I have been looking through DD's reading choices and I am feeling weighed down by what she is reading. I would like some suggestions for light reading for her. She is a pretty advanced reader. Thanks Mom to DD12

Yes. The winner of this competition was of Indian origin. LOL!

Sorry. Hugs. Prayers.

I would check iron levels and B-12. My hair loss was/is beyond my control. I had a iron infusion and B-12 shots which caused a temporary relief from hair loss. This was one and half years ago. Hair loss is back again - I have not been taking my iron tablets for a couple of month. Time to go back on them. And yes, I am hypothyroid. Which causes anemia.

DD11 will be participating in a vocabulary contest sometime in August. This is something that she really wants to do - she has made it to the finals without any formal preparation. The organizers provided a list of approx 1000 words of which 10 will appear in the initial round. The list has advanced words. How should she study these words? Find the meaning in the dictionary and memorize them? I would appreciate any pointers that can be offered. TIA!

DD started when she was 4.5 years - in the yoji class. No sparring - the kids did not touch each other. The classes were aimed more at teaching the fundamentals of karate, seiza, bowing before stepping on to the floor and the various kicks. Its almost six years now and she is on her green belt, so definitely not a belt factory. She tests once a year. Safety would be my main concern. At this age, the kids should not be sparring or doing anything that requires protective gear when learning/practicing martial arts.

Because the fan girls don't really know her in person - only her FB persona. And they are not thinking when they respond. I have such people on my FB friend list. I move along when I come across their posts now. I used to read responses on their posts and wonder what others see in them that I don't. I realized I didn't care.

This post brings up so many emotions in me (not good ones) that I had to take many many deep breaths to calm myself down. How does the mom treat her son's other friends? Or is this behavior saved just for your DD. Has your DD's bf asked the same of his mother - that she get along with his gf? If so, why not? This does not have anything to do with him living with his parents. Would he accept rudeness from his mom just because he was dependent on them. And I feel bad that he has put the burden of the mother-gf relationship on your daughter. And if it fails then the blame falls on your dd. I read where you said that the bf was the logical one and your daughter was more emotional (maybe you didn't say it but I got that impression). That's how it was between DH and me - I walked out of every conversation (regarding how I was being treated by his family) feeling that I was making a big issue out of nothing and that I should be the one making "adjustments". 20 years later I realize that this is me - if it is important to me - logical or not - it has to be addressed in the relationship. Looking back I realize that DH's family felt like it was a huge privilege for me to be married to DH (and that rubbed off on DH too for a while) and I had to be the one who needed to make the change/put up with their attitude. Sorry to go off topic but I needed to vent for a few sentences.

DD 10 is yearning for a best friend in school. She wants to change schools in hopes of finding a best friend that she can hang out with. She has very good friends outside school that we meet socially. She has what I would call good playmates in school - yes, there are some girls that are not "friendly". She plays and spends time with other kids but yearns to have a special friend. There are kids in her grade that are best friends and talk/hang out/do things together but that seems more the exception than the norm. These friendships are typically mom-driven. The moms are best friends or promote friendships between the girls by having play dates and sleepovers. I have offered to invite other girls in her class to play dates but there isn't anyone she is interested in having over. I have been thinking back my childhood - I did not have best friends until I was in high school. I was friends with everyone in class and there were times when I was more friendly with one person but that typically did not last long. I have been talking to DD and explaining to her that it is okay to not have a best friend in school with no avail. I do believe she is putting more pressure on herself and her expectations are unrealistic. But I am sensitive to the fact that this is how she feels and respect her desire to find that friendship. But I worry that we will be changing schools and going into an environment where friendships/cliques are already formed and she has to break into the social groups that have been formed since pre-k. The school that she will be moving too has a very high international population (mostly Europe). I am hearing of a couple of bullying long drawn bullying incidents that the school did not manage the right way. Kids don't necessary speak in English with each other - there are different language tracks. To me this adds another complication to the social scene for DD. What is your experience with school friendships? When did they start? And is it normal that DD does not have a best friend in school at this age? TIA!

The X-rays didn't show anything? Why the extreme pat down?

Are any of you familiar with what happened in India a few months back? The government scrapped all the 500 and 1000 rupee bills overnight. The public had a few weeks to turn in all their 500 and 1000 rupee bills to the banks - it was a mess. They banks did not have enough cash in smaller bills to exchange them so the only option was to deposit money in the banks. I was shocked when I found out that my friends had big stashes in rupees hidden in their closets here in the US and in India. They rushed back home before the end of the year to swap out the bills. My mom had a lot of friends who had been hiding money from their spouses reach out to her to help them out. Her bank account grew leaps and bounds in those few weeks.

I would make jeera (cumin) rice (cook basmati rice with salt and water, heat oil and temper cumin seeds and add to the rice), plain yogurt, grated cucumber, grated carrots, thinly sliced white onions (make your own raita).

Whew! I am no longer worried about my mental state.

I have the Instant Pot. And Prestige prestige cookers in various sizes and shapes. My pressure "pan" - smallest available gets uses every day. Its small and very easy to clean. The electric pressure are more bulky and not easy to clean.

The best pressure cooker imo is the Indian brand - Prestige. Used by millions everyday. You local Indian grocery store will stock there. In different sizes and shapes. In stainless steel.