Ooohhhh....I hate that! Here is hoping for a phone call very soon about your lovely uterus.

There are women who the receiving end of very jaw droppingly rude comments about staying home with kids, I'm one. I used to do the job dh has, naturally I know quite a bit about what his coworkers talk about. I can converse intelligently on topics they discuss, but people are usually shocked to hear I don't work. I've heard, in all earnestness, "don't you miss having a real job?" and "why are you wasting your time at home?" when they find out I stay home and especially we homeschool (we are the only ones in his professional circle who do). It really happens, it isn't a fictitious mommy wars trope. I vividly remember when my kids were small being at a function and getting the "so what do you do?" question, and the asker, a man about my age, exclaimed how wonderful it was I was home with my kids. How his mom was too and it meant the world to him she had been there. I actually got TEARY, it was so wonderful. Since then, the politest response has been "wow, I could never do that!". So possibly they are feeling a bit vulnerable and those sappy Facebook odes to mothers and mothering make them feel better? I'm not defending them really, the sappy posts, but the poster herself I guess I am. It is a form of self validation, but sometimes, in this job, that's all you'll get!

That would imply there are people who don't hate Moby Dick. Which is ridiculous.

52! My parents good friends. They had kids early, the kids were my ages- through college finally and about gone. They had just downsized their house to a small condo, and bought an rv. It was not really a happy thing- they really struggled with it. My parents were in a hard spot walking the line between "congratulations!" and "ohhhhh...dear....". It all worked out, though, that boy is finally in high school now and they are cautiously optimistic they will get to retire soon after all. My dad still marvels at it- my youngest is only 2 years younger!

My youngest did. He reacted to dairy, wheat, and soy, so I couldn't eat them.By a drs recommendation, We kept him off solid food (and he was totally uninterested anyway) until 2 or so. We introduced non allergens, and at 4 ish slowly tried some things he was allergic to as a baby. He was fine, and outgrew it like the dr said he would, but it was very slow and certain relatives thought we were starving him without solid food as a toddler. from what I remember, the younger they are the more likely they will grow out of it.

The eating on a time table (ie, never after 6, never between am and dinner) sends up more flags than the amount eaten for me. Those food rituals are a classic eating disorder sign. I hope it's just dieting or teen girl weirdness run amok, but you need professional advice asap. I'm sorry, I know how worried you must be.

One son wore a Baby Bop costume for like 3 years straight. Baby Bop is a dinosaur (that's an appropriately boy interest), but she is a girl on Barney. years of scrapbooks, with the kid in the Baby Bop costume. It finally died, it was $5 at a garage sale so lord knows we got our money's worth! The other son found a (girls) 101 Dalmatian swim suit in a box of hand me downs someone gave us, and wore it over his clothes whenever he could. He loved that thing, little ruffles on the butt and all. I don't paint my fingernails, and other than the pets am the only one with 2 x chromosomes around here, but it's safe to say I'd paint their nails if they wanted. They are now 12 and 15 and it's safe to say there were no after effects for allowing their toddler gender bending dress up fantasies.

I like it! But full disclosure- it's my dogs name.

I cheated in high school, I would write essays and papers for people. For me, it was fun- I got to do a whole new essay on the same topic in a different enough way not to get caught. When one of my contraband essays got a higher score than the one turned in with my name, I'd be miffed, though, lol. I never cheated to benefit me, but only because school was ridiculously easy for me except for math. And I didn't care enough to bother cheating in math. I don't think I had any real internalized prohibition against it. My oldest Ds is horrified at the amount of cheating that goes on in his ps classes- he is very, very black and white.

My oldest was 7 when diagnosed with TS. I originally took him to an eye dr at around 3 for a weird eye scrunching thing. It was when he started ps in 2nd grade and got in trouble for "whistling" (actually a soft hoot, his vocal tic at the time) we got a diagnosis. The Meds for TS have many side effects, meaning most kids with mild to moderate tics don't need them. Puberty can exacerbate symptoms, but it can also be the time it fades away- and it was for ds.It's been a year or so since he has had a vocal tic, now at 15. He would calmly tell anyone who asked "why are you doing that?" about his tics, and other than the one incident in 2nd grade, pre diagnosis, never had any trouble relating to the TS. Even when his tic was barking, lol. The television TS person is only a very small fraction of what TS usually looks like. Diet made no difference for DS, he had some bad sinus issues we tried different diets for but it never helped the TS or the sinuses- surgery did though! One thing to be aware of is that TS is frequently found with other neurological issues, it was in DS case. Truly, it's been a non issue for him. Not scary!

