So..I'm not sure how to private message but maybe I already replied earlier today to one sent to me?!? My son, who is 14, is expected to do this as a way to learn things without my assistance. :hurray: He says so far he has learned how to craft a sword, pic ax and finished the first part of the item section and debugged things. He has not found this difficult, but energizing instead. He thinks it's easier than he expected. This is his year to take on tasks and actually accomplish them because he, or I mean, I, want him to. The difference between my 13 yr old and 14 yr old in independence is staggering. I started the whole independence thing with my other two sons at 14, but decided to try a little earlier with my 4th son. Yeah, not happening. So, I have great expectations for him next year. M will get on the forum. Thank you. He "knows" everything this year. You know, because he is FOURTEEN. I told him he won't know nearly as much by the time he is 18. :lol:

Sorry to get back so late. We've had a family emergency. Off to read this now. Thanks.

We bought this through Homeschool Buyers Coop for our 14 yr old son for Christmas. He is super excited, which is really nice since I wasn't sure. He starts soon. Does anyone else have their son or daughter participating in this and possibly want to connect with my son? Or, any information you have to make this a better experience for him is welcome. I tried to search but I haven't been on the forums in a long time and apparently don't have the special touch. http://www.youthdigital.com/mod-design-1.html Blessings, Michele

I do not vaccinate for medical reasons. My dd, now 8, was born with grade 4.5 reflux, has since had a nephrectomy. I breastfed her for 5ish years strictly to give her a better immune system. Normally I would stop when they are between 2-3. When she was 3, her brother got chicken pox. She did not get it. She was completely exposed to him. I wanted her to get it. When she was 6, her friend came over with a fever which turned out to be chicken pox. She then came down with chicken pox. Had to be that she was nursing at the time that her brother was exposed. I don't know if it is the Lord saving my sanity, but any time any of us get sick, she gets a mild case of it and I can't tell you how thankful I am because she's been through a lot and it scares me when she gets sick. Her brother was hospitalized with Rotavirus when she was 2. We all got a mild case of it, except her. I'm sure she had it but we couldn't tell. The boys were all breastfed, besides the rotavirus, and other weird stuff (that I now know is from chemicals) they are fairly healthy. Would be healthier if I had known about their sensitivity to chemicals earlier. The oldest was 6 before I figured it out so it had taken it's toll on their immune systems. I'm glad I breastfed so long. I definitely think it helped my kids. Michele

My husband, and consequently some of our sons, suffer from cold sores. After 40 some odd years a family doctor prescribed Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment USP, 0.1% to use at the very first sign of a cold sore. Hubby has tried everything and I mean everything over the years. This ointment, which is by prescription only, works every time. If it was going to be a small cold sore, it stays small and goes away quickly. If it was like the one you're talking about, it gets about the size a small one used to get and goes away MUCH faster. One of our sons gets canker sores instead. Our doctor (the pharmacist didn't agree) had us put the smallest amount (it's supposed to only go topically) on the canker sore and it went away in one day. It as at the point that it was so painful and had created a crater in his mouth. There was one other medicine that works too but I don't have the tube here. They are both similar in nature though. We now have cold sore relief for all in the family and for some reason no one is getting them as often either. I wish we had known about this years ago. Hope this helps someone. Michele

Everything I'm reading says the teeth are dead/dying. They are on opposite sides of the mouth and this started at the same time, sometime within the last 2 weeks. We, at first, thought it was something he was eating so started really paying attention to brushing and flossing. However, they are still blue. Naturally he is the son I make hubby take off work to take to the dentist. I'm trying to prepare him, without scaring him, for the worst, even though I don't know exactly what that is. The teeth don't hurt. Nothing hit both sides of his mouth at any time before this. I'm stumped. Have a great night, Michele

It has been two weeks. They are permanent teeth. He has only lost four teeth up top. They are the two on each side of the middle ones. I am taking him to the dentist tomorrow but have no idea what to expect. The teeth are not black or grey but a definitely blue from the gum line about half way down each tooth. It is not a floss issue or brushing issue. Has anyone here ever had that happen. I'll keep searching. So far I've only found out about baby teeth or loose teeth. These are permanent and not even a little loose. Blessings, Michele

I am going to report this. I will ask my doctor if he did. I know the ER should've also, but will have to look at the paperwork they gave me and see what it says. I appreciate that others report such info because when I was researching to find out about the vaccine I found that fainting with this particular vaccine is a reaction that many are not happy about. BLessings, Michele

Even with an exemption, I personally feel that going into other countries without certain vaccines is not necessarily wise. When they have so many other options available to them I ask myself if it's really a fight worth having. I guarantee that trying to get a medical exemption from every. single. vaccine in the military would be a huge pain. If I could see into the future :001_smile: and know which vaccines would be fine and which wouldn't it would be wonderful indeed. Thanks for the link. Michele

Well, so far we've had Hep B, Td and the meningitis. The older two have done poorly with all. I am going to do more research, but it's not looking real good for them. We've spread them out over months so as not to overwhelm the body. It's a dilemma, for sure.

