[How "off" does this sound to you?]

Could be like my family member. So in my case both father and son are "Michael" but son goes by middle name to distinguish. But all rosters have first name (which is also dads name).

[Do you let your kids play in flood water? (Not a JAWM)]

No. In Houston so dealing with lots of flooding. Absolutely not. During the last flooding last year we knew someone who got dysentary from getting stuff out of their flooded house (and lived very close to us). So definitely no. And yes my kids think I'm mean :)

[Having a bad week: Help me find some escapist fiction?]

I love all the Kate Morton books. Her latest Lake House is really good. While it does involve a child disappearing, it really isn't sad (don't want to give anything away).

[Favorite meals for new Moms]

I do this constantly. What I typically do is text the new mom a couple days ahead of time and give 3 choices and let her pick. That way we don't duplicate. My 3 favorites have usually been:

Oven roasted chicken fajitas (from budget bytes). I also bring tortillas, chips, salsa, cheese, rice, refried beans (if there are tiny ones in the family is usually add a couple cheese quesdillas)

Lasagna (I do an 8x8 pan unless it's a large family) with a salad and garlic bread

Whole chicken roasted in the oven with sides, usually green beans and mashed potatoes or oven roasted potatoes, with rolls.

Then I add a dessert and maybe a drink like lemonade or tea depending on the family.

And always all disposable so nothing has to be returned.

[What do you think of molar sealing for kids (to prevent cavities)?]

I desperately wish my parents had done them on me. My husband has them and I don't and we have had very different dental experiences. Obviously tons of other factors at work but we do them on our kids.

[Wedding Attire Question (Update #105)]

I think it's totally fine with a colored sweater, matching tights, and bow or headband. She's seven. You have a nice dress. I would not buy something different.

[Need help with a toy for a 2 year old boy...]

I would do a nice train set or set of blocks.  Those were favorites around here.

 

[Parenting resources for helping my difficult preschooler?]

I have a good friend with a daughter with similar issues (minus the pickiness). She has been diagnosed with extreme sensory processing issues and is greatly helped with different therapies at OT. I would not rule out ASD testing either. Basically I would do a full work up to start figuring out what's going on and how to help him (and everyone else in the family).

 

Also agree on The Explosive Child and I would also do The Out of Sync Child. And if I were desperate I would also remove ALL dairy and wheat and food dyes for quite a while and see what happens. So sorry! I know it's so hard.

[Should I continue to all ds9 to sleep in our room?]

My 10 year old is currently doing the same thing.  Somewhat recent move, anxiety at night (his bedroom is farther from ours that he is comfortable with).  Here's what we are doing:  He generally takes a little melatonin at night which really helps him get to sleep.  We hang out in our den which is right by his room til he's asleep.  It puts us close enough that he's comfortable (plus we go in and snuggle at bed time).

We are keeping a camp mat with a sleeping bag on top in our room on the floor.  If he awakes during the night and is nervous (basically every night) he just comes in with his blanket and pillow and falls right back asleep on the mat on the floor.  It works well for all of us.  We don't get woken up, he's not in our bed, he goes right to sleep and feels comfortable.  We just have to make sure not to step on him in the morning :)

We don't have plans to stop him.

[Helping kids stop sucking thumb]

Here's what worked with my daughter at around age 5.  We first made the rule that she once sucked her thumb at night.  Note, that she was on board with working on stopping. If she wasn't, it would have been a totally different deal.  So we nicely reminded her during the day if she was and after a couple week or so we got it contained to just night time.  Night time was harder.  We first worked on bed time, but she would still end up with her thumb in her mouth most of the night.  What ended up working for her was to wear gloves while she slept.  This totally stopped her.  She wore them for a month or so at night?  That was it for her.

[Can I substitute coconut oil for the butter in this recipe?]

I would personally use earth balance...I think the flavor would work better and still be dairy free. Not saying you couldn't use the coconut oil...just that in substitutions like that I tend to go for earth balance.

[Anyone else annoyed by SNAPFISH....]

That stinks. I have never had trouble with them before. I actually ordered calendars Monday night and they have already shipped...so I think there is definitely an issue with your order. I have done cards before that I made on their site but picked up at Walmart shortly after. Is that an option?

