Never mind then! lol Yeah! Any sweater, vest, or jacket pocket you might have worn briefly to run an errand. Cup holder in the car. Under the front seat or passenger seat in the car. When was the last time you got carded buying wine at the market or restaurant. What were you wearing?

What a way to start my morning! Welcome, baby Caden! What a great size, and fantastic lungs! Wonderful, wonderful news. You did everything right and grew a strong babe! Congratulations!!!!

Wishing you and yours every good thing. If it helps: I know several young adults who were born quite early! One was no more than 27 weeks. Take care and rest as you can. All the best to you and your babe.

Cod liver oil. :)

Please don't quote. I want to help folks as much as I want to keep my kids' stories private. One of my older kids in college is not eating well. (I can see via social media.) It makes me feel impotent. As for the children in my home, yes, I cook for them. I pack lunches for the young teen, I don't buy junk (much). I make sure there are veggies, salads, and good proteins for dinner. One of mine is an athlete, and still sometimes forgets to eat. "You are crying because the last time you ate a piece of protein was 5 hours ago and you just worked out for 3 hours. Here's an egg salad sandwich." Oh, the world is right again? Great. You're welcome. <I don't say it this way, or with snark, I promise.> It's more like, "Babe, you must be starving. Your day is so long. " Then I listen to an indignant lecture on why I'm wrong and why dc is not starving. Ok. "Here. Would you like some water with that?" < And btw, here is your cold liver oil gel cap. > <--- Which I also do not say, but put gelcap by the water.

It does sound like the OP's grandmother is a Negative Nellie, and that's too bad for the children, and extremely painful to listen to as a mother. But addressing this idea, in general, I agree that we have to very careful sometimes. Once people feel shamed, especially when they have their hearts in the right place, it's going to create distance. I'm a big girl, mature in my emotions and relationships, but if I think I'm doing something good, and someone calls me out on it in an accusatory way, I tend to practice avoidance. I want people to give me the benefit of the doubt, and communicate to me in a way that is kind, and without a ton of baggage. I get everyone has baggage; that's the lot of being human. But step back, assess, be gentle, honest with yourself, and realistic wrt to others and their own limitations/strengths. Everyone has 'stuff'.

Were are strictly ballet, but dd has a really nice solo in the spring performance.

What could a neuro- typical 6 year old do that is so awful?

FB is a communication forum. Of course people are going to chit- chat, discuss, and share thoughts and ideas. When you are on my wall, you are among friends, so I have let people know that it's not some anonymous comments section after any old news article. You're on my friends list because I actually know who you are.

People can post whatever they like on their own walls. No one is forced to read anything.

I'd feel very sad about the negativity. That's too bad. I always thought my MIL was the most amazing grandmother. She adored my kids, was positive and kind, and prone to giving many cookies. She would knit on the sofa as they watched TV, or she would make them chicken soup, look through picture books and photo albums with them, would laugh at their little jokes and songs, maybe do a little patty cake (although she didn't speak English very well) and sing. My kids have incredibly fond memories of her. They knew they were loved. Never did she play with them.

That one too. :) Maybe we can just call it Singing. :)

Ha! :) Yes, B-I-N-G-O is still alive and well. Very much so. And...Let it Go. Always, everywhere, Let it Go. ;) (One dear teacher had it on a karaoke machine for early arrival and late dismissal students. It was extremely popular, and made 8am feel like Vegas. Meaning it didn't matter what time it was, the place was hopping.)

nm

This is interesting: http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/slideshow/locavore-school-lunches/?slide=1 17% of Portland's citizens live under the poverty line, so I think their work is quite impressive. I'm surprised Alice Waters and Berkeley is not represented. The poverty rate is Berkeley, CA is 20%. The schools are equally funded (not funded by real estate taxes- there are no 'bad' schools) and children are fed the same food. Breakfast is free. Fwiw, the year-round residents of Martha's Vineyard is not at all the same population as the summering folks. The year-round residents are the ones who work to keep it all going.

