He sounds a bit like my son was at that age (and still is sometimes). I would NEVER have been able to babysit my ds! For a kid his age, it sounds like early intervention is in order. He should qualify for psychological and daycare/preschool services as a preschooler with a disability.

chickadoodle- thank you!

They have no friends right now, and get along better with kids at the park.

I have a low loft bed (frame is 24" from the floor), and ds has a mid height loft. Mine fits the big bin I used for sheets, and ds's is for all his toys. I'll try to remember to take pics later. We're also in a very small house. I have a closet in my bedroom, but the dryer is also in there so it reduces space. DD has a closet. That's it. I only have 2 kids but it's very tight here.

Thanks again everyone! I've decided to leave the connections academy program guide on the table with a printout of dd's course placement on the dining room table. It'll come up real quick! I considered telling my father over the phone, but I don't want her to make it seem like he'd been "hiding" this. I'm also going to treat them to dinner or breakfast at the diner in town and call it mother's day!

Please tell me you have epi-pens and a plan of attack? I'll be back with some ideas.

I was a fan from day one because of this, and now because he can really sing.

I'm not saying he has problems in any area, just wanted to make sure you do not hold birth to three as the gold standard. My son was royally screwed by early intervention. My cousin's son in a different state is having some of the same problems, as well as a friend of hers. A friend half way across the country has been left in tears multiple times by her early intervention caseworker.

THIS exactly!

This is why I am beyond excited about the available housing assistance. As soon as I am able to fully, 100% support us (Hmmm, maybe should have thought about this before having 2 kids with no husband :leaving:) I will have no problem creating the boundaries we so desperately need.

Again, thank you! Great advice, and I'm taking all of it in!

We're not homeschooling though. In PA, certain cyber schools are PS, just not in the traditional sense. My goal (not announcing this!) is to use the cyber as a jumping off point for HSing. I'm a crazy planner but can never get the plan up to my own standards, so I tend to bail. Cyber gives me a chance to have them home full time, follow the curriculum, and figure out what works for us. If we were in a low reporting state, I'd homeschool and learn as we go. But since we have high reporting requirements, it scares me. I'll either do too much and burn out or do way too little. They already have issues with our (lack of) religious choices, so I'm leaving that out all together. I also just realized that I need to start the weekend right and get her a mother's day card and maybe a little gift.

He's helping with rent until we get housing assistance. It's cheaper for him for us to live out of state while he rents his basement to someone else, instead of us living there. The only transition is that I will be taking on my own car insurance soon. All other bills are mine (as it should be, I know), and I have not needed a bailout since we moved! This is the first time I've been on my own, and our income is all fixed. So no, he doesn't expect me to take on the rent until we have housing. I'm not sure if he likes supporting me as my father, or if it's a control thing, but when I mentioned housing he was kind of shocked that one day soon he would not be financially involved in our day to day living. When she brings up homeschooling, I will make sure to correct her since that's not what we're doing. Thank you for all the advice. And thank you for pointing out that I'm already defensive about this. I need to change my thinking.

This woman can take the joy out of a birth! Staying excited is my plan. I will mostly address my father, and focus on how technology based the stepmother's school is.

Even when I just say "Hi, how have you been?" to her, I feel like I was sent to the principal's office!

He pays our rent, and I don't want it to turn into a money conversation down the road. I would also like the kids to be able to talk to their grandfather about school and how excited they are about next year. The rest of my family is not physically involved like my father is, which is why I wasn't too concerned about their reactions. My father visits every 3 weeks, which hopefully will be reducing.

This is probably my 3rd (at least) post about all this junk! Tomorrow I tell my father about the kids and school. I had planned it to be a decent time. But then he had to throw a curveball and tell me his wife is coming this weekend as well. :glare: If I don't say anything, they'll imply I'm hiding it, which equals me knowing that it's "wrong." His wife is a highschool principal and able to win any chat, which is how she acts, like everything needs to be won. I have a confirmation for dd's classes, and an idea of added things. My father thinks it's awesome that we're learning latin. I have not had such positive responses about american sign language :confused:. DS is official, but we have to have an IEP meeting, and the sped director has to approve the final placement. I do have a general idea of how it will work with him. I've spoken at length with most of my family and have only gotten one negative! :D. The best was my southern grandmother who said we shouldn't be using the cyber school, that I should just homeschool because I'm intelligent enough! This is the woman who never thinks anyone does anything right! The kids are already registered, so it will not turn into a decision arguement. It's done and is staying done. In my "speech" I'm addressing "what about socialization?" "you're not smart enough." "what about a job?" and "how are you going to handle them at home?" Should I add any others? I do much better when prepared. Unlike his wife, I'm horrible about speaking out of my *tush* and will just sit there like duh! The biggest positive (for this purpose) in all this is that cyber school IS public school, just from home. I'm not the teacher, I'm the learning coach. If I can't teach something, the regular teacher can't get it to click, or the sped teacher can't, we can always go to one of the offices. There's one 20 minutes away. Whoever is having a hard time can sit down with a teacher. But if we ever get to that point, the child is just simply not ready for that concept. **Would anyone be willing to argue the sterotyped questions/concerns about homeschooling so I can "practice?" PLEASE :). ETA- Title spelling is bugging me. It should be WISH I could make some bean dip.

Apparently I have horrible timing! :( I'll keep an eye on the ebay one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593630778/sr=1-1/qid=1304545328/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1304545328&sr=1-1&seller= My goal, obviously is to find it much less than $145!

14 was great!

:iagree:

Jody Picoult's House Rules gives a pretty good insight into aspies. There were some things I didn't like, but overall the book was great.

Whenever we talk about next year's school, my ds will say he's going to sleep in alllll day like the book (I am not going to get up today), but then starts laughing and says, just kidding. Oh how I wish! I have to look at the positive; We will get up at 6 and have about 3 hours to get schoolwork done before dd falls out of bed. We should be able to get the harder stuff done and he can spend most of the day just being a boy.

I'm ordering the things we will need this summer and the few supplements for next year. I was just about to order callirobics, but remembered he has an extensive eye exam coming up (they can do VT if needed). He is currently unable to cross his eyes, poor reading skills, and horrid handwriting. His vision is pretty good, perception seems fine to very good. He never, ever bumps into people or things, he is extremely aware of all things around him visually or sounds. Do I order callirobics now? Wait until after the exam? If he needs VT, will we still need callirobics? (I realize that last one can't be answered for sure, but maybe from experience?) Should I hold off with all things for him for now?

I put milk in my cereal and make a protein shake with it. DD drinks and uses almond milk DS drinks and uses rice, soy, and vanilla soy milk. Oh, and he drinks/eats 4-5 daily pediasure which is milk based.