Anything military where you receive every vaccine ever thought of. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration.:tongue_smilie: Hep B is one of the one's that first son had a really bad reaction to and both older sons want to go into law enforcement. To me, Hep B would be really, really important if one is in law enforcement. I'm not saying they can't do law enforcement but military would be out. Michele

I would completely agree with you. I think whether one vaccinates or not is a personal choice but we didn't start out as anti-vaccine. Our children's health and reaction to the first one ever given started our research. While we will probably continue the younger three with selective vaccines we will hold off on the older two kids. They are all from the same parents. The only reason I can think of that the 12, 10 and 7 are not reacting negatively to the same vaccines is because we knew with them that the way our genetics come together has created a weird chemical/environmental issue/sensitivity. We figured it out after two very, very sick kids (seizures, rages, sickness, barely able to function, couldn't even walk across the yard without getting tired) and made sure the other three kids were not exposed knowingly to pesticides, harsh chemicals, etc. Long story short about how we finally figured it out but oldest two are mostly healthy now so we thought we'd try for the most important vaccines. I liken the youngest three not reacting as negatively as when one knows there child could have an allergic reaction to strawberries so doesn't give it until the child is 2-4 years old or whatever and somehow that makes it to where the child doesn't have as allergic of a reaction. I don't know if I'm even making sense, but the youngest three were protected from chemicals/things that would harm them, whereas we simply didn't know with the older two. We have found that as they have gotten older their reactions aren't as bad. They were unintentionally exposed once when younger and they all started stuttering (which is my first sign that we have major issues and I need to get them away from whatever). It turned out that the playground equipment (not the ground , which is what I thought) had been sprayed with a pesticide. We stopped going there, they stopped stuttering. I don't feel that all vaccines are necessary but, to me, meningitis fit one of the important ones and we were willing to take what we knew could be a risk. Blessings, Michele

I did call the original office and nurses line. I guess I take it with a grain of salt because they always say to take the kids to the ER. After some research from me and the research the doctor did, fainting is not super uncommon (and has caused serious concerns) with this particular vaccine so he didn't try to say it was a needle phobia.:chillpill: Especially once he learned what Son has had done his life and hasn't fainted.:lol: I'm comfortable with bringing Son home without the spinal tap but am certainly taking this seriously but praying that tomorrow at 1 (72 hours) he miraculously starts feeling better. I'm going to do a little more research and let Son play Xbox for the rest of the day. My husband is out of state for months (and seriously, I didn't expect the first ER visit to be the day after he left) and I couldn't find anyone home to take dd but decided that wasn't enough of a reason to not go!!!! I'm glad I went. I did the vaccine with him knowing we could run into some stupid reaction. He's starting to understand that he may need to pick a different future than he has planned. I have been getting back on the boards and getting myself psyched up for next school year. I haven't been on much for years and it has been neat to see what's new and get excited again. Blessings, Michele