It might be valuable, if it wasn't done, to have her retested at a Children's Hospital w/ Neuro. If it's only been school testing, it might not have been thorough as it needs to be. Processing issues can be difficult to diagnose.

I didn't see the interview, but I just read about this. I am also shocked.

:) Seriously. In the 5 different schools I volunteered in for almost a year, this was pretty normal. It wasn't perfect mind you, but it was pretty nice. The children had two recess periods a day, string cheese and yogurt and fruit for snack, PE, art, music, movement. The lunches were really good (and hot!), and they had plenty of time to eat. There really were sing-alongs & storytimes lol, and lots of parents chatting at pick up and drop off. Best true story from a Kindy classroom: Smoking hot city firefighter (parent of a student) visited, in full gear. He shows the kids all the stuff- mask, giant boots, ax, heavy coat tool belt, powerful flashlight- everything. They are in heaven. He's a superhero. At one point, he asks the children if a firefighter can be slow or fast when getting ready to respond. They all yell, "Fast!" He says, 'you're right! And one way we can get ready fast is because we have Velcro on our clothing." So this incredibly fit and gorgeous young dad rips his off Velcro ff uniform shirt. He is wearing a white t, but for an instant it's like being at Chippendale's. The 2 parents in the class (one dad, one mom), me, and the female teacher burst into giggles. The guy looks at us, confused. Then he blushes. We talked about it for months. Poor guy, just trying to do his job. So yeah, community. Not an 'institution', but actual people, and actual community.

That makes sense as those foods keep better, travel well, are single -serving easy, and mostly cost effective. Blueberries and strawberries etc are not good keepers or travelers. If a child eats a couple of pieces of fruit a day at school, that's a good thing. There isn't a down side to an decent apple.

Yes! Rinse and repeat! We have an obesity crisis in the US. Not saying no, but this the above is spot on. We can fix the problem when we are misdiagnosing. Btw, for very young children, the obesity numbers are going down. For the past two years, I believe. There is still an income gap- the poorer being heavier, but on some level, in some places, we are feeding children better. Maybe it's because some children are drinking less juice and soda.

What would a nation of truly healthy children look like? What if every child really got good meals at school, in a setting such as the one Laura Corin describes in her experience as a teacher in France? What could we be as a country if such a large percentage of our neighbors weren't just scraping by, not wracked with anxiety over housing and food insecurity? Why are we even worried about getting good food to children? Healthy children grown healthier brains. That is not scary. (Sorry about the underscore. Not sure why that happened)

It's important to realize that school food in the states varies wildly. My youngest attends a public high school, and I volunteered in the elementary schools. The high school cafeteria is open pretty much all day for various items, and all lunch periods are 50 minutes. The salad bars are gorgeous, even in the elementary schools. I saw brown rice, veggie burgers, organic chicken, really nice fruit etc. In all the time I worked in the schools, I saw no little child have their food taken mid bite. In fact, my imagination didn't invent the caring teachers I know who respect that children need food, and the times they need it varies. I saw teachers hand out cheese sticks or yogurt in classrooms at random times (perhaps quietly), and stuffing Friday's leftover clementines or apples into backpacks was standard practice. While organic food might be an anomaly to my area, I guarantee that there are untold numbers of schools and teachers across the US feeding children with respect, and doing the very best that can be done given the vast inequity that is the funding of American schools. Hyperbole with be the death of us. That and greed.

My fines are legendary. I consider myself a library felon. I give happily. It's part of living in my village. I still spend far less on fines than I do on books- and I buy lots of books. I cannot envision a world without a town library and ILL. ILL is like Christmas morning twice a month.

But. ;) I still care about junk food. I can't help it. It's a health and political issue. (Although I am not talking about the occasional Happy Meal, just in case that wasn't obvious. Food deserts, inequity etc are my concerns.)

lol I already posted.