Wow, it sounds like your daughter has the motivation to really benefit from those lessons!

I can't imagine being happy about a messy, painful experience happening every month. I'm just relieved my oldest dd does not seem to be developing on my accelerated timetable. ETA: to the OP, I can understand a sixteen year old who was worried something might be wrong being relieved when her period finally started. But for the average girl, the entire experience is I think more of an annoyance than something to celebrate.

For me, online interaction is not so much about feeling lonely as it is a pressure valve that keeps me from getting overwhelmed by the constant demands of my life. As a homeschooling mom with both school age children and littles there is always someone or something demanding my attention. I find that if I don't take short mental breaks throughout the day I become stressed and uptight. This forum is perfect for me because I can jump on, read a post or two, respond if something catches my eye, but it doesn't require big chunks of time nor does it suck me in like reading fiction does. It's easy to drop and give my attention back to the world around me when I need to. And the content and people are both interesting and helpful!

Glad everything turned out!

I can't help, but sending (((hugs)))

I definitely think our director and tutors earn every dollar they get. The expense will be a determining factor for some families in whether they can participate or not, it is a factors as I consider whether to re-enroll for next year. We all have to prioritize, but I don't find the program excessively expensive for what it has to offer.

I just walked into a room to find my son building with the toy I put in time out fifteen minutes ago (toys go in time out when they cause fights in my home). I told him he had to get permission from me before getting it out again or it would go in the trash. Here's the conversation that followed when I found him playing with it: Mom: Hey, I told you you had to ask me before getting that out again. DS: I just asked you and you said yes. Mom: I did? DS: Yes. Mom: Oh. Okay. The sad part is I totally believe him. He asked me, I said yes, and I never processed the conversation at all...

Yep, I have that MIL. :001_wub:

Thank you everyone for sharing experiences and advice. I will work on making appointments this week. I really appreciate the affirmation that yes there probably is an underlying issue and that professionals can help me figure it out and address it. I very much feel that this is something dd is experiencing and not something she is choosing, so if we can help change her experience that would be great!

Yep, the teacher is what really matters. Personally I lean towards Suzuki for strings and traditional for piano. In my experience string students who memorize a lot in the beginning as Suzuki students do are better able to focus on developing strong technique. There is a steep learning curve at the beginning with a string instrument just to know how to correctly hold the instrument and bow, to play in tune, to get a good sound with the bow; if a student is trying to read music at the same time it is really hard to focus on technique. I find the initial learning curve with piano somewhat easier, the piano will play in tune if you just hit the right key, and you don;t need to hold the instrument, for starters. I also think reading music is more difficult with piano because you are reading and playing several notes at once in different clefs. I still think memorizing is important for the development of technique and musicality, but I don't think reading should wait.

Hm, we just had windows installed through Lowes and it didn't feel like a hard sale at all. We discussed some other work needing to be done but eventually chose not to and there was no pressure. I would actually rate our experience very high with regards to everyone involved.

I don't think she should be charged.

I think they memorize Newton's laws.

This is really going to depend on the family. We are doing CC Foundations this year, we enrolled because I felt strongly it would be a good community for my children. We are not doing much CC stuff at home, I didn't want to give up other things I was doing. I have looked at the Essentials materials and they would not be a good fit for my family, so we're not going into that. The grammar program alone would drive me crazy... If you think there is a good chance that CC would work well for your family, the best way to find out is to enroll for a year. Commit to that year, then you can re-evaluate for the future. People can share their it-worked-for-me or it-didn't-work-for-me experiences, but there is just no way for any of us to know whether it will work for you. I'll be re-evaluating after this year myself to decide whether we should continue for another year or not.

It might be worth contacting Amazon and asking.

She gets lots and lots of hugs. It's like the anxiety/fear/anger whatever turn off the rational control switch in her brain. If I can head it off soon enough with a distraction I have a chance to keep the switch from flipping, but once it flips there's nothing I can do that will calm her down. When she was still breastfeeding I could turn to that as a recourse, though even that didn't always work. At least nursing was a way to comfort her, she wasn't fully weaned until about the time she turned four; when I tried earlier she ended up screaming for hours on end every night for a week. She remembers nursing and tells me she wishes she still could.

I searched our insurance provider list for a specialist in pediatric development--they list the specialty but no providers within 100 miles. A google search pulled up a name in the nearest large city, she is listed under my insurance as a pediatric behavioral health specialist so maybe that is who I should try?

My kids are so angelic they just sit around all day singing Christmas carols in four part harmony. :001_tt2: (Oh wait, I guess that the Christmas carols were coming from the speakers. My kids are on a field trip with dad...and yes my house is remarkably peaceful at the moment!)

Hm, I just checked my statements and it looks like the only time I shopped at Target recently was on 12/16. I hope that means I'm safe...

We've been really struggling to know how to help dd6 with some emotional types of issues lately, and I'm wondering if some kind of profession counseling or therapy might help but I'm not sure what. These have been ongoing issues since she was quite small, I had hoped she would grow out of some of them but they actually seem to be getting worse. She is very emotionally volatile, when something happens that she doesn't like she doesn't seem able to cope at all--she turns into a screaming, kicking, biting, scratching banshee (I have scars on my arms from her scratching). There's not much we can do--she has terrible anxiety about being in a room alone (won't even go to the bathroom unless I or her big sister go and stay with her) so we can't put her in time out. I will try to hold/restrain her, but she attacks everyone around. She has night time troubles too that my other kids have not faced--she seems to have nightmares a lot and will wake up screaming and completely inconsolable--she is awake, and she does remember it the next does so this doesn't seem to fit what I have read of night terrors. She also wets the bed almost every night, I don't know if that is related to everything else or not but my other kids have mostly been dry at night from the time they were potty trained. She is very affectionate when she is in a good mood, and really craves adult attention. She would sit and listen to me read to her for hours every day if I had that much time. My concern is that she seems to be completely at the mercy of her emotions--fear, anxiety, anger--I don't know how to help her cope. Anxiety and depression issues run in the family. Does anyone know what I should be looking for if I seek out therapy or counseling for her?

I feel like I learn a lot here and yes it does impact the way I view some things. I read more than I post, but I really appreciate the generally thoughtful and polite discussion.

I don't have a living will, but it sounds like a good idea. How do you go about finding an attorney who would be good at walking us through the various options? Are there attorneys who specialize in such things?

Congratulations!

I've seen live domestic animals at a nativity, but lions and tigers never!

CONGRATULATIONS!