For some reason, I think we, as parents, think our kids have to fit in a certain mold. Sometimes I don't even think we know we're doing it, but we all do. Don't worry about your son. He's still a little boy. He is going to make friends or A friend. He will be just fine. I like that he doesn't jsut hang out with anyone, he's picky and that's a good thing. My girls are 22 and 15 and the older one sounds like your older son and my younger one sounds like your younger son and they are both just fine! Let him be a little boy and don't worry about it!

I totally agree that boundaries need to be set...as with many things. I think it would be great for her to meet with this child and the child's mother so that all of them can be on the same page. I'm not trying to start a fight on here, I just wanted Nakia and others to see that not everything is always as it appears.

or whatever the title was. I admit that I started this thread because I didn't read all of the responses but I wanted to say something. Hopefully it hasn't already been said, if it has, please forgive me. My older daughter sounds alot like this girl except for the fact that she is not "flirtatious" and doesn't go around hugging both men and women all of the time. My daughter is 22 years old and looks "normal" (and I use that term VERY lightly) but she has many, many learning disabilities and developmental delays and those disabilities and delays cause her to act very much like the girl you described. My daughter, if she had her way, would ALWAYS have a child in her arms. She LOVES little children, and they love her. But...she would never, ever walk away with one without telling the parents. I believe that she loves the younger kids so much because they don't judge her, they accept her for who she is. The older kids and ADULTS treat her horribly. Why? Because she acts much younger than she is (developmental delays) and she looks "normal" (there's that word again). They all expect things out of her that she is not able to give. Yes, it would be so easy for her to go around wearing a shirt that says "I might look normal but I don't think quite like you because I have issues" but we all know that isn't an option. I'm not saying for sure but I would ask that you find out more about this girl. She might be just like what I mentioned and totally and completely harmless but very, very loving. She might not have any/many friends and she might feel much more comfortable with the younger children (like my daughter). Can you imagine living your life with people treating you like crap because you act different but look normal and not getting the chance to explain? That would suck, big time. Talk to the parents of this child and open your heart a little and find out what is going on. I would be very surprised to find out that she actually wants to do any harm to your daughter. Give her a chance, you might just learn that she is also the sweetest girl on the planet, like Cora.

You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for your advice. I really agree with everything all of you have said. Simka, my daughter just turned 16 and while she doesn't really enjoy teaching the beginners, she did it because she wanted to teach them what she learned, properly! I also know about the whole amateur, professional thing which in this case is so silly but we both know how some horse show people are!!! I think that we will be taking a step backwards from this situation and we will not put ourselves out there so much for her as we have been. It's so sad, it really is. I know this woman would do anything for anyone but I sure wish she would let me know that she is in over her head. If she had told me that she couldn't pay us or couldn't pay us as much, none of this would even be an issue, but she didn't and that's why it's so upsetting. Wow....and yes, we do NOT want to be a part of it if one of these beginner riders gets hurt so as one of you said, it probably is a blessing that it worked out this way. The Lord knows what He is doing, that's for sure.

Okay, I'm going to try to make this...umm...short and I'm going to try to include all details so bear with me. Let me start by saying that I am the type of person when confronted with confrontation, I like to get it all out and on the table, sorted out, screamed out (if need be) and taken care of and then forgotten about. I know some people aren't like that though and they would rather not talk about a problem and hope that it goes away. My daughters and I have a friend whom we met about 3 years ago. She runs a summer camp, pony party, petting zoo type of situation and my girls have been helping her the last two summers with horse camp and she has paid them. She told them that she was going to pay them again this year and she never did. They never asked her about it (nor did I) because that is very hard to do ("um excuse me Suzie, but it seems that you've forgotten to pay us each week for helping you") uh...no, she knows she didn't pay them, that's her cross to bear, we now know that my girls will not be helping her next summer. Here's the thing that really is bothering me though..(and let me just say that there are other things that are upsetting me but it would take far too long to mention all of them)..my one daughter rides horses, owns a horse and shows horses. She's done very well at the shows and while I'm not bragging (hey, it wasn't me who did well, it was her!) I am VERY proud of how far she's come in a very short period of time...well she used to give lessons at this same lady's barn and got paid for it....but...since this summer this same lady is having another, younger girl give the (beginner) lessons. Now, this girl JUST started riding herself, has cantered twice, does not even know how to put a bridle on a horse and doesn't even come close to having the knowlege that my daughter does...again not bragging...just stating the obvious. I am very upset that this inexperienced girl now has the job that my daughter was doing and I really, REALLY, REEEAAALLLYY want to say something to her but I'm not sure how she handles "confrontation (for lack of a better word) and I don't want to lose her friendship but I find myself becoming bitter towards her because of this sitaution and some others things that she's done to me (saying she's going to do one thing (money wise especially) and totally doing another without even mentioning it....please talk me off this ledge of anger that I'm on and tell me what you would do if you were me. I am SO tired of being taken advantage of but it really hurts when it's someone that is considered a friend.

