Thank you for all the replies. It is just his adenoids that will be coming out, the Dr. said his tonsils are fine.

The ENT today suggested it would be a good idea to remove ds7's adenoids. I'm not familiar with this procedure or its benefits, has anyone had their child's adenoids removed? Dr. said that in ds's case the adenoids are enlarged and are obstructed approximately 90% of the nasal passage. We went in for a consultation on the recommendation of a speech therapist, who wondered if there was a physical obstruction affecting his speech. If you have had this done, how did the child react to the procedure? How long did recovery take? Is there anything else I should know? Of course I have asked these questions of the dr. as well, I just like to get the perspective of other parents in making such decisions.

I'm re-reading all your fabulous recommendations this morning and dreaming of my garden. Can't wait to get my hands out in the dirt, but of course we had a freeze last night the forecast says it won't warm up until this weekend...

So how do I know which plants/parts of plants are edible? I believe that potato plants and leaves, for example, are poisonous.

How I would approach this would partially depend on the child in question. If this were my oldest, she would be absolutely devastated at the grade. On the one hand, it could be a good lesson in learning to take your falls and move on; on the other, it would honestly cause her way more distress than is warranted by any test and could potentially lead to years of problems with testing anxiety etc.. I would likely at least make an attempt to get the teacher to let her retake the portion she forgot. With my other children, I would likely just let them learn whatever lesson they could from the experience and move on. It's not as if 2nd grade grades are of lasting importance in a child's life...

Thank you everyone! I'm hearing about a lot of options I didn't even know existed, or have heard of but never eaten. The only greens I remember eating growing up were lettuce and spinach (usually as spinach soup, it was yummy). I'm excited to try some new things. We do have lots of dandelions, and I have started experimenting with them. They work fine in small amounts...

I just discovered beet greens last year--they were delicious, don't know why I had only thought of eating the roots before. What other greens should I be growing/eating? What are your favorite greens and how do you like to eat them?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom Ruth.

Thanks for sharing, I have never heard of this. I will go research it.

We've been fighting this battle together throughout our marriage, but I'm feeling alone and worn down lately. DH suffers from chronic depression, mostly he has been able to manage it through medication and occasional therapy (therapy gets so expensive). Every now and then, though, he gets into a slump for awhile. Sometimes I can track the problem to increased stress from work or life changes, sometimes I can't put my finger on anything. Sometimes he's just forgotten to take his medication and the next few days are miserable. My husband is one of the kindest, most generous, most caring men I know--when he is functioning normally. Then depression rears its head and he turns cold and uncaring and irritable. I get left without emotional or much practical support at home, struggling to manage the logistics of the family and maintain the emotional climate of the home for everyone. It is exhausting and confusing. I can encourage him to do the things he needs to to take care of himself--get enough sleep, exercise, eat well, take his medication, see a counselor; I can't force him though, and I worry about turning our relationship into one of me nagging him. I can tell just by the expression on his face and the sound of his voice when his mood has slipped into depression, but he usually doesn't recognize it himself. His experience is that his world is falling apart, and he feels helpless and out of control and goes looking for someone or something to blame; he hates it when I point to depression as the real culprit for his feelings; that makes him feel broken. He knows it is a disease, but I think it is very hard to accept that your entire experience of life is being impacted by a disease. There are some things that are within my control--maintaining better order at home, getting the kids to bed on time, preparing nutritious meals. We have recently adopted a gluten-free diet, mostly hoping for a positive impact on emotional issues. If you have lived with a spouse suffering from depression, what did you do to support them and at the same time take care of yourself and other family members? If you have dealt with depression personally what did your spouse do that was helpful? What do you wish they would have done differently? After so many years I suspect this is something that dh will struggle with throughout life; we are fortunate that the problem is under control most of the time, but it never completely goes away. I'm just feeling tired today. I love my husband. Most of the time we very good marriage. But some days are just so hard.

:iagree: Based on what you have shared about her social comfort zone as well as academic performance, this sounds like a good option.

