I gave my pony away after I graduated from college. I've taken lessons since then, as has ds, but I've never owned a horse or pony since then. If I could have a horse where I live now, my backyard would make a roomy box stall. As it is, my farm dog doesn't have room to run in the back yard.

The problem is twofold. First, you ask why get someone else involved in the fight. I'm saying find someone who has the ability to defuse a fight, not egg one on. You're looking for someone who can convey needed information with (a hint?) of it's appropriateness WITHOUT setting up someones back. These individuals are relatively rare. Fights rarely solve anything and often create more problems. Second, if the child does go running to the parents with a twisted story, the parents will probably respond in one of 3 ways: they'll ignore the whole situation, they'll come asking for the other side of the story, or they'll come armed to fight. If they come asking for the other side, they're more likely to be open to seeing the damage of the situation and a third party isn't needed. If they're looking for a fight, nothing the OP says will make an impression or resolve problem. The angry parent has made up his mind, and the fight is on. That's where the 3rd party has a chance of making an impression. But it can't be contrived to back up the op, I think it would need the 3rd person to actually observe some poor behavior with the child's parents to make a comment on it. And it needs a special type of individual to carry it off. I've seen a mother gently rein in an overly aggressive father (not her dh) on the soccer field. It was helped that they knew each other from school and the team, but it was still impressive. My sister, another one with this talent, has told of shutting up critisizing adults at a college b-ball game by merely commenting that the player they were abusing was her friend. Most people would never believe my sister could be critical, but that's why she's so effective even with strangers. This is the sort of individual that could be of help in this situation.

Another problem with low fat foods is that sugar is often increased to make up for the reduction in fat content -- and surgar makes me crave more food! The excercise info isn't contradictory. Every day is 24 hours between sessions. However my excercise instructor recommended alternating what parts of your body you worked hard to give them 48 hours to recover.

IMHO, math is the first topic where logic and thinking skills come into play, especially if you're following the classical model. If this is a true weakness, problems will start to crop up in other areas as you leave the grammar stage for the logic stage.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: Frustration and a refusal to try are often the signs of weak foundationnal problems or LD's. Sometimes they're obvious. We've always noted our ds has no math sense, so we've always backtracked and looked for alternative teaching methods. But we had no idea that he had memory problems with reading until in a major fight and meltdown ds shouted, "Why read when I can't remember anything" A major lightbulb moment for mom. After working on memory (after years of VT and ST), ds is now reading more willingly. BTW, my ds is very confrontational, bullheaded and obnoxious. It's common for kids with his problems. It needs to be dealt with, but what these kids usually need is explicit instructions and modeling how to deal with problems. Punishment without EXPLICIT instruction just makes things worse. Kids who have trouble thinking don't always make the connections most kids can. Or they make some really wierd connections. And the problem behavior is reduced as a child learns how to deal with problems.

Remember that layers of dirt and scabs are natural sun tan lotions :D :D. My friends mothers used to comment that they thought their dc had dark tans til the dc came out of their nightly baths :lol:

:lol: It even works into adulthood! I was in my early 20's when a 12 yo was screaming for hours during her delivery. It was even audible in the nursery area. I swore right there and then I would't give birth! We adopted :D

Is there another parent who is good at graciously pointing out the errors of another's ways? I've seen some of these relatively rare individuals at work, and they can often quell problems with minimal to no hard feelings. If you have one of these individuals, ask her to run interference for you. BTW, these individuals are often cheering on anyone and everyone.

We finally placed a deposit on one, a Dodge Sprinter. Since we need to make extensive modifications to the van, we were looking only at extended, full-sized vans. What I couldn't believe was the lack of interest in selling us a van!?!? We practically had to beg the local dealer into calling us back with some available vans. And he had vans on the lot that would have worked, lots of '98 vans. Another dealer wouldn't hold a good van for us while we negotiated with the bank for a loan, then he said he was holding it for another customer. Last I saw, his other customer fell through and we went elsewhere. :tongue_smilie: Since Sprinter dealers are relatively few compared to general Dodge dealers, I hope this isn't the future customer service attitude as dealership numbers are reduced!

