My dd12 was misdiagnosed with bipolar in May. During the appointment she pretty much just agreed to whatever the doctor asked her, but he also didn't require any initial paperwork by me. Upon doing research I felt that it was incorrect and spent a month waiting for an appointment with another psych. I never saw the manic side, only the depressed side, which became her new diagnosis- depression. Choose your psychologist wisely. My aunt is bipolar. She's been on disability for years because of it. Once legally changed her last name to Winn, because she was a winner! She's self medicated with alcohol. However, we have a close family friend that is bipolar that is a great dad and husband. He carefully manages his meds and goes to group therapy.

Have you looked at care.com?

You are not alone. We had our fifth a couple of months ago. He's a good baby, but last week I felt close to a clinical nervous breakdown, and I'm not even canning picked or anything like that. I've never cursed so much in my life the last few weeks. Love the advice I'm reading here.

I had never heard of such a store until I read another thread. Seems like it would be worth a trip to check it out. Thanks for all of the info.

The nearest one to us is maybe 25 miles away. Would it be worth the gas and time? I've never been to one, but I'm looking for ways to cut food costs. Is it usually processed foods?

I wouldn't bring anything. Maybe a funny birthday card?

The first few days of school ARE stressful, even for seasoned students/parents as a previous poster stated. It rained the second day of school here, and drop off took about 15 minutes! Soon it will become part of your schedule.

I've been trying to figure out what activities to get my ds13 involved in. He pretty much only does the church youth group every other week now. I think he's feeling a bit isolated. He's not athletic. Boyscouts was a bust. There's a homeschool bowling class on Mondays I've thought of signing him up for, although he's a bit lukewarm to that idea. He just doesn't seem to have any interests to do anything. However, he is always wanting me to play board games- 95% of the time I decline- I just have way too much work to do around the house. :( What if I start a gaming club for boys ages 12-16? The host family would provide snacks and the game. Or, I could just host. Do you think people would go for that? I'm feeling insecure about the idea. How long do you think? How often? What time during the day? I was thinking Friday afternoon. Any suggestions on how to sell the idea to other homeschoolers? ETA: My idea was more of a drop off situation, at least after the first get-to-know-you meeting. Would you be comfortable leaving your young teen at a relative stranger's house?

We pay $80 for about 3.5 hours for a pretty bare bones job. 3000 square foot house, expensive neighborhood, every 2 weeks. It's cheap for a mediocre job. In fact lately we haven't even had her come because it was messy by the time DH came home and he felt like we were wasting money

As an RN I agree.

We had to circ my ds when he was 2.5 due to repeat infections. Our other two were circ'd at birth.

I feel like I have to micromanage the kids' chores or they don't get done. I might as well do them myself. I always feel like our house is teetering on the edge of chaos if I'm not on it constantly. It's been particularly bad as the baby still wakes up three times a night so I'm crabby, and it's too hot out to leave the house, so the kids have been crabby unless I turn on screen time which makes them more crabby later on. Tomorrow is our 15th anniversary, and DH has left up the planning to me. He says that if he picks out my gift I'll be disappointed. Probably true, but it would be nice to be surprised. I can't think of anything other than a printer. We haven't had a working one in months, but then I'd feel resentful to get such a necessary gift when I picked out something thoughtful for him. More iced coffee needed to nurse my headache.

The Maze Runner. The first book was really a page-turner. We're on the library waiting list for the second. The movie comes out this fall. ETA oops. Didn't see this listed in the title of your post. I was just excited to be able to actually suggest something.

Egads. I'll be mid-late 50's at this rate. I'd like to travel and volunteer. Or, maybe be a traveling nurse volunteer. I also want to play with my future grandbabies- love 'em up and send 'em home. :)

Thanks, OhElizabeth. I spent some time looking at older posts and ordered a couple of books from the library. I've suspected some ODD for a while, as well. When I tried to homeschool she would lay on the floor and have tantrums. I tried to make her schooling more artsy and interest lead. She refused to be interested in any topic. After a month into our second year homeschooling I sent her back to public school. It helped to salvage my relationship with her. She did poorly in 4th and then even worse in fifth, especially in math. (Common core didn't help in this regard either.) We did hire a cute, bright high school student to tutor her once a week, hoping that a pretty, smart female would be an inspiration. DD didn't like her and blamed her failure on the tutor. I eavesdropped and thought the tutor did an excellent job explaining concepts and patiently waiting for DD's responses. I feel stressed that her public school starts on the 12th, and she's just so negative about it. My heart breaks for her, and I don't know how to help her better. She thinks that she's a failure. A lot of the time it's like she doesn't even put any effort into her schoolwork. I really hope the psychologist can offer coping strategies. DH doesn't want to use medication, even though my mother is on Ritalin for ADD his brother took it in elementary school. I've tried having her eat more protein, but she's so darn picky, that even eggs disgust her. She refuses vitamins and fish oil. Thanks for giving me a place to vent.

Not to get into a long history, but last year the school psychologist screened dd for learning disabilities. She suspects ADD and not a disability per se, but I never got an official diagnosis. School starts on the 12th for her here. She barely passed 5th grade last year. I unsuccessfully tried to homeschool her for 2nd and ended up putting her back in for 3rd. She has always been difficult. Now she is openly saying how much she hates school, which is a terrible way to begin the year. I do have a psychologist appointment to help her and I cope, but the initial parent intake isn't until the 29th of August. I guess I feel that I already have a full plate, which is why I haven't pursued help before. Are there any resources that the hive can recommend until we can really get rolling with professional assistance?

3 terrible months. Don't bother with Nix. TLC was what finally rid it for us: http://www.totallicecontrol.com/order-tlc-shampoo.html It's a little pricey, but worth it.

She's currently playing with a box of wipes- pulling them out and putting them back. Maybe I'll wrap up a box and call it good. Thanks for the link to the other thread. I like playsilks, although they are a little pricey. We don't have a tea set anymore....

My DD will turn 2 in a few weeks. I recently purged our house of junky toys and would prefer quality, long-term playability replacements, if anything at all. What do your little ones find engaging that adds minimal clutter? I'm considering making her family party a no gift giving event, just to keep control of the chaos, but I don't want to skip a gift all together. We already have blocks and a kitchen and dress-up stuff. She hasn't shown much interest in Little People.

We used VL with my 6th grader for the first 7 months of last year. The instructor on the video was engaging. The lessons progressed incrementally. Both my son and I really enjoyed the program. HOWEVER, my son had difficulty retaining what was learned, and there is very little practice for each lesson. He has dyslexic issues, so I'm sure that contributed to his difficulties. My plan is to start over with GSWL for next year and then to start VL over again.... maybe.

I just saw this. Please contact me as well!

Are you bragging? :lol: My newborn sleeps in only 2 hour stretches. I am so tired.... don't jinx yourself by asking too many questions.

What are your helpful hints for surviving? I'd like suggestions for easily packing and schlepping our stuff from the car to the hotel room and visa versa. Not to mention keeping the car neat and bellies from grumbling.

I'm liking this.... Thanks for the suggestion. I wonder if he could do two books in one year. http://www.christianbook.com/discovering-the-world-of-geography-grades/myrl-shireman/9781580372299/pd/72295?event=GRADE

I wouldn't like it either, just to offer you a little support. Could you change it to a picnic in the park? Having a man there definitely changes the tone- no matter how nice, etc. he is.