[Would you send a card to your physical therapist?]

I was a PT in my premommy days, and I think it would be a very appreciated gesture.  You might want to let her know that she may prefer to open it in private.

[encouraging diligence and motivating a child to work hard]

I have a child like this, and TBH, what helped the most was reading the book Mindset by Dweck to work on my vocabulary and how I framed things, as well as just waiting while he matured.  It is much better now at approaching 11 yo than it was a few years ago.  Much, much better, really.  At 7.5, my son definitely struggled a LOT with taking any gentle criticism.  Even maybe 1-2 years ago, asking him to edit a paper , even when it was defined as a step before he started, etc. made him freak out.  I think now at almost 11 he realizes this is not a personal attack on his writing skill.  We discuss how scientists, authors, etc. write and rewrite papers, books, etc over and over again, and how that is just how the process works.  I almost ripped my hair out at times.

 

I thought I did a good job of focusing on effort vs. end product and so forth, but the Mindset book helped me develop a more extensive vocabulary regarding a growth mindset.  We also pointed out our own struggles with learning all sorts of things, including as adults, and let the kids see us work through them (getting back in shape, learning a new hobby, etc).  We read some biographies and so forth of people who struggled and struggled but persevered and reached their goals.  I don't know how much that helped, but it reinforced what we talked about a lot.

 

Some other ideas: would she enjoy editing other people's work, maybe something like Daily Paragraph Editing?  My son went through a phase where I think he enjoyed catching other people's mistakes :) Can she help develop her own checklist for what constitutes a good effort?  If she's writing, this might start off as simple things, some of which are not a particular challenge, like capitalizing and punctuating all sentences, along with a few other things she comes up with. Then over time, maybe she can add to her own checklist.  I know it has taken my kids until they were beyond your DC's age to develop the skill to identify mistakes in math and so forth with any level of regularity.  Until they hit a certain maturity point, it just really didn't seem to happen, even when I showed them ways to double check their work.

 

I think at that age it is tough to get them to focus on giving every subject their best effort.  Even as adults, IME we prioritize, let some things slide a little while we focus on other things. I know my kids can do quite well in any given subject, but getting them to put their best effort into an essay on a given week might mean I have to ease up my expectations a bit elsewhere. 

[Conflicting nutritional information--ugh.]

Well, my point is that you don't have to be diabetic to possibly benefit from restricting carb intake, including whole grains . There's a big continuum of insulin sensitivity, and there are a lot of people who are on the more insulin resistant end of the spectrum and don't realize it.  Standard fasting bloodwork is not going to detect IR in  most people.  My fasting insulin and blood sugar is fine, as is the case with many people who are insulin resistant.  Mine doesn't show up until I do a 2 hr glucose test with insulin levels at each draw.  Even then, it doesn't look bad, but given my history, it isn't entirely normal either, kwim?  If you tested me over 3 or 4 hrs or longer, it would become increasingly obvious that I pump out too much insulin in response to a glucose load.  The only person who has ever tested me for IR was a reproductive endo during my fertility workup in my mid 20s.  Fasting insulin and glucose aren't sensitive enough tests in most cases to detect insulin resistance.

[Conflicting nutritional information--ugh.]

I also think there's a misconception that paleo or lower carb people don't eat vegetables.  We eat a LOT of vegetables.  Even the ancient 70s Atkins books advocated more vegetables than most people I know eat on a daily basis.  Just lower carb veggies (weighted heavily toward greens, for example). 

 

For dinner we generally don't eat grains, but we'll have two veggies, a very large salad, or a salad plus some side veggies.  We eat leftovers over salad for lunch a lot.  Higher fat/moderate protein and lots of veggies are not  mutually exclusive.

 

I  think of a lot of the famous diets as a big Venn diagram,and I think there's sometimes (often?) more overlap than people would expect.  For example, paleo people are careful about omega content in their oils and meats.  So they probably get some cardiovascular benefits from that.  People who eat incredibly low fat (McDougall) are also probably helped by not loading their body with inflammatory conventional oils and conventionally raised, omega 6 rich animal fats, kwim?  Those two diets seem to be totally and completely in opposition, but IMO it is possible that there's actually some parts that "work" in both and overlap. 

