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I ordered one from http://www.weightedblanketsplus.com/Default.asp 2 years ago for my insomniac. It is made out of flannel, washes and dries in our home machines, and has held up quite well. I definitely recommend them.

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I know a ton of teens and adults who seriously play with Legos.

:iagree: Maize said it SO well. I think taking away Christmas for a 10yo is sh**** parenting. I think taking away Christmas from a 10yo child with special needs that you have declined to be involved in treating is EXTRA sh**** parenting. I think making a 10yo child with special needs go along to return all her own presents is nuclear sh**** parenting. P2 needs to GROW the F up before doing any more "parenting". :mad: :mad: :mad:

Look up "dr fone" and see if that would help you. Good luck!

This is the worst part about middle age. When you are younger, people do die but they are fewer and far between. As we get older more and more people develop serious health conditions and it is so sad and (selfishly, for me) anxiety-provoking. I also had a "mom acquaintance" pass within the last month. I'm sorry for your losses, and I hope your health is good.

I'm glad your DD handled it so well.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Thinking of you. This is such a terrible and difficult part of parenting, but so critical. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Hoping you get it!

I would politely and quietly back away from the crazy.

The schools have moved to a lot of writing before kids' muscles in their hands and fingers have developed enough to support the amount of work they are asking for. Then the kids' hands hurt when they are writing, so they don't want to do it. It's frustrating! I can't speak to the neuropsych question, but I would question goodness-of-fit at this school or at least this classroom. Also, he might be gifted. My son was just like this is kindergarten. This year he is a National Merit Commended Scholar and writes and draws all of the time. If it is just a writing issue, you could see an OT and then hope he grows out of it. I would not make him do more writing at home unless an OT recommends it, since overusing those muscles will not help him. The benefit of seeing an OT and doing the proper amount of writing (with informed support from an expert) is that the more he writes, the more comfortable he will become with writing, and the stronger those muscles become as they develop. Also, add in rewards at home for completing all the work at school/following directions and see if this increases his motivation to do it. If he is not going to follow the directions for schoolwork in public school, he is going to have a hard time. They are not flexible like a homeschool mom. :001_cool:

Faith, you are handling things absolutely beautifully in an absolutely devastating situation. Kudos to you for your strength. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I'm glad you have a good lawyer. Don't back down on money you will need to survive later!

Love the Miele

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Volcanoes can be monitored and they give a lot of warning signs before they erupt. There was a warning period that last weeks if not months in 1981. Scientists cannot tell the exact moment the volcano will erupt, but the area had been evacuated and the only people that died were the ones that chose to be there for various reasons. I am not afraid of volcanoes at all. A terrible earthquake would be much more disruptive. Conveniently enough, we get very few tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, poisonous spiders, or poisonous snakes. There are hardly any mosquitoes, flies, fleas, or ticks compared to other places. The bears we get eat garbage, not people. Western Washington is great.

Thanks for posting that!

Excellent idea!

This is a tangent but..... this situation has a LOT of red flags for me. This 9 year old girl lives alone with a blind mother (where is dad? Is he also blind?) who is not monitoring her coming and going, not concerned abut where she spends her time and with whom, and now this child is not in school and free to sit in your back yard for hours per day? Why doesn't she want to be at home with her mother when your family is not home? That doesn't sound like an emotionally healthy parental relationship. I am going to hope she is just naturally thin and not underfed. :mellow: Why was she pulled out of school? Is mom monitoring her online school progress? From your description, this child has very few people in her life to keep an eye on her. For the record, there is a family in our neighborhood in which both parents are blind. They are heavily connected to the local schools and to the neighbors. We all give support to help their kids get to activities. The kids have close relationships with their parents and seem to enjoy being home as much as kids with parents who can see. It sounds like this family needs support at the very least. If you make a call, then ideally CPS will add in supports for her parents so the child can stay in the home and get the care she needs. She is only 9! That is too young to be alone for hours a day and responsible for her own schooling to boot. I'm glad you are there for her.

What is wrong with some people? :sad: Your mother is awful. FWIW, if someone gave me a self-published book about themselves, I would likely not get around to reading it, and if I did , I would be pretty appalled that they were dogging their own kids and playing favorites. It would reflect badly on THEM. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Redmond is an expensive suburb to live in, but there are less-expensive options. It would depend greatly on where you live and where your husband would be working. Pacific Northwest Ballet is amazing, and there are other good ballet schools here too.

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Hi Tap! I have DS's transcript out right now, and you are thinking the right way. There is no grade for this packet, not even pass/fail. On DS's transcript there is a box labelled "Additional State Requirements" and it lists 5 items, including Washington State History. These items are labelled MET or NOT MET. All your DD has to do is get to MET. Good luck!