I found this article interesting. So in some hospitals even low-risk women are facing a c-section rate of 36.5%. These are the people without a prior c-section, without a multiple pregnancy, without a breech baby. So if NONE of those factors is coming into play, what could possibly explain more than 1/3rd of these deliveries being done via c-section except for inappropriate medical management and decision making, whether that is linked to liability concerns, physician convenience, or some other factor?

We use MM in a non-sequential manner--I use the light blue series, but don't work straight through a book. Rather we do a page or two from one section, then a page or two from another. Eventually we cover the whole book. I wonder if you could use Singapore in a similar manner? The pages are nice and friendly, unlike MM. It is possible this way to skip around in topics like Miquon, but still make sure you cover everything. I clip the corner of each page we have finished so it is easy to see what has been done and what hasn't. With MM, I also cross out extraneous practice problems, or skip whole pages if they aren't necessary for a particular child.

My kids are younger than yours, so I don't have BTDT advice but just looking at the schedule I think this would be hard to keep up with. Would it be possible to schedule something to be done over the summer rather than during the school year? I think history could be done this way, or some of your language arts work (vocabulary, for example). Skill subjects such as foreign language or math are hard to condense, but content subjects may work well that way.

Unfortunately around here it isn't just the kids who need to hear "focus!" throughout the day. I should probably get a recording of someone reminding ME to focus throughout the day. The kids? At least I know they come by it honestly.

The issue of course is not whether or not c-sections are sometimes necessary (they absolutely save lives) but what accounts for the difference between a reasonable rate for necessary c-sections and almost half of all births being performed via c-section.

BIL is a physician, the hospital where he did his residency had a 45%+ c-section rate, he ascribed the high rate primarily to liability concerns; apparently it is easier for a doctor to defend the decision to perform a c-section than the decision not to if something goes wrong. He and his wife chose a midwife practice to deliver their own children.

My experience in Latin America was in some of the poorer countries. In Nicaragua, quality health care was only available to those with significant money. My parents helped a family who had lost one child to cholera and was going to lose another child to the same treatable infection. This little boy was in a hospital in a large ward with many patients, not clean, and medication was only available if the family went out and purchased it and brought it in. The medical staff didn't know how to start an IV in such a small child, they said the veins were too small. My parents were able to get an American nurse involved, and the little boy recovered.

Moving "back home" for a TCK is more complex than moving to a new foreign country. Being a foreigner in some place where everyone knows you are a foreigner and expects you to act/speak/think differently and be unfamiliar with things is easier than being a foreigner some place where you're supposed to belong and fit in. I don't know what you can do to prepare them, other than making them aware of the challenges ahead, letting them know it is normal to feel out of place and out of sync, and providing lots of understanding and support. It is a tough transition, but the experiences they have had of living in a different country and the experience they will have of coming back to the States as a TCK will enrich their lives immensely and give them perspective and understanding that most children don't have the chance to develop.

Thank you for sharing! No-one ever taught me study skills, and I am determined to do better for my children. The one thing that would have helped me most would have been learning to ask for help when I needed it.

It tells me we are established middle class, which is where I would consider myself in American terms as well. We're not wealthy (well below six figure income) but we own a home, have college/advanced degrees, are building up retirement savings, are interested in literature, arts, education in general. We socialize with a wide variety of people, but definitely don't swim in the top circles.

Not that I am aware of. If you're talking about the elementary series, I just used them as read-aloud books and edited on the fly.

:grouphug: :grouphug:

I took a look at your blog, I like the candid way you write. I'll pass along the link. Thanks! I do my best to commiserate, but I'm in a different phase of life now. I try to tell her things get better in time. Children grow, they learn to play together and don't demand mom's attention all the time. I never had two as close as she does, though. And I'm a naturally cheerful, easy-going person so wasn't dealing with the "I'm going out of my mind" anxiety she's faced with.

Their budget is stretched already. She has a church but she is new in the area and doesn't feel comfortable asking for help. I did wonder if she could find a MOPS group--at least to make some friends. I've never been involved with MOPS--would there be a chance for her to visit with other moms while someone else watches the kids?