I have low carbed for years due to PCOS and accompanying degree of insulin resistance. Yes, it helps with brain fog IME. When I eat a substantial number of carbs, my body pumps out too much insulin, which leaves me hungry, with brain fog, tired, etc. For me, cutting out gluten wouldn't be enough. I unfortunately don't tolerate carbs well at all, including whole grains and gluten free grains. Have you ever looked into whether you could be insulin resistant?

Here's what Bloomberg is saying on the motivation behind the hacking. This connects some dots. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/signs-of-china-sponsored-hackers-seen-in-anthem-attack?hootPostID=c44f36a9c15cefe56d632253d06dbb3c

All of us regulate ourselves up and down throughout the day. I think many of us remember sitting in class in college lectures, tapping our foot, unwrapping some gum, opening up a soda or drinking a coffee, quietly drumming our pencil on our notebook, etc. Those are pretty socially appropriate ways to regulate ourselves so we can pay attention to a lecture. Kids with more intense sensory needs may need more intense ways to regulate themselves up and down, or sometimes they choose ones that are less socially appropriate (chewing on sleeves vs. some gum, kicking their neighbor's chair in school vs. lightly tapping their foot on the floor). So yes, OTs help kids who are sensory seeking and sensory avoiding meet their needs and modulate themselves. They may provide a sensory diet to help them manage themselves throughout the day, attend to the teacher or other tasks, etc. As kids get older, they work with them on learning to identify their needs and regulate themselves. There are programs like How Does Your Engine Run? that are targeted to teaching kids to regulate themselves over time. She should have no issue addressing your concerns. Just ask. eta: Agree 100% with Storygirl with respect to the rest of the week. Are they teaching you and working with you? They should be working with YOU on how to help him during the week. One session per week or so with EI really isn't enough in and of itself; the assumption in EI is that the therapist will work with the family and teach them the skills. That's really the point of EI in the first place. She should be demonstrating things you can do to help him, how to set up a sensory diet, etc. Are you getting that from sessions? If not, ask to sit in, ask questions about why and how, ask how to set up areas of your home to meet his sensory needs throughout the week, how to keep him safe and set boundaries with what is reasonable for him to do.

OP, I just want to say thanks for starting this thread.

I personally would skip the bars and such, particularly since you are only on day 4. I don't LC for weight loss, but have read many people find they are stalled by such products. I really think a "reset" of a few weeks at minimum is a good idea before you add in anything like bars, etc. if at all possible. I believe breaking that pattern is really important, because eventually those things won't be as powerful as they are now. You really are in the worst of it. The first two weeks are the toughest; after that it will get easier. I would try to make it through a few weeks without bars or other fill in foods. Maybe they will work for you down the road, but if you are asking for my opinion, I'd say skip for now if you can manage. Would you be open to something like some fresh berries with some heavy cream? I've found in the past that when I go through periods where it is more of a struggle, having a few decadent but approved foods is helpful to me. Buy and prepare a great steak, purchase some high quality crab meat (not the catfood like canned stuff) and make a nice crab salad in half an avocado, buy some lovely berries. I know it isn't the same as dessert, but it may help a little psychologically. I don't remember if it is technically allowed in induction, but you can make things like the very mini cheesecakes (muffin sized) as a dessert. I'd try to get through two clean weeks before going there though, and some people find things like that, even if "allowed," are a trigger for them to just want more. Make sure you are drinking enough and getting enough fat to hold you over as you go through those rough first days.

Lego engineering, simple machines, engineering challenges Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction projects (I hate that title, TBH, but the projects are fun if you don't think the parents would find them offensive. Gathering the materials would be a pain for a whole class though IMO. Whittling/soap carving/something else along those lines? That's kind of specific but the type of "crafty" thing my almost 11 yo enjoys.

That's fantastic :) Reading internet reviews is such a mixed bag at times. It is both lovely and terrible to have so many data points. Reviews were good overall, but then when I was poking around on chowhound and elsewhere, some people had issues with their finishes.

I am not sure if it is like this everywhere, but even if the house will "pass inspection," the buyers may want it repaired anyway, kwim? I have been on both ends, and even if it isn't absolutely necessary, depending on inventory and condition of other houses in your price range, it may end up being a sticking point for buyers no matter what. We've always hired an inspector, and they just pretty much report on what issues there are, what kind of time frame we are looking at for things like roof, windows, whatever, that type of thing. Buyers may still expect you to price the house accordingly if there is damage like that, even if it passes a local government's type of use and occupancy inspection. I'm so sorry you were hit with this unexpectedly. We've bought and sold several times and have considered another move recently, but ugh, it is such a stressful process. eta: definitely get other opinions. I would not give the realtor more info about what price you are hoping for than you have to, having suspicions that I was once burned through such a discussion with a realtor. I'd get the opinion of an inspector (not connected to your realtor in any way IMO. I prefer to find my own for several reasons) and maybe another contractor or two. Yes, you are looking at some $$, but better to have a thorough picture of what you are looking at, what will be necessary, what potential alternatives there are, etc .than spending that $ based on one contractor's opinon. it doesn't mean he's wrong in any way, but I wouldn't start expensive repairs without other opinions.

