Yesterday at the pool my hubby saved a four year old boy. The lifeguards never saw him until hubby pulled him out, and this is a small community pool. They had just arrived and the morher( still in clothes) was struggling in with bags and floaters. The boy just ran in the entry and kept going, sinking silently like a stone. Hubby was playing with my dd5 and turned around when he felt something bump his leg underwater and then just saw bubbles on top. No sound at all Very frightening, and that poor mom about had a panic attack. The boy was just fine after a bit, and I saw him later playing in the splash pool portion...with both a full life jacket and inflatables on his arms. I think his mom had her quota of scares for the day:(

Thanks, I will try this!

I absolutely do have neighbors and friends who would either do laundry for me or let me use theirs. And I will ask if it gets to that point:) This morning I washed everything and covered every available surface with wet clothes to dry. The house looks hilarious, but dd5 thinks it's hysterical. I even let her stand on the table to hang dad's underwear from the chandelier, lol, and we texted him a picture. Good for a few laughs:) I was more in awe of the fees you could charge! To think, we do laundry daily for free! If I ever need extra cash I will buy a second set of machines, put them in the garage, and do laundry for the college kids whilst I go about my day:)

Oh, no worries, I meant it in a light-hearted way. Total first world problem at the moment. Our washer works fine, and um, we live in Texas where the sun would take care of the problem in about 10 minutes:) regardless, the part will be here Monday. I just thought wow! Wouldn't it be great to get paid like that for doing laundry? And I also should say, this is not some sweat shop operation, which I would ever joke about. This is next to a private university where the clientele is college students, they employ college students who do their jomework whilst waiting for buzzers. There are about 25 large washers, although I don't know how many are going at once. I know one of the girls, which is why I called. She said most of their customers sign up for regular service...or their parents sign them up for it! Pretty sweet deal! I can't imagine going off to college and having my parents sign me up for laundry service, but that is a whole other thread in itself:)

Oh! I have zero problems with a laundromat:) I have used them in the past. They were my best friend in the army. But now I am in a wheelchair with a 5 yo and a new baby. No way am I going to be able to do that, lol:) Didn't mean to sound as though laundromats wereabaf thing. I guess I should also have said that they told me the average load was $25-30.

Our dryer picked this week to go out, along with about a dozen other maintenance issues. The repairman came and went, charging a ridiculous amount to tell me what I already knew and promising to order the part. In the meantime I have laundry piling up, and my house is ripe with the smell of dirty baby clothes and cloth diapers! Being a college town, there is one of those drop off laundry places where they wash your laundry and fold it when it is clean. I phoned them up thinking It might just be worth it until next week. So the question is: HOW COME I DONT GET PAID $1.50 per POUND of LAUNDRY?! I would be rich:)

Thanks for this:)It helps to know that others have had that panicky, jump off the deep end feel. I really do think homeschooling is the only real option and the Montessori thing would only be an expensive stopgap. The other day at swim lessons I watched Alex cautiously edge out on the high dive for the first time. Creeping slowly, slowly, inching out to the end of the board where she stood peering anxiously off into the water. It took her nearly 5 minutes, backing up, moving forward, crying, and worrying, begging to get down but not wanting to when we said yes. She finally shouted and wailed and did a cannonball off the end:) I know exactly how she feels.

SeaConquest- I am so jealous of the program you have found for your son! I remember reading your description in another post and thinking how amazing it sounded. It would be perfect for us:) And yes, not having to make that frantic rush out the door will be a huge pro for homeschooling. The logistics of getting dd5, backpack, diaper bag, baby and car seat, myself in the wheelchair to school is crazy. This summer Alex has been going to school 2 days per week so that she could have something to do whilst I am adjusting to the baby. It is SO difficult just to get everything in the car, and then into her school, and back home. Exhausting.

They will let us do a trial period of six weeks, and in fact, this was suggested by them as they say they have never encountered a situation like ours before. She is such a hard mix of crazy acceleration and incredibly asynchronous social/emotional issues. In fact, up until recently I would have said she was on the very young side emotionally for her chronological age. This summer she has matured tremendously. One of the things we have noticed is that whilst her neuropsych eval ruled out ASD, she does exhibit behaviors that are very similar. For example, she is a mimic of behavior...but hers ends up being just a little off or inappropriate, as though she doesn't quite get the social cues. When she is around the younger kids she acts very babyish. She adores older kids, and would love being in the class with 6-9 year olds. This summer she has been taking a tumbling class with mostly older girls and does really well with them. Unfortunately they all treat her like a cute little pet. The other day when I picked her up they were quizzing her:( 'Hey Alex, what is the cubed root of 729?!' And she loves the attention from the older girls, but this is exactly what we have always tried to avoid. I do not want her feeling like her worth/place/identity comes from crap like that. The poor kid just doesn't seem to fit:(

