That's why I go more by how a kid is feeling than what the thermometer says. If a kid feels and acts sick, they would stay home no matter what the temp was. But, I wouldn't keep a kid who was acting fine home with a temp under 100.

Thanks! We had a good christmas without Dh. Lots of extended family to fill in the gap. I never really consider myself part of "military family" since Dh is a reservist. Now that he has missed more than half of some of our kids Christmases for the military, I think it is time to start.

I tend to be more mainstream on these things. I would let any healthy person go who wants to go. Now, when the actual flu went around my house 2yrs ago, I didn't let anyone leave (except Dh). This does not sound like the flu, but just a winter cold. I am always impressed when people with multiple children are able to stay in every time a mild illness hits their family.

We got Hanabi for Christmas and we have been enjoying it. It is a cooperative card game.

When my DS had a concussion, the ER gave us papers from childrens hospital of Philadelphia called "return to learn" and "return to play." You can google that. It had pretty specific instructions. Hope he feels better soon.

I think I would leave the hot dogs separate, then you would have at least two choices for the kids-hot dogs and/or baked beans. Plus, hot dogs by themselves are pretty familiar to kids. They can always mix the two if they want, but it is not quite so easy to separate. I keep Cheerios, cheese and crackers, and peanut butter and jelly for kids who don't like what is offered. It sounds like you have a good plan.

This school year I implemented 1/2 hr reading time after lunch and before bed for DS 8. He always claims to not really like the books (even though I pretty much let him pick them). He finally admitted to liking the last 3 he read and I have even caught him reading outside reading time (yay!). The books he has liked are Dory Fantasmagory, Mr and Mrs Bunny Detectives Extraordinaire, and Lord and Lady Bunny Almost Royalty. I don't know if he has finally changed his attitude about reading, or if those books are just really good (to him). I thought I would mention them since they got him interested in reading. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for what he might like next, I am all ears.

The police officers and others inside the funeral clapped politely both before and after he spoke. The LEOs watching the monitor outside turned their backs when he spoke. I'm guessing they thought it may be their only opportunity to make a statement. I think a lot of them are very, very angry with the mayor. There was a lot of anger even before the two cops were killed. I also think a lot of them saw it as support for the fallen officers. They didn't disrupt the funeral or anything and I think the snubbing was one of the ways they expressed their grief. Emotions are pretty high right now...they may regret the snub later when things have calmed down.

We went to swept away in Negril, Jamaica and loved it, but that was 12 yrs ago. I really liked being on the sunset side of Jamaica.

That is awful. A friend of ours has a child getting treatment at the children's hospital here and they have a "no children visitors" policy. She talked to the patient advocate or child life specialist (I forget which) and was able to work something out so siblings could visit. Maybe you could work something out? Many hugs.

Games by wonder forge have been hits here-especially Cat in the Hat I Can Do That and Eye Found It Also Gamewright card games: rat a tat cat, too many monkeys, sleeping queens, wig out Others: Zingo, Spot it, Uno, Go Fish

What is done with the dash cam footage right now?

That particular incident wouldn't concern me. My current 2yr old is by far the most laid back of my 4 children and I could see him doing that. He has only thrown like 2 fits in his life, but they were both over basically nothing. Once he got the whatever thing he wanted he was fine, but nothing else made him happy. However, if it is something you are concerned about, I would have him evaluated.

Yes, FaceTime and Skype are good ideas. I need to work through the hard parts (finding a time that works for both of us and the increase in energy it gives to the kids). I am grateful to live at a time that it is possible to have very good communication with people far away.

We do this some. I feel like it is more effort than it is worth, but I may be wrong. The kids go crazy seeing themselves on the screen. You would think the novelty of that would wear off eventually 😄

Oh, one other question. Do you try to keep the rules the same when the other parent is home? Dh and I disagree on a few things and since I am the one here I do things my way. But, then, when he is home, he tries to enforce rules he would like to have but I don't actually have. That frustrates everyone. I would like to just say "we don't do it that way," but he wants to have a say in how things are done. He does have a say, but if he isn't here I am not going to enforce things I don't care about. Should I just work with the kids to understand that rules are fluid depending on circumstances? So, when dad is home, things may be a little different. Or do I just tell Dh that it isn't fair to the kids to change rules when he is home?

