Okay, finally. The third email address I found (a home email address for the owner) worked. He immediately emailed back and apologized. He said that something was wrong with the notification button telling them they had new orders. He said he would send it out tomorrow. I'm so glad that's settled.

Still nothing. :( I sent two emails yesterday (I found a different email address) and have left phone messages yesterday and today. Unless someone has a good idea on how to contact them, I plan to order the items elsewhere and hope that this company doesn't decide to just ship them anyway at some point.

I'm glad to hear that they are well thought of...I don't know that my package has even shipped. The whole order says it is "processing" and the funds haven't been taken out of my account. They haven't replied to either email or phone message, nor can I get someone on the phone. And yes, it's the one from Lebanon, Tennessee. I'll try to call again tomorrow.

Bumping ..... (I've also tried calling, but only get an answering machine)

I placed an order on March 30th. I received confirmation of the order, but whenever I check to see if it's shipped, it simply says processing. I sent an email last week asking for an update, but never received a reply. Are they usually this slow or should I call them?

Thank you. We saw a hand specialist today. He examined her hand and said that he suspected she had fractured something in her hand. He decided against more x-rays. He said that his treatment would be the same regardless. He suggested that we leave it alone to heal. She has full range of motion and he felt that putting a splint on it would upset her and she would not be compliant with treatment. I mentioned to him that she is self-injuring the hand and he said that this was not something under his control. He felt that during the healing process there would be times when her hand would hurt but that it would mostly be pain-free. He said to bring her back if we noticed an obvious break and disfigurement. After we arrived home, she hit me on the shoulder twice with that hand and then hit the car. Her hand is swollen again and I'm a bit discouraged (although the doctor we saw is considered to be very good, I'm not upset with him). DH and I are debating whether to purchase a brace ourselves and try to immobilize it anyway.

My youngest daughter (10 years old, 4th grade) has insomnia. She is diagnosed with anxiety and ADD and we are currently working with a psychiatrist to help control both of these through medication. She has trouble falling asleep (even with melatonin) but will eventually drop off around 11:00 pm. She wakes up around 2:30 or 3:00 and cannot fall back asleep until about 5:30 or 6:00. She will then sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 am. Ideally, I would like for her to go to her room at 8:30 and read until 9:00 or 9:30, then sleep until about 6:30 am. We start with that nightly, but have trouble with it working. I expect this to settle itself at some point (probably when her medication starts working correctly). Until that time, she's allowed to read in her room. Due to her anxiety, she doesn't like to read anything 'scary' at night. She will read them during the day and read something different at night. As an example, she read Lord of the Rings during the day but switched to Bunnicula or Goddess Girls series at night. She's a strong reader and enjoys it. She will typically read about 150 pages at night, sometimes more if she cannot sleep. I remember reading and enjoying biographies of famous people when I was younger. They were stories about their childhood and how they grew up and did great things. I think she would enjoy them as she loves history. I need books that are light and enjoyable, but would prefer that she spend some of this time reading more quality items (or at least a mixture of the two). Any suggestions?

Thanks. We decided to take her to an orthopedic doctor. Her appointment is tomorrow. The school called yesterday and stated that a therapist working with her and the nurse suspected that her hand was broken. I explained that we had already taken her in for x-rays but she's apparently tapping repeatedly on her hand, placing other people's hands on top of her hand and is unable to do tasks with that hand that involve pressure. So, I'm taking her in and hoping that we get someone who takes a very close look.

My daughter (who has autism) used to do a lot of chewing behaviors when she was younger. We bought her things to chew on but she eventually outgrew that stage. The night-time problems sound like night terrors. All of my kids had them. My oldest in particular would appear possessed and would even growl on occasion. Typically, those with night terrors do not remember them in the morning and are unresponsive to comfort or attempts to talk during the event. The head jerking back sounds like a seizure. My daughter also did that occasionally which resulted in testing for seizures. It was negative at the time but she has recently been diagnosed with seizures, so who knows? Basically, sensory issues, night terrors and possible seizures are my thoughts. All the best....