[Dr Hive...onset of leg pain/limp in ds]

Actually yes he did have a cold last week. Interesting...haven't heard of that before. He's outside the typical age range but yes, that could be.

[Dr Hive...onset of leg pain/limp in ds]

My 11 year old ds woke up yesterday limping. He says his left leg mainly hurts up top near the hip area although he's had some pain in his knee as well. It hurts most when he is walking, particularly when he has just stood up. It's not terrible pain and doesn't bother him sitting down but he has a very noticeable limp. He said the pain is kind of "moving around". He felt fine when he went to bed Monday and we can't think of anything he did that day that could have caused it. I will say on Sunday he slipped and fell but jumped right up and said he was fine/didn't hurt. No swelling or bruising of any kind

We are heading to the doctor tomorrow but curious if anyone else's dc had something similar happen.

[help! getting rid of a trapped rat UPDATE: SUCCESS]

I had the same thing happen with a mouse in our closet. I finally told the kids I would pay them if they could trap it (husband out of town). I shut them in the closet and they checked each shoe (my big fear was putting my foot in and it being in there) and finally realized it was in a suitcase. We zipped it up, wheeled it down the road, and got rid of it. And actually never had any more. I know this doesn't really help...but that's what happened here.

[Skip Counting or memorize multiplication?]

We definitely do both.  Skip counting to understand the concept followed by memorization. I believe both are necessary or at least helpful.

[Atelier Art at Co-Op]

No.  This is something you want on a big screen/larger TV.  I have taught this before in that setting...laptop would have been a hindrance for sure.  Otherwise...it is great to do in a group.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

[They're baaaack! It's Cotton Candy Grape season!]

Really?  Mine were in the stores in mid-June and are gone now.  

[Writing & Rhetoric Fable: Do I need a student book for each kid?]

We wrote in the books and I think it was much easier.  Not that it couldn't be done otherwise of course, we just preferred to write directly in the book.  I would definitely buy 2.

[AT Thru Hike]

I've followed this and have thought in the past how much I would love to do this one day when the kids are older. However as someone with chronic lyme (under control now, just occasional flare ups), I don't know if I could get past worrying about the ticks. Seeing you mention you have had lyme makes me more curious, what are your plans for that?

And it all sounds great BTW, enjoy!!!!

[I am so upset]

So no rental company in your area has a van for rent? Most will quickly bring one in from another area.

 

If they don't, can't you rent a smaller vehicle to just hold your family and let your sister follow you down in their own vehicle?

Or another idea, rent a smaller vehicle one way just to get to your sisters and then rent a larger vehicle there to use the rest of the time. It's slightly more to rent one way but not terrible. We recently did it and the difference was not a lot.

[Whole 30: Do I need the book?]

You can do it just using the website, but I would look over it carefully on the sections that spell it out (so not just the forums).  I did buy the book (it was on sale on kindle awhile back) and did find it helpful for doing the Whole 30 the first time.  I have seen people on various online forums who think they are doing one, but have definitely missed some of the rules (no smoothies, no snacks, meal template is just not correct).  While I do not think there is a one size fits all approach to nutrition, this was one where if I was going to do it, I wanted to follow it correctly, at least the first time.

 

I found the forums more helpful after I had read the book and had a good idea of what I was supposed to do.  

[Ok, so crazy question....London, in an RV??]

No.  Just no.  We rented a little bitty European car in London to tour the countryside on our own (didn't use it in London at all...rode the tube) and that was one of the crazier things we did.  Navigating in and out of the city on the wrong side of the road was trickier than we anticipated (and we are used to major city driving).  

 

 

[Texas]

We recently moved to Houston. We are just outside 610 on southwest side. Would love to connect with some people in the area. Feel free to PM me!

[Permanently attaching wooden track pieces to play table?]

We did. It was fabulous. My boys were probably 2 and 4 at the time and my daughter was 1. She was constantly destroying the tracks (just trying to play, not purposely mean )and they were so frustrated. We made the best possible track possible and wood glued it down. The boys were beyond thrilled and played with it far more than before. Fast forward about 3 years after that...we did end up getting rid of the table, keeping the trains, and getting more tracks. After that they did use them in a free flowing way on the floor. But those few years they were glued were awesome for their ages.