My son has love, love LOVED mindlab. It seems to depend a huge amount on who's running it though - we went to a different group and it was terrible, but then a new one started up closer to home and we gave it another try. He has learnt so much about how to problem solve and work through games and situations in a methodical way... huge thumbs up here.

inconceivable!

brands are different here - I've only ever found one brand of apple vinegar here and luckily it was GF.

It's amazing how smart kids can be REALLY dumb sometimes isn't it (and grown ups for that matter).

yup, we stick to apple and white wine vinegar here.

One thing that caught us out for ages was a dishwashing liquid. DS was reacting badly to something but we could not work out what it was until I happened to read the back of the bottle one day. It's amazing where wheat is used.

Gluten is everywhere - as others have said, even where it wasn't last time. Get to know your local Asian Supermarket if you have such things in your part of the world - the different flours, etc are much cheaper there. You need to get a new toaster or use toaster bags. Also remember that if the whole family is not GF you need 'safe spreads' and 'not safe spreads' to avoid contamination from someone making a sandwich and dipping their gluten covered knife in to the peanut butter. Good luck... it's a hard switch to make, but once you start to feel better you'll never want to go back.

I've been reading along through your experiences but haven't had anything to add. With this latest, all I can say is, you are describing my mother - the selective memory, out of the blue melt downs and general erratic behaviour. In the interests of my and my children's emotional safety I limit contact with her severely (something which she cannot understand and claims to be very hurt by). I cannot imagine living with her. I hope you can get out, and very soon, and keep you and your children safe until then. :grouphug:

<drool> that's wonderful

I find it very amusing after spending a few winters in Scandinavia where life just goes on... our whole city just shuts down. Then again we're all just hoping the earth stays still while the snow is here, because more collapsed buildings and prolonged power cuts would be a very bad thing with all this snow around.

well right now I'm in bed cos it's too darn cold to get out ;) I'm in New Zealand, watching a one-in-ten years snow storm blow by outside my window... it happens so rarely the city shuts down and we all hunker down until it goes away. It'll be gone by the end of the week and everyone will talk for months about what they did in the "big snow":lol:

My DS has enjoyed Literactive and also Intrepica.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I think I'll pay a visit to the local teacher supply shop and see if I can find anything of use there. I'll have to wait until it stops snowing though, so might be a few days now. I keep seeing lots of things that have *some* of what I want but none of it is all in one place. I'm envisioning this as a kind of overall record book of the year for the kids so I'd like to find the right thing.

I sure could. I'd really like a preprinted one if I can find it... otherwise I'll drift around in perfectionist funk forever.

I came across http://www.wellplannedday.com/ today and it looks very close to what I'm looking for but not quite perfect. Does something similar exist that is 1) undated and 2) prefer secular - not a deal breaker though, I can always cover up the religious bits with cute photos/ articles of interest. I really like the idea of a preprinted planner that I can work in, and it seems to have all the extra thing I like, but, yeah... the dates are all wrong for us and I'd prefer something undated.

:iagree: I don't see how you went from her response to yours in any reasonable world. I hope for your sake she lets it drop, but you deserved to be called on it.

I'm still waiting for my screamer to get the message that it will never work. He's been at it for coming up three years now. He used to go for hours (his record is a little over four hours) but at least now it's usually more short lived. If we're home and it's not too cold he gets put outside with a calm "screaming will never work" comment and left to it - we open the door as soon as he stops. If it's too cold he gets dumped in a boring part of the hall and ignored. If we are out he gets removed immediately and either strapped into the car and ignored (while we stand near by - I keep a book for just such occasions), taken home if that's possible or put in a corner out of the way. When he is finished there are consequences for his choice, and screaming has never EVER got him his own way... but he still tries it. I am waiting for the police to be called - he sounds like he's being flayed alive. A small part of me is hoping the police will be called because it might help get the message through. Sorry, that's not helpful to you really, but you're not alone!

I was a member as a kid / young teen and our local group had a youth group and mentors which was fantastic. From what I understand that was just a local initiative though - and I don't think it exists any more. I've never found any use for it since then and haven't bothered applying for my son.

Apparently there's a connection to Alexander the Great somewhere in my mother's family. I don't know how though. My Father's family connects to Lord Nelson somehow.

that is a very cool cake - you are very inventive.

coolness. Almonds are the one "nut" I can have... I grew up sucking the chocolate off scorched almonds despite being allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. Almond butter is gross, but it's nice that people who care can have something in that family around me. It's nice that OP is concerned about her friend's child... thank you from another allergic person and allergy mum too.

Almonds are not nuts.

Sorry, my guys have out grown it now and I've passed it on.

I have two rain gutter shelves just inside the front door which is where the library books live. They are not allowed to be left anywhere else. It works so far.

I'm not in Canada or the US and don't seem to be able to make it work. I may have to borrow a friend's address to join, it looks like fun.