A student of mine has an extreme difficulty with identifying letters and numbers. As an example, this child can look at the dot pattern for 6 and say "Six! It has two threes, three twos, and six ones!!" but pointing to the number six from a selection of a few number cards... nope. Letters are similar. For reference, this child is almost eight years old. They receive SpEd services, but no testing has been done because the student was so hyperactive/didn't understand directions that testing was attempted and discontinued. This student is starting to get frustrated with school, and I totally sympathize... it's got to be so boring to see the same thing over and over... for years. Does anyone have some ideas about what could be going on? Extreme dyslexia/dyscalculia, or something different? I've taught lots of dyslexic students but none of them have had anything remotely close to this degree of difficulty. It's almost as though there's some kind of blindness towards number/letters, like how some people can't recognize faces. I'm stumped!

I wish my DH would do that. He pretty much doesn't care about spreading his OWN germs.... 😒 Luckily he's rarely sick! I don't think I could take frequent flus or colds with him.

I have no idea, and want to say I’m sorry you’re all going through this. You might want to look into a free app called Abridge. It transcribes the audio of appointments for you, so you just record during the appointment. I’ve not used it myself but I hear it’s really amazing. https://www.abridge.com

Same! I mean, well done all of us, but really? We can't be (shouldn't be!) the smartest bunch around 😝

Did she read all of the Little House series? There's a "spin off" series about Laura's daughter, Rose... I can't remember the author at the moment. Maybe someone else can help. I loved those, too! I think the author of the series was a family friend of Rose. Ooh, got it! Roger MacBride. The series is called the Rose Years, and the first book is "Little House on Rocky Ridge." 🥰 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064404781?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tpbk_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1639331599&sr=8-2 I think that Rose is about 9 in this series, at least at the beginning!

My biggest prayer right now is that omicron really ends up being milder than delta.

I like the 2nd one!

Oh wow! I totally had this as a child, and never knew what it was called! I never even told my parents. I just sort of... waited and my knee would go back where it should. Crazy to think now that I never told anyone. It was very scary in the moment! I've wondered what this was called for 30 years! Thanks Hive! Thankfully, it went away by the time I was a teenager.

My DH had his Pfizer booster last weekend. About 13 hours later (middle of the night) he was chilled for about an hour, then sweated through two shirts during the rest of the night. Aside from feeling kind of blah the next day, he was fine. We noticed that the side effects happened faster than with his 2nd dose.

The reviews for that cat are really heartwarming. ❤️

My least favorite part of a man cold is the unnecessarily loud and dramatic hacking, gagging, and throat clearing right around day 5 that lasts for at least two weeks post man-cold....

I'm not sure if you can see these search results, but here are a lot of good options: https://www.backcountry.com/womens-jackets?p=Style%3AFull-Zip|Gender%3Afemale|Hood%3AYes|Length%3AMid-Length&nf=1

If you just want a single coat, I think this one is pretty cute: https://www.backcountry.com/the-north-face-arctic-parka-womens?skid=TNFZA6E-MARPUR-S&ti=UExQIENhdDpXb21lbidzIEphY2tldHM6MToxOmJjLXdvbWVucy1qYWNrZXRz

Never mind, they do exist, although I think the hip-length 3-in-1 is more common. How about this one? https://www.backcountry.com/helly-hansen-bluebird-3-in-1-jacket-womens?skid=HYHZ7M9-BLA-S&ti=UExQIENhdDpXb21lbidzIEphY2tldHM6MTozMjpiYy13b21lbnMtamFja2V0cw==

I agree with this! I went to college in Boston and at least where I was, there was a lot of walking from building to building. It also rains/mists/sleets a lot in Boston, so I would recommend a coat that has a rain-jacket outer layer. I love those 3-in-1 coats because you are really getting three different coats, all for different situations. I don't know that I've seen 3-in-1 thigh-length coats, though.

I'd be fine with outdoor coffee and hiking 🙂

Got Pfizer again, sore arm and that's it. Yay!

I watch The Dodo (pet rescue videos) on YouTube. I also like the series Attitude on YouTube, about people with various challenges (usually disabilities). I got hooked on a documentary series about Harrow, the posh boy's boarding school in England. I think it's on Amazon prime...

Yeah, but there's a difference between a page and a half of writing... like stream of consciousness/journaling type writing, vs. an essay where you have to pick a topic, figure out how to organize, then write... that takes a lot of time.

A five paragraph essay each DAY? That's horrible! Is the student supposed to read something and respond, or what...? Does the student get feedback? If not, then the assignment seems pretty pointless to me. Just busywork. There's got to be some kind of adapted PE stuff that could be done to accommodate physical issues. Like someone mentioned above, mindfulness or meditation... or maybe they could have a research project to work on long term (school lunches around the country? the fight over nutrition in school lunches? screen time vs exercise? etc, etc), but not a random essay every day! That sounds excruciating and way more work than the other kids have to do. At least a research project would have some value and could perhaps be presented to other kids.

Now that you mention it, yes!

Oh yes. Over the summer I noticed my wood floor was looking a little dingy (because the sun was shining on it just the right way). I did an exploratory swipe with a wet paper towel. Well.... I've concluded that I live in squalor! It doesn't necessarily look like squalor, but it is.

Is this dangerous for cats? My cat has her litterbox in an enclosed structure (one of those hideaway furniture things so it just looks like a cabinet).

My vet said to dump litter, wash litterbox with soap, and refill once a week. Trying to reduce the chance of bacteria growing and inadvertently causing problems like UTI.

Alert: I think you love a cat!