Jackie, that is my ideal as well. Even a half-day Kindy where she could just go have fun? Although I think I may be hung up on wanting her to have the fun Kindy experience I remember as a child. This kid is not me, and I actually think she would loathe what I loved:) There IS a program I would dearly love to do whilst homeschooling...but it is 1.5 hours away. It is even called 'treeschooljng.' They meet 2 mornings per week and focus on art, hand crafts with natural themes such as weaving, music and so much more. They even meet once per month in a nature preserve and learn plant identification, animal tracks, etc. It looks wonderful, but I am not sure I could swing the drive by myself with the two kids and the wheelchair issue. If I could, we could also do the coop down there and maybe attend a fun class in the afternoons. I hate living so far from everything!

Honestly, at that age my dd loved dress up, play silks, wings, Melissa and Doug kitchen sets, schleich figures and anything miniature. Little dolls and the like. But by far the best gift she recieved at age 3 was a ream of printer paper and a basket of new pens and markers. Seriously, that paper was the hugest hit. She still remembers it and asks for it every birthday and Christmas:)

Ha! Italy is on my least favorite places to revisit for this very reason. Think the toilet situation there is bad? Imagine having to use them being disabled:) sooo gross. I am unable to 'hover' if you will so I had to get VERY creative! And my wheelchair would rarely fit so I ended up having to get across the floor without it. I actually once wrapped my hands and knees in disposable plastic bags it was so gross, lol. Ah, but I was young and adventurous and wanted to see Italy! And it WAS worth it.

I am hoping that everything is going well now. I will never forget when my dd stopped breathing in my arms. I was holding her and watching some inane thing on television when I was startled by the apnea monitor alarm. The thing went off occasionally and it was usually nothing...but this time it was. However, I was so grateful for that monitor. Even if the doctors think it was a one-off situation, you can request a monitor for piece of mind. The med supply places rent them. Sending well wishes to you and your family. I choked up when I read your post and immediately went to check my little guy.

Funny you should say this as I already have someone in mind:). I think it would work well, but I am one of those people for whom having someone in my house is almost more difficult for me. Maybe I just haven't found the right one yet. Hubby teaches at uni, and there is no small shortage of students who might be able to help teach her any number of fun things as well as help out. We did this in the past when Alex was tiny and used so much ASL. But it is really difficult to work around their changing schedules and my dd gets very attached.

*update* As of this morning I officially gave up Alex's spot at the Montessori school. I have so many mixed emotions, but the biggest is still worry. She says she wants to homeschool. I *Know* I could do absolutely nothing structured with her this year and she would still be radically accelerated. Alas, that is not my kid... So I now must put together something that meets her needs of structure and moving toward something with our current home life. Going to need a lot of help and advice here😊 Thanks to all for the advice! Alex will officially be a kindergartener this year:) It is all very exciting...but I am in complete panic mode and have yet to make extremely important decisions. Can someone help me think this out?! This last year she went to a Montessori preschool program part time and we 'did homeschool' the other days. She REALLY learned zilch at the expensive school, but who cared? She is radically advanced already, she had fun, and I was pretty much incapacitated with a difficult pregnancy. The teachers tried, and honestly, she had so many social and emotional hurdles that the focus needed to be there for a bit. However, they all agreed that a change is much needed. We have always planned to homeschool as there is simply not a program near us that will come close to meetng her needs. The Montessori school had attempted to cobble together a program: she would attend part-time (never before allowed at Kindy) and I would still homeschool the core subjects. She would skip up to the elementary program in the am for academics 3 days per week and then go back to with the Kinders for 'specials' like art, music, and languages, and she would end up going to the Upper Elementary for math (so 4th-6th graders). And the kicker is we would pay full price for the privilege! My gut says this is ridiculous. It won't work, and she already sees going there as just play time (which actually isn't a bad thing at 5!), but nearly $7500 per year is expensive play time. I feel like I KNOW I just need to commit to homeschooling. Why is this so terrifying all of the sudden? I know most don't consider what we have done the last few years official homeschooling, but we have done so many curricula and programs to keep her occupied that I don't *feel* as though we are just starting out. But up until now it has just been fun, and surviving with a tsunami for a child. And she has blown through so much of it doing school with her part time. The thought of what she will get through if we are homeschooling daily? Absolutely terrifying to me. And then there is the selfish part:( My kid is...intense. In everything. The thought of having her home with me all day, every single day, wanting more and more and more is extremely daunting to say the least. And with a new baby as well as my medical problems/chronic pain issues? I am having a hard time giving up that safety net. Oy. She says she wants to homeschool. But I know that when the year starts she will vacillate too. A couple other considerations: We live in an area where the coop is not really a viable option. She does to gymnastics/tumbling, piano, swimming, and a couple of other things. There are no supplemental classes she could attend locally. She has attended the Montessori program for a year. During that time she has not made a single friend that she really cares about. She will interact with them a bit, talk at them, but really only wants to talk to the teachers. Zero play dates or interest in them. Can I just say I also think about the options I could pursue for the $7500 annual cost?! So...lay it on me. Gently please:). I feel like I *know* what would be best for her, so why am I freaking out? I have spent the last couple months researching and planning non-traditional subjects for a fun Kindy year so we can go in crazy different directions since I don't have to worry about the 'normal' stuff. She wants to learn programming, typing, and calligraphy. And more math of course, which is a thread all of its own...

