mostly, people have been very understanding and accommodating, but it is still a challenge. Often, we have to delay things so we can schedule them the way we need to.

    You have had so many things happen at once! You are amazing! Hang in there!

    • Like 1
  10. 13 hours ago, DawnM said:

    I see, I guess I thought it depended on the original person who drew it (the EX) and so it wouldn't matter when she started drawing it.   Huh.   Thanks.   

    It depends on both.

    12 hours ago, maize said:

    Yes if she elects to take it now the amount will be permanently reduced; it is dependent on her age not his.

     

    It depends on both. Of course, the age he started drawing SS is a done deal. If she wants to max her survivor benefit, she should wait until her full retirement age.

    13 minutes ago, BeachGal said:

    Not knowing the details of your friend’s situation, I would say that she should first take her own lower SS benefit and then at age 67, switch and take her ex-husband’s higher SS. She could make an appointment with SS before she turns 67 to get a benefit estimate or even go online to fill out forms, etc. 

    If she is still working, her own benefit could be reduced enough to make it not worth it, but this is something to look into. 

    • Like 1
  11. We print boarding passes at home for the outgoing flight. For the return flight, we print at the airport kiosk. We also have the electronic boarding passes on our phones, but we like having the paper ones just in case. Plus, it is convenient to have the paper boarding pass and ID in hand while going through security. Also, phones can run out of power or otherwise malfunction. 

    • Like 1
  12. The good news is we still have power and the storms are over. 

    The bad news is that DH and DS tested positive for covid. We concluded that the mild nasal congestion plus not-mild fatigue that I had last week was actually covid and that I gave it to both of them 😞 The timing is not right for DH to have contracted it when at the funeral. Both DH and DS started symptoms on Saturday, but DS had only minor nasal congestion at that point, which I attributed to dry air. He did not start to cough until Sunday evening. I feel bad about not testing myself last week, but it just never occurred to me as it was so different and milder than when I had it two years ago. The fatigue was pretty intense, though, which should have been a tip-off, but I spend so much of my life sleep-deprived that sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. 

    So now there are more days of no help and not much interesting for DS to do. I don't want to complain because there are so many worse things in the world, but I am really struggling.

    ETA: I tested today and I am negative.

    • Sad 15
  13. 1 hour ago, Ali in OR said:

    And we just got power restored after being out for maybe 12 hours. Went off in the middle of the night sometime. Trees lying on the power lines near the neighborhood (but didn't actually knock them down). But the freezing rain is over, temps in the 40's now, regular old rain is back. There is still a lot of snow and ice to melt and drain away but I should be back in school tomorrow. I think we'll take dd back to her other house tonight, but I'm glad she was here through all of this. We did confirm her foster home has power (they were out earlier in the week) and they've been able to get to the grocery store--more than we can say!

    So sorry you lost power but glad that the freezing rain is over!

  14. On 1/16/2024 at 6:52 AM, Kassia said:

    It's DH.  Biopsy is in Feb and results take 2-3 weeks.  MRI showed cancer likely.  😞  He started 2024 with a tooth infection,  just had major oral surgery last week, and needs a root canal, too. Terrible start to the year physically, emotionally, and financially.  

    That is a horrible amount of wait time! Praying for good news for you and @TexasProud.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  15. The adventure continues! DS's school was closed Monday due to weather Then it was open today (but probably shouldn't have been since roads were bad) but he stayed home because he had some nasal congestion. We did have a respite caregiver last night and today, though, which was wonderful. My school was open today also. And just now I got the call that his school is closed tomorrow due to weather. Now I hope my school is closed, too, as that will make things much easier...

    We still have power, for which I am so, so thankful!

    • Like 4
×
×
  • Create New...