I would encourage her to pursue PT or chiropractic evaluation and care with a different PT/chiro. A good chiropractor will be very cautious and gentle with neck and spine injuries. Both chiropractors I've seen were very up front about the need to avoid the dramatic neck-cracking, given the particular disc issues I have had. My chiropractic treatment has done wonders for my neck, jaw, and back. I feel so much stronger, and yup, my body is still going-on-50, but I am able to do things (backpacking! taking things out of the lower cupboard first thing in the morning! :D ) that were pretty iffy even a year ago.

Hanging out with friends is pretty important for teens. Is it possible to work together to find a compromise that meets her social needs and family needs? (Great opportunity to model conflict resolution too.) Commit to regular weekend get togethers, or ask her to commit to particular family nights when she'll be expected to stay home, or invite the friends over for pizza and movies (bonus: you get to know them), or allow her to go out once a week (or whatever)....all contingent on keeping a respectful attitude at home. About seeming different after being with friends: She might just need some transition time after a social outing. My introverted teen needs friend time but needs to follow it with time to chill and recharge.

I am laughing and shuddering at the same time. GAH.

Maybe our brains decided to vacation together? I am toast this afternoon. In my world today: Driving kids to co-op and activities. Teaching and coordinating schoolwork. Trying to get together all the paperwork to jump ship from our public school for homeschoolers charter to enroll in a charter that allows us to keep our status as homeschoolers. Lots of paperwork and a steep learning curve. (No wonder my brain decided to run away!) Ordering choir uniform samples. Lots of phone calls. I'm making butternut and bacon mac and cheese. I'll make an extra pan and you can swing by and pick it up. :D Either that or I'm going to Jean's for dinner because hers sounds better to me. Visiting my mom with my sister this weekend. Beach and a little shopping. Hoping that will relieve some of the weariness from dealing with non-school issues. I need a break.

I wear yoga pants and a tshirt for pajamas, with a sweatshirt if it's cool. It's pretty camp friendly wear when I get up in the morning. ETA: Yes, to posters above who suggested warm socks! If my feet get cold, I am in for a miserable night. I also pack a pair of leggings to wear under my yoga pants in case it's chilly. When it's time to change for the day, I'll sometimes leave the leggings on under shorts until it warms up enough for me not to be a momsicle. Coffee: I am usually awake before the others. I build a fire and put on a pot of water first thing, and use an Aeropress and pre-ground coffee to make my cuppa (and dh's when he wakes). One of my favorite camping times is sitting by the fire with my coffee listening to the forest wake and welcoming sleepy folk as they crawl out of the tent.

I noticed this too. Not that I miss the signs! But where are they? Even the festooned house we laughingly titled "(Current Candidate) House" mid-summer has only a small sign left. I don't think they were stolen, as it would be unlikely in this neighborhood, and the remaining sign is the same. Driving around, I see more Bernie stickers and leftover Obama stickers than bumper stickers for this year's candidates.

Hooray! Ds11 will be thrilled!

Co-op classes begin today: Cart kids to classes all day long. Choir begins today: -Make choir rosters for both choirs the boys are in -Call choir uniform companies for samples (Includes measure my boys for the samples, which I can't do until ds comes home from co-op) -Send out a doodle poll to set a couple meeting times -Fill out boys' choir paperwork Clean the bathrooms. Dry pears. Laundry.

Something else: I think black and white floral rain boots would look adorable with blue tie dye.

Weary here. Celebrating friendship...a dear friend stopped by and it was nice to chat school and teens and gardens. Lunch for me was chips and homemade salsa. Boys made noise and a mess in the kitchen, so they must've eaten something. No lessons today except for ds15, who started lessons with his new piano teacher. He lives in biking distance, so double hooray for ds getting himself to his lesson without me. I arrived at the end of the lesson to overhear a discussion about interpreting beautiful music to share your spirit, and music as a healing force in this world. So I am celebrating mentors and musicians today also. PNW is gorgeously perfect today--sunny and warm. Beautiful fall day. I brewed myself an entire pot of coffee. I'll share if any of you folks run out.

