teamturner
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Posts posted by teamturner
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My ds 12 (almost 13) started learning to play the guitar when he was 10 and our co-op offered a guitar class. Prior to that, I had asked a friend who played guitar and he advised me to wait until 10-12 years of age to start guitar.
I did start my dc on piano when they were 7 and they are still taking piano lessons as well. My ds who plays the guitar was able to teach himself new chords and progress on his own because he understood music from piano. He has learned scales and chords on the piano and it translated very well to guitar.
My philosophy is to have a few years of piano and then branching out to other instruments after that. I admit I am biased though since my mother was a piano teacher and I took lessons for 9 years. :tongue_smilie: I also think an older child will have more maturity to persevere with the guitar as it is challenging. We happened to have a nylon stringed guitar on hand which is what he learned on. After almost a year with that one, we got him a steel stringed guitar, which hurts the fingers more. I think starting with easier, softer strings helped with the learning curve as well.
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I skip the kids version as you get more for your money if you just give half the adult packet. I sometimes give the whole packet, like just one a day. But for times they are actually sick and I want to give it all day, I'll give half the packet and use the rest later. Saves money. My bigger kids I'll give the whole packet several times a day. Just half it for my smaller ones.
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We had to put our dog down last year around this time. It was so hard but my vet actually told us they had thought for quite a while that she was ready when they had her there for kenneling. Why they never said anything to me I still don't understand. My dog went so quickly and peacefully that I felt guilty later for not doing it sooner. She had not been happy for a long time and could hardly walk anymore.
With your dog, the weight loss is what it a big sign that she is very ill. Plus not getting up to urinate is another big sign that it is time. I'm very sorry for you and your family. I know it is such a hard decision.
:grouphug:
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I refuse to believe that is anything but brilliant satire.
Please?
:iagree: I don't think her letter is serious.
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A separate standard would be that you, as an individual student, pass/meet the standard with a lower score based on race, gender, eye color, address or if you know the superintendent. This is a business/district goal to see progress towards district wide goal of increasing the number of students meeting the standards. It is not a discrepancy by student but a metric of how well the district addresses the issue. Basically ALL districts have a gap. It will not get better by ignoring it or not bothering to take the stats at all. If the gap widens or narrows that can illuminate what is going on and mean they need to either do something else or know (if it lessens) that they are making progress on a worthy goal. They are not lowering the bar for any students. Right now the numbers are gosh darn awful. How would you propose they improve outcomes for all students and narrow the long existing achievement gap without noting that it exists? How would you write the plan? Lump all kids together and set a goal that does not look at the numbers by race at all?
:iagree: The bolded part is what it all comes down to.
For those who are still thinking the standards are different based on race, look at it this way:
Out of 100 black kids 38 can read proficiently. The goal is to increase that number to 74 children. With whites, out of 100 only 69 read proficiently and they want to increase that number to 86. So the teachers of these 200 students have to make sure an additional 36 black students and 17 white students can also read proficiently by 2018. And don't forget the 27 additional Hispanic students that need to be reading proficiently also.
Who is going to get more of the focus in the classrooms in this scenario? The test for reading proficiency is the same for all students, correct? So the standards are the same for ALL students.
The bigger question should be HOW are they going to make this happen? What is the strategy? These numbers and race goals are just numbers in a plan. If we are opposed to looking at it by race, what would be a better way? By zip code? There has to be some way to identify the masses of children not reading proficiently so the problem can be corrected somehow.
I don't see how some are interpreting this as different educational standards. :confused: What should be shocking and upsetting is that so many children are not reading proficiently!
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The thing that bothers me the most about this situation is the belief by the senior pastor and youth pastor that "combining ages never works." I'm all for the youth having their time by themselves, but I also think the youth can and should also be a part of mixed ages gatherings and multigenerational activites . I also don't like the idea that the parents feel that they are not welcome to youth activities. I think parents should be involved in youth stuff.
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Don't worry about the house and how it looks. I would ask my kids to really give it a good effort in the cleaning department and then let it go. I think family would understand the situation.
Praying you feel better soon!
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I've seen The Grudge and that was a freaky movie. My dh and I could laugh about it later though. I don't know about the last one. Poltergeist is a great movie but that clown scene and a few others are completely scary!! I'm a big baby when it comes to horror movies. I agree with the person that said it matters how old you are. I used to be able to watch scary movies when I was younger.
If your ds really wants to go after you've told him a little about the movies and their level of scare factor, maybe you should let him. I have twin boys that are almost 13 and I kind of think they could handle the first two. One more than the other. One of my twins is probably not ready for those kinds of movies but the other one might be. It really depends on the kid. I think with a big group of boys they might end up laughing over scenes that otherwise would be scary.