I know lots of people here have a spouse who travels/works a lot. How does that parent stay connected to the family? Dh has been gone for more of the kids lives than he has been here. Then, when he is here, he works a lot of hours. When he is here, he is awesome at making sure he spends pretty much all his free time with the family. We go places, he plays games and catch, reads bedtime stories, etc. I don't really know how to explain it...the kids love their dad and are definitely bonded to him. However, when he is gone they never ask for him or seem to miss him. And, for his part, Dh seems to forget what little kids are like while he is gone. When he gets home he is stressed by normal little kid behaviors. I also feel like he doesn't know the kids that well. He is a really good dad-I can't really say anything bad about his parenting. I grew up with a dad who worked 7-3 m-f my whole childhood and was very involved in my life. This isn't our reality and I am trying to figure out how to make the best of it. I guess I think it would be better for the family if he could be around more, but that obviously isn't going to happen anytime soon. How do you keep everyone connected when they are apart? Nothing we have done seems to work. Do you just enjoy each other when you are together and do your own thing when apart?

Dh is in Texas right now for work and we visited him in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. I think SA or Austin would be great to live in. We just visited, but both cities had a really fun vibe. I would pick Austin for our family (a little more central, maybe not as hot, smaller). We have hung out in round rock (near Austin) and it seems like a nice place to live.

Thanks! I ordered Relic Runners and Zooleretto.

I feel like around 7-8 they start transitioning away from little kid. I only have one that has reached those ages, but it seems like just recently he has been too old for little kid stuff. Before, the whole family could do little kid things. Now, some of our "little kid" activities are definitely on the young side for him (playing at the childrens edutainment center, the indoor sandbox, bubbles, the kiddie park, stickers, etc). Until 7-8 it seems like the littles things are exciting and they are so easily entertained. Age 7-8 was the first year I planned both big kid and little kid christmas activities.

I am very sorry about your dh. Thanks for sharing your story.

Thanks everyone. After typing that out and reading your responses I was able to turn my guilt button off and go to sleep. Our local childrens hospital has this "image gently" campaign so when I would take my other DS there for speech I would read the signs about it. Of course, they all said that when medically necessary the benefits outweigh the risks, but all that is stuck in my head is the risks. If we had been home and I had taken him there, I would have had more confidence in their decision to do one. We aren't home so we went to the local hospital. I think they treated him well and I am sure they know what they are doing. No one has the benefit of hindsight when making a decision, and really there is no way I could have just put him to bed without someone checking him out. It makes me feel better to know others would have done the same thing.

You are right. It could have turned out much worse and I am very thankful it didn't. I think I just didn't have much time to worry about the results. From the time we walked into the ER until we had the results was less than an hour. Now, I have had all this time to research and second-guess. I need to let it go.

My DS6 fell earlier this week and lost consciousness. Then later he started throwing up, so I took him to the ER and they did a CT scan. Everything was fine on it (which obviously is great). Now, I can't get it out of my head that I exposed him to radiation unnecessarily. Maybe I should have kept him home longer and just watched him. I did ask them to use the lowest dose possible (it wasn't a pediatric hospital). I just feel like I increased his chances of getting cancer and I feel really guilty. I am not sure what I could have done differently, because rationally I do think he needed to go to the ER. I think I just need someone to tell me I made the right decision (or what I should do better next time). Also, any tips on getting rid of the guilt/worry? Maybe a list of things more dangerous than a probably necessary CT scan that he will do in his life?

I hope he has better luck with this than my dh did when he told his superiors that he had a financial issue. They said "if you were hoping to make money in the military you should have been an officer" and "your inability to manage your money is not the military's problem." So, I would have to be extremely desperate before I ever went that route again. Your SIL may have a better response. I have broken a lease once and I just worked it out with the landlord that I would pay the next months rent and forfeit my deposit. He was ok with that solution, so I didn't have any negative effects. I don't know if they could afford to make a deal with her or not, but if they could that would probably be in everyone's best interest. I definitely know how it can seem like you should be able to afford something, then things change and the bills pile up and you no longer can.