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Alice

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Alice last won the day on February 6 2021

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  1. My middle son was like this. What finally worked for us (at the recommendation of a LC) was to feed him sitting on the person's lap facing outwards, so not at all in the usual "feeding position". He would take enough that way to get him through. I worked about 8 hours at time twice a week and dh was home with him. Dh could get him to take just enough that way so that he was satisfied but he would eat a ton as soon as I walked in the door. He would never take the bottle from me or if I was in the house.
  2. Yes, 100% agree. People forget in an emergency. People sometimes say things wrong. People don't define things the same ways medical people would. "I don't have asthma but I just always use an inhaler when I exercise or have a cold." That IS asthma. With the meds..the best is being told the colors. "A pink pill and a yellow one." Okay, well that narrows it down.
  3. I was at an escape room once with five boys, all middle schoolers (two were my kids). They were all homeschooled or went to a small private school. They were all smart kids. One ended up scoring perfectly on the SAT math section, one is National Merit Scholar studying computers and robotics, one is a chemistry major, etc. I was only in there because this particular escape room required an adult. I kind of just stood there and let them solve everything, which they did- quickly and easily. Until they got to the combination lock. They knew the numbers from another puzzle but none of them had any idea how to do it. And combination locks really aren't intuitive if you haven't been taught. I opened it for them and rose in their estimation...it was like I had superskills in their minds. 😁
  4. Two thoughts... -This reminds me a little of one of my least favorite phrases in the homeschool world "never do things for your kids that they can do for themselves". I don't know if it's still said a lot, but I heard it all the time when my kids were younger as a parenting "rule". And it used to really bug me and still does. I finally figured out (pun intended) that what bothered me about it was that I wouldn't treat other adults that way, including my husband, so why would I treat my kids that way? I do things for my kids all the time that they can do for themselves. I also do things for my husband that he can do for himself. Why? Because I love them. And they do things for me that I can do for myself. The problem, in my opinion, comes when you start doing everything for someone else so they don't/can't do it for themselves or if they expect you to always do it (especially in the case of a spouse). Balance is key. Similarly, I think, if you are always solving someone's problems, that's a problem. But if I know how to do a combo lock, why not just teach my kids how to do it? Some things they have to figure out how to navigate and part of figuring parenting out is to know when to help and when to step back but I do think it's fine and good to help your kids when they need it. -The OP reminds me a bit of the attitude a lot of doctors have about medical education. I was in the older generation that came through before a lot of the current reforms and it has changed a TON. And part of what kept it from changing was the attitude that "I had to learn how to stay up of 36 hours at a time and function, these kids can learn it too." There isn't value in doing something hard just because older generations had to do it hard. It's the "walking up hill through the snow both ways" kind of attitude. I had to figure a lot out myself when I was a teen because of family dysfunction (alcoholism, mental illness) and although I was able to do it, I am grateful for the people who did help me along the way and I'm really glad that my kids have more help than I did.
  5. My kids can get a locker at their school if they want one. They don't have one. They said mostly it's kids who have an instrument to store or some large sports equipment but that most people don't have them. Their main raise is that they don't have feel like they would have time between classes. They also have only four classes a day max and they really don't have any textbooks to carry, pretty much everything is sources on the laptop or books they can leave at home or they use in the classroom. So they aren't carrying a ton of stuff with them.
  6. I'm a pediatrician and yes, this is a huge problem. Some things we have had some people do that work (and yes I'm aware that not all of these are going to work for everyone or are great solutions...) -Switch to a different med. This isn't always ideal but sometimes the generic is available (or alternatively the brand) or sometimes you can make a switch to a different but similar med. Unfortunately, it is somewhat pharmacy and area dependent what is available so I can't totally say what to switch to but his doctor may know. For example, Focalin is the dexmethypenidate...if he hasn't tired it he might do well with the methylphenidate XR forms that are out there. The dosage isn't one to one and you'd have to play around to figure out the right dosage but it might be worth it if he's never tried it and it is more available where he is. -Mail order pharmacies. Sometimes these are more available, and often 90 day prescriptions are allowed by mail order even if your insurance usually allows 30..that at least diminishes the amount of times you have to have this battle. -I've had some patients ask for handwritten prescriptions and then they can physically take them to the pharmacy, that way when they find somewhere that has it they can get it filled instead of having to call and risk having the pharmacy run out while they wait for the prescription to get sent in. -Ask the doctors office if they know of pharmacies that do have the meds...we have a list we try and keep up to date in our office of what is in stock where so we can try and just send it in somewhere that has them.
