Perhaps he just has a sprained kitty ankle that needs time.... fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear that Obama has hurt his paw. If he needs antibiotics or something, my vet has a nifty injection that supposedly lasts for 2 weeks. Maybe you could get that, too. If he needs an anti-inflammatory, maybe that could be an injection, too. You might be able to cut a pill into smaller pieces and hide it in some cheese.

It's very pretty here. The wind is gusting so I bet there's a good windchill. Bummed that it's happening today instead of tonight, so there's no snow day! Waah.

Of course not. It's not like the kids are confused about who their teachers are!

They'll look great on you, I'm sure 😍 My school is trying to have teachers pay $50 for the year to wear jeans on Fridays. I asked what happens if we just wear jeans Mondays through Thursdays... Do teachers really wear such outrageous things that you need a dress code for adults?

Oh, no. Sending lots of hugs to your family.

Wow. That's pretty amazing!

Curious... what did the allergies end up being? Elimination diets are also really $$. No fun!

Perfect! Thank you!

That's great to hear! Which pharmacy did you use? I'm a little nervous after reading about so many online pharmacies being scams.

Has anyone done this? Any good pharmacies to recommend? My vet recommended getting a prescription for one of my cats through a Canadian pharmacy. That was a new one for me!

That's a really nice dollhouse! All wood?

Yes, and if your DS is getting poor grades from not doing homework (and maybe not doing classwork, too), that would be a reason to be evaluated. I'm guessing, also, that if he's very challenging at home, he displays a lot of that behavior at school too - which is why you had the 504 meeting. In my district, if a parent requests an evaluation, it always happens. Feel free to tell the case manager that you have no clue about the IEP process and are totally confused and stressed, and hopefully they'll hold your hand throughout the process. I hope you get a great person to be the case manager, who can see and appreciate all of the great things about your DS ❤️ Shorthand - A 504 plan is basically a medical-ish plan that gives a student accommodations. The accommodations can be things like taking breaks, preferential seating, modified assignments, etc. An IEP provides both accommodations AND specially designed services. The specially designed services can be academic (reading, math, etc), behavioral, executive functioning, social work, speech-language, occupational therapy, and more. You can also get BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) services through an IEP. The BCBA can also provide a plan to use at home. It sounds to me like your DS would benefit from social work services, executive functioning skills instruction, and a plan from a BCBA. At school, I provide executive functioning skills instruction - things like task initiation, sustaining attention on a task, transitioning between activities, organization of binder/locker/desk, using a planner, things like that. A lot of my students with ADHD/ASD get what's called a "supported study hall" each day to get organized and get work done, and work on the executive functioning skills. There's a lot of good that can happen with an IEP!

If you read PeterPan's replies, you'd see that's she's offering many ideas of what to do, none of which are easy to do. QuarterNote was venting and being honest about emotions. Just because someone is in despair and wants to give up, doesn't mean they will give up. This is an anonymous, online forum where people can be free to share their true emotions and get support from people who have been there, done that. I haven't been there, done that, but I do work in the special education world, and there are lots of kids that I like and care deeply about, but I would not want to live with day in, day out. I know that I just see the tip of the iceberg at school.

I don't think it's weird for them to go to Italy/Greece and not *necessarily* visit, but I'd expect to be included in discussions about whether it's feasible to visit, timeframes, etc. Even a courtesy "we'd love to visit, but unfortunately we can't make it work" type of thing.

Thanks, it's looking a lot better. Not 100% yet. He's still sniffling sometimes and sneezing... this cat cold is lasting forever 😞

Hi all, Zoro may have conjuntivities. He's got a watery eye, blinking and keeping it shut sometimes, and the third eyelid is visible a tiny bit. He doesn't seem to be in discomfort other than blinking the eye. He's running, playing, etc. He did have a cold for a long while, and I read that conjunctivitis can go along with that. Is this something that can wait? I already have an appointment for the other cat on the 27th. Have already been to the emergency vet three weeks ago for Miko! (She's fine.) Would rather not go again, but I will if I need to. Thanks!

Sorry about your DH, and hope the rest of the family don't get it. If I was a guest, I'd be worried about the rest of you being pre-symptomatic, even if your DH has tested negative the day before. What are the chances that nobody else is about to test positive, too?

It just IS! 🙂

I work with someone who can be over the top with grouchiness. It really bothered me for two years and then I decided to befriend this person. I worked my tail off to always say hi, purposefully engage in conversations EVERY time I saw them, etc. and I think it's working, because the person at least seems used to my presence now 🙂 And... surprise surprise, I like them now! (When they're not being outrageously grumpy.) Remember George's plan on Seinfeld?

Ha, same. But I'd be really annoyed if a person who knows they're sick showed up to my party. Plus, a fever to me, low grade or not, indicates something maybe not just a cold. Once I went to an event where a family had just gotten over a stomach bug - and they made a bunch of food to bring and share. Guess who got the stomach bug next... ALL of us!

Thanks!

I can't think of anyone I could visit for a whole week, even staying in a hotel. No no no. I don't think most people thrive with their schedules changed for an entire week, especially when you have to consider other people's needs, too. Growing up, my mom always had a strict two-night rule for visiting.

Can you all remind me of options for using tech for writing math? This would be for a dysgraphic middle schooler. I know we've discussed it before...