I did a wonderful women's study at my church with the book Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. It is chock full of advice to deal with this type of behavior, and there are tons of verses in it on which to meditate. You could read it without needing to be in an actual group study. It has changed the way I view my "worries" and I've been a calmer person as a result. I really think it could help you from your op description. :grouphug:

Good for you!!!! I need to remember your patience next time something overflows, blows up, or falls apart over here! I'm really working hard on praying my way through fiascos! Glad you were able to get some quiet after all that!

He's a keeper! :D

I'm sorry... hang in there... everything is always temporary even though when you are in it, it feels like it will last forever. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I have a 7yo who sounds very similar to your son. I've been reading Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. I've learned so much about my son as a result, and I've learned some great ways to get him to remain calm, focus, accept change/transitions, rein himself in, etc. My son is extremely sensitive to too much/too little sleep, food intake, hydration, loud noises, and being rushed. He does not qualify for the autism spectrum according to his pediatrician and a friend who specializes in that field who has informally assessed him. Rather, he's just a child who is a bit "more". Societal expectations for his behavior were making me feel like the worst mom, but once I began to understand and accept his nuances (and I'm still struggling with this), things between us are running a bit more smoothly. Believe me, I still have days where his whining, crying, & falling apart drive me crazy (yesterday was one of them!), but I feel more skilled to work with his outbursts compared to before starting the book. I'm also finding that, as with learning, some kids do not fit the "perfect" behavioral mold, and his development may take a little longer or he'll need coping skills other children won't need. He is who he is. HTH! :grouphug: I feel your pain.

My oldest used to call his carseat his "seat car" and a caterpillar was a "pader-pader". My youngest still calls the remote control the "moke-ka-ma-troll". A computer is a "cum-cue-na". These are really the only 2 words I can think of that he consistently says without correcting himself even if we correct him. I love the words kids create on their own!

Praying!!! Be safe & stay strong... God is with you all. :grouphug:

I'm sorry!!! This board sucks you in, doesn't it?! You just need to hit that little X at the top righthand corner of your screen... Go ahead now... YOU CAN DO IT! We'll all be here tomorrow! :lol:

We're getting ready to plant a second crop of green beans. Japanese beetles ravaged them the first time around, so our yield was weak. Our cucumbers and tomatoes are doing well. Zucchini is growing steadily, we've picked 2 so far. The banana peppers took off, but we're still waiting for our other peppers to grow larger. We have 5 little watermelons growing happily... I can't wait for those! Dh is getting ready to plant pumpkins soon. I love our garden!

Bumping it up! :)

Some yes, some no. I've found those who truly VALUE education support me whereas it seems the others feel threatened. One friend of mine whom I taught with told me it was "like a slap in the face toward her and her dh" (he teaches) when I first started. I was appalled since I used to be a ps teacher too - we taught the same subject across the hall from each other! Anyway, that friendship has waned since I began this journey 2 years ago... I became tired of educational choice for so long; if she chooses to not accept my choice for my kids, then that is her problem, not mine.

I'm happy to hear this. I hope their meeting goes well & will be praying that it does. :grouphug:

I wish I were done. I was about to get started, and I set our start date for August 9. Since I only need to plan for one, this would be plenty of time... However, we were just told by my in-laws that they are coming mid-August. So, now everything is going to be off... grr... makes me want to not plan because I'm so irritated that they're going to interfere! Childish, I know... my in-laws drive me crazy and now my mental energy has moved to fretting about their visit. I just need to do this :chillpill: and plan anyway.

God will not fail you. Praying for you, your son & other dc's, and for the medical staff. :grouphug::grouphug:

Some of the replies here have been incredibly insightful, heartfelt, and beautiful. I don't know what else I can add, but I have a story I'd like to share. My sil grew up in a very Christian household. She found herself pregnant at 17 and the guy denied the entire thing even though it was the first time she had ever had sex. Through it all, she was accepted and surrounded in love, and my niece, Kayla, was born. My sil planned to give her up for adoption, but once she saw her, she realized God wanted her to have this little girl. Kayla graduated from high school this year, and she is off to college in the fall. She is a delightful, funny, talented young woman, and I cannot imagine what it would be like to not have her in my life. My sil thanks God for her daily. My sil was raising my niece alone when she met dh's brother. He married her, and both have been blessed by Kayla's presence. My sil is an amazing, homeschooling mother despite having her child at 17. She has gone on to minister the community through volunteering at the local Crisis Pregnancy Center, and her story is an inspiration to many young moms who find themselves young and pregnant. This may be your daughter some day... God will take care of her; He has promised us that. This is not the end, but a new beginning, and God's plan WILL be great. Tell your daughter we are praying for her. We are praying for you and your family. As someone has already said, "Grace is enough". God bless you all. :grouphug:

Art, music, science, and math once we hit Algebra. As someone else mentioned, I think I'd rather have a housekeeper though!

Fantastic! Congrats!

I read the book, and we borrowed the audio version from our library which dh listened to (DR reads it) on his way to/from work. Hearing it always works better for him, plus he has less time to read than I do. Would an audio version work better for your dh, esp. with DR telling the story? As for our budget method, dh is an accountant so his favorite thing in the whole world is an Excel spreadsheet. He creates them for nearly everything, so of course, he created one for our budget. We first started with him tracking the in/out flow of our money for 2-3 months to get it as accurate as possible, and from there, he created our categories. Each month, he changes the budget as needed (say the car insurance is due that month since ours runs quarterly), and that affects the amounts in my envelopes. Our static amounts are the utilities, car payment, and groceries. Everything else changes... restaurants, babysitting, non-food/household items, etc. We've cut our bills down drastically (ie. we moved to the very basic level of cable tv and cut our bill by $120) to open up money toward the debt snowball. Although we've always had a "budget" per se, we still needed DR because we were lax with it. Reading DR helped us to get the perspective we needed to move in a better direction. It was our wake-up call. :) We've been debt-free from our cc's for 6 months now, and we'll be paying off the car by the end of the year.

My ds recently went to a Country Day Camp/VBS for a week, and he raved about it over and over... how fun it was, the games they played, crafts, cooking, etc. I started to get down on myself just as you are because I don't feel as if I'm a fun homeschooling mom either. I do try, and I'm getting better at dropping things for outside adventures or crafts (although I feel guilty and stressed internally that we're not going to finish "on time" - whatever that is!). The road we are on is long, and it's easy to let it overwhelm us. I completely understand where you are coming from, and the advice given thus far is wonderful; I am taking it to heart! Coming to these boards has helped me "relax" in so many ways. Hang in there & give yourself grace. :) :grouphug:

I'm very sorry for your loss, and I'm praying for your family. :grouphug:

Over the years, we've had a mix of people and pet names: Ginger (dog), Indy, Jax, Lilly, Fluffy, Pepsi, and Gable (all cats). I'm not really partial to one or the other, but in your case I LOVE the name Pirate for a dog. I've never been fond of the name Patrick though.

Praying... hang in there! :grouphug:

I really loved Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. I'd also highly recommend The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I'll be watching this thread to hear what others have to say. :)

Oh no! Saying prayers! :grouphug:

Praying for Tim! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: