Oh I wasn't saying it was always going to work lol. Just that since someone upthread asked about ways to indicate you don't want to talk that it was one thing you could try. It actually drove me nuts that a coworker used to wear them during work. We had to communicate and sometimes people would walk past her and ask me because I was more approachable.

My observation of some people that don't want to talk is they wear ear buds... maybe not even listening to anything lol.

$70 co-pay for specialist sounded high to me.

I think if I was your friend I would stop playing along and tell the waitress, "don't look at me, I'm not the mom." lol

I assumed she meant if she physically saw a group of kids with the person. But I would still hesitate to ask that question. Does it sound like I mean biologically, legally, etc. I figured she would be asking to clarify if some of the kids were just friends or relatives tagging along. Lol. I think it's more like the further north you go, the more popular some of the other state colleges are. Around here you always see sports symbols/decals/cups/etc. for the other schools, but not ours. I think the other schools are more expensive and at least one of them has this "rich/snooty" association (real or imagined).

:grouphug:

I gotta admit those co-pays sound awful. I really hope you can find another solution. I don't know if everyone noticed the copay fees.

Maybe because like you said the people asking/being asked were almost all similar already. I have experienced being asked things in a judgy way so I don't think the questions are always innocent. I don't always mind when people ask certain things but I do understand it from either point of view. Like if someone asked me where I went to college I might brace myself because my alma mater is not as well liked around here.

:laugh:

They're not always innocent. That's the thing. That's why tone/context matter so much.

YES. I worked as a cashier on/off for years. My most recent job as a cashier? MINIMUM WAGE. They said that's what everyone had to get. I don't know if there is room for a raise there. I just worked a few shifts during their busy time. And the job I was talking about up thread where I would work FT and only get a little bit of pay. It was an assistant teacher. The pay in my state is crap and I wouldn't hold my breath for any raises. After so many years I'm sure you move into a different bracket, but the start out pay was so low it worked out to about min. wage, and a bit more if you divided the pay by 10 mo. not 12 since you'd have summers off and technically not work summers.

I'm not the OP. I just understood the thread differently than what was probably intended.

Yes, it can be rude. This illustrates it. I don't think it's _always_ rude. Really depends on context, tone, etc. Usually when people say it to me I figure it's because I was not born in the South and have less of a Southern accent than some of the people around me. I am half Mexican, but I think most people just think I'm a white girl with really dark hair.

Is there a religious gift shop or such? When I was looking for First Communion gift ideas I lucked out at a Christian book store, but other ideas I had included gifts made or sold by nuns. I don't know what would appeal to this particular friend. Does she need something to organize her Bible? (they sell little tabs for the pages) Or a Bible cover/case?

Yeah, just ask her if she'd be okay with (insert idea everyone seems on board with). Maybe the dinner. But if she doesn't want any of the suggestions then I guess it's kind of rude to push it. Maybe she'd just like to see everyone close to her, but not have it be an official party.

Ahh. Maybe that explains it. I literally just had two weird things happen today like that where I thought I would owe more. They said they will let me know if anything changes but didn't think I owed more than a co-pay when I took dd to the eye dr (they billed it as medical not vision).

Where did you start?

It might drive me nuts, but I'd try to give her the benefit of the doubt that she is reiterating what you say for the client's benefit (if they know her and trust her they want to hear it from her she may think), not just to be redundant. But, I don't know. Guess it depends on the vibe you get.

Honestly it all confuses me... I took dd to the ER a couple months ago. We had not reached our deductible so I was expecting a huge bill. Well after I filled out and returned the accident report they said yes, it was adjusted and no, we don't owe that much. So that makes me think if we didn't have ins. we would have paid a lot more despite not having met the deductible?? Maybe sometimes it helps to have ins. for weird things like that. Also, I recently started taking a medication and I pay a very small fee for it. Otherwise I guess I couldn't afford it. Dh has dd on his plan through work. I have my own plan. Ds has his own plan. We pay too much for insurance, but we've looked into combining to a family plan and it wouldn't be cheaper. We thought it would be, but after looking at the options again it's not. Can you look into more insurance options? Surely there is another solution than skipping insurance?

Honestly, I thought this thread was about people at home with kids during school hours and managing to work PT. That's why I wasn't thinking of daycare. That's what I was thinking. How could people afford to work and afford the daycare. That's mainly why I'm not working right now. I had a job interview recently and the pay was so low that after driving and paying for childcare I would probably only take home $100/mo. :( And it was actually a FT job. Summers off because it was a school. (and I heard the daycare requires FT fees whether you use it PT or FT which I'm sure is an obstacle for people working PT).

I'm sorry, OP. I'm not sure how to handle my 9yr old. He's constantly whining about everything we ask him to do. He'll say he needs a break when he's barely done anything. The min. we ask him to do school work or chores he says he has a headache, is tired, lazy, etc. I keep seeing posts on this board where people make suggestions for a developmental ped. Are they common? I'm not the OP but I am curious about how to handle an explosive child as well (and yes, I have The Explosive Child book but I guess I lost my place in it and knew that dh would be difficult to get on board with making a lost of lagging skills).

2012? His prescription has probably changed. Speaking as someone that wears glasses. YMMV. Do you have contact info for who you bought the used car from or was it from a dealership? I don't think the eye place will be able to do much but it can't hurt, either.

I own one full slip and it's miserable. It is too clingy. My half slips are old and do not fit well. Last time I looked for a slip it was very difficult. Glad to see some people have seen them in stores. To me a petticoat is the big fluffy thing that sometimes deliberately sticks out of dresses. I think of a slip as thin and lying flat and not meant to be seen.

Yep, I can see that. I have a 2 yr old. I have thought about trying different things from home, but I feel like I can't get anything done. I've asked dh to make phone calls for me before but he doesn't want to do that on his lunch break and I say that I don't like making phone calls with a toddler screaming in the background. I've timed phone calls to the insurance company before to take place after I parked the car in the school pick up line because at least I knew dd would be sleeping in the backseat at that point. I've pulled the car over after getting ds in just so I could complete a phone call in peace.

exactly