Is he allergical to all parts of milk, or just certain proteins or sugars? For instance, my ds can handle whey protein with no problems, but the harder to digest cassein (sp) acts like an opiate in his system. Unfortunately cassein's in tons of stuff. For milk substitutes, our general favorites are almond and hazzle nut milks.

I love Arabs. But they're usually too small for me! Do you have a nice, leggy anglo-arab for me? Of course, then I'd be afraid of the extra height. :lol: maybe I'd just better stick to driving cart ponies!

I agree that much of the increase in diagnosis is due to better awareness and a broadening of the the spectrum diagnosis. Into my 30's, I always thought of autistic patients of sitting in a corner, rocking themselves, with no language abilities, screaching ad ignoring the outside world. This was the image projected through TV programs and news clips on autism. But today, autism isn't limited to the ultra-extreme cases. And certain fields seem to attract a large portion of the undiagnosised Asperger types. I still remember with shock when my anti-social dh informed me he was one of the social individuals at work :001_huh: OTOH, I do think that enviromental issues have contributed to the increase. Often symptoms have been reduced by modifying the diet, supplimenting vitamins or eliminating toxins. I don't believe in one simple answer for anything. :D

I respectively disagree. The worse thing that could happen is that the child needs therapy and does't get it. I speak from the standpoint of a individual who did't get it and whose child didn't get the full variety of ST that he needed until grade school. As the oldest by several years, my parents were able to spend a lot of time helping me with my diction problems. They got me to the point where I could skate by, but I still struggled with understanding sounds. My younger sister had far worse speech problems than I had, but she recieved intensive speech therapy. She is far more fluent and adept with the English language than I am. Her underlying basic language problems are still worse than mine, as I can understand and speak other languages more easily than she can, though it's still a struggle for me. But in the language we use daily and professionally, she can beat me hands down. As for my ds, I knew that he was struggling with understanding and fluency, but I let his ST bulldoze me. She insisted he had the best diction of all her students and he had an impressive vocabulary. She ignored all my cocers and pooh-poohed the idea of testing prior to "passing" out of ST. Two years later my ds's new reading tutor who was also a ST flipped when she realized that the older ST ignored all of ds's underlyig language problems. So to the OP, you dc may or may not have speech problems that need intervention. I suggest though that if you think there is a problem, push for an evaluation. By federal law, all states are required to evaluate and provide speech and other services free of charge to all dc until they enter the 1st grade. Dc 3 and under are to recieve services in the home (at least for ST). And don't let the therapists ignore your concerns.

I'm home again. So brief history lesson: During the war and immediately afterwards, the colonists were loyal British subjects and George Washington was angling HARD for a British military commission to replace his colonial commission. G. Washington was a bit of a social climber at the time. Not long after the ending of the war, George III banned settlements west of the Appalacians AND slapped taxes on the colonists without going through the colonial governments to help pay off war debts. Colonists maintained that as British subjects, they were give the right tax themselves ad that meant the colonial legislatures had to approve the taxes, not the legislature (Parliment) sitting in London. As you can see, taxes are always a sore point in the US, even when we elect the people voting on the taxes. :lol:

As a reference spine, I recommend the Children's Encyclopedia of American History (DK and the Smithsonian). It's broad and skips a lot of details, but it will give you a good idea of the major movements and a time line. Do read about Manifest Destiny. That policy explains/justifies the drive to spread west to the Pacific. For a change of pace, there are may excellent DVD's documentaries available. I have several that would be worth trying to get in the format Australia uses. You might even consider getting a multi-format DVD for these. Number one is The Civil War by Ken Burns. It does a brief lead up to the war and tells large chunks of it through actual letter's, diaries and photographs. The Lewis and Clark movie by National Geographic is good. There are also a couple of films that help explain the French and Indian War (The War that Made America) and the PBS show, The Revolution. The French and Indian War really did set the stage for the Revolution. BTW, the recording I heard of Sign of the Beaver was good. I think there's only 1 recording of it.

Jim Weiss and Odds Bodkin's tapes are good. Go for the short story collections of Odds Bodkin, like Paul Bunyon. The dynamics on some of his more intense dramas is too varied to fight with road noise. You might also try School House Rock, Classical Kids, and Beethovan's Wig. For games, try Mad Libs (need Mad lib book and pencil), I Spy with my Little Eye, and 20 Questions. The last 2 don't need any supplies. For lunch, we used to always stop at a fast food restaurant with a playground to run off energy. Ds would play while we ate, then he ate in the car.