[Best Yoga poses for piriformis / sciatic pain]

Do you know for sure it is your piriformis?  It is as common site for the sciatic nerve to get squeezed, but there are many, many causes of sciatica.  Just tossing that out there if you haven't had a full evaluation.

[Conflicting nutritional information--ugh.]

I'd be suspicious of any diet that eliminates entire food groups. Nothing wrong with ham and eggs . . . Even better if you have a little ham, one egg, a piece of toast and a piece of fruit. Filling up on one type of food has never made sense to me. I say buy mainly single ingredient foods, make sure half your food is colorful veggies, and you're good.

 

I understand where people come from with this school of thought; I shared it at one time.  I can say as a woman who doesn't struggle with her weight really, but has PCOS and accompanying insulin resistance that carbs do not work for me.  I've been eating lower carb for a decade, and that's part of what helped me conceive child #2 and #3 after a battle with infertility to have my first. Low carbing, along with metformin ( an insulin sensitizing drug that helps many women with PCOS get their hormones back to normal since insulin is a "master hormone) helped me cycle normally for the first time in my life without BCP.

 

A significant portion of the population is insulin resistant, fwiw.  Those with a family history of metabolic syndrome often tend toward IR.  We don't have much diabetes in my family, but we have a lot of elevated cholesterol, hypertension, gout, etc. looking back over the family tree. 

 

I was a vegetarian for about 8 years, and ate what many people would consider very healthy.  It did not do my PCOS any favors, unfortunately.  At the time I did not know I had PCOS; my symptoms were masked by BCP which I was put on as a teen for my irregular cycles.  I was a long distance runner, so everyone chalked my almost non existent cycles to that.  But as much as I like beans, whole grains, etc. they simply do not work for me.  Not bananas, not high carb fruits (I do eat berries, avocados, lots and lots of greens and lower carb veggies. If I eat sweet potatoes, I have just a little bit mixed in with a larger amount of something like a delicata squash, which is lower carb than most squash and sweet potatoes.  If I have an apple I pair it with a protein and share it with my kids).  I think for some people, have it all in moderation is also oversold, kwim? 

 

I'm not saying lots of people would not benefit enormously from your approach, particularly if they are on a SAD, but for me, it does not work.  It isn't enough for me to eat "healthy" in that context; I truly have to eat lower carb in order to get my hormones and insulin resistance into a good place.  Sometimes I wish that wasn't the case, but 10 years into it I know it is.  5-10% of women of childbearing age have PCOS, and it is pretty well accepted at this point that most/all women with PCOS have some level of insulin resistance.  If you then expand that to people with a family history of type 2, hypertension, gout, high cholesterol and other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, that's a considerable % of the population.

 

Many people assume people get diabetes because they are overweight.  But there are many people who are thin or normal weight who get conditions like type 2.  They get it because they are already predisposed to insulin resistance.

 

I've posted before that if I eat carbs I get incredibly, incredibly hungry and hour or two later.  Like, scary hungry.  That's because my body dumps out a huge amount of insulin to deal with a carb load.  That huge insulin dump then drops my blood sugar too low, leaving me ravenous and hangry ;)  I can genuinely see how many overweight people are caught in a vicious cycle where despite overeating, they are really and truly hungry a lot of the time, and it is hard for them to feel satiated.

 

Just tossing that out there, as I think moderation is sometimes oversold.  Your approach certainly would help many, many people who are eating the way many Americans do, but for those of us who are unfortunately on the more IR end of the spectrum, even moderation of things like carbs doesn't work well IME.  I am bringing this up to explain why some of us pretty much *must* restrict a certain food group.   For me, my blood sugar and insulin rise even with whole grains like quinoa.  It doesn't matter if they are single ingredient foods, it doesn't matter if it is minimally processed . My body simply can't handle those carbs, whole grain or not.  I did it for years, and really, for me it was to my detriment.  So while it may seem excessively restrictive, for me, there's truly a reason your type of moderate approach simply will not work. 