How old is she? I wouldn't be as concerned about the reading time as much as the lack of sleep. If she wakes up at 5 am to read, and doesn't go to bed until 11 pm, you are looking at 6 hours? There are plenty of hours in a day for that much reading AND physical activity...but I would attempt to provide them when it doesn't interfere with sleep.

And the companion series, the Mercy Thompson books! They follow many of the same characters and run parallel to the Alpha/Omega series:)

Thinking that your children will not be exposed to ideas and terminology at incredibly young ages is, IMHO, hubris. My dd FIVE recently asked me about anal sex. She is very knowledgeable about bodies and reproduction, but it turns out she heard the words at her mixed-age tumbling class and figured it out. She was actually frightened, but only because of what her imagination pulled together. Once I explained it she just said "OH! Okay." And was fine. It really made me very conscious of the fact that providing her with calm and factual information is the only defense (and offense) I can provide her, And funny story; she once refused to go to preschool because she was worried about getting pregnant. I couldn't understand it as she was fully aware of reproduction and various roles. It turns out that the KomodoDragons at our local zoo were believed to have reproduced via parthenogenesis and it had totally thrown her for a loop:)

Speaking of Trump for President- Ah, Trump:) Such comedy relief! Anybody see his uh, comments on CNN's State of the Union Sunday? Immigration: "we are going to get the bad ones out!" What about the 11 million others? It's complicatedand we are going to look at it and get the bad ones out! Guns? Should mentally ill people be allowed guns? "...you have to be very careful not to let them kill people." But he is 'a big 2nd amendment fan' and we need to get the guns from 'the bad ones.' Ooohh. The bad ones. Okay. Glad we cleared that one up:)

You don't *look* like a wheelchair person! Uhhhh. Okay. Depending upon the day I either say 'thank you?' Or, 'sshh, I don't need it I am just lazy!' Or 'you should see me when I forget my secret anti-drool meds!' Because people must just choose the inconvenience of being confined to a wheelchair. Really. I also have some anti-ignorant meds. I would offer some but....

Today at the water park daddy had to rig a quick duct tape patch on dd's inflatable raft. As he handed it back to her, dd5 quipped "Thanks daddy! because YOU are a man of infinite resource and sagacity!" Someone has been listening to Rudyard Kipling at bedtime:)

So I always hear crickets when I suggest this, but I had a very young child who wanted to learn everything RIGHT now without being taught:) There is a set of cute DVDs with the unfortunate name of The TV Teacher. Miss Marnie cleverly teaches the kids to write letters, draw with shapes, and lots more in short little clips. There is a chant for each letter formation:) I bought lined dry erase boards and markers and let her have at it. I did casually correct at times, but it was hugely effective. I think YouTube has some of the clips, and I heard there is now an app as well.

Ha! I think there is one of these at every university. Nothing says dodgy like a prof who (mostly poorly) self-publishes his own required 'textbook' for the class.

Oh yeah. I actually came across a random bottle in an old box not too long ago and the tiniest whiff took me back to high school! Powerful stuff:) My signature scent these days seems to alternate between Eau de Clean Baby and Eau de Stinky Baby with a dash of baby spit up...

Definitely:) We spent several hours at a Waterstones perusing just this type and would have bought a LOT more if we had room in our suitcases. My dd also fell in love with Enid Blyton collections like The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree books, as well as the St. Claire and Malory Towers sets. There were so many more interesting options, and I felt like the quality of writing was much better even at the most beginning of chapter books.