I don't really have any advice that would actually wise except to say that I believe the ONLY thing that is going to help this girl is prayer.

This happened to one our ours a couple of years ago. My one daughter was beside herself with grief. She kept trying to rub it hard enough to get its heart beating again. Needless to say, it didn't work. It was horrible.

I am so sad and feel so very, very badly for this little girl and her mother. I will be praying.

When I started reading your post I thought to myself "this could be me writing this" so I know exactly how you feel. I rode Arabians and Morgans saddle seat when I was younger. My daughter now rides Hunter/jumpers and owns a hunter. We got her horse off the track 5 years ago before my daughter even started really riding, long story....anyway, they have both come SO VERY FAR in the last four years with my daughter doing all of the training herself. Because my daughter just turned 16 and has only been riding seriously for 3 years, the training has taken awhile but what she has done with this horse is nothing short of amazing and I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of both of them. Horse showing has changed so much from when I was younger. It's awful, at least around here (NYS). The riders and parents and trainers (not really so much the trainers) are HORRIBLE, snotty, competitive....ughhhhh but...this is the sport we have chosen so we have to put up with it. Since I know what I know, I am my daughter's trainer at the shows and she does well but she has a very green TB ex-racer and she competes against school masters and horses who were actually bought with money! While she holds her own, most of the time she doesn't do well because her horse isn't push button perfect. even though it irks us so badly, we go back and remember where we came from (green/green) and how far we've come...w/t/c jumping 2'6" on this horse (my daughter does jumpers up to 4 ft with trained horses). You can't worry about the other people, really you can't. Just keep teaching your daughter to be kind, caring, helpful and mature and she will do fine. At least she's young enough (I think so anyway) to not have to be around the 16 year olds like we are! As for getting nice things for free or whatever...I also know how that is. My daughter was given a pair of brand new $900 Beval field boots and some really pretty, very expensive show clothes. She got a great deal on the exact saddle she wanted (I believe totally that all of this...ALL OF THIS....are blessings from the Lord) and both she and I are so very, very grateful that we are even able to be a part of this sport. Owning her own horse is icing on the cake and for that too, we are so grateful. Don't worry about horse showing because there is always going to be some kind of drama as I do believe that this sport has the most rude, arrogant people invovled in it. NOT everyone obviously but so many especially in the Hunter divisions. Not so much with Western I will say.

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

an ex-landlord to small claims court? I'm in the process of doing this. I've already sent in the papers but I'm not sure if I should be calling this dingbat. He didn't give us our security deposit back even though at first he said the place looked "great." he called back 3 days after that and accused me of breaking the sliding glass door (didn't ever break that door and have pictures to prove it). He told me he'd get back to me on Monday or Tuesday 8/2 or 8/3 to show me what I supposedly broke and he has never called. I haven't called him either because I have no respect for him nor do I want to hear anything that he has to say but.....some people are telling me that I should be calling him 2-3 times per day and to let him know I'm suing him. I kind of just want him to be surprised when he gets the summons in the mail. I knew I'd have trouble with this guy. He's, I think, I slumlord who has a bunch of properties in the city here but the place we rented was a townhouse in an upper middle class neighborhood (he bought the place for his sister years ago and she has since move and joined the carnival!!!! I am NOT kidding!!!! So, should I call the guy or just let him get the summons?

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It sounds like (and I don't mean to be mean) you don't like the dog, never have and are just looking for a reason to get rid of her. I think that if the dog could talk she would tell your child not to go near her while she has her chewy but since she obviously can't talk, she is telling him in the only way she knows how. It's not your son's fault that he can't understand what the dog is trying to "tell" him so ultimately it's your responsibility to keep the dog and child separate either all of the time or when she has food around her. I work at a kennel and beagles are known to be food aggressive in the kennel and their food is also very important to them. So please, don't blame the dog for something that isn't her fault and don't break your older son's heart by getting rid of her for really not doing anything wrong. Praise the Lord that the baby didn't get her and use this as a warning that the dog doesn't want to share her food or chewys with anyone and....just remember to never let your baby be alone around the beagle.

We might have to take our former landlord to SCC. We moved out at the end of last month, he came in and looked at the place while my daughter and I were standing there and said "place looks great, I'll put the security deposit in the mail and you should get it early next week", which would have been last week. Well, last Thursday he called me and accused me of breaking the sliding glass door (not the glass but another part of it) because we didn't break it, I have no idea what he is talking about. I feel like he is trying to get me to pay for things that need to be done because the place is up for sale and before we moved in two years ago, it had been for sale for 3 years, 3 YEARS, and no one bought it. I feel like he's doing the because I'm a single mom and he thinks he can take advantage of me. We took pictures of all of the rooms and even went back last weekend to take pictures of the door we are accused of breaking, which isn't broken at all that we can tell....so, have any of you ever taken someone or had someone take you to SCC for a landlord/tenant dispute? What can we expect? Thank you.