[Where do moms want gift cards?]

I'd like Starbucks, Target, Amazon, or some sort of bookstore. 

[What do you do with sick kids?]

We do school if not super sick, but a shorter day or lighter load.  We've all been sick over the past week, and we are just starting back after the holiday.  I was planning to ease into things anyway, but my voice was really raspy and I just couldn't speak and read aloud as much as I would typically.  So we watched some documentaries, they did things like work on their keyboarding skills, some math, a little Latin, etc.  We took it easy.

 

When everyone is sick enough to be worn down extensively, we do some TV, I read aloud if I'm not super sick, they listen to audiobooks.  My youngest has had croup the last two  nights, I've been sick and coughing for a week, and I am beat.  I've been up snuggling the little guy at night and keeping his breathing under control with open windows and lots of covers.

[Audiology or Speech Pathology]

Also, do you have any interest in a faculty position eventually?  I assume you'd need a PhD at some point to get a tenured faculty position, but it would lend itself well to research too.  I know in physical therapy, a tenured position requires a PhD (among PT faculty I've seen everything from PhDs in cardiopulmonary physiology to kinesiology to public health.  I had a physical therapy professor with a PhD in computer science as well).

 

 

[Audiology or Speech Pathology]

Would you want to work a more traditional schedule or would there be an appeal in having a reduced summer load?  SLP would lend itself better to the latter.

 

I always recommend spending time shadowing, if at all possible, and in different environments, particularly in healthcare.  An SLP's day in a skilled nursing facility looks very different from acute care in a hospital vs. early intervention vs. a school district.  It never hurts to have those contacts, do a considerable amount of observation, talk to the various professionals about their experience with graduates of your program, etc.  I would do the same with local audiologists if you can.  Ask them directly about your interest in research, what path they took and why, and so on.  It really will give you the best info IME, and I would network with as many professionals as you can to get their perspectives.

[If you wanted to test a 5th grader for your own personal enlightment...]

Our evaluator does PIAT-r for us.  I'm not qualified to administer that one as far as I know.  The PIAT-r is all verbal, no scantron, sheet so not necessarily good if you are looking to expand his experience with standard multiple choice tests where they fill in bubbles.  What I like about PIAT-r is that it only takes a short time.  They go until they get so many in a row wrong, I believe, and in DS1's first experience as a third grader I think he was finished in maybe 30 or 40 min.  He did not find it stressful, perhaps in part because our evaluator is also incredibly kind and reassuring.  Another benefit of that test is that can also "keep going" beyond grade level, so we do get some additional info that way.  Probably not what you are looking for, but we've only had experience with PIAT-r and Explore so far.  Perhaps not the best option for you, but I thought I'd toss it out there.  I'm going to have DS1 take it again this year to meet our state requirements.

[Please help me do my job well! Classical Mythology ...]

and the freaking Mjolnir(hammer).

I do not know whether I'm pronouncing them correctly, but then decided, what does it matter. Unlikely he hears about Yigdrassil from anyone else but me ;)

 We did not take to the D'aularies ones but are doing ok with Nordic Gods and Heros by Padraic Column. I wonder how much the stories vary.

 

Also, is it me for are the Norse gods much tamer than their greek counterparts? ;)

LOL .  I have the internal debate about how much it matters, but then picture my kid saying it in at a university and their professor rolling his eyes at their mom trying to educate them at home (yes, insecurity ;) ).  I had been making it all up

 

I had been winging it until this morning when I finally decided to look up a list, and that happened to coincide with OP's request, conveniently :)  .  I feel pronunciation guides should be mandatory in these books, as my lazy self hates having to go look it all up.  And I still doubt whether I'm saying them correctly anyway!

 

Yes, they do seem a little tamer, and good point about the Mjolnir.  That's another one I wouldn't want to encounter the first time while transcribing.

