@Crimson Wife Ahhhh!!! Look at his giant baby head on his spindly little baby neck!!! I looooooove that little smirk! Congratulations!!! What a cutie!!!

Another option here: You and your son have a lot of *negative* history built up around math lessons- it stresses you out, there has been crying, jumping around, lack of understanding... Can you outsource math to your DH? My DH does German with the kids every day after dinner. He must do the German, because it's required here and I don't speak it. So he just gets it done. Pick some mastery program- Singapore, MUS, whatever... hand it off to DH, and schedule in a 45 minute math lesson every evening. The change of scenery/teacher/timing may help to reduce the math anxiety that has settled in the family. There are ways this can be made to work. I took back dish waashing duties when my kids reached the age where they needed to start German. I'm not happy about that, but I'd much rather wash dishes than learn German, so... 🙂 Try everything you can to give your DH the math lesson task.

Why is it that when it rains, it pours? Big hugs and prayers.

Oh, how cool!!! It would be awesome to meet an IRL hiver! Come to Switzerland. I don't have any decapitated baby heads, but I do have some caps missing pens and some pens missing caps, which is the stationary equivalent of decapitation...

@Crimson Wife Nice to "see" you, I feel like I haven't seen many posts from you these days! Thank you for the advice. A little more info: The EB virus test was negative, they did both the instant and the cultured strep, both were negative. No flu present, but high IGG for flu, so apparently multiple past infections with flu virus. It really appears to be the mycoplasma that set off the PANS. The dd seems to have a pretty fragile/delicate system. Multiple food allergies and sensitivities, starting pretty quickly after birth. Mom breastfed, but had to restrict her own diet during that time or dd would react to her milk. She continues to struggle with food, and the PANS has also caused quite a bit of food avoidance, though that seems to have calmed down a bit. The zitrho does appear to be making a positive difference, although it's still two steps forward, one step back. But this is the first improvement they've seen in two weeks, so it's very welcome!

@Ktgrok They did culture for the strep, not sure about EB.

Her strep test was negative, but she was positive for something called mycoplasma. Her mom and I agree that 5 days seems woefully inadequate.

Thank you for passing this along!

Hi all, A good friend is going through what appears to be a major PANS crisis with her 8yo dd. The dd had what appeared to be a mild flu, and about a week or so later, had a day where her behavior very rapidly (within hours) deteriorated to severe OCD symptoms, irrational fears, full regression in toilet use, feelings that she is not herself, has been taken over, etc. This behavior has shown virtually no improvement, though there are some ups and downs in the severity of the OCD. It's been going on for about 10-14 days now, can't remember exactly. Her pediatrician had never heard of PANS/PANDAS, wanted to refer to psych. Family doc just finally prescribed 5 days of antibiotics (Zithromax). Local and semi-local PANDAS experts are all booked for the next 4-8 weeks. Meanwhile, the entire family is in total crisis. Mom is dropping her school classes she was taking, DD cannot go to school and is barely functioning at home, dad is being called home from work because between the dd who is clearly very ill and her little sister, mom needs help. Family is located in Ohio, if anyone knows any local resources. If you have gone through severe PANS/PANDAS, can you give any advice here??? Thank you!

The only time I've had a carry-on thoroughly searched as for 2 rolls of quarters. I was visiting home while in college, and early in the trip, my grandma had very considerately given me two rolls of quarters, knowing I had to use a laundry machine that took quarters. I slipped them in my bag and promptly forgot all about them. The TSA guys were describing metal cylinders in my bag and asking what it might be as they rummaged around, and I had NO IDEA what it could be. They did eventually find the quarters. 🙂 As others have said, don't fill your water bottle until after security. Expect electronics to need to be taken out and put in their own bin. Make sure batteries are charged enough that they can be turned on if asked. Easy on, easy off shoes. About 50% of the time, we need to remove our shoes in security. Hand lotion, eye drops, other liquids, etc, in one quart size plastic bag for easy removal Medication in a ziploc bag as well... it's rare that they ask us for meds

La Vache (2016) won a bunch of awards... we have it but haven't managed to sit down and watch it yet!

And the food- which is included in the room price- was wonderful!!! (This was 15 years ago...)

I went to a lovely family-owned nature tourist resort in Costa Rica called Bosque de Paz. Very peaceful and beautiful.

I believe that WTM Press also offers some historical paper figures, I feel like I just saw them on the website the other day. We also got a (pre-made) kit of finger puppets for Shakespeare. That has been fun here.

I have some great photos of my oldest holding the baby away from his math book with one hand, and writing out problems with the other. Because of course, baby was literally crawling across the table... It does get better. Your parenting toolbox will expand and your ability to manage two small people will grow to meet this new need. It's easier when your toddler is about 2+ yeras old, when you can semi-safely expect that they won't eat paint and won't fall off a stool. Then you can do things like: - baby watercolor painting at one end of the table - or coloring, or doing play dough... - Threading large beads onto pipe cleaners - Toddler "washing" plastic dishes at the kitchen sink (assuming yours is in view of the work table). My kids would spend sooooo much time in water play if I let them at that age. - Toddler playing with sensory box. We had a big flat rubbermaid bin filled with uncooked rice, and little cups and spoons. It is CRITICAL that you supervise this activity until your kids have mastered the "rice stays in the box" rule. After that, it will be a huge help. The same box of rice lasted for four kids in my house, got constant play, and was also the hit of any friends who came to visit. But like I said, if you've got a rice thrower, you are doomed. Take the time to put the fear of God into them about throwing the rice around! Basically, have a few really cool activities that only come out at school time. Rotate through them, so everything stays fresh. One day is paints, one day is clay, one day is washing dishes... Another big tip is to continue to put the toddler for a nap, even if he doesn't sleep. Make him stay in one place for an hour, and give him a stack of books if he doesn't sleep anymore. Spend the time and energy upfront on behavior. We don't tear books, we don't throw rice, we don't take playdrough somewhere other than the table... etc, etc. That is by far the biggest time saver because you invest upfront, and reap benefits for the rest of your years with small children. Also: Find ways to encorporate baby. You can roll a ball back and forth between baby and big bro, while skip counting. You just do the count for baby, but he gets to roll the ball. Also, at 18 months, he will probably be able to sit through a picture book reading, if you have trained him to do so and he is developmentally ready.