  7. We live in Northern Virginia, outside DC. The area as a whole gets dumped on a lot by people elsewhere and even by locals. There are a lot of things not to like (traffic, cost of living) but a lot of things to really like. As we have started to talk about where we might one day want to retire, we keep coming back to we like it here. -Four seasons -Lots of opportunities for culture (free museums, theater, any kind of performance of anything) -Ethnic food (one of our nieces lives in Wisconsin in a gorgeous resort kind of town and she really really misses the food here). This would be the hardest for dh to move away from. He would really miss not having an Asian grocery store to go to regularly. -Close enough to lots of other places...beach and mountains are two hours away, NYC is close. -Great community supports (libraries, community college system, parks/rec centers, trails)
  8. You could definitely live in DC without a car. We also know people who lived in the closer-in suburbs like Arlington with no car, they just lived along a Metro. You can also use Zipcar which is a car sharing service. People I know use that if they mostly live without a car but need one for some reason. (Example, picking up furniture at Ikea or going on a day trip.)
  9. Podcast: The Popcast when I just want to laugh. Pantsuit Politics is a close second when I want something more substantive. Book: Demon Copperhead. Purchase: On shoes. They have saved my feet. Life Hack: Getting two separate duvets and a king sized bed. It's like sleeping separately, but in the same room. I'd be ok in separate rooms, dh isn't. This is a great compromise and has revolutionized my sleep. Biggest Regret: Nothing major. Life Easier: Let other people do more and stopped micromanaging how they do it. High Point: Lots of performances: King Lear at Shakespeare Theater, Giselle by ABT at Wolftrap, Indigo Girls concert. But also just having my oldest home from college over the summer and all the little everyday stuff we did as a family when he was here.
  10. I checked the first one but I think there is a difference between "tell everything that is in your head" and "bare your soul" and even "confess every sin". I think I can tell dh everything and he would forgive me. But I don't tell him everything that is in my head and I don't think he would want me to. Sometimes he annoys me or I'm bugged by him, I don't tell him that. And I wouldn't want him to tell me everything I do that annoys him. It's not that I couldn't tell him and he wouldn't love me...it's just that I don't think a relationship has to share every single detail to be healthy. Maybe there is a difference between hiding things because you are afraid of what the other person will think and just not sharing because you don't want to. When we were getting married the common advice was to "not let the sun go down on your anger." My pastor's wife at the time gave me great advice. She was a very outspoken and strong woman but she said her advice was "not everything in your head needs to be said aloud". She added "Sometimes, just go to bed and let the light of a new day shine on whatever it is." Those were great pieces of advice.