 

[Stomach bug in the house - I am a concerned about it passing thru - help me on what we can do to keep it isolated]

Lysol (lysol 3), bleach (not Clorox wipes), quarantine in one bathroom, take probiotics, and hope for the best.  I will cross my fingers for you.

[Conflicting nutritional information--ugh.]

So much of nutritional research is observational and full of confounding variables (income, access to healthcare, education, etc).  Past research has oversimplified so much of nutrition that it makes it fairly meaningless.  For example, how can we compare red meat to red meat, when that may lump a McDonald's burger in with grassfed beef with a more desirable omega profile? Are they really the same nutritionally?  There was a study a few years ago linking fat consumption in women to stroke risk (this was out of UNC), but the fat sources listed were processed baked goods, chips, cheetos, etc.  Sometimes a food rides along with another food choice (eta: do most people eat hamburgers and eggs by themselves?  For years studies of saturated fat lumped it all together and didn't tease out transfats).  Most of those who consume larger amounts of meat also make unhealthy choices like smoking.  Can we lump smokers who fan their noses at conventional dietary wisdom and eat a lot of fat and meat at a fast food place in with Paleo people who thumb their noses at conventional dietary advice and eat avocados, grassfed beef, and do Crossfit?  Kwim?  Most nutritional research is essentially meaningless because there are so many confounders, they ask people to self report, they are observational, etc.

[If you freeze broth or soup in glass containers...]

The ball jars that are straight up and down, no shoulders at all.  Even when I try to underfill the ones with shoulders to allow for expansion, they still crack, like you experienced. 

[People who won't join Facebook are worse than people who write checks at the grocery store]

Dh and I aren't on facebook.  I have no interest at all. 

 

My parents write checks anytime they can vs. using a credit or debit card.  That's just their default. They are  worried about fraud, etc and feel better about writing a check.  I'm not saying it is rational, but that's what they do.  They have very few monthly bills by choice, as they travel a good bit, and they prefer not having to deal with a monthly CC bill coming due.  They literally just pay for electric and phone monthly.  We have their cell on our plan (they pay us back in cash or by check LOL, but they don't have to deal with it coming due while they travel).  They don't have water or sewer bills, and pay annually for a lot of things like car and health insurance.  They don't have cable or internet.  They like having it all streamlined and easy.

[Please help me do my job well! Classical Mythology ...]

Vanir, Aesir, Loki, Tyr, valkyrie, Valhalla, Freyr, Freya, Odin, Jotun, Midgard, Jotunheim, Yggdrasil are ones that come to mind.  I know very little Norse mythology, so I'm just tossing these out from our experience with D'Aulaires.  I'm certain I'm forgetting some key players though!

 

[Please help me do my job well! Classical Mythology ...]

I was just looking at some pronunciation guides for Norse mythology today.  I think I was doing okay with most of them, but I wanted to confirm.  I was looking at this source, and assuming it is pretty well accepted, but I am not sure.  http://www.terrapsych.com/gods2.html Some I definitely  was not saying correctly, however.

[Men in the delivery room or with their wives during birth]

I was born in the late 70s, and my parents did Lamaze and my dad was at the birth, cut the cord, etc.  I get the impression this was not typical at the time in our area.

[Testing]

We live in a state that requires intermittent testing.  My eldest is anxious at times, and we were able to do the PIAT-r as his first testing experience.  That has to be administered by a qualified individual, so our evaluator does it.  For my kids, I think it would be more informative than something like the CAT, which is a popular option in my area.  With the PIAT-r, there is no bubbling in, everything is verbal.  Starting in 4th he took the EXPLORE, which does not count as an acceptable standardized test in my state, but provides him with group testing experience on an out of grade level test.  He took the EXPLORE again in 5th, but will also take the PIAT-r with our evaluator again this year since we need that to satisfy our state requirements.