First, I realize that the internet doesn't replace a doctor. Unfortunately, my daughter is non-verbal and I only suspect nerve pain but it might be something else. Or, it might be nothing. I need brainstorming to determine a plan. My daughter is 15 years old, autistic, non-verbal. She isn't typically aggressive, but lately this has been a problem. She will self-injure quite a bit, but typically doesn't hurt anyone else. A few months ago, she bit my mother in law, her teacher, two paraprofessionals and myself. I noticed that everyone complained of the same thing, she grabbed their pointer finger, placed it in the back of her mouth and bit hard. I couldn't see anything, but took her to the dentist just to check things out. The dentist located an ulcer in the very back of her mouth that we couldn't see without laying her on her back. We started treating it and she quit biting other people. So, when she started hitting, I have to wonder if I'm missing something that hurts her. About a month ago, she hit her teacher in the eye (possibly accidental while flailing during a tantrum). This was her first time to hit anyone. She hit her hard and her hand was swollen and bruised for a couple of weeks. (The teacher had a mild black eye and was incredibly understanding). Since then, she keeps antagonizing the injury. She will tap and thump it with her right hand. Her paraprofessional noted that she seems to want to keep it injured because she continuously taps/hits it. She will scratch herself to the point of leaving marks from her wrist to elbow. She will hit the back of her hand with her other hand. She also hit me and dd13, both with her left hand. (She is right-handed). Last night she started hitting the walls with that hand. On Friday night, she hit it so hard that a large lump appeared on the back of her hand (but went down the following morning). When she went to school this morning, that hand is still bruised and the knuckles are so bruised they are almost black. I started wondering if perhaps she has damaged a nerve or that her hand is tingling? I had already taken her to get an x-ray of her hand and it came back fine. We have given ibuprofen (which was their suggestion). She cannot communicate if something hurts and her receptive skills are very low. Any suggestions or thoughts about what may be going on? If I try to have an MRI done, it will require anesthesia as she won't stay still. I also don't know that they will even do one based on maternal 'instinct' that something might be wrong. I'm thinking about trying to immobilize the hand (possibly arm) with a brace/cast of some sort that I can get at the drugstore. My pediatrician would be sympathetic, but he would want more 'proof' before prescribing anything so I am still using ibuprofen. And then I tell myself that it may just be a quirk in her autistic behaviors.

If I'm invited, I usually take wine or flowers. If I know them fairly well, I might bring something from our farm (eggs, produce or canned items). Sometimes, I will bring a small gift for the kids.

Thanks everyone! My biggest problem at the moment is that she is 13 years old. :) DH and I are convinced that she was attacked by brain eating zombies or aliens came and sucked out her brains. She has always scored very well on standardized tests but this year her vocabulary score went way down (which was odd). It wasn't a fluke as I started paying closer attention after that time. I thought that reading more books (structured reading) would help, but it hasn't. My youngest daughter has enthusiastically tried to help by making comments such as, "Teenagers are so narcissistic" which will send DD13 tearing through the house looking for a dictionary but that's probably not the best approach. I've ordered the Sadlier-Oxford workbooks for the girls and will probably also order the Vocabulary Cartoons books as well.

What we used for our dd - nightlights, soothing night-time routine, melatonin (and I stayed in her room until she fell asleep), rearranging her room so that all the furniture was pushed against the wall (so nothing could 'hide'), a cross on the wall, stuffed animals. (Obviously, ymmv). We finally resorted to medication, but your son is younger than my dd when she had severe night-time problems. The best thing we did was adopt two stray cats. They slept with her every night and she told everyone they were there to "protect" her. Those cats are still worth their weight in gold.

My middle daughter is in 7th grade and will be going into the 8th next year. I had never thought about doing vocabulary with her as she does well but now realize it is something we should be doing. Does anyone have recommendations?

My youngest daughter is an aggressive reader. She has requested studying ancient history next year. When I asked her for specific interests, she stated for me to think Greek and Roman. She has been struggling with anxiety issues for several years and only now has seemed to start coming out of her shell. This is the first time she has requested a specific thing to study. I had thought to pick out not only history text, but literature that would relate to this time. She is going into fifth grade. She loves to read. She recently finished The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books. I don't want to overwhelm her, but I also need to challenge her. Any suggestions for me?

Thanks! The cost for a nutritionist is not covered and is horribly expensive so I can't consult with one. I found a couple of meal bars that she likes. She will drink shakes and smoothies and I've been thinking about sneaking things into them. We're changing her medicine around and I'm hopeful that she will relax about eating. Mainer, I will check out that link - thanks. ETA - mostly she needs calories and protein.

My youngest has anxiety and is a very picky eater. She will eat healthy if the items are on hand - fresh fruit, raw veggies, seeds and nuts - but not a lot of protein. If something turns her away from a food, she has difficulty liking it again. Our psychiatrist told us today to quit stressing over it and suggested having her eat meal bars instead and then she can just start eating again when she's ready. Is there anyone else who does this with their kids and if so, can you tell me which brand is more kid-friendly? I hate to just buy random ones, take a bite and throw away what isn't working.

This IS our pastor's family. It's hard to explain, but it was suggested by both our psychiatrist and therapist that we talk to our pastor about what was happening. I talked to his wife because I needed someone to talk with and I know they won't discuss it with anyone. Additionally, they both are able to recognize when my daughter becomes afraid and step in if I'm not immediately around (which occasionally happens at church, usually when someone new is visiting). To clarify, my original question was to ask for help in formulating a response as I couldn't think of one that didn't sound trite and fake. I'm not asking whether anyone agrees over why they are hesitant of sending their kids over. Regardless of my personal feelings, it's their decision and I'm not questioning their right to make that choice. My other daughter was allowed to invite one person. At this point, if the original girl cannot come over, then it's too late to invite anyone else and we'll re-schedule with someone else for another time. They know this is for a birthday party and I agreed that it didn't have to be all night.