I have a guy for whom this would not be an attitude or aptitude issue. It would be an autonomy issue turned into a power struggle around conflicting expectations. You have the (reasonable) expectation that a teen should know how to cut veggies and do some kitchen basics. You have a teen who is uncomfortable cutting up veggies, and now feels forced. It sounds to me like maybe the cutting veggies issue has gotten tangled up with the (normal but challenging for parents) stage where teens are moving toward greater autonomy and suddenly veggie cutting has turned into a Thing for him. (FWIW, this is coming from a mom who has inadvertently created many Things with my teens. Sigh...) I have a teen for whom autonomy is very important, far more than it has been for his siblings. He's been like this since he was tiny. (He's also personable, creative, kind, smart, a good problem-solver.) I have found with him that I am far better served coming alongside and letting him figure things out or even to choose not to do/learn something than I am trying to force his hand. He's actually more likely to learn something new if I say, ok, up to you, then offer some other equally helpful or valuable options, for example: When you do help with dinner what would you like to prepare?/Would you rather do meal cleanup instead?/What is your suggestion for how you might best help with family tasks? Interesting: This kiddo (mine, the one I'm writing about above) is really uncomfortable using a knife also. I am totally see him reacting *exactly* the way you describe. Hang in there. :)

We've got boys with choir and theater and ballet until at least 8 every weeknight. Snack before, dinner after, as we realized we'd not get to all eat together unless we ate late. The one exception this year will be Monday, as high school ds and I won't be home until after 9:00, so the rest will probably eat without us when the middle schoolers get home from choir. Then we unwind and the boys go to bed. Sometimes I read to them or we all read together, sometimes we watch tv or they play video games, sometimes we play cards. They go to bed late, between 9:30-10. We're fortunate that dh works from home, so we get breakfast together, and we sometimes get lunch together also if I am not working. :) I think it's just the way it works right now. I'm also thinking about how hectic things will get by next week. For me, too, as I volunteer for All The Things.....sigh.

I completely agree with you about family gathering busybodies, having had similar experiences when my dd was very young. However, I believe this family is living with the OP and the OP is spending a significant amount of time, effort, and energy with this struggling family. That's a bit different than being a hit-and-run busybody at a family reunion. If the kids need help, they need help. That help can, in the long run, lower the amount of stress the family is under. Even just calling to find out what services might be available to the family/child could be useful. Information is valuable. In our area, a child with more than minor delays is typically enrolled free preschool with free transportation, and any necessary additional services (speech/OT/PT) are offered at school while the child is there, for the express purpose of minimizing strain on family's time and resources. Carrie, you're the one right there with this family. If you feel like you need to speak up, then do so. I firmly believe that lovingly saying, "Hey, I've noticed xyz. How can I help?" and offer some specific suggestions (gather information, see what it takes to pursue evaluation, help mom make phone calls, leave it alone) in case she does want help but doesn't know what kind, is an appropriate thing to offer. You'll get a sense right away whether this is something the mom is ready to pursue, whether it's something to tuck in the back pocket for now, or whether she's just not able to process it at all.

We start next Monday. I dawdled all summer, so I am finishing planning this week. I have no idea what was for lunch. The kids went in the kitchen and made noise, so I'm assuming they ate something. I am tired. Lots of non-school issues to deal with, so I am not sleeping well.

I agree with Sassenach that follow-through is crucial with early intervention. I would add, however, that a good EI agency will be family-supportive and connected to community resources. For an individual overwhelmed momma, sifting through service programs and figuring out how to access them can seem an insurmountable task. It may....should...be that connecting mom with EI will also be the foot in the door to more readily access a variety of community services with the assistance of professionals. As for sensitivity, anything that starts with "I love you. I love your children. Let's see what we can do to make things easier for all of you," is always a good place to start. :grouphug:

Two of my boys have a mutual friend. One of my sons tends to hang out with this kid a little more as they share similar interests, and the other son shares a mutual activity with this kid and hangs out with him while they're there. One of my boys, the one who tends to hang with him more, invited the friend over recently; all of the boys hung out together. The mom said, "Hey so-and-so's birthday party is next weekend. I'll send you the details as soon as we know." Details were sent as a group email to a few families, inviting "your boys," no names. It's a little more involved than just pizza/movie/cake--sounds like a blast! Would you assume that both of your boys were invited? Would you assume that the one that tends to hang out with the kid is the one invited? Or would you just email the mom and ask? I'm worried that emailing will create an awkward situation, and if the invitation was intended for only one of the boys, the mom will then be put in the position of either including an extra kid in the activity/sleepover or having to say "No, my kid only wants one of your kids to attend." (FWIW, my kids are used to having mutual and separate friends, and are okay with bday invitations going either way.)