 

 

[Natural childbirth--relaxing during actual delivery (not labor)]

Waterbirth

little grunts

sidelying

 

were all helpful for me in different labors with my children.  I pushed 20 mins with my first, but that's because I was 10 cm, etc. and they told me I could start. I think had I waited until i felt the urge, it would have been less.  I found having my legs held back, etc. awful, and despite asking for no coached pushing, I got it anyway.  I did not enjoy that, so talked with my next set of MWs about that experience before my 2nd labor.  With my 2nd, my water was intact and I asked to be allowed to wait until I felt the urge to push, which was more than an hour after reaching 10 cm.  3 pushes or so in sidelying and she came out.  Less intense, no sutures needed, a little "skid mark" but easy enough recovery.  With my last, I had a waterbirth HB and felt a little grunty, and then two pushes and he was out before the mw could get her gloves on.  No tearing though, and he was 9 lbs (and I'm 5'2"), easiest recovery of my three.

 

edited to add: I agree with breathing the baby down from Hypnobabies too.  I had that in my birthplan with my first and my mw laughed at me and gave me coached pushing despite my request to the contrary (and we weren't in an emergent situation or anything).  Well, I moved before babies #2 and #3, and talked this through with my new MW, who were supportive. And you know,  it helped.  And my recoveries after following my own inclinations and urges were much better, whereas after birth #1 I felt like I had run a marathon from my legs being held back.  Everything was sore from all of the tensed up coached pushing I didn't want but got anyway.  Not an issue with baby #2 or #3.

[Maker Space!?!?]

My two older kids (10 and 8) like the Velleman kits and use soldering irons, etc.  They started with snap circuits when they were younger and the oldest moved to Velleman types of kits by about 8, and my 2nd child started around maybe 7.  DH had them practice soldering with extra components we had around, because it does take some practice, but eventually they moved to the little Velleman kits. They also use arduino and raspberri pi some.  They'e done some programming in Scratch and Python, so we have a few books related to that. 

 

Agree with PP on the Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction books.

 

My 10 yo likes doing stop animation as well.  He would love a 3 D printer but we haven't gotten that far yet.

[What do you think about kids having their own horse?]

It was a wonderful experience for me.  We don't have the acreage at this point to do this for our kids, and boarding is just too cost prohibitive in our area right now.  I miss it though, and I think it was such a positive part of my childhood.

 

[Who else starts back to homeschool on Monday 1/5?]

We managed several chapters of history, some independent reading related to their history studies, some Latin, and then my voice was giving up.  So they did a half hr of math, and we called that good enough for our first day back with a sick, achy mom.

[Ok, I need some tips for eating self-control]

As I said, I am glad you found something that works in spite of a changed metabolism and age related barriers.

 

Calories in/calories out is not a model that works for me. It makes me a screaming mess AND I don't lose weight.

 

Me too.  I am someone who has always had a normal BMI, but I've eaten LC for most of my adult life.  For me, it makes it easier to self regulate, feel more even throughout the day, etc.  I have said to many, many people in my life that I feel many of those who struggle with their weight *are* truly hungry a good bit of the time, even ravenously so.  I can only imagine, because my insulin resistance is bad enough that I feel like that when I eat carby foods.  It is hard to explain to someone how a person can eat a substantial meal and truly be HUNGRY an hour or two later, but having experienced it first hand, I truly believe a substantial percentage of those who are overweight are genuinely, truly hungry a lot. 

 

In contrast, when I eat LC, it is easy for me to self regulate, I can do times of intermittent fasting without feeling hungry, etc.  As I said upthread, give me pretzels, a bagel, whatever, and I will be ravenous and (like you describe) shaky, angry, etc. an hour or two later. 

 

I am fortunate to have been diagnosed with PCOS in my mid 20s, so I've been aware of having IR despite not being overweight for a long time.  If I was not aware, I'd probably be struggling some with my weight by now.

 

I am another who believes calories in and calories out is such a gross oversimplification that it fails many people.  It can be a tool, but it isn't as clear cut as we've been told over the last 10-20 years.