However, if it were me, I'd probably not let my boys go as they have not had any exposure to horror movies and I wouldn't want them spending the night at someone else's house if they couldn't sleep because they were really scared.
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I haven't read all the replies, but wanted to chime in. I am a Christian and I think your il's are in the wrong on several levels. They should not have taken your dc when you expressly said they may not. However, I do think it unreasonable to expect them to miss church service because they were watching your kids for you. I realize you don't leave them on Sundays or Wednesdays anymore which is probably for the best.
I also think it was horrible that they told your dc they would go to hell if they didn't say the words they were told to say. They are terribly misguided if they think saying words you do not mean or understand means you are suddenly a follower of Christ. Shame on them for saying those things to your dc!! They attend a church that does not reflect many of the Christian teachings that I believe in. Pressuring someone to say the words to accept Christ is far from the gospel as it is presented in the Bible.
I don't think you should cut them completely out of your lives, but you should not leave your dc with them w/o you there also.
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As much as I understand the inclination, I don't wish violence, especially the eluded to prison sexual assault or beatings, on anyone. He, like every other prisoner, deserves to be safe while incarcerated.
:iagree: I think wishing daily violence upon any inmate is technically cruel and unusual punishment, isn't it? I thought America is against that type of thing. I am really saddened that the level of sexual assaults in our country's prisons is considered okay and should be something we work to correct, imo.
I don't think they should get to sit around and watch TV, surf the web, or things like that. I do think some sort of labor should be involved. But we should not permit actual crimes.
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Ok, I've called the doctor. I'm sure his eye hurts but, trust me, with this child, there is some serious drama going on! He is really hoping for an eye patch. Argh, mateys!
Okay, I've had like 4 corneal abrasions in my life (don't ask!) and they have put a patch on for the first few days as the constant opening and closing of the eyelid makes the pain worse. Keeping it closed is actually better. I think national talk like a pirate day is this week??
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Sounds like a corneal abrasion, which as so, so painful. I've had this happen to me several times and it completely incapacitates me on that first day. It is miserable. Take him into an eye doctor now. They can examine it and give him eye drops to help it heal more quickly. They do heal quickly but the first day or two are the worst. The last time it happened to me, they gave me a contact bandaid which helped a lot. I don't know if they'll give it to a child that doesn't already wear contacts.
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I've actually been thinking about starting to go tent camping with the kids. I will plan on going by myself since dh is concerned about bears, but if he wants to join us, it will be a bonus (provided he's not cranky about going!). But I'm tired of NOT doing stuff with them simply because he's unwilling.
QUOTE]
Your older sons will be very helpful on a camping trip. You should do it! And my guess is that your dh will want to join you all for the next trip once he hears of all the fun you guys had!
Maybe leave the younger two home w/dh. That might be an incentive to join you guys for the next trip as well. ;)
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I do this type of thing often as well. Someone recently told me its a symptom of "too busyitis!"
Sorry!
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The transfer didn't happen. We stopped it before that. I have my checking acct. on hold. I just wanted to make sure I did everything I needed to do.
Thanks!
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I got an email this morning from paypal telling they were going to process a transfer from my checking account to my paypal account that I requested. I did not request this. So we had to take steps to stop it and are going through all kinds of pains to prevent fraud. The amount was $1000!! We have changed passwords to everything we can think of.
This made me suspicious of a transaction that happened on 8/3 that I thought my dh had made since the description was for pants and the amount was only $12.99. He assumed it was my transaction. Had I looked more carefully at the notification I would have seen that the ship to address was a stranger in another state!!
We don't use paypal much at all. So someone hacked our paypal account right? We changed all the passwords, took off all the banking stuff, etc. We have put a hold on our account that was tied to PP.
What else should I do? Is there anything else I should know about.
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I have tears in my eyes!!
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I'm laughing to* much w/my dd. I put it on my Wish List and she said, "No! Buy it!"
* Learn which "to" to use!! My word!
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A pillow could be used to suffocate someone.
Just watched part of Single White Female last night and the crazy chick killed a guy w/one of her pumps.
Just sayin.....;)
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Sorry you're dealing with this. Seems like she gets to say what she wants, and you get stuck with the resentment. I guess for the sake of my own sanity I'd be tempted to turn it into a game. She says something "helpful" like "you need to serve dinner at 5:30!"
"I serve snacks at 5:30!" "I only serve dinner every other day, we're on a budget!" "What do you think I should serve?!" "You should really think about changing your hair color!"
