Thanks. I'm calling our other ortho today and asking for an appointment for a 2nd opinion. The ortho we currently use doesn't advocate pulling teeth either, he just said it was an extreme situation. (We had 2 teeth pulled on his advice prior to the 8). It just doesn't seem to be resolving the situation and poor dd has had gaps throughout her mouth where her teeth aren't coming in.

I know little to nothing about braces. My older daughter (with autism) is just starting out with braces and is doing well. I like her orthodontist (the only one who would take her due to her autism). My middle daughter needs braces. Badly. I have become frustrated with her orthodontist and want to change. The problem is that my daughter loves her orthodontist and doesn't want to change. I've allowed her to continue with her ortho and she has an appointment coming up in a couple of weeks. Last year, around this time, her dentist urged us to see an orthodontist promptly due to concerns about a bulge in her mouth where teeth were not growing in properly. We saw the ortho who (upon seeing the bulge) suggested oral surgery removing eight teeth (6 baby and two permanent). I didn't completely understand because the teeth being removed didn't seem to be anywhere close to the bulge that everyone was so concerned about, but decided that they were experts in that matter and I wasn't, so we removed the eight teeth. At a follow up appointment in February, I again expressed concern about the bulge in her gum and they removed two more (baby teeth). (An oral surgeon did all the removals by the way). She STILL has a bulge in her gum and now that tooth has started growing sideways and backwards. (There was a permanent tooth on top of the bulge that had another permanent tooth trying to grow in under it). I am aware that I might be looking for reasons to not like this ortho so I'm hoping that others might share if they had a similar experience? The dentist, ortho and oral surgeon were all urging immediate action a year ago regarding the bulge in her gumline. Why is it still there?

DH and I are being invited to a Bar Mitvah. His cousin called and asked for our address so she could send a formal invitation. There are very few children in my husband's family. This cousin, her sister and my husband were the only kids growing up. The sister never married and the cousin only had one child, so child events are a big deal to his side of the family. Additionally, they have always been very kind to us. We aren't close, but we are very fond of each other. We will probably not attend the event for various reasons. We are not Jewish and I have no idea what to give as a gift although I think money is typically given. We will probably send a generous gift. Suggestions?

I don't think he's seen a doctor recently. Our relationship isn't the sort where I can suggest a doctor visit either. I think I would be accused of trying to shift blame (since they blame me for most of the problems anyway). I want to suggest it, but I just don't know how. ETA I wanted to add that I've known FIL for about 16 years and we have always had a warm relationship. They have always credited me for keeping things going strong for our family and for bringing DH back to a good relationship with them (they had a rocky teen-age years with him). It's only been in the past 6 months that I have suddenly turned into an evil person in his eyes.

I typically get along well with my in-laws. This summer I was startled to have a very bad experience with my FIL and his wife (step-MIL). It went incredibly badly to the point where DH does not talk with them. After coming home from our bad summer trip, my youngest actually had nightmares of FIL (her grandfather) coming to kill us. My middle daughter told my mother about the bad words she had heard (the F word, @ss, etc) from FIL. I can't stress enough how out of character this is for FIL. I have never heard him use poor language or act in this manner. When middle dd was in the hospital recently, she was there for five days with an appendix that ruptured during surgery. After three days, we felt that his father should probably be told but neither of us wanted to call. My mother called and let them know about the hospitalization and told them that we wanted them to know but hadn't had a chance to call. They immediately called us both (DH wouldn't answer but I did) and came to the hospital to visit. The visit went well except he tried to argue with me a few times. He would say very sarcastically, "Well, SLIPPER, nobody tells me anything so how would I know?" (The subject was about his ex-wife's current husband being ill). Whenever he became sarcastic I changed the subject. I was a bit shocked that he would start an argument in front of dd while we were at the hospital. (DD was still on morphine so was a bit oblivious. She was just happy that they came to visit.) I also noticed at that visit that he was angry at everything. He was angry at the traffic, talked about wanting to snap parent's heads off at church, mad at the power company, etc. I honestly worry that maybe the changes we see are part of a medical problem. We always host holidays at our house and invite everyone. I think there is a very good (almost excellent) chance that he will cause a scene at my house, on a holiday, in front of the kids. I dread thinking about it, even though we have a while until Thanksgiving. DH says that he doesn't want him invited, but I think he would just show up anyway. (He currently thinks we are trying to keep him from the kids which hasn't been true, but may actually happen as awful as that sounds). Step-MIL has been manipulative but she tries to avoid fighting but FIL blows up at every little thing (including the fact that we've been visiting MIL a lot since her husband has been in the hospital for the past 7 weeks). We're not inviting him, but if he shows up, should I meet him in the yard and tell him that if he causes a scene he'll have to leave? (DH can't do it because they were so angry last time I was afraid FIL was going to hit him, seriously.) I hate to sound like a Jerry Springer show, because we aren't drama seeking people, but I'm worried, upset and embarrassed at the potential of what could happen. (Not to mention the fact that my family is livid about how he yelled at me this summer). Suggestions?