That's great. Three yrs is reasonable IMO to judge that it has held up for you, so thanks for sharing. Yes, I hear you on the fact it will likely live on out of spite, LOL.

Well, long-term I think that the relative should have to make the concessions unless you can build your science into the 3 days a week the DC won't be there with you. I've never been in this situation; my only reference point for HSing other kids is the small academic co-op we participate in (secular). We design the curriculum around our goals as a group, and we are all pretty much on a similar page with respect to educational philosophy and such. I might have considered skipping that lesson just for the short period of time these kids are spending time with you, just because I wouldn't want to fan any flames if I was attempting to step in and help. But long term, I would not be comfortable having to rework my curriculum. IMO, you are still doing them a favor, so they will need to work with what you have planned. If I could fit our science into the days they aren't there, I might opt to do that and just read science books that are less of an issue for them when they are present. If this is a short term thing and they are going through a crisis, I'd look at shoving my science days to the days when they are not with you.

Do you have one of these? I really wanted to get my brother a Kirkland one like I have, but they were OOS online and not in the warehouse this year. I ended up going with a Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven, but the reviews were all over the place on longevity of the enamel. I bought it for him, hoping it won't chip, and of course then the Kirkland one was back in stock on Costco's site a few weeks later. I've been worried because I really would have rather bought the Kirkland because I have first-hand experience with it.

call.

I don't want to be rude and jump in, but I'll add that I love our Kirkland Dutch oven. We've had it for a year or so. Made in France, nice quality, much better than anything else in that price range by far IMO. I paid $50 on clearance. The last I checked it was 89.99 or so on their site, and I'd still happily have paid that for ours.

You could look at issues with kinesthesia and proprioception. An OT would be the best person to talk to. With EI, they typically send out a team, so I'd let them know at the intake what you are seeing and ask if they think your concerns would be better addressed if an OT with sensory experience was sent out as part of the team. Proprioception and kinesthesia relate to body awareness and the awareness of the body moving through space. They would also look at motor planning issues. Vision and inner ear issues would also be good to rule in or out. You might look at a checklist for kids with body awareness issues; some sensory checklists have sections that will talk about proprioception and kinesthesia. See if any of those are consistent with what you are observing.

I remember maybe 11-12 years ago when they were doing trials with d-chiro inositol, and it was working well for many people, including those who were not responsive to fertility meds or metformin (depending on what PCOS symptoms they were trying to address). I have seen some literature on this in the last few years, but I haven't followed it like I did in the beginning of my PCOS journey. I would love to hear more about your experience as well.

Chili, meatballs, meatloaf, burgers are all easy to make larger amounts of. Eat one and freeze the rest or whatever works for you. You can also just reuse the same bowl and do a 2nd round of something similar but different (so make meatballs but then toss together meatloaf with some of the same ingredients/seasonings). Soup Grill a bunch of chicken breast, flash freeze, put in freezer containers. Have you considered a food saver? You can turn that into salad, quesadillas, fajitas, etc. I do quite a few dutch oven throw it together recipes. My kids aren't picky, so YMMV. Boneless, skinless thighs, a jar or two of kalamata olives, some greens, a pack of grape tomatoes, etc. in the dutch oven until the chicken is done is very easy and my kids like it. They are really not picky though, so again, this may not appeal. Sometimes I put some lentils in the bottom and add some chicken stock. Capers are good in it too; include some brine from them or from the olives if you happen to try it.

I would not give all that long. No sense in getting burned. If people are serious, they'll pay. On Craigslist and the like, I don't even bother with first come, first served necessarily. If someone is more responsive, more on the ball, less flaky, and I feel is more serious, I will bump them to the front. Since you are already into the transaction, I agree with PPs that I'd give 12 hrs notice and then move on.

Best of luck to you, and I look forward to your updates. I am a PCOSer as well (lucky us!). No weight issues, but metformin (with LCing and exercise) helped normalize my cycles over the last 10 years. It is so weird to have 30-35 day cycles for the first time in my life without BCP. 2 of my 3 kids were conceived with metformin and LC alone after doing injectable meds to have my first. I do like to follow what's going on in endocrinology though, so it will be interesting to read about your experience if you update. Thanks for sharing.

