I know exactly what you mean. I have one very dear friend, the mom of my dd's best friend, that I see quite often. But although I can share many things with her "feeling-wise", she is very conservative about certain things and is not someone you could debate/discuss philosophy with, or anything like that. I have one other friend I can have those discussions with, but unfortunately she has a very busy schedule and so do I, so I only get to see and talk to her about every couple of months. Sometimes I do feel very lonely, and like if I had the conversations I would really like to have, with the people I see everyday, they would definitely think I was a freak. One woman I know from church happened to see a book I had in my car, "Stroke of Insight" written by a neuroscientist about what her experience of having a stroke was like. She said, "Why do you have that book?" I said, "Well, it was just an interesting subject to me." She said, "Yes, but why do you have it, did someone you know have a stroke?" "Uh, no, it was just an interesting subject to me, I'm very interested in the way the brain works...." Awkward end to conversation. She looked at me like I was...a freak! So yes, I feel your pain. For me, these boards are a godsend!

Yea for your FIL! That had to be difficult for him, but thank goodness he stood up for the right thing.

This is a no-brainer in my opinion. What do we teach our kids? Once you have committed to something (a party, a date, etc) you don't change that even if something else comes along later. Once you have RSVPd, the matter is already decided. (Of course, usually its something "better" that comes along later, but the principle still applies!) ETA, your new MIL really is NOT BEING NICE though. Sorry mostly for your FIL.

Thank you, I'm going to give these a try.

The scrambled egg muffins, do they store well? In the fridge? Freezer? They look yum!

:iagree: It can be so easy to say, "wow, you should leave" or "wow, I wouldn't put up with that". It is so often far more complicated than that. Please resist giving your friend an easy answer.

I liked Letters to Juliet. It's not exactly high-brow entertainment or particulary 'thought provoking'. Just a good romantic movie.

That literally made me snort liquid from my nose!!! (There should be an emoticon for that) Thank you, that image is priceless!!!!

Respectfully, and without at all implying that Catholics are not Christian or not saved, or anything...but only addressing the question about how I view the use of idols. I do believe that the use of idols in worship is not appropriate, and that the manner in which it is done in the Catholic faith is not any different than the manner in which it is done in other non-Christian faiths. To me that is what your son saw the truth of. He recognized that a Hindu using an idol can also say that the idol is just a representation and not the actual God. In the same manner a Catholic (open to correction here!) feels that the idol is not God, and is only a representation and an aid to visualizing. I don't see the behavior as any different. The only difference is that the Bible (which the Hindu is not trying to follow, but the Catholic is) prohibits the use of idols. I believe this applies even when idols are used as just an "aid to visualizing". (See Acts 17:29, Isaiah 40:18, John 4:23,24) So, while not saying in any way that Catholics are not Christian or not saved or not "right", I do view Catholicism as using idols inappropriately. Hopefully I was able to communicate this respectfully!

:iagree: There are so many things in life to get annoyed about. But why would I want to waste my energy getting annoyed about those smaller things? Heaven knows I have little enough energy as it is! Of course I have encountered people blocking the aisles. It just never occured to me to give it more than a passing thought while waiting for them to move. The OP is a different story since the woman somewhat antagonized her. But otherwise, who even thinks about it? Strange thread. I came by to see why it lasted so long and I still don't get it.

I asked my DD to clean off the table for dinner. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Why should I have to put away all that stuff thats not even mine?" After she saw the look on my face, she re-thought her position. But that's the attitude! I actually looked on the internet for some kind of "farm" vacation where the kid could learn what kids used to have to work like. She has TOO MUCH free time in my opinion.

My DD has a had a meltdown because she hasn't had ANY TIME TO RELAX OR JUST FREE TIME. This kid has 20 times the free time I ever had. I feel your pain.

I bring my bottled water. I won't bring in candy or other things, but something about water seems different. After all, I could get water out of the bathroom faucet if I wanted, so whats the difference bringing it in? Water is almost like an unalienable right.

My DD saw and she wants that now. Thanks. (:-)

I am in the mountains in CO (9500ft), and there is still no snow! We were supposed to get 2-8 inches last night, and NOTHING. DD is very disappointed as she can't wait to go sledding in our driveway.

My 11 yo DD is going through this. She has one very close friend but we are rural so they don't see each other every day, maybe once a week or once every two weeks. They do talk on the phone, but it is not enough for DD. She said yesterday, "I want to go back to public school" She said because she just wants to be around PEOPLE. She has forgotten about the "not nice" people. And another good friend of hers that does go to the middle school hates it and says all the girls are mean. "Why do you want to be around people who aren't nice??" We also have a very conservative value system and she would be severely "outcast". When she was in PS she cried because she was so "different", because she didn't play the games and meanness of the "popular" girls. She has forgotten that part too. It would be even worse now with the dating, etc (we don't believe in early dating.) I feel your pain. I just don't know that there is much to do besides love and support, help them grow through this stage. ETA, I don't think she really WANTS to go to PS, but I don't know how to respond when she says that. Usually I sound like I am discounting her feelings. :-(

:iagree: The best advice I got when pregnant was that you teach the children over and over again, but NEVER depend on them to obey you. If a 5yo is not old enough to be responsible for ANOTHER 5 yo in their care, then they are not old enough to be responsible for themselves. Haven't we all seen those shows that no matter how much you teach a kid about strangers, or guns, they will STILL go with the stranger and pick up the gun 99 times. NEVER depend on them to obey you. My offering to the look-out items: doggie doors. A lady had a toddler climb through the doggie door and into the pool.

Great book. I loaned it out so much it finally disappeared. I need to get another copy! This book really helped me as I am a chronic worrying by nature.

Which product are you using specifically?

I guess in thinking about motivation for testing, number one I want to know specifically what is going on so I can best address what it is. Whether that includes meds or not, I'm not sure, I guess it depends on how things develop. I am not opposed to meds in principle. But number two, and I hope this doesn't sound awful, but I think for myself it will improve my own attitude toward the situation. Right now, as a mentioned in another post, I still sometimes think "well she's just not cooperating" or "she's not making an effort". A serious fault of mine is I am very type-a and can become very critical if I don't watch myself. Therefore, it's easy for me to lose patience with her and then I feel horrible, because I think, well maybe it's not her fault and I'm totally destroying her self-esteem. So honestly, I think that with a diagnosis I would be able to settle into the situation and give her what she needs because my own attitude would improve. Does that make any sense?

Amen.

Well, I called another place that is one of the few that my insurance MIGHT cover. They told me they would make an appt for me with a general behavioral therapist and I could request an ADHD evaluation. It was a bit of an odd conversation though, so I don't know if it will be what I am looking for. I guess if I don't feel its sufficient I can still go and pay for it somewhere else. It's alot of money, but if it is actually useful results we would be willing to try to come up with it.

Thank you, that's kind of what I was thinking.

Wow, I'm so glad something was able to help your DS. Can you (or anyone else) tell me what sort of things "cognitive testing" reveals?

What a variety of responses! I guess myself, I might be a little worried if my DD was diagnosed in 5 minutes, or based only on my assertion. Surely there is more to it than that? I would assume there have to be some kind of actual indications of the way their brain is working. If all there is to it is checking off lists, then you can do that on the internet. I thought that was just to give you an idea if ADD was LIKELY to be the problem.