I remember that Pokagon State Park near I-69 and I-80 was a nice park. It was very hilly, ulike most of northern IN. Disclaimer - that was 40+/- years ago.

If you can, it may be cheaper to get a multi-area system. I knnow they're available for DVD players and TV's. I assume you can get them for game systems.

He, a 6 yo, bolted from her van, possibly into a parking lot because he was mad. And you're upset with your MOTHER?!?!? Your dm probably had heart failure when it happened and I can understand her reaction. She raised you, she helped raise your older dc. What sort of spanker was she then? If she didn't overdo it then, I doubt that she would overdo it now. Sorry, but she was responsible for your ds and he pulled a stunt like that. In my book, if she wants to spank him, she can. This wasn't a minor infraction!!!!!! BTW, my cousin almost lost a toddler because he didn't want to stay with her in the store. He ran out into the drive and darn near got hit. This sort of behavior needs fast and impressive punishment. My cousin's near accident may color my thinking a bit, but this sort of behavior can be life threatening. No one can predict everything, so if your mother is responsible for the saftey of your child, she needs to have the flexibility to deal with his misbehaviors.

Vita Mix reommends you get a dry blade conntainer for grinding grains, etc. Dh loves it for coleslaw. I like to make smoothies.

If that's what is required to be a Christian, I'd never make it. My hair is scrawny, yucky, bone straight and never gets very long, even when I was a teen and wanted long hair. :D And if you've seen my picture from the Williamsburg conference, that's only my hair because I bought it. It comes off at night.

A couple of my aunts and uncles were strong believers in chiropractors. The chiros missed my cousins' curved spines and they had to wear back braces as teens. Our GP caught my sister's problem early (one leg was shorter, which would have led to a curved spine eventually) He put her into special shoes to compensate for the leg difference. Eventually her legs evened out and she never needed a back brace.

Your house doesn't look welcoming, starting with the fence. First, can you plant a path of bright color leading from the street to your front door. If you have the money, planting bushes or fast growing tall flowers in spots both in front and behind the fence could also help soften it. Hanging plants would also give some variety in height around your house.

I advocate a later marrage. IMHO, each spouse should have had to support themselves for at least 1 year before getting married. Living at home and contributing "rent" money isn't being independent enough to my way of thinking. I feel an individual needs to learn to budget and live on his own income and make his own financial mistakes. No crutches of a second income or blaming the other individual for buying a needed pair of work shoes when the real spendthrift is buying video games and a 2nd or 3rd video system. It happens. I also feel that young adults need the freedom to spend the money, for a period, they can afford on what they want without having to consult with another individual. Living on their own for a year or more also gives them the chance to impulsively stop off after work, or go to the pub after classes, without notifying another individual. With today's cell phones this isn't so bad, but when I lived at home I couldn't make an impromptu stop at a park I passed daily because my parents would worry. Also the marrages of my parents' siblings who married early tended to have more severe problems than those of the siblings who married later. My df was the only one to marry after 19 (he was in his 30's) and he was the only one never to have at least separated from his wife. And only one of his siblings didn't have at least one divorce. My mother came from a much better home life, but even then the 2 siblings that married early had much rockier marrages in the early years than the later marrages did. I feel that a young adult needs to develop the self confidence of knowing he/she can support him/herself before trying to support a family. They need a chance to be selfish for a while and grow up before getting married and having to sacrifice a lot for the family. They need to mature mentally and learn more about others and themselves. They need to get out the "but I never had a chance to do........" before facing family responsibilities and sacrifices. They need to have their "midlife" crisis early. They even need to learn how to ration toilet paper. :D

I agree with those who say this is normal co-worker talk -- unless you're in a anti-social field like my dh was. (It drove me crazy that he knew nothing about his office mate for years. ) Go meet her and watch how she interacts with your dh. Chances are she just likes your dh as a co-worker. Had I been forced to ignore my married, male co-workers in my field, I would have greatly stimied in my job performance, cost the tax payers more money (we frequently had to travel to various job sites, and been miserably isolated at work.