My 16 year old daughter is like this and it's not anything to laugh at or mock. To them, germs are a very scary thing and quite frankly, I'm okay with it. She gets mocked like crazy but she doesn't care. She is a very clean kid and I'm glad that she's this way instead of sharing drinks or food with her friends and family. I don't know if she'll outgrow it, she hasn't yet, and that's okay too. So what if he's a germ freak. There are so many worse things to be freaks about. Let him alone and for now, have someone else take out the garbage. If you were afraid of spiders would you appreciate it if your mom made you hold one? Your boy isn't being direspectful, he's afraid of germs and thus, doesn't want to put himself in a place where they are. It's okay, really it is!

There is a great book called A Girl (or a Young Girl) after God's own Heart by Elizabeth George. My girls really liked it. Also, there is a book called The Power of a Praying Teen and another one called Just enough Light for the Step I'm on (or something like that) both by Stormie Omartian. Both of my girls like those and I really like Stormie's books.

the cost of foam! I just called a national arts and crafts store getting prices on foam to replace my couch cushions. Guess how much it is a yard? Okay....$67.99. Yeah, I know, C.R.A.Z.Y.

Congratulations! It is such a thrill to watch them on their horses isn't it? I remember when my daughter got her first championship. I cried! Watching these kids handle 1100 pounds of horse is so amazing. I still get upset when people call it a hobby. Why is riding a hobby and soccer is a sport? I think it's much harder to handle something that has a mind of it's own than a ball made of fake leather! Sorry for the rant but that really bothers me. Again, congrats to your daughter and her mount. Is your horse an Arabian?

I work for a huge insurance company and this is how it works with us. If you are involved in an accident and it's your fault, it's up to the other person to call and report it to YOUR insurance company. If it isn't your fault then YOU are the one who has to call and report it. Think about it....if you caused and accident (let's just say you're not an upstanding person) are YOU really going to call your own insurance company and report it and take the chance that your rates are going to go up? You need to call his insurance company and report it.

I work for a large insurance company and I'm not sure we'd paid a claim like this. First of all, they're going to try to figure out if the wear on your roof is from normal wear and tear or not and trust me, they do inspections all day long and will be able to tell in a second how long the roof has been damaged. Remember, insurance companies don't want to pay out so they are going to do their best not to. I would investigate this guy. Google him.

He should be just fine but here is what we do when we move cats from one (barn) place to another. We keep them in a cage for 2 weeks (we were told that after this amount of time they forget where they used to live) not sure if that's true or not but it's always worked except for one cat who took off as soon as he got out of the cage. Just keep his food, water and litter in there and you should be fine. I'm not guaranteeing that he will stay around because he might not but if you think it's better to take him because the new owners won't care for him then take him. If it were me and I was moving into your old house, in the country, I would take on the responsibility, it's just a cat and they don't cost too much, so maybe you could mention it to the new people of you talk to them. They might be cat lovers! On another note, we just got rid of our cat the other day. We live in a townhouse and found this cat over a year ago on the side of the road. Now we're moving and cannot take her so I called a local no kill cat rescue and pled my case to the owner and she took the cat. I was so thankful because her ads said that she didn't take owner surrenders. So that might be an option except that Harley would probably hate it because he wouldn't be able to come and go as he wants to.

I homeschooled my 15 year old daughter for several years and put her in Christian school. We were doing 9th grade in homeschool but when she went to school we put her in 8th grade. The main reason, at the time, was because the school was doing work that was more advanced than what we were doing in homeschool. She did okay but she still struggled and in this school there was only one teacher per subject and if she didn't grasp the way they taught, she had a really hard time and that was the case for several classes (history and English especially) and this school was not equipped to offer extra help. I pulled her and now she goes to PS where she can get all of the help she needs (and she takes advantage of the extra help).

Thank you! It seems kind of easy to do so that's good!

My daughters used it and weren't impressed. You have to follow every step every single day and if you don't use one thing (one of the products made their skin really dry so they didn't use that step) it didn't work. It is also very expensive. They now use the acne medicie that Walmart sells for $1.97 and it works wonders. So now I'm saving $45 a month by not using Proactive that didn't even work!

I have a few desk top computers that I want to get rid of. If I remove the hard drive is that the only thing I need to do to make sure no one can get my information? It seems like it's pretty simple to remove them but I want to make sure there's nothing more I need to do. Thanks!