I voted Other. The boys' activities, the things they're passionate about, have ramped up in commitment as they've hit the teen years, so they're usually busy with their extracurriculars. Working around their schedules, though, we're about 50/50. We either go for adventures (before/after or skipping the extras) or stay home to clean and rest and get caught up on things.

I planted a tomatillo in my garden and had TWO volunteers come up. I harvested a few days ago and they are still loaded with more to come. I had no time to make salsa, so yesterday I just halved and froze a big bowlful to figure out later. Last year, I roasted, pureed, and spiced tomatillos for an enchilada sauce which I put in the freezer, but we didn't eat enchiladas as often as usual so I've still got sauce. Trying to figure out what else I can do with a bajillion tomatillos once I've made another batch of salsa. Tell me about putting them in your chili. Do you just drop the frozen chunks in? Puree them?

Oh, beans too! Yes, please. I thought I didn't like beans until we visited Mexico. The beans were SO good. Now I make them regularly. I still haven't figured out how to make them taste the way (ways...we had several different kinds/seasonings) they tasted in Mexico, but I found a way to prepare them that everyone in my family likes.

I love tacos! I love taco trucks! (For real. It's not a political statement.) If there were a taco truck on the corner, I'd be there right now. I would also like a TacoBot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjF032TDDQ

The thing is, if you're a mandated reporter, reporting is mandatory. Legally mandated reporters do not have the luxury of a personal myob policy.

Oh heavens, that's a lot of energy to waste trying to teach a pig to sing. ("Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." Just in case some folks haven't heard this one.) I'm not insulting the friend; I really mean the idea of trying to "educate" people about homeschooling. They really don't care. :D The ones who do care ask questions instead of putting obnoxious posts on FB. So, she doesn't "get it" the way you do. Meh. Different strokes....she's excited about what she's doing and doesn't quite get how she's coming across. An internal eye roll and "Whatevs..." will save you time and energy. I do that a LOT. :p

Janeway, this really jumped out at me. I think that's one of the keys, right there. I wonder if, rather than jumping on it right away, it might help to wait to see if the interest lasts. That way you know it's a genuine interest. Another poster (or more than one?) mentioned something that we also emphasize...the giver chooses the gift. We have our kids make a list and we encourage them to put anything they want, big or small. But we usually buy only one thing from the list and make thoughtful choices for any other gifts. :) Often, our thoughtfully chosen gifts are the ones that last.

We started focusing on experiences for Christmas and birthdays, rather than just stuff. Not every year. Sometimes there's a thing we'd really like to get for the kids, but once we started focusing away from the "What will we *give* them for Christmas?" question, we found that gift giving became more satisfying, even when we chose an actual thing to give because we felt we had choices and ways to be thoughtful about our gift-giving. :) We really just wanted to start spending some of our money on time together. When we do an experience, we give inexpensive gifts, sometimes related to the experience, and use the remainder of the Christmas budget for a family experience. One year, everyone got gloves and hats, and we bought family games and jigsaw puzzle, and used the rest of the Christmas $$ to rent a cabin in the mountains. (It *rained* the entire weekend instead of snowing, but we still had fun! :D ) Last year, we had a bit of extra and vacation budget and Christmas money, and we gave the kids beach towels and sunglasses and flew to a sunny island in January. This year, the Christmas budget will probably go toward our family trip to Disneyland and the redwoods. And so on....it doesn't have to be a big trip. Movie gift certificates, a tent for summer camping, a trampoline for family fun in the back yard, a popcorn maker and family games and puzzles, renting a cabin for a hiking trip, concert tickets....

Add me to the list of folks who don't understand....what in heaven's name does your MIL think you should complain about? :confused1: It seems to me that the camp handled the transition well, and it's a non-issue.