He is not small for his age. Probably average. But he does have a lot of congestion. His mother says he has asthma, and that could be, but I have never heard a wheeze. His diapers do smell really bad. My dd was tested for cystic fibrosis, but the doctor said it was rare in African Americans. Do you know if it is common or not in Puerto Ricans?

Of course you have persmission to cry and plenty of shoulders to cry upon. As a single mom of 5 at the moment (3 all the time), I can share some things that have helped me hold on to a starnd of sanity. Actually, things go pretty smoothly most of the time. Carve out time for yourself. I don't get much alone time, but knowing there will be little bits of it at certain times helps when things get chaotic. For example, my kids are in bed by 7:30 most nights. As they get older I will keep the bedtime but allow them to read quietly in their rooms before lights out. The catch is they are to respect my alone time after 7:30 at night. Occasionally I have my 9 year old watch my 6 year old while the little ones sleep so I can catch up on whatever in the house, even a nap for myself. I pay her a few dollars when she does this, and it works quite well. I have recently met people who are glad to help watch the children so I can get a night out. It's a strange feeling to be without kids, but it is refreshing the few times it has happened. We follow a routine that doesn't change much week to week. If they all know what to expect they do better, and I am less stressed. Each child over 3 years old has chores to take the load of me and learn responsibility. One person can't do it all. I let them know our family is a team and has to work together. Just take it moment by moment. Vent when you need to. There are plenty of us in the hive ready to listen.

Hmm, lead could be a culprit. I am just basing this on the living conditions he came to me from and the blood levels other children who've come from similar places have had. I didn't know there could be a correlation. I haven't taken these boys to a doctor yet because they don't have health insurance yet. They are only staying with me until the end of February. They don't have doctors. I suppose that an urgent care center could help if the milk elimination doesn't.

The little boy I have been caring for since January 17 has had extremely loose, almost watery, diapers this whole time. I would be surprised if a virus would last this long. My gut is telling me he can't tolerate milk. He drinks more milk than any child I have ever known. I am trying today without milk to see if I see a change. What else could this be? If it is the milk, how long will he have to be off it before I see a change?

I was just coming on specifically to look for more info comparing LfC and LL. We will be starting Latin next year, and I am unsure what to choose. I have a slow computer, so I don't know how it would handle downloading everything from LL. Does anyone have experience with that? Hope you don't mind me jumping in and asking, Karen. It's hard to choose between two programs that both look good.

Thanks for the insight and the reminders about hormones. She is still my little girl, it's hard to think she could be growing up so quickly. It does make sense tough. I talked to her about hormones and the way they influence emotions. We discussed acceptable and unacceptable ways to handle those emotions. I asked her to think of specific things she could do that would calm her down. She was able to think of ideas. The rest of the day wasn't all roses and sunshine, but she did come to me and ask for help when she was getting frustrated with the little children later today. The afternoon was much better than the morning. I could tell she was really trying to be kind, and I think I was more understanding of the new emotions she may be experiencing.

I was a foster parent from 2000 until about a year ago. I still have my foster care license and am working with a program very similar to foster care. As a foster parent I could not homeschool the children without special permission. This really wasn't a problem because most of the children I had were infants or toddlers and the two teens I had would not have thrived with homeschooling. Before I adopted my ds, I got a doctors note stating that homeschooling was in my his best interest, so I did not have to enroll him in school. IL actually has a rule stating that foster children 3 and older must be enrolled in an accredited school 5 days a week.

I am glad you have him home. I hope God is doing a work restoring his heart to Him just like He brought him home to you.

Excellent! Congratulations. I am sure you are both proud of your accomplishments. Has the snow started falling at your house yet? My kids are looking forward to the big one that should come tonight and eagerly watching the flurries outside right now.

My 9 yo dd is developing a sassy mouth and attitude. She just lost her freetime this morning for yelling rudely at her siblings. She then decided to yell and argue with me. Usually she would be sent to her room or lose more priveleges, but that is clearly not changing her attitude. She kept saying how mean and unfair I am. I told her to pick up her Bible and if she could show me a verse that tells her it is okay to talk to people like this she would be free to have playtime again. I told her if she could not find a verse like that, she should apologize for her behavior. Several minutes later she was yelling, "Ok, I was wrong! But you are so mean, and everyone bothers me!" She was throwing books and stomping around. I sent her to her room and took away priveleges. I am at a loss as to what to do with her when she gets like this. She is my oldest. She has always been a compliant, queit, helpful child. For the most part she still is, but this moody, sassy side is mystifying me. I am open to ideas or suggestions.

I have organized the chores/routines I want my children to follow into 6 sections. We have morning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, chore, and bedtime routines. Each child has a chart posted with their responsibilities listed in order for each of the sections. Each section has a different color, so they know to do everything in blue for the morning, red for chore time, etc. I simply have to tell them, "Do your ____________ routine." It didn't take too long to train them to follow the routines, and it works well. My children struggled with getting out of the house on time. I put an outfit they didn't particularly like into a shopping bag by the front door. I told them what time they are to be dressed and ready. I set a timer. If they were not dressed and ready, they left in their pajamas and changed into the outfit in the bag once we reached our destination. I only had to do it once for them to decide to get dressed int he morning! Now they are dressed but not always finished with other things I expect done before we leave. They know that they will go to bed a minute early for each minute they make me late. Sometimes if they beat the timer, I give them a small reward. This helps make them take responsibility for their own schedules. Some of the little things. . . Planning menus in advance helps me feel more organized. I organize pencils, markers, staplers, flash cards and the like in a shoe holder that hangs over the door in our schoolroom. I meant to decorate it cute and label each section, but I never got around to it. In each room I have posted what chores need to be done in order for the room to be up to standards. For instance the bathroom says - flush toilet, scrub toilet, pick up things from floor, pick up things from sink, wipe off sink with wet rag, close shower curtain, shake bath mats outside, sweep floor, wash mirror. I am amking a list of what needs to be inthe diaper bag before we leave the house. I find lists help a lot in organizing my family. Just as a frame of reference, my children are 9, 6, 4, 3, and 1. the older two are great at following the routines. The 3 and 4 year olds are learning.

