[Why can't I receive pm's?]

Could it be my settings?

[If you have medical knowledge]

Ease of transmission.

[If you have medical knowledge]

of HIV, please pm me.  Thanks.

[Nice Ad from Amazon]

Cute.  But why would anyone boycott Amazon over it?  

 

 

Amen.

 

And who on earth would boycott Amazon because of this ad? 

 

 

[If you use IEW...]

The DVD course I own didn't come with handouts for the students.  It was more of a parent guide.

[Shooting @ Will Rogers World Airport in OK]

At least one person is dead and all flights are temporarily suspended.

[Menstrual cup help?]

The only thing I do to sterilize is washing with menstrual cup wash and water a couple of times a day during my cycle. After my cycle I boil water and put the cup into the water after removing it from the heat.  When is cool enough to touch, I remove it and let it air dry before putting it away.

[Strange college student]

I love that everyone is coming up with rational explanations. Maybe she's just a kook.

 

I like this one the best!!   :D

[Our version of "If you were a pet, where would you hide?"]

I had a beta jump into an unlit jar candle.  We searched all morning for said missing fish until he was found petrified.  That little guy was the same color as the candle.  

 

 

[I have a period question]

I don't know if childbirth can "reset" your body or period symptoms, but my births have appeared to impact my cycles.  As a teen I had long, heavy periods.  When I had my first child at barely 21 my cycles shortened.  I got pregnant fairly quickly and had two miscarriages before dd#2, 3, & 4, who all came within a short period of time, then it was back to the heavy periods, this time with added cramping.  It was several years before dd#5 was born. Now I rarely get cramps.  A couple of months after to switching to a menstrual cup the length and heaviness of my flow is significantly less.  Maybe it is all coincidence, but it feels like there is a correlation.

[Menstrual cup help?]

I tried the softcup and it was a huge fail for me.  I've been using the Eva Cup for over a year now and love it!  The first couple of months were definitely a learning curve.  Because my cervix is low, I thought I would need to trim the stem.  It turned out not to be necessary.  

[In honor of Halloween, a candy pronunciation poll]

Other...both ways.

[S/O of a s/o weird questions at the doctor's office]

Completely agree.

 

Hunting is huge where I live, so there are occasional child deaths related to guns. The questions are so that the provider can tailor patient education to the child's needs. When I was in NP school, we were taught to choose 2 or 3 safety related topics to cover during wellness visits because you simply can't cover them all. We could stick with the ones we felt most important and/or tailor it to each patient. For example, I simply could NOT believe how many children do not own bicycle helmets. If they didn't I would educate regarding importance of wearing them and also set them up with a free resource when it was available. 

 

Most kids here (OK) don't use helmets.  It isn't required by law and frankly people just don't.  Heck, it's not even required by law for motorcyclers over 18.

 

 

When a ped asked about preschool and I said I wasn't sending my son to preschool, she launched into a lecture about how I'd be doing him a huge disservice because she wondered how I was going to manage to teach him the skills he needed.  He was 2.  She had talked to me for a total of 5 minutes. 

 

I haven't had a ton of negativity, but I have been guarded because of stuff like that.

 

 

 Yes!  I've had the homeschool lecture! We've also had the cloth diaper lecture.  One of our peds couldn't wrap his brain around the fact we chose cloth diapers for dd #2.  Why did it matter?  She was in clean cloth diapers.  Honestly it was easier to see when they needed to be changed than when we used packaged.  Needless to say we changed peds quickly after.

[s/o the other medical threads...loudly verbally asking for info]

Dh and I have noticed this too!

 

At hospital there was a window with a little hole to speak through at admitting. And the lady on the other side is asking me:

 

Name address phone numbers social security number doctor reason for visit insurance and so on. There is zero way no one else waiting could not hear us and no reason to presume any of them wouldn't use it.

 

Same thing at the dept of human services when dh got the birth certificate yesterday.

 

I have no idea how these places don't get in trouble for violating HIPPA. I can't even find out if my dh is in the ER unless he can tell them to tell me, but they can have a set up like that that dumps all our info?

 

 

This is exactly to what I am referring!  

[s/o the other medical threads...loudly verbally asking for info]

I have encountered this increasingly more in the past few years than in the previous ones.  Dentist, medical, and occasionally vision receptionists loudly stating reason for being seen or x drug or x insurance company.  I really wish we had a separate area for check-in.  Most of the time we are only visiting a doctor for basic, boring, standard care, but it really isn't any one's business in the waiting room whether we are there for routine care or something more invasive.  Why do they have to be so loud?!  

 

Do you encounter this as well?  Does it bother you?

["My French teacher was actually named Mrs. French," and other people we knew with names like that.]

I remember a Paige Turner!  She did a mini workout camp at my school and was at cheer camp as a counselor the same I attended as a camper.

 

 

Our allergist's name is Dr. Haymore.

[Has anyone done Space Camp?]

Dh's nephew went several years in more than one state.  He loved it!

[s/o Baby sleep -- Co-sleepers, do you lie about it to medical professionals?]

I've always answered honestly about cosleeping and have never had a Dr. lecture me about it.

 

Yes!  

 

My first dd had horrific acid reflux with projectile vomiting.  She could've literally choked to death had I put her on her back to sleep.  My dc sleeping positions were just that, whatever position would allow them (and me!) to sleep!

 

 

I don't lie. If I felt I needed to lie, then I'd take the nodding in understanding route and then I'd find another doctor.

Yep.

[Curious: when was the last time YOU had a vaccine / booster shot ...]

After my second or third child the hospital staff talked me into getting rubella, because if I ever had another child and I was exposed that child would die in utero.  The place on my forearm where I was given the injection formed a cyst.  Occasionally my arm aches and the cyst shrinks.  It is very small now. 

 

 

Eta: This was 14-17 years ago.

[Christmas Ideas for "Forgetful" granny]

What about a really pretty datebook/journal thing?  It wouldn't necessarily be a "here you go because you forget stuff" gift, but could also be useful to her for that purpose.

 

Piggy backing off of your wonderful idea...

 

You could give said journal then suggest she write her family's history or genealogy especially about dh's childhood, you know for prosperity. 

[Any big family mamas out there who could offer some advise?]

We have 9 dc.  Our oldest dd is an adult, 8 are school aged.  I have always used WTM as a jumping off point and have found it to be a very practical resource, however no one can do it all.  While I do read and re-read it every year, we have found what works for our family.  It is better to find an imperfect curricula or way to school that works and "gets the job done" vs a perfect one that doesn't.  We've done eclectic, MFW, VP, workboxes, and Homeschooling Journals.  Right now what is working for our family is textbooks.  I never thought I would be one of those homeschoolers, but literally this is the first year that everything is getting done.  It may just be for a season, and I am certainly not saying it is the only way or even the best way, but it *is* getting school done for us and the children are enjoying it.  I went through each textbook in the summer and scheduled out how many pages per week we would need to finish in order to complete the textbooks with wiggle room for field trips and free days. Now there is no scheduling for me, I just pick up and go. We have also implemented an idea we found on this board, fine art Fridays.  It gives the children a lighter Friday and allows us to add in art projects and music.  

 

When my children were your children's ages I often took them on errands with me, so we only schooled 4 days per week.  If we tried to school and run errands I turned into not-fun-momma.  We even had a season where errands happened one week and deeper housecleaning the next.  

 

I agree with the PP who paraphrased Mrs. Swan.  Definitely treat it like a job and keep school hours, remembering of course, you are schooling children, so flexibility is the key.  Interruptions will happen!  Also, have a cut off time.  If you plan to only school until noon or 1, then put up the books and move on with life.  Math will be there tomorrow!  If you need to schedule educational videos for part of school, then do it and don't feel guilty!!  If your dh is home in the evenings have him read some of the scheduled books for bedtime read alouds.  

 

You have 5 children 5 and under.  That is busy!!  If you can have your 13 year olds read a variety of books and find a self-teaching math curricula a lot of your schooling time can be spent discussing their readings with them while managing toddlers.  For your toddlers google tot trays or work boxes.  They are lifesavers!  I used to set my toddlers down at the table with an activity like play dough or puzzles with a 15 minute timer and have them switch activities when the timer sounded.  I would repeat this for 3-5 activities buying me a little one-on-one time with the older children while keeping the toddlers entertained.  

[Clown for Halloween?]

I'm on the fence with this one.  While I did allow one of my toddlers to dress as a clown one year (she was adorable!!), I am one that usually sees clowns as creepy.  However, the rebel in me wants to dress as one this year just because the criminals and idiots out there shouldn't get to choose what costumes are off limits for the United States at large.  Of course,there is NO WAY I would dress as a clown this year, though I *might* allow a 9yo IF it was uber cutesy and not scary. at. all. AND my town didn't specify not to.  You would certainly need to stay close to your daughter, as she might be more likely to get harassed  because of recent events.

 

 

 

 

Edited because I apparently can't read and typed son instead of daughter.  

[Flu shot poll]

We don't and won't.  

[Need new dinner plates]

I big fat puffy heat love my Fiestaware. It makes me smile. I love the bright colors. I bought mine on Black Friday at Khol's.

 

Yes!  We did the same with Macy's.  Love them!!

[Calling all swim parents!]

Each child needs a book or other form of independent entertainment.

 

Extra towels and sweats to wear between events. 3 oldest should be responsible for their own stuff.

 

Yes!!

 

 

 

 

When I had lots of kids swimming lots of events at a swim meet, I would bring a 3x5 card to help me keep track of their swims. So across the top, I make columns of: event #, who, stroke and distance, heat, and lane. So reading across, it might say: 8, Andrew, 50 free, 2, 4. This helped me tremendously to know when I needed to pay attention, and help get my kids to their events on time. In the alternative, if you can buy or get heat sheets, it's handy to bring a highlighter to keep track of your kids events. Good luck!

Brilliant!!