Unfortunately this is just Phase 1 of a 2 part orthodontic extravaganza, so I doubt they'll do anything permanent. I'll carry the piece of junk in and see what they say about it.

Well, rats. It looks like I'm unreasonable. I DO rather think it was something wrong with the retainer instead of abuse by the kid, but I doubt they'd be very open to hearing my ideas about that. Maybe I can ask them to figure out something more sturdy - it seems like only a sucker would pay $250 for something identical to the one that broke after a month of normal use.

Hey y'all. I'm in a stew over an orthodontic thing, and I have no idea whether I'm in the right or the wrong - I need perspective. My kid had a palate expander, and has moved on to braces upstairs and a clear plastic retainer downstairs. The retainer is a flexible thin plastic thing. That's been the setup for maybe a month. Yesterday, the clear plastic retainer snapped in half. My girl said it happened when she was wiping spit out of it, and she's on the whole a very truthful kid. She was upset at the breakage. I called the orthodontist and set up an appointment for getting a new mold made and a new retainer made, and the gal casually mentioned it'd be $250. Woah. Is that the usual thing? I was sort of expecting them to say, "oh, gosh, I'm sorry that happened. Let's get it taken care of." And maybe pay a replacement fee of some kind (something more like $50 seems reasonable). To me it seems as though they're assuming that the kid is at fault, and I don't see it that way. Am I unreasonable?

It's an issue. His teacher should be addressing it, truly. A lot of times kids who play that way also have an articulation issue - using the lips to say "puh" rather than the tongue to say "tah". At the beginning stages it sounds very similar, but is a bad habit that will limit progress before long at all.

We hold hands, say a "thanks for the food and for your provision in our lives" prayer, in Jesus' name. Then we sing a hymn, the doxology is most popular, but all the hymns we know are available.

Justice. Or Gideon.

I'd work on making it HIS issue. If he's not ready when you have to leave, he'll go without his things or without the clothes he wishes he'd changed into or without breakfast or whatver. The leaving time needs to be inflexible and announced in advance. Let him deal with the fallout. You might have to explain to a coach or teacher what you're up to but there's no reason for you to responsible for getting his ducks in a row.

Maybe switch to tea, which would be easier to quit? Have you seen a doc about the headache situation? Do you know what's causing it?

Thanks for the advice, y'all. I'll try running it back to the tune up place (it's Mom & Pop). Taking a sample of the thread mess sounds smart - I'd not thought to do that before.

Y'all, I need help. I've sewed for several years and totally dig it. In fact, it's safe to say I *love* sewing. I have a recurring problem, though, and it's cramping my style. I'll be sewing along, minding my own business, and all of a sudden there's a thumpy sound and the underside of my seam gets about fifty-nine loops and threads and I don't even know where they've come from. So I un-do that, rethread the machine and continue on. It'll go for a while, all fine and dandy, but then thump! I *am* a person who sews over pins, but this is not a sewing-over-pins problem. I think it's tension related? But my stitches before the issue look just fine. I've had my machine in to be tuned up and cleaned and whatever not so very long ago, and this stuff happened both before and after. Does that ring any bells for anyone?

Maybe a "Hi, Mr. Organizer -- we're really needing to nail down the schedule for tomorrow, both for my family and Suzy's accompanist. Will you please call me at (xxx) xxx-xxxx as soon as possible with Suzy's performance time? She's really looking forward to playing tomorrow!"

Maybe consider a UMS school? Some classroom time (2-3 days a week for grammar stage?) and some the rest homeschool. I'm thinking that would be a very attractive option cost-wise as well as making the school significantly different from other private schools in your area.

Would it help to talk through the readin comprehension questions with her rather than having it be written work? If comprehensionis really the goal, the act of writing it may just ve interfereing with what really needs to happen?

I grew up in the suburbs, and tons of people used the train to get downtown. It might stretch the 30 minutes a little, but at least a body can DO something on the train rather than sitting in traffic. But the commuter rail is very popular and very accessible.

Jesus himself very clearly taught that he was in fact God. So if you were to want the element of him being a sacrificial atonement for sins, you'd have to also consider that you don't believe his statements about who he is... for me it would be incompatible to believe that he was a liar about his identity but that's okay and his sacrifice still makes things right between me and God.

We recently LOVED a few of the books from Brian Jaques' Redwall Series. Also wonderful was My Side of the Mountain.

I've told my mom, every once in a while for the last couple of years (and my folks are just newly 60 and wonderfully healthy) that whenever they finally do get old, I'm going to take great care of them, but they'll have to be significantly close. For me, starting from an affirming point, "I love you and my heart is to be available to care for you and Dad when y'all need help," and from there go ahead and say, "for at least the foreseeable future, we'll be here in Whoville. If y'all were within 20 minutes away or so it'd be cake to pop over and help out when you need something, or we could just get together for lunch and shopping or whatever. Would you be willing to consider that?" Good luck to you as you talk through those things with your folks!

FWIW, I have (and my huz has) a dumbphone. They're both Tracfones, the service is perfectly adequate, and we each pay for a year of service at a go -- it works out to about $10/month. Neither of us text conversationally, but we *can* send and receive text messages on these phones. I think you're wise to try and sort out the techno policies before trouble starts - much easier and less emotional that way. I'd be good to make sure your kid knows it's an ongoing conversation, too. Responsible use will result in fewer parental intrusions, and irresponsible use the opposite.

For me it sounds at least quirky, if not developmentally troublesome. If you play a remembering game, can he follow? Like say, "Apple, banana" and have him repeat, then do "Apple, banana, pear" and repeat, then "Apple, banana, pear, kiwi", or with numbers or letters or colors or names or vehicles or whatever? I think a four year old would usually be able to hold 4 things in order in their mind and be able to repeat them to you. That might give you an idea of whether it's a processing issue?

The Great Brain series!

My people are obsessive watchers if anyone is in the home -- bug guy, repair man, you name it. Your kids sound adorable!

Well, jeez, it's 39* here and I'm huddled under blankets and whatever. I'm cooooold. My house is built to handle hot temps, but the cold not so much. Upstairs to downstairs in this casa is a 15 degree difference, so downstairs it is downright chilly. I know I'm a big wimp and everything, but I actually am cold.

I think it's weird but probably the cashier wasn't really thinking that much about it... I'd just say "yep" and move on.

Would it work to read aloud while all the kids play blocks on the floor - with the expectation that the older ones will work on interesting (quietly) and placating (quietly) the little one?

My girls sweep the dining room and wipe down the table after dinner each night. They also (gleefully) help carry the trash to the outside trashbin on trash day. Those are the only things that don't directly benefit them that they do -- things like putting away their own laundry I don't consider a chore because it's only for their own sake AND it's done irregularly (I'm not a laundry maven).