  11. As a pediatrician, we see people up until 21. We'll see some young adults a bit after that depending on circumstances but we run into issues with insurance after 23 (they often won't cover them seeing a pediatrician) and I think they are better served seeing an adult doctor. If they haven't switched before we start talking to them around age 20 about transitioning to an adult doctor. I also have a lot of parents who ask in the teen years if they should switch and I always answer that I think it depends on the teen and what they are comfortable with. Some prefer to switch to a family doctor as they hate coming to the "baby doctor" but some feel like that they would rather see someone they know than someone new. I personally think they should do whatever the teen prefers. Specialists are a real problem for the kids who are 17-18. Most pediatric specialists won't see new patients who are 18 and older, and some won't make appointments if they even are about to turn 18. I don't know if it's an issue for them with insurance or it's just their policy. Most adult specialists won't see people under the age of 18. So it' snot an uncommon issue for me to have a patient who I need to refer who is 17 and 9 months. The adult doc doesn't want to see them yet and sometimes the pediatric person doesn't either, or they can't get an appointment with them before they are 18. I will say usually if I can call and talk to the doctor themselves and explain the situation they will make exceptions, it's just the front office usually has a policy they are told and they will stick by the age when the parents call. The exception is for people who have seen the specialists for years for a chronic condition or who have a disease that isn't seen as often in adults, sometimes due to typical age of survival. For example, a lot of kids who had complex cardiac defects continue to see the pediatric cardiologist well past 21. Kids with cystic fibrosis used to only see pediatric pulmonologists because there weren't many people who survived into adulthood so the adult pulmonologists weren't as used to seeing them, but that has changed. I have a patient with muscular dystrophy who will probably stay at the same muscular dystrophy clinic that cares for all ages. Same is true for complex genetic disorders.
  12. -Yes you can go in some museums with backpacks. You have to go through security. A few museums will make you check a bag if it's big (usually the art museums) or carry it on your front. If they make you check it, it's free. -Very little requires advanced/timed tickets. The Museum of African American History does. Holocaust museum does. Some specific exhibits will, but I don't know of any right now that do (like when the Vermeer exhibit was at National Gallery you had to have a timed ticket for that but could go to the rest of the museum without it). -You could easily go to all free museums. The Spy Museum has a fee (and is worth it IMO). And then some of the art museums further afield (Philips Gallery) do. But the Smithsonian museums are all free. -Food is a little harder to find on the mall. It's somewhat overpriced. The museum cafeterias are kind of what you expect. The American Indian Museum and the African American Museum both have excellent food. You can find the menus online if you want to look. There are a lot of food trucks that park along the mall. if you venture away from the mall, yes it's very easy to find whatever kind of food you want. Vegan, gluten free, etc. You don't have to go far. It wouldn't be hard to take food outdoors, but March can be kind of iffy weather here and it might be chilly. We used to picnic on the mall all the time when my kids were younger.
  13. Not mentioned... -Yogurts- they have a specific lemon yogurt that I love. But they often don't have it in stock or it might be discontinued or seasonal. That is one of the frustrating (and also sort of fun) things...the things you love will come and go. -Chimichurra -They have a lot of great vegan offerings. The ice cream is a favorite of my son's- specifically the vanilla soy is apparently the best anywhere. They also have a green tea mochi ice cream and a black boba ice cream that my kid's like. -Peanut butter (or almond butter) filled pretzels. -Pizza dough- it's in the refrigerated section and fairly inexpensive. It used to be 79 cents but I haven't gotten it in awhile. Made for a great cheap pizza night. -The milk here is the cheapest anywhere, I have no idea why except that maybe it's priced that way as a loss leader. -My family all likes their mints- the green tea ones and chai ones. I do not. 🙂
  14. I didn't worry about it with my oldest, our state doesn't require us to fulfill any specific classes and I didn't feel like I needed to include it. When my second son went to public school (starting in 10th grade) I had to say we'd done Health so that he could get a credit for PE/Health for 9th grade, otherwise he'd have had to do two years of PE. I just wrote a few sentences saying he had "Explored nutrition as relates to a vegan diet. Discussed drugs and alcohol and sexual health." And he had a CPR certification which I mentioned. They were fine with that with no other documentation.
  15. Trazadone isn't a SSRI, although it is very similar (it's a SARI) and works similarly. It actually isn't FDA approved for insomnia, but it is very commonly used. It was approved as a treatment for depression but the sedative side effects are considerable so it became something was used for insomnia. This is actually really common in medicine, there are a lot of meds that aren't technically FDA approved for the thing they end up being used for. Or that start as one thing and then people realize the side effect is actually more useful than the original usage. One of the more famous examples is Rogaine, which is a blood pressure medication. It just had the side effect of causing hair growth and then people realized there was a huge market for that use.
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