If I were moving to a new area, I would prefer to talk to someone who lives in or near the area to really get indsider information. If that were not possible I would drive around different areas at various times of the day. See who is "hanging out" and what they are up to. Do you see graffiti? Are the lawns and houses kept up? Are there bars on the windows? I like to drive down alleys too and get a feel for the area. I feel like I learn a bit about the area by visiting the local grocery stores too. When we moved recently, I drove around to local parks and let the children play. That gave me opportunities to talk to other parents and learn more about the area. It was interesting to see that in some areas the children were unsupervised. In other areas there were attentive parents. At a few of the parks the nannies outnumbered the parents. I learned a lot about the area, and my children had lots of fun doing it.

We had Awanas tonight. I am a Cubbies leader, so I spent my evening with a group of 3 and 4 year olds. Now I have all 5 kids in bed and a chance to sit and catch up with messages.

Praying.

I am glad that works for you. Looking at the calorie count, it seems low. I wish I could eat like that, but my nutritionist would call it restricting. That's the difficulty. I know how to get the pounds off, but if I cut my calories low enough to lose quickly, then I am told I am relapsing into the old anorexic behaviors. When I eat the calories that the nurses and therapists consider high enough, it is very hard to drop the pounds. Sometimes I get frustrated when I have friends who can eat very little and no one thinks anything of it, but when I do there are comments and questions. Just venting my frustration. . .

Mine comes to about $800 a year for three children. This includes museum and zoo memberships. We use the library a lot, but I have tons of books taht we own too.

I lost only half a pound. My son was in the hospital 4 days (not admitted, just back and forth to the treatment room for bloodwork and IVs), so I didn't work out at all really. I didn't track what I ate. I didn't get much water. Not a great week.

Thanks for the prayers. I truly appreciate it. The visit went great. The 3 year old was so excited that he started setting the table at about 3:30. He picked out special cups for his parents. He was just thrilled when they arrived. His parents were very good with the boys. They were polite and friendly with me and my children. we decided we will make dinner on Mondays our usual meeting time. I hope the boys go home soon. They want to be there, and you can tell it is where they belong.

This looks like fun. I just started a new chore system that I created. When this one gets dull, I think this site will add the extra excitement we will need. Thanks for sharing it!

I put foster in quotes b/c they are not exactly foster kids, but they are mine to care for temporarily. I should have them a month or so. The have seen their parents once since they came a week and a half ago, and it was a very short visit. they will be joining us for dinner tomorrow. The three year old has requested pizza and ice cream. I am hoping he visit goes well. I am somewhat concerned about how the boys will do when their parents leave. the baby boy will probably think they are here to take him home. I think I may have their mother give them baths tomorrow night and tuck them in before they leave. Last time the goodbyes felt so traumatic.

A mom I was working with recently got arrested for selling "two bags". She was selling heroin. I hope it is not the answer to his behabior change, but it surely could be.

I store my children's crayons in my metal Disco Fever lunch box. I saw one just like it on display at the Museum of Science and Industry! I guess it really is a part of history if it is in the museum.

We didn't make it to the recheck scheduled for this morning. He spiked a temp and I had to take him in Friday night instead. He was given IV antibiotics. Thankfully his counts were much better. His bone marrow has kicked back into high gear and is producing red blood cells, so his hemaglobin should be rising soon. he will not need a transfusion. We got home at 4 this morning. I will know tomorrow morning if we need to go back in for more IV meds or if we can wait and have an office visit with his doc later this week. Thanks for the prayers and the encouragement. You can read his whole story and see a few pics at his Care Page. Go to carepages.com. His carepage name is THELITTLEENGINETHATCOULD.

Yes, there have been times in my life when I have felt like what you describe. Usually it has been times when I am supposed to make major changes in my life. Adoption doesn't have to be expensive. it would be difficult to pursue without your husband on board, but most adoptive moms I know had the desire to adopt some time before their husbands did. If he is softening towards it, that could be a good sign. If you adopt through the foster care system, the state picks up the expenses. Sometimes there is even a subsidy available or at least medical coverage even after you adopt. Another way to have babies in the home to love is by doing interim care. Some adoption agencies need people to care for newborns after they leave the hospital but before they go to their adoptive home. That would be difficult if you truly want another baby to be your very own, but it may fit well if you just want to keep on having babies around to love. I wish I had words of wisdom to help lift the heaviness you feel. It's a hard, hard place to be. I hope that soon you are feeling more joy and contentment.

I got a membership at the Boston Children's Museum this year. It is a part of both the Association of Science Museums and the Association of Children's Museums. I have never been to Boston and have no plans to go anytime soon, but it was the least expensive membership that would be reciprical with all the museums I wanted. I don't get a membership locally because it is not honored by all the museums within 90 miles. If you join a museum that is not near your home, then you can get into the museums near your home for free.