I like to make and give leatherworking projects like wallets or checkbook covers to guys. I carved and dyed an elaborate belt for my father once. That would not be a beginner project but there are very attractive kits that are good beginner projects.

My understanding is that some types of birds can be pretty delicate with regards to fumes a la canary in the coal mine. I know they cannot tolerate nonstick cookware being heated near them and often do not do well in manufactured housing especially new manufactured housing.

We have not actually jumped through the hoops with a rescue organization and I suspect we would not qualify by the standards of most. However, three of our dogs were unwanted and would have ended up in pounds or rescue organizations if we had not gotten them. One was rehomed to us after trespassing onto a neighbor's property to fight with their dog. Another was a stray puppy that a coworker of dh's felt sorry for and fed but did not want to keep. The final one was from a breeder who was fostering a dog that had become pregnant before rescue for a rescue. We had just bought a dog from her for a companion for our disabled dachshund. I think seeing a dachshund that had received back surgery and rehab rather than being put to sleep pretty much told her that our dogs receive excellent care.

If your neighbor's child is having similiar problems, do you know the history of the land your house(and the rest of the neighborhood) is built on? I would be looking for someone with more expertise who you are comfortable with.

:iagree:Really even though he began as her husband when she remarried he was functioning more as her child since he will be perpetually dependent. In fact, having another adult to help care for first husband and to care for him and their children if something happened to her was one of her reasons for her second marriage.

I believe that there used to be orphanages in our country and I would imagine that there were some very well-run ones. I would also imagine that there were some that were as bad or maybe even worse than some of the ones overseas now. I suspect that the bad ones got the press so to speak and that is why "something else" was developed and that "something else" is the foster system of today. I suspect that a good orphanage and a good foster placement in a system where the children did not get moved around would have more things in common than many people would suspect. I wonder if the ideal situation wouldn't be to have both options available since some children might thrive in one and not the other and vice versa.

I would have a discussion with your vet about what degree of "heroic measures" you can afford to finance and that you would prefer for the cat to die at home if not in pain rather than at the vet's.

We have a rescue dog that was rehomed to us that at first glance would seem to be a poor match for a home with children. She is an 80+lb. belgian Malinois who is very timid and fearful of unfamiliar people. She has probably been abused in the past. However, the family that gave her to us has a daughter the same age as ours so we knew she was not afraid of children at all. She is actually quite happy to have children wallowing all over her and is very protective of children.

Another situation in which I could imagine parents being helpless to meet the needs of their infant is in the aftermath of a natural disaster. I don't know of any children locally that have had problems this severe from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but I would not be surprised if there were. They provided PTSD counselling in the schools but not all of the teachers took the issues very seriously. I do know of at least one child who was pulled from school and one of the issues was his PTSD. My dd was slightly less than a year old when Katrina hit and had some PTSD-like symptoms for years afterward. And we were fortunate, we evacuated(but not far enough) and we had an undamaged house to come back to (just no utilities).

My mother had both hips replaced 2 years ago. The first in January and the second in April. I am an only child so I spent alot of time helping my mother and she also hired an assistant for when I could not be there. I think that the best way to handle things for the time being is to just pretend you are an only child and plan accordingly. Another possible benefit is that if your sister is ignored by you and your mother for a while she might catch the hint that when someone is recovering from hip surgery is not the best time for juvenile power plays. My mother and I have had some pretty major fights in the past. We are both strongwilled and have tempers. We had just recently started talking again when she had surgery and I helped her.

:grouphug: I have the utmost respect for those who parent RAD children. I had not heard of it until I started reading these boards.

I would venture to guess that she has either been punished by a person or attacked by another dog for eating a bone. I would remove the bone since it scares her and sit maybe even facing away from her and see if she will approach you after a while. IME sitting and letting them approach you is the easiest way to catch a frightened dog that knows you. It may take a while. If the weather permits I would sit on the ground and read a book. she will probably eventually come to investigate.

My dh tried to give me static and said that he would not help with homeschooling at all. Before he even finished the sentence he knew what my response would be. I told him that if he wanted dd in school he could handle getting her up and ready, transportation to school, all homework, all parent/teacher communication, ect. He quickly decided that homeschooling might just be okay. In the interests of compromise I did enroll dd in Kumon as part of our home schooling. If that is available in your area and you can afford it that might be an option.

Did you catch it before it went through the dryer? I would think that as long as it wasn't heat set in the dryer you should be able to get it out with oxyclean or rit dye remover.

I would want to know what society's view of sending chilren away to school in that time and place were before I thought further about it. Now sending a twelve year old who had just lost his mother away to boarding school would be viewed as very insensitive but in the past it was probably viewed as the best opportunity for him. This happened to my father and while it was probably not ideal the relatives who did so were trying to provide for him to the best of their ability. They treated him like their own child in terms of educational opportunities and financial support even after their deaths.

The most recent situation that I have been in involved a preschooler and a door. He was leaning against it holding it open while his mother was talking to another adult and ended up putting his fingers in the hinge area where they would be smashed if the door closed. And he was beginning to close the door. I pretty much lunged across the waiting room yelling "Nononono," and everything ended up okay. His mother was very thankful and had been closer to him than I was but he was behind her.

:grouphug: That was one of the major things about the idea of sending my dd to school that horrified me.

Homemade saurkraut is good and that will keep even longer than the cabbage.

My father was sent to a boarding school by relatives after the death of his mother at about age 12. He was always very emotionally reserved and my mother accued him of being a "cold fish" at times. I don't know how much of that was due to going to boarding schools or if he had very mild on the spectrum issues. His younger brother had serious(1950's serious not today serious) behavior problems and was definitely different even as an adult. Again I do not know whether the issue was enviornmental (boarding school) or organic(ASD). I do know that they had to find a new school for his brother every year(the schools did not want him back). Some of the stories my father told me about things he did indicate to me that he had waaay too much freedom and waaay too little adult supervision. For example, at one point he researched how to make nitro glycerin in the library. Absconded with materials from the chemistry lab and made some. Then he set it off and blew a hole in the ground. He was never caught because he had sense enough to fill in the hole so it would not be noticed. He "borrowed" some of the gardening equipment to do this. I think about how much time all of this must have taken and wonder why there wasn't some adult wondering where he was and what he was doing and investigating.

:iagree:

And I seriously doubt the doctor faced criminal charges.

That must be a benefit of living up north. We get cockroaches you get snow.

I don't know how often it is done anymore but I had skin testing done as a child. This was done by an allergist in his office. I was treated with desensitization shots twice a week. However, the testing was painful time consuming and expensive. The shots were also expensive. An elimination diet would be much cheaper.

For a blanket going to Scotland I would definitely use wool. The scans can be wrong, a loop of umbelical cord can resemble boy parts for example. If you don't want to use all white green and yellow are pretty gender neutral too. It also depends on the attitudes of the parents. I like blue and had no problem using blue items with dd.

Dd7 received a flexeez ball kit in her stocking for christmas and it has been the thing she has played with the most. This page has several kits: http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=flexees&origkw=flexees&f=Taxonomy/TRUS/2254197&sr=1