Ok. So maybe I shouldn't think this is as odd as I did. It doesn't matter, and I don't want to make my friend uncomfortable.

Welcome! It happened to me, too. :D

Crohn's is usually lower right quadrant pain, not upper.

Here is the situation. I was dusting today (it doesn't happen often...last time was mid-summer) and I picked up a china dog figurine on the mantle. As I lifted it, one of the front legs fell off. Then I realized that the other front leg was missing entirely - the way the dog had been positioned on the mantle made it difficult to see the missing leg, and the other leg had been carefully put back into place to allow the dog to stand. I then realized that when the dog fell off the mantle and onto either the cast iron coal stove or the slate hearth, the missing leg must have shattered. There were no traces of china...whoever found the broken dog must have vacuumed it up. I have no doubt that my cats knocked the dog off the mantle. That's not the concern...it's just a mystery as to who would have put the dog back together and said nothing. I was dumbfounded and asked the boys about it when they got home. None of them had a clue about it, and I believe them. I got it at a thrift shop, they know this, and they are the type to confess and say they are sorry if something happens. I texted my 19-yr old and he has no idea about it, either. Dh is equally clueless. I have a friend who watches the cats for us when we are away. A few years ago the cats knocked another thing off the mantle, and my friend vacuumed the shards, and put the item back....just like this time. She never mentioned it. After I discovered it, I happened to say something to her about how I couldn't figure out what had happened, and then she told me the cats had done it, she had vacuumed, and forgotten to tell me. And here we are again. The only logical explanation is that a cat did this while we were gone, and that my friend cleaned it up. But why put the dog back together (sort of) and say nothing? Again? It is a mystery. I don't think I'm going to say anything this time, because I find the situation unsettling. I'm pretty easy to talk to, and I don't value "stuff"...it's just stuff. I would think my friend could talk to me - after all, she's not to blame for my cats' behaviors! My friend is somewhat insecure and I wonder if this plays into it. I just think it's really, really strange.

I'm sorry. It happened to me, too, and it was very, very hard.

Thank you all so much. It helps to know I'm not the only one who feels like this.

My dh is leaving tomorrow for a 9-day trip to India. In 26 years he's only ever had to travel a few times. Travel is going to be more frequent now; many times I'll be able to go with him, but the 1-week notice for this trip meant $3k for a plane ticket for me....no way. He completes me. He's my best friend. He gives me strength and comforts me when I worry about ds (I did get a call from Afghanistan this morning!!!). I really wish he didn't have to go. I'm just a little freaked out. :(

Totally agree about the punishment thing...ugh. Those were the worst days. I was so sick of the tension and fighting. I'm pleased to say that my ds is now a 2nd semester freshman in college and is doing well. As in, he's trying hard and cares about his grades. I can't totally relax about it yet, but I'm almost there. :D

Ew.

The comments are strange, aren't they? We started with b/g twins and got the "Oh, you have the perfect family" comments all the time. We had four more children, all boys. Even now (my youngest is 14!) I get comments such as, "Oh, so you kept trying for another girl, eh?" Um, no. We just love kids.

I"m sorry. I've dealt with this as well. In our case, public school worked better than the cyber for our son. More pressure, I think...whatever it was, he seemed to care more in the traditional school setting than in traditional homeschooling or cyber school. It is so hard. I agree with you that taking away the one thing she loves might not be the best approach. :grouphug:

"Teacher" is really a misnomer here. Most cyber schools assign a "teacher" to each student, but the reality is that this person speaks to the child once every week or two, asks a few questions, and leaves the teaching to the parents. It's all about public funding...you have to have teachers and jump through certain hoops to be a public school. The cybers do it, but the teachers are really not teachers in any traditional sense. Thus, my suggestion to speak to a supervisor. Also, OP, it's within your rights to ask that your dd be assessed for learning issues. Because you are in the public system, the evaluation will be covered. Again, this is a supervisor issue, not a teacher issue. My guess is that the teacher is clueless about these things.

Have you tried Lyrica? It is used for fibromyalgia. I'll talk to the pharmacists at work tomorrow and see if they have any additional info that might be helpful to you. :grouphug:

That's wonderful. My neighbor has chickens. I seriously considered getting some this year (we have a large empty shed that would be perfect) but finally decided I didn't want the responsibility. Dh is going to be traveling more with his new position, and I want to be free to tag along. I envy you your hens, though!

I, too, read the book, and I think I'd still classify them as more unschoolers than traditional homeschoolers. If that makes any sense.

The teacher has a supervisor; I suggest you call the cyber school and ask for the supervisor to call you back. I think if you explain that the curriculum is too advanced for your dd they'll put her in something else....you just have to bring the issue to the correct people. (We spent a few years in a cyber charter...I learned how to get what I wanted, lol) Good luck. :grouphug:

That is amazing! What do you do with all those eggs?

I will be praying for you. Have you had any luck with meds treating this? :grouphug:

You know, it could also be Crohn's disease (I have CD). It's certainly not the typical presentation, but her symptoms are within the realm of possibilities. Since she's already seeing a GI doc I would request a colonoscopy as well as an endoscopy. BTW, ibuprofen is well known for causing stomach upset. I'd take her off that asap.

:iagree: Your son desperately needs help. You are the only one who can make the help happen. Please do so. The OCD is separate from the tics. A pediatric psychiatrist could help soooo much. Please make an appointment. Your child needs you to be his advocate.

I miss using SL. I loved it. That is all. :)

You could call the dr's office and ask them to have the dr call you, or tell them what's going on and have them call you back after they talk to him. There's some nasty stuff going around here...I work in a pharmacy and we've seen a huge increase in upper respiratory illness in the past few weeks. Kudos to your doc for being hesitant to prescribe anything...so many docs just hand out antibiotics like candy. Sounds like you've got one of the good guys - he wants to make sure it's bacterial, not viral. I'd give the office a call and check with your doc. I hope you feel better soon. :grouphug:

LOL (I'm a pharm tech) :lol::lol:

Rather than use another program in addition, is there any way you could work on whatever she's learning in her SF books but at a lower level? Your idea of using another program is good except that if you are following 2 different programs she's likely to be studying two completely topics most of the year. It might be more beneficial if she could "back up" a bit with each new topic. You could achieve this with the 2-3rd grade program...just jump around in the book. Did I explain myself enough? I think I need more tea. :) A question: is her difficulty with math conceptual (ie, she has no clue what they are talking about) or just a matter of not having confidence, not knowing math facts, etc? I was a big fan of Miquon math...using the rods made math make sense to my kids. They could visualize addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. Not sure if your dd is beyond needing that, but it's a great program.

Wow. It's very pretty...in the picture. It would be less so if it was crawling up my leg...