We've found it valuable. We do our own mishmash of memorization, but we do consider it important. One of my kids seems to particularly enjoy the challenge and is very quick with memorizing poems and the like. She gets a lot of personal satisfaction from it. She's often much faster at it than her 5th grade brother, and she doesn't let him forget it. Years later my kids do sometimes reference the long list of memorized prepositions they learned. They get that it is a tool and understand that a list like that has limitations and they have to truly understand what a prep is. But they still reference it. We were doing FLL then and hadn't moved to MCT at that point, and at the time I wondered if it was worthwhile. The best part is that they thought it was going to be impossible, and in short order managed to learn it and retain it for years. I think there's something to be said for those experiences periodically. I also think there's something beautiful about having a little anthology of lovely poems in your head long term. I feel like my children may be able to draw on in tough times when they need something beautiful in their lives. Perhaps that's silly of me, but that's how I feel :)

Yes! I also have found in times of deep stress (death in the family, severe illness of family member, etc.) I get incredibly, deeply, truly sleepy. Or have insomnia. Insomnia mostly when I worry, but when something has happened that is stressful, I just get tiiiiiiiiired. edited to add: Lower levels of stress can be motivating for me. Big life event type of stress or prolonged significant stress even at a lower level is what makes me procrastinate or just want to sleep.

Did you get a breakdown with VLDL? That's the dense, sticky form of LDL thought to be the most problematic vs. fluffier and more buoyant larger LDL particles. Some labs give you a calculated VLDL by using your triglyceride number, so low tris generally will lend low calculated VLDL.

IME the various parts of MCT's materials generally have nice synergy with one another. That said, i think they can be used in isolation, and you could do grammar plus poetry. I started my eldest in FLL, but we switched to Island level in MCT when he was in third. It was a beautiful thing for us :) My 8 yo DD did the grammar and poetry portion of Island in first and second because she was interested and picked it up quickly. The writing part of the poetry was a challenge for her, but with support and scaffolding she was able to handle it. I haven't used TC, but what I like about MCT's grammar is the way it teaches the kids to think through it similarly to a flow chart of sorts. Can you look at MCT's materials in person? I think they are difficult to grasp without seeing IRL. The samples are not a great representation IMO.

My almost 11 yo has generated similar writing at times in WWS as compared to his normal writing. My hunch is that there are a few things going on. In our case, I think he's adjusting to the book being mostly written to *him*, and it takes some concentration for him to remember what he's supposed to be doing. I don't remember lesson 6, but many lessons have very specific requirements, and I know he focuses a lot on that at times vs. the flow of his actual writing. He's a solid writer, but pretty analytical, so he gets more concerned with ticking off the boxes of what's required at times and ends up more hung up on that then looking at the flow of his writing as a whole? I'm not sure, but my gut says that's part of what I am seeing with DS. In fact, we just went through this today in lesson 11 (?) on Ivan the Terrible. With some comments from me, he went back, edited, and it was a big improvement. My son's writing is quite good, but he remains a reluctant writer and also is a big fan of trying to just do the minimum # of words at time. Sigh. Once I required him to dig a little deeper, he did much better. It is tough though! I do try to stick to the rubric most of the time and keep my personal feeling about the effort out of it. At times I crack and demand he do more, because I do feel he's capable of more than he puts forth at times. I will follow along, because clearly I'm having similar struggles. I don't think WWS is in any way too difficult for him, but I do think it is a different format than he was accustomed to until recently.

I don't know how old your students are or what your Latin comfort level is, but we like GSWL. My 5th grader does well with it, and my 2nd grader is keeping up (we are on lesson 60 something, so we have a considerable amount to go yet) since her grammar foundation is solid from MCT. I haven't had Latin since I took a single required semester in middle school. For my family, right now it has to be incremental and doable or Latin won't get done at all. In the past I've let perfect be the enemy of the good if you will, and just avoided teaching it because my own comfort level wasn't there. GSWL has been great for us, but it may be too gentle for what you are looking for. I have Galore Park Latin on my shelf too but we haven't tackled that yet. And Wheelock's, but I am not sure i'll ever get there ;)

Nearly all co-ops in my area mostly require a statement of faith I won't sign, or are not academic, and at this point I'm not willing to carve up my day substantially for that. We formed a small academic co-op 4-5 years ago with long-time HSing friends and acquaintances. The mix of people has changed over the years, but 2-3 of the core families have remained . We usually have 4-5 different families. It works well for us as we have similar goals for our children, our kids are academically similar, and I find there is definitely value in it for us. But most larger available co-op options are not really my cup of tea. We structure our plan around our goals as a small group, so it is customized to what we are looking for for our kids.