I mean, if I were that irritated and could not Avoid, I'd engage. Playfully. For fun! Get her going on her favorite hot button topics. I'd institute a point system. I'd keep track of the scoring for each event. I mean, I'd rather laugh than walk around with a big ball of resentment. Would anyone punish you if you had fun with her? Come to her with your friends' problems, and see if she can solve them! Every time she offers an opinion, ask her what BOB thinks, or if BOB thinks that too. Pop off with "What about BOB..." every so often. If she says something really awful, you can say, "Well, you don't have to go all QUEEN OF SHEBA on me." Smile. Then the next time she's irritating you can ask if she's feeling like she's having another Queen of Sheba Moment. Etc.
I think this is preferable to killing the woman or developing an ulcer. I refuse to develop ulcers over people.
:grouphug:
:lol::lol: This is great stuff!!!
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Thank you, Katie, for all your advice! I am going to call the vet tomorrow as they are closed today. It broke my heart to hear about your doggie.
Knowing what I know now, I will not look for a better crate. I left her out of it last night in my dd's room (she slept on the bed) and she was fine. We took her w/us to the triathlon my boys were in this morning. She got so much attention from everyone and she was happy to be with us. I don't want to put her in a crate again until I have her sedated.
We are all home and in various rooms and when I couldn't find her, I looked first in my dd's room. There she was laying on the bed all by herself! Maybe that will be her happy place.
Looking on the bright side, if she is going to be left out when we leave, then our house will have to become a lot more picked up! ;)
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I may have missed this, but are you sure it's not crate anxiety, rather than separation anxiety? Maybe she is claustrophobic in a small space like a crate.
What happens if you leave the house without crating her? Does she destroy things in the house? I know you said she's an escape artist when left outdoors, but unless she knows how to pick a deadbolt lock, she probably won't be able to get out of the house when you're gone.
If she's destructive of your property while you're gone, that's a different thing entirely. Then, I'm not sure what you can do, unless there's a room where she can't hurt herself or damage anything.
Personally, I have never been a big fan of crating dogs, but I know that many people have great success with it. I have always preferred to teach the dog how to behave in the house, so the dogs can go anywhere they want when we're not at home.
It was listed in her file at the shelter that she was destructive and chewed things, especially books. She also digs out of yards.
The times she's escaped her crate with us, she's chewed a library book, very special stuffed animal, and a nerf bullet. At least it wasn't furniture though. If we are gone a few hours, I'm afraid of what she might destroy.
We have had success with crating in the past, but perhaps this dog is different. There were red flags to me in her file, but I wanted to help her and thought giving her a loving, stable home was what she needed. Perhaps it will be a bit more work.
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The first time she was out, she chewed up a library book and a stuffed animal. We found her laying on my dd's bed.
Today when she got out she chewed my dd's flip-flops and some other minor thing.
I guess I'd be willing to try leaving her out for a short test run and see how it goes. I just have so many books that are on bookshelves and low to the ground. Plus, our last dog when she was a puppy chewed a huge hole out of our couch. I don't want to lose any furniture or have her chew up baseboards or something like that. I guess I should give it a try. I was also not sure how house trained she was. At this point, cleaning up after her if she goes potty in the house would probably be easier.
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We were just at the vet on Thursday and she recommended we wait 6-8 weeks to see if she is struggling with this solely from the transition of a new home. Then if it was still occuring we could do the meds. Perhaps she doesn't have that much experience with this problem. I'm pretty sure if I call her up and say we want to go ahead and try the meds she will prescribe them.
It will be difficult to not leave her alone. We have swim practice Mon-Thurs afternoon, church stuff Wed night, and co-op from 12-4 on Friday. Before we got the dog, I really thought we were home a lot. :confused:
We have a neighbor who has a golden lab that we can set up doggie playdates with. They have a huge yard and leave their dog outside a ton. It may work out to leave her w/them sometimes.
Unfortunately, we have an overnight trip planned for next Sunday. I am trying to find a doggie sitter to come and stay at the house, but I worry about leaving someone w/such a crazy situation, with her escaping her crate and tearing things up. I also hate to put her in a kennel while we're gone because she'll think we are abandoning her. I may have to ask my neighbors w/the lab to keep her for us since she spent several hours at their house yesterday while my dd was also there, so it may not upset her.
UUUGGGGHHH! I guess I better look into the drugs as soon as possible.
You all have been so helpful. Thanks so much!
Tell me to let it go
in The Chat Board
Posted
I agree with this. She has major OCD issues and really can't help it. Do what you can to mend things with her and see how she prefers you help in the future.