She sounds like a pre-teen to me, and her actions are typical of almost anyone navigating the hormones. (If I did anything, it would be making her fix the gate.) If it were me, I'd give her a break, no punishment and just keep a closer eye on things. Now as a mom of two older teens, please know it is going to get worse. The air head/fog is par for the course; as a parent we just do our best to love and teach them through it. The good news is, they do regain use of the brains again, but it doesn't happen overnight. I think this is your oldest and many moms expect so much more of them than their younger siblings; you will be a lot more experienced as the others enter the pre-teen and teen years.

:grouphug: Just think how good you are going to feel when you're done with the day.

Oh, what a beautiful family. Congratulations!

:grouphug: You poor thing! I detest bad mattresses, but they seem to be sold more and more. They start out wonderful, and quickly go from comfy to s torture device that leaves you feeling like you slept on rocks. Our next mattress will be a flippable one, if I can find one. No one will impress me with a pillow top again, even if I live to be a hundred. My sister loves her tempur pedic. I'd like to try it, but she lives too far away.

:willy_nilly: Bad, bad kitty. I'd suggest the regular methods of dealing with the unwanted invader, since the cat is going to be no help. We've had good results with the Tom, Tom products in our garage. The most controversial one, bated with peanuts has worked the best for us. Please no tomatoes, we've had two get into our vehicles. One ate something in the wiring and the other one decided to make a home in the air filter. The first vehicle never worked well again and now I'm paranoid of the damage they can do. Some dear friends of ours had a family of them eat the insulation and a pipe broke out of the top of their two story bathroom; it flooded the entire living room, bath and family room...In January during a sub zero freeze.

(((Rose))) I do admire the way you are holding it all together and still loving and supporting your ds as you feel/know he needs. I'm sorry about the mess and his feeling of needing to help his sister, but it sounds like you have raised a noble young man with a good heart. That said, I wish he would think about what you, his dear momma needs, but I think he's very confident in your love for him. Hang in there, I hope and pray he's home with you soon. :grouphug:

That stinks, stinks, stinks! Too bad you didn't get the license plate number and truck info. I guess in hindsight, you should have called the police after the incident. It makes me sad that the driver didn't notice his destruction and offer to replace the damaged property. You might be able to get the info out of your neighbor, but would that cause a stress living next to him. Have you tried googling his brother's last name and Iowa? You might get the address on your own if you're lucky. I'd want to let him know he didn't get away unnoticed and even mention calling the police and or your insurance to report it.

I'm glad you called too. In the future consider taking a picture of the guy to show management; that would make it easy for them to eventually find and deal with him.

Congratulations! I'm glad it went well and love her name.

My first recommendation would be to either purchase or check out a library copy of The Well Trained Mind.

Not on the anxiety topic, but I have experienced that feeling of not being able to breath as a reaction to things I'm allergic to. Feather pillows are an example or highly perfumed linens. I hope the guy finds some relief soon and can get some sleep.

:grouphug: I can only offer hugs and a bump in hopes of the thread attracting someone with insight.

I've never really considerd that scenario, but I've always told my two to never approach someone with a gun; personally, I would consider the man dangerous.

What a great picture!

:grouphug: Prayers for you and baby.

Another vote for going home and doing as much as possible in the allotted time.

:grouphug:

That situation doesn't mirror a home oven / nugget fire. I wonder why they didn't have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen at a daycare center; that would have put the nugget out pretty fast. Day Care centers are going to have policies in place regarding a fire alarm going off. I imagine they were short of staff and she was starving, but it's too bad she lost her job over a chicken nugget. Here, I have an extinguisher, but I might have turned off the oven and attempted to get it with long tongs too; my next step would be the fire extinguisher.

It's pretty. I'd take the skirt shopping with me and try on tops suggested by the sales people.

:grouphug: I can relate...winter brings out my blas and the wish to travel anywhere sunny and warm.

That stinks! You will want to be careful when your account is back up; my niece had her account hacked and it sent spam to everyone in her address book for ages.

I would tread very carefully in this situation. Good intentions can often spur immature people to take up a challenge in dating situations. He is twenty-one and you and your dh really have no control of him. Your effort might be better placed helping your dd settle in at her new school asap. You mention he is seriously considering moving. Does he have actual plans or is this more of summer love that burns very hot and then sizzles out come fall and real life.

I gave it up a few years ago and my headaches only lasted about 3 days; I just took over the counter pain med and lived with it. I did schedule it so that I wasn't busy with a hundred things. My body runs better without caffeine, but I'll always miss the yummy drinks no matter how long it's been. Whichever route you take, let us support you through it.

:seeya: Hi, you've been missed.

(((Oh, Rose.))) Extending an invitation and inviting them might help.