Update at bottom: He doesn't want to go to the hospital but I'm getting concerned. He had the vaccine 1 p.m. Friday. He fainted 10 minutes later. An ambulance had been called for my first son who fainted within 5 minutes of the vaccine so they were there to catch my second son who was outside with my other kids. Sigh. Since that time, 14 yo ds has had a sore arm (expected) and hasn't really moved it much or used it at all. Woke the next morning with a 102.5 fever, stiff upper body (mainly because of arm). He was nauseous for the first 48 hours and apparently that started within minutes of the vaccine. He's not as nauseous now but has completely lost his appetite. He only wants liquid food that is flavorful. His arm is stiff, but no real redness around the injection site. His neck is stiff. Mainly on the left side (which is the side of injection). The really stiff neck has only occurred today upon waking. We have given it 5 hours to see if it was from sleeping but it is still really sore. He can still move his head up and down. He had a really sore throat last night but it's better today. He has had a headache since the vaccine and upon going from a sitting to standing position his head throbs. I'm typing this and feeling like I should take him in but he doesn't want to go. Is concerned what they will do. And, what can they really do? Even with 2 kids fainting after the shot, the nurses were trying to explain it away as a reaction to a needle. These same kids have had IV"s, blood draws, 2 other vaccines in the last 6 months, etc and they have never fainted in their lives. This is only their 3rd vaccine as the oldest had a bad reaction when he was a baby so we have waited. The kids have extreme chemical sensitivities so we have waited. They had the Td a few months ago and one had a severe/piercing headache within minutes that lasted 24 hours, the other ended up on steroids. Sigh. I'm not actually anti-vaccine, but am becoming so for my kiddos. We were going to try the worst diseases and see if we could get through them. Sigh. Would you take him in if he were yours? What would you expect them to do? I know enough from experience over the years to know that no doctor is going to want this to be the vaccine and instead is going to try to explain all the symptoms away. Which, makes it silly to go in if they won't take it seriously. Sigh. Again. I was sure hoping to have some fun today. This isn't my idea of fun. Blessings, Michele I took son in right after the first few responses came through. I"ll go read through all the posts now. The doctor did take it seriously even though he first tested for other things because he was hoping "it was a virus or something else." He spent some time researching (20 - 30 minutes) the vaccine and came back saying "I'm sure you're concerned he has meningitis because of the headache, fever and stiff neck. There is no way he can have meningitis from the vaccine. It is impossible. I was hoping that one of the other tests would come back positive and the vaccine would just be coincidence, however I'm going to say that I think this is a severe reaction to the vaccine." I will continue to monitor him. He expects him to start showing marked improvement within the next 12 - 18 hours and if he has signs of (he listed them) bring him back or go see our regular doctor. I am well aware that once given a vaccine there is little that can be done to reverse any negative reactions which is why we have waited so long and why we will now wait a whole lot longer. I completely get that some people breeze right on through vaccines but my kids don't. I'm trying to help them accept it for what it is instead of wishing for something that isn't. I'll go read the responses now. Thanks so much ladies. I could tell while the doctor was saying that there was NO WAY to get meningitis from the vaccine that he was hoping this wasn't the first time!!! I'm not thrilled that Son is sick but am comfortable knowing what would be an emergency at this point vs. seeing if his body will just heal. Blessings, Michele

I have four sons and while I would like life to be perfect... I agree that the age he's at is a challenging one. My third is there with the fourth a year away. I, personally, would take all but logic type, read - Chuzzle, Pizza Frenzy games away. I tell my dear sons that if a computer game becomes more important than real life the game is gone. I am not at all against computer games either, but we have been known to take Nintendo, Xbox, etc and it goes into a closet for months at a time. There has come a time (around 14-15) that the boys have learned control and don't let it run their lives. Anyway...what I really wanted to say was when my first son would act the way you are describing at the beginning of your story and I could feel my temper rising and we were going to get into a battle of wills and I WAS GOING TO WIN, which, isn't really winning........I eventually came up with an idea to hopefully save face for both of us. My boys (and it starts around 11) are allowed to ask for 5-10 minutes or I will ask them if they would like 5-10 minutes to cool off and we will revisit whatever was about to boil over. Usually, not always, but usually this is enough of a break that we don't end up with a battle. For the 5-10 minutes they are not allowed to continue what they are doing, they have to either go their room or in my 13yo son's case he has a "cave" outside, on our property, he goes to. Those are the only choices. I go on about my business, but set a timer so I can go to them and finish our discussion. While this sounds simple, it isn't really. Their tempers are boiling, their independence is fighting to be free and your temper is boiling. I am now starting to do this with my 11 year old. They are NOT allowed to slam the door shut on their way to their bedroom.:D It's not really a time out because they can come to me at any time to finish our "discussion". I will say that this has been the single most effective way to reduce conflict that becomes just a power struggle. The boys have had to learn to ask for 5 minutes and I have had to learn to offer 5 minutes or we can do it the hard way. It takes time for this to work because of the power struggle but once both of you learn to do this, maybe it will lessen the struggles. My hubby doesn't do this as naturally as I do, but I will, gently, take him aside and remind him about this. I think you will find out that your son is having a surge of hormones and/or he just can't handle the games he's playing right now. I don't log on here a lot anymore but saw this and thought this might help. I tell the kids often that if we are going to spend all day with each other we are going to find a way to get along. Blessings, Michele