Jean, I would love it if they did, but that seems rather tacky for me to ask. And yes, I think the issue is coming over to a different house and possibly MY house.

Yes, exactly. It may be my over-sensitivity to the issue but since I worry at times about being a bad mother, I wonder if others think I am as well. Yes, I could invite her over but they have several children and I'm not sure she could make it without bringing them all over. And I'm not able to baby-proof and other things to make it okay for everyone.

Susan, I have already agreed to the late pick up. I'm not sure if that will be okay with them. Starr, sorry, I worded that poorly. My daughter sees a therapist and a psychiatrist. The pastor speaks with our family about various things (that have included counseling) but she sees professionals for the exposure issues.

I am friends with a wonderful couple at church. They have several children and our kids play together frequently during our time at church or over at their house. My middle daughter recently had a birthday. We can't really afford to throw her a big party at the moment so I suggested she pick one friend to invite over to spend the night. She chose the girl she spends the most time with at church. I spoke with the mother (and she is someone that I feel is becoming a friend to me) and she was a bit hesitant. She let me know that they are very careful about where they let their children go play. She suggested that perhaps her daughter could come to visit and stay late, but not actually spend the night. I agreed that this would still be a fun time for the girls. She said she would talk with her husband and would let me know. We spoke on Sunday morning and I haven't heard back from her. We email a couple of times a week along with speaking on the phone. I feel like if her husband had agreed their daughter could come over, she would have already emailed me by now. I'm worried that they won't allow her to come visit and she's waiting to talk to me personally tomorrow night at church. I realize that worrying over a hypothetical situation might sound silly but I'm worried that I won't know what to say or say something incredibly dumb. (Part of my concern is due to the fact that my youngest is in therapy due to some type of sexual exposure that she has witnessed. I know I'm a good parent, but I have struggled with guilt and wondering if I could have prevented whatever has happened. We don't know what happened and our therapist is now working on burying whatever bad memories still remain.) They know about this situation (he's the pastor and has been counseling our family). Their kids seem to be frequently visiting other friends so it caught me off guard a bit. I've known them casually for several years and closely for about eight months. Any suggestions for a light and gracious reply if she says their daughter can't come over? If I leave it up to the moment, I'm bound to say something snarky just from emotion. Please don't quote.

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure exactly which kind she received. The neighbor who is helping gives us lots of information, but it's mostly about how she's doing. (MIL requested that neighbor be allowed to 'call the shots' unless we were needed - DH does have power of attorney but mostly we let MIL make the decisions). She apparently will be in the hospital for several days, then moved to rehab for several days and then receive in-home physical therapy for a while. She said she's feeling fine and they had her walk a bit today. She has the means to hire in-home help (cooking and cleaning) and we have strongly urged her to do so if she wants to remain independent during her recovery time. For now, we're still waiting. DH plans to go down this week-end and stay for at least a week to look after her and his step-father.

We're not sure if she's going into rehab or not. MIL is really vague on things and sometimes (due to cirrhosis) her brain is a bit fuzzy. The neighbors across the street took her to the hospital for the procedure and they have her husband with them until his sister arrives. (And apparently he is not doing well waiting in the hospital). I wish she would let us know WELL in advance of things as DH is happy to go to appointments with her (and I've gone with her as well). She finally made it out of surgery. They said that there was more bleeding than they expected and she would probably continue to bleed for a bit. (Not sure exactly if that's a problem or not). She's in a room and not allowed to use the cell phone until tomorrow. Other than DH, the neighbors across the street and Step-FIL's sister (who lives out of state), there is nobody else unless we hire someone (which she may or may not accept). I'd rather not be without DH for weeks at a time but of course, we'll do whatever is necessary. I wondered about addictive personalities and pain medication as well but I'm not sure what to do about it. She's going to need it. I do know that when she's had medication in the past, she has refused to take it if she didn't like the side effects (but she'll lie and say she's taken it). She's a sweet lady, just headstrong. Thanks for all the advice. I plan to keep a close eye on what's going on.

Her house is actually handicap-accessible in most (if not all) areas. She had it converted when making the decision to bring her husband home. I am not sure if her addictions were told to her doctor. Unless he specifically asked, I would say that she didn't tell him. I'll send DH to the hospital on discharge day, that's a good idea. I understand that MIL's husband may not do well with change, but I'm struggling for a better idea. (She probably will not be at all excited about staying here anyway. They are very independent). Maybe we can hire someone to stay with them.