High volume + monotone is fairly common among kids on the spectrum, I think.

Nothing. Our bed is tall and the headboard is pretty high, and it doesn't seem to me the space above it needs anything. But I could change my mind on that.

I don't think I've changed much, at least not in my adult years. As with many children, almost all veggies tasted horribly bitter to me when I was a kid. By about my mid-20's I loved most veggies and naturally adopted a high carb, mostly vegetarian (flexitarian? IDK what the current fad term is) way of eating and have eaten that way for over 30 years. The only thing that's really changed over those three decades or so is that I used to love a good nightly snack of a big bowl of popcorn or something similar. It was something I looked forward to and built into my diet. But several years ago I figured out that eating after about 6:00 p.m. made me feel less than good the next morning, and so the nightly snack stopped.

I think chipmunks hibernate during winter.

No. I've worked in rescue a long time, and it is very much not common knowledge. And even when it's stressed during the adoption process people often won't return the pet.

If you do a Google search you'll find several suggestions. I did it a few months ago because DS23's Bean boots were squeaking and driving him (and me, when I was walking with him) slightly nuts. There were different suggestions for different types of shoes, and depending on where you thought the squeak was originating from. IIRC DS ended up sprinkling a bit of cornstarch on/under the insoles, and rubbing a tiny bit of coconut oil between the tongue and the part of the shoe with the holes for the laces. Those measures took care of the squeaking.

I reported the spam post by Guest Barbara

IME the bolded is very true. Working a salaried job (or I suppose an hourly job with regular hours) -- that's relatively easy to get your tax liability close to zero, and certainly easy to get it within a few hundred dollars.

I had a cold a couple of weeks ago and I woke up one morning with one side of my jaw positively throbbing. I generally have a high tolerance for stuff, but the jaw thing was bad. Sometimes I clench my teeth at night, but this was a different kind of throb/ache. I took Motrin throughout that day and by the next day it was gone. It was weird.

Spam post by Guest JessJess reported.

Walking around South of Broad is our favorite (and free!) activity. But if this is your first visit I'd highly recommend one of the carriage tours or at least a self guided tour. Shop your way through the City Market. Patriot's Point is well worth the visit. Be prepared for lots of stairs. I don't recommend doing it if it's very hot, but it shouldn't be that time of the year. Ditto Boone's Hall or one of the other plantations in the area. They all have their pros and cons, I'd do some research and pick out the one that appeals to you the most. A drive out to one of the nearby beaches for a nice long walk. Eat! So many good restaurants . . .

Checking with your local Humane Society is a good idea. Also, many municipal shelters will rent traps for a small fee. And you can check around for rescue groups in your area (Petfinder is a good resource for that). Many have volunteers who will come out and set up traps. Thank you for caring!

I'm sorry, Scarlett. It IS hard. But please, please continue to stress to your MIL how careful she needs to be. We knew an older couple. The man had Alzheimer's and as it progressed anger became a big issue. He had previously been a kind, gentle man. There were guns in the home (or at least one gun). Their situation culminated with the man holding people at gun point and the police being called. It could have ended very, very badly--either for him, for a police officer(s) or some of his family. Or multiple people. Thankfully the officers managed to calm him or somehow get the gun away (I was never clear on exactly what happened) with only minor injuries involved. The man was hospitalized and then moved to a memory care facility. Unfortunately, my experience is that things are often much worse than the family realizes. These things usually develop slowly, the family acclimates to them somewhat and their perception of how bad things are gets skewed. I'm sorry.

Cinnamon toast?

The bolded reminded me that my BIL (DH's sister's husband) formally adopted our niece after he and SIL were married. Niece's bio dad is a very bad guy who did have enough goodness in him to sign whatever paperwork was necessary for the adoption to happen. Or maybe he simply didn't care. I don't know. But I do know it was the best thing that could have happened for niece. I had forgotten all about that until I read Lavender's Green's post.

One of our neighbors has an adopted son. That's as close as we've come. I'm coming to vote "extended social circle."

IME they'll attempt delivery again when the roads are better.

I think mine is genetic. My maternal grandmother had hypothyroidism, almost certainly Hashi's although I never heard it referred to as that back then. My mother had RA and one of her sisters had hypothyroidism (again, almost certainly Hashi's). I have both RA and Hashi's. Although as far as I know I'm the only one of over 20 cousins who has any AI problem. I think genetics predisposed me to AI issues and stress triggered them. But obviously those are just guesses.

Mine is currently working hard on perfecting his afternoon napping technique.

Not just you.

When we were homeschooling I always boxed up the things I was saving for younger DS. I labeled the box(es) appropriately and they lived in a spare closet. But I was only schooling two kids, so it was easy to remember what I had. For multiple kids I would probably have kept a master list of what was boxed up.

No. I've never seen any point at all in running to the doctor right away for something that is almost certainly viral. My time line is a week--if after a week things aren't showing signs of improvement then I start to consider a doctor visit.

I remember the "gun." I have no memory of what vaccination(s) we were all getting, but I vividly remember that device.

Just jumping off this as an FYI for anyone reading -- There have been many brands of dog foods recalled due to the Vitamin D problem. The recalls started in November, IIRC. I detest Dog Food Advisor with a fiery hot passion, but I will admit that their page on recalls is worthwhile. You can also sign up to receive an email alert whenever there is a pet food recall.

I don't have any experience with snake bites and hair loss, but FWIW -- The Greyhound folks used to swear that supplementing with melatonin helped alopecia. Here's a link about its use for seasonal alopecia in dogs. And this link references treating several types of alopecia in dogs with melatonin. If you search "melatonin alopecia dogs" you should get lots of info.