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Storygirl

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Everything posted by Storygirl

  1. Check your grocery store pharmacies. We get DS's Concerta from Giant Eagle and have never had trouble filling his prescriptions. Our daughter gets her Concerta from Express Scripts online pharmacy