I finally bought my daughter a dictionary for looking up things. She is proficient on the internet but it's a bit scary what she can encounter.

We have trouble with drain flies (and I'm not sure if they are the same as fruit flies). They look very similar to me - small and annoying. For us, it's prevention. We take out the trash every night, even if it's just to an outside trash can before taking it to the curb. We pour bleach down the drains (all of them, including the bathroom) and put a stopper in the drains as well. (I also routinely do a baking soda, vinegar, hot water flush). We bought covers for our counter top veggies. (They weren't expensive, about $10 from amazon - search for picnic food covers). We refrigerate as much as we can (rather than leaving it out) and I spray down cabinets with mild bleach water (put in a spray bottle). After a few days, they die off.

I'm on a mission to make my washer/dryer last as long as possible. It's about 16 yrs old and they are both working quite well (except that the washer leaks). I think it might be related to the basket on the inside. The basket sets crooked so the water pours into the basket but not evenly - it looks like it goes behind it a bit as well into the drum area. (Not sure if these are the right terms). During this time, water leaks onto the floor. I've been keeping a towel on the floor, but I think it's time to figure it out before I cause damage to the floor. Any suggestions on what I should look at first? I'm not very fix-it-ish (I know that's not a word). I don't want to pay a repairman or buy a new washer when it may be something DH and I can do ourselves. Help? :)

Oh well, never mind. :) I think Melissa was correct. The surgeon's office just called and told me to leave the tape alone; that part should stay covered. So, we've taken off what we needed. Thanks everyone :)

Nothing was changed while we were in the hospital (approximately 4 days after surgery). They said the appendix ruptured as they were removing it. It was done laparoscopically (sp?) through her belly button. They said to remove the tape and packing today and then she needed no bandage or anything - but no bathing or sitting in water for a week - only sponge bath or shower and to try not to get it wet. It looks like strong tape across her belly button (like clear duct tape). My understanding was to remove the packing but the gauze on top of that tape couldn't have been packing. After your post, I looked again, and you may be right. It looks red but I think I can see the incisions (at first glance, I just saw red and was queasy and looked away). I'm leaving the tape in place until I talk with someone from their office and I told dd to leave it alone also.

We go back in 2 - 3 weeks. I did call a local doctor (he is my daughter's soccer coach) and talked with his nurse (our daughters are friends). The nurse said that we should not see any blood or such on most of the packing. She said if we wanted, we could drive up there and they would look at it but would be reluctant to see us "professionally" since we were under the care of another doctor.

Ask around. I started asking friends about reliable help. I will be blunt and say that I only asked my friends who had high standards. I asked teachers, doctors and such. I love my friends but some of them shrug off basic cleaning (but would still know someone looking for work cleaning a house). Most people know someone who is looking for work and is cleaning houses, but these are people who clean because they have nothing else to do and usually don't really like cleaning. They will be okay for a few weeks but then slack off a bit. I also asked for an interview and references. The person we ended up with actually charged more than the others, but already had several clients. We do not regret using her and she now has a waiting list.

Last Friday, my 11 yo dd began complaining of significant stomach pain. Since she has Celiac Disease, I told her to take her stomach meds and lay down. It became progressively worse and once it didn't seem to follow her celiac pattern, I called the after hours clinic and asked their advice (which was to bring her in immediately). We got to the ER around 9:00 and was seen promptly. She was diagnosed with appendicitis after the CT scan and had her appendix removed Saturday morning. It ruptured during removal. We finally were released yesterday afternoon. He said that the tape/packing could come off/out today but we are having trouble with it. We took off the tape and top gauze. Underneath it, there is tape and I can't tell what's underneath the tape. My assumption is that it's the packing. (The gauze we pulled off would be the amount that would be taped over a shot, so I don't think that's the packing). What's underneath the tape is red (we can see it through the tape), so I've stopped while I wait for the surgeon's office to call me back. Meanwhile, I'm hoping that someone who has done this before can give me some pointers on how to do it. I'm typically not squeamish, but I get weird when it's my kids. If she threw up or had diarrhea, I wouldn't even blink, but blood makes me feel faint. And again, I'm not doing anything until the surgeon's office calls me back.

Clonus seems to be the term I was looking for - thank you. :)

I'm trying to look up something for MIL about Step-FIL. Today at his neurology appointment, they noticed that the right side of his body was different than the left. They would sharply move his hand a certain way and then when they released it, it would continue to make those motions. I thought they said it was cloning (or clawing?) but googling cloning isn't giving me what I want. Do I have the right term?

My daughter has started having what looks to be hot flashes. She will be watching television or reading a book (in other words, completely at rest) and suddenly her face is so flushed that it's instantly alarming. Her face is red, sweaty, her head is hot, her hair is wet - she has NO fever. It goes away within a few minutes. She's been complaining of knee/leg pain for the past few weeks as well. Today, I noticed that she had a couple of bumps on her cheeks and two 'whitehead' type pimples on her chin. This is my 7 yr old, so I highly doubt puberty. Any thoughts?

I'm still working on my day to day schedule so this may not be of any help. :) I use a binder for each child (only two) and have insert pockets that have the assignments for the week (I refill these on Sundays when I plan my week). Each child has a milk crate for their binder and books. I have my own milk crate with my books. We all have a set of pens, highlighters, pencils and so forth. Mine are off limits to everyone. My oldest goes to public school. DH wakes up, fixes breakfast for everyone. Most of the time, DD11 likes to run before breakfast and will run 1/2 a mile. The girls get my oldest dressed and ready for school. (I sleep in). I get up at 7:00, make sure my oldest is ready for school and leave with her around 7:30. Other girls tidy up after breakfast and do easy subjects (handwriting, Bible studies, spelling) until I return from taking oldest dd to school. I bring my laptop to the sofa and we all sit in the living room and do school work. Sometimes they follow rabbit trails with science or history so I am online while they "play". We are usually finished by lunchtime and I set dinner up in the crock pot or prep the items for dinner. We relax after lunch as we have lots of extracurriculars in the evening.

This. Ask them to change into leotards and then most dress up clothes will slip on over them without problem. We are a house of girls and some of the younger ones that come over strip down to panties (and no problem) but if I had boys also, I'd hand out leotards first.

You would be amazed at the number of cheerleaders who bring Mountain Dew. :glare:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had been wondering about the gatorade ban as well. :) I plan to send one gatorade and the rest water.

Thanks, she loves nuts and almonds especially.

Thanks, I'm not sure why I didn't think of cheese. That would work out well with a banana.

My daughter is a cheerleader for the youth football league. We live in a small area so there were not many girls participating. The football league decided that her cheer team would cheer for the middle and upper football games (which are back to back). Last night was our first time to cheer in this fashion. We arrived at 5:45 for the game that started at 6:30. She cheered non-stop until 10:30. During the second game, the coach let them have a 15 minute break to eat a snack. My daughter has celiac disease and cannot eat from the concession stand. I need suggestions on snacks to send that won't make her feel sluggish or sick. She's small so she's usually on top of the pyramid (jumping down with spotters) and turning flips. The best I can think of is a banana and gatorade. (She went through a gatorade and nearly two water bottles last night). Any thoughts?

I am posting because I am worried about my brother/SIL. I am actually having a party tonight so won't be online much of today but hope to come back in a bit and read replies. My brother and SIL are disorganized individuals in most areas of life (cooking, cleaning, etc). They love their kids, but it probably wouldn't take much for their "disorganized" behavior to appear like neglect. (This is as nice as I can put things). They had a huge disagreement with the school system towards the end of last year and decided to home school their kids (11th and 10th grade) this year. Part of the problem is that the 10th grader reads on a 1-2 grade level. My brother and SIL have refused offers to test and have moved my nephew out of remedial reading classes into regular classes when the school has tried to help him. They withdrew their kids over the summer but didn't fill out the paperwork correctly which led to the kids still being enrolled in public school (schedules and all). They tried to enroll in a home school cover group (one of the stricter ones) but they haven't finished their paperwork correctly there either so they are not enrolled in a cover group at this time. They have not started home schooling yet so have no paperwork. I don't think they have ordered curriculum yet (although they planned to do some classes through a co-op with the home school). They must have curriculum and lesson plans approved before they can be enrolled in the home school. Public school started this past Monday. Today marks their 5th day of non-attendance. They have already received one warning from the school. My mother (who is a school employee) has received a phone call asking her to let them know there is big trouble coming if they don't enroll the kids somewhere. We live in Alabama and have fairly relaxed home school rules (we have to keep attendance) but very strict truancy rules. My Brother/SIL seem unconcerned and are annoyed that the school keeps bothering them. My association with the district has been relaxed in the area of homechooling but I know they are murder on the subject of truancy. If they somehow manage to get their home school paperwork through, does the truancy issue go away? And how much longer can they go before the district takes this further? I'm starting to panic for them (for many reasons) but am trying to stay out of it (after sharing my concerns twice).

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still plotting, but this is giving me a lot more to work with! :)