My router is ok, but I am super sensitive to power lines. We have a set that runs through an adjacent neighborhood. We went for a walk on a new (to us) trail and it led through the lines- I was so miserable after 20 minutes! I get a headache just driving below them, I don't know why I thought a walk would be ok. It's like a vise on my head. I'd like to think it is all in my head, but after years of recognizing it, I don't think so. My dog doesn't like them either, but I have no idea what that means, as she adores poo and dead things...

At that age? No problem, for us. I only have boys, and at 11-12 there is a natural no touching rule that seems to go into effect. If it doesn't, height and weight disparities (at those ages, the girls are generally bigger and developing) go into effect and it becomes unFair and awkward, so a word may be necessary. At 8? No, and it seems odd to me to point it out, unless the person is just uncomfortable with physical roughhousing altogether. But gender wouldn't matter at those ages, to me.

So, Ds (15, a sophomore) told me yesterday he thinks he may be depressed. He is practicing his instruments much less, spending all his time in his room, short with his much loved brother- I can see the signs. He has a dr appt next weds. Mostly, it is school that he is stressed about. As a homeschooler, this makes me sad. He takes 2 classes at the public hs- ap music theory and a foreign language. He does well. But the atmosphere is very stressful, kids pass around their report cards and actively vie for highest grades, a billion extra curriculars, etc. It's a pressure cooker- if I named the district, you might know it. He is doing absolutely brilliantly, especially considering he has challenges. He made very respectable PSAT scores, and he took it cold. I am thrilled with his progress, I feel he is getting an excellent education and honestly- this whole home schooling thing has worked out wonderfully. For me. Ds, on the other hand, is stressed about sats, college, not getting into a competitive foreign language program (that like 3% of applicants get into!) and just life in general. I hate it. We have achieved success and Ds is miserable. I want to tell him "screw it- plan on cc, no more sats, let's get off this crazy train". But he is succeeding on the crazy train...and I feel like it will limit him. Or do I feel like it will reflect on me- all these years of homeschooling, and no high sats and aps and college acceptances to trumpet? I can't really say. I can push him, he is a good kid who will put his heart into his work. But it's hurting his soul. My main reason for homeschooling in the first place was his spirit- and now here in high school it is being crushed and I am saying "more, more, more". Or is this preparation for the "real world", where no one cares you are stressed? Do we even want the approval of that world, and why? He is torn- he can do it, he wants to on some level, but he isn't happy. How important is happy? Help. I want to tell him to read his great books and write his stories and just get by in math and go to cc and be happy. If you can't be happy at 15, good gravy, when can you?

For me? 35. I am no where near the energetic young thing I was in my 20s, and now in my 40s I'm tired, darn it. I would feel guilty if I'd had a child any older than 35, because I am just not the fun mom I was then.

Yup. I have my eclectic, inquisitive child, and his brother who is...not. Years and years of fun!exciting! Hands on! Visual! Out of the box! curriculum hunts for me, met with eye rolling, "are we done yet" by him. He loves Calvert. It's all laid out in the schedule, he checks it off, he is done. He has no desire to read or learn one iota more than is required and apparently this is just how he is- it's not from lack of trying. School in a box works for him, he is getting a decent education with plenty of time for his staggering extra curriculars that are his real love. not what I ever envisioned, but working for us, so at least there is that! I think if I had a lot (like, a whole heaping lot) more money I could accomplish both- get him learning and enjoying at the same time. But I don't.

Ds15: re reading (he read it 2-3 years ago, not for school) nothing to envy by barabara demick (on north Korea) because he just finished 1984 and is writing a paper drawing parallels. Finishing (perhaps finished?) nip the buds, shoot the kids by Japanese writer Kenzaburo oe No idea on personal reading, probably something gruesome like a Jeffrey Dahmer true crime book. I swear he isn't a disturbed child, he just reads like one...

I taught English overseas, and always did special things for American holidays, because we have cool holidays. How about a holidays of America theme? Halloween is basically all ours, and has really cool fun food and games! Thanksgiving and a bit of history re Pilgrims, 4th of July and a bit of history and a craft maybe, Christmas is pretty foreign if you are in Asia and Santa, etc is fun. Pinterest has adorable holiday food, games and crafts,too!

I had a surprise frank breech, but it sucked, lol. He was head down two weeks before, and a verified (I know the exact day I got pregnant) 2 weeks overdue. The nurse was shocked when I got to 10 and she put her hand up and felt a butt, she actually blamed ME! Like, how didn't I know? Duh, first time mom, I swear I never felt him move that much out of the ordinary, but somehow a post dates baby flipped completely around. They brought in a midwife to deliver, because I was adamant about no section, and I didn't need one, his heart rate was perfect. The midwife was the only one with experience with breech vaginal delivery! Unfortunately his head got stuck and my pelvis was broken, but hey- no section. Kind of a waterfall of bad outcomes, but no ones fault, it happens! I had a room full of doctors, nurses and residents when I delivered, none of whom had seen a breech vaginal delivery.

I was advised to wait a year before enrolling Ds (July birthday) in public school for some classes for dual enrollment, because he would be the youngest student. He makes the states posted September 1 cutoff by many weeks, but apparently no one follows that anymore. It's actually caused some issues- he couldn't apply for some programs for 9-12 graders, because they all stated you must be 15 by a certain date, and he wasn't. So he lost a year trying to do some extracurricular things. He's been fine otherwise, but may take a gap year anyway if we move overseas his senior year. I plan to delay youngest (June birthday) a year by doing 8th grade twice. It just isn't worth it if everyone is red shirted.

All of my old cats have died of kidney failure, though my current 16 year old has kidneys that are fine but lymphoma so I guess it will be that for her. In a young cat, they can get bladder and then kidney infections often, but if the vet said it isn't acute (and thus treatable with antibiotics) I guess it's not that. In my cats, we did fluids to make them more comfortable for a few days and then put them down. There is no point postponing the inevitable. With a young cat, I just don't know. I'm sorry though, my cat is currently bouncing back a bit from a rough spell but the writing is on the wall and it's tough to lose them.

When my youngest was a year to about 18 months, he went through a stage where as soon as he was naked for a bath, he'd run to the same place in the playroom and poop on the floor. happened a couple times a week for months, then he finally stopped. It was so bizarre- like he was a naughty puppy, lol. Funny now, not so funny then...

My first name is easily phonetic, and only a bit uncommon. But it is regularly mispronounces or mistaken. I don't even notice, actually- I answer to anything ending in an "ie" sound. Julie, amy,Tammy, Sammy,Kimmy, Cammy, whatever, I will answer. My husband pointed out once a friend had been calling me Tammy, for like 6 months. That isn't my name, but I didn't even notice, lol. she felt so bad, and so I felt bad, because I hadn't corrected her over so long a time! We lived in a country where my name was the word for an insect. I got many sniggers, and I am sure somewhere there is an Internet board where they have long threads that start "can you believe some dumb a$$ named her kid ANT?!" in that country. So I don't judge names, ever. One mans Phuc is another mans John, after all.

Tablet class math Algebra saved my Ds, who was taking Algebra 1 via keystone and floundering. Khan helped some, but tablet class is what made him finally UNDERSTAND Algebra. And he is redoing pre algebra via tablet class as well, to cement things, right now. Ironically, he just finished Keystones geometry with an A this week- thank you Saxon math for integrating geometry all those years! The hardest part of geometry for Ds was...the algebra! Tablet class is also inexpensive, they run half off sales periodically.

I would go get it looked at. I had 2 1/2 sets of wisdom teeth, but the second set was known about for years, on x rays it shows up. The third half set (bottom only) was a surprise though, so it can happen. A relative got new front teeth in her 70s, after having dentures since she was 20, that was a surprise! Perhaps we are part shark, lol. An abcess might not hurt right now, but it's nothing to fool with- go in!

I could have written this post a year ago, but I am so grateful for the kind of pushy, insta-friend who originally turned me off! She has become a dear friend I can call when I need to talk, rather than stewing in my own head as I prefer to do but isn't healthy. I took a leap and went to a movie with her the same week we met, and I dreaded it, and I thought I'd rather just stay home, and blah blah blah, but you know what? I'm glad I did. Sometimes you really do need to get out of your introvert box, for your own sake, and especially for your Childs. I don't know if this is the case here, but wanted to share. Probably the whole board would've agreed on my assessment of her- she is a loud extrovert with boundary issues, lol. But she is also loyal, completely non judgmental (hard to find in my Sahm bubble where we live!) and just really neat once you get to know her. She pushes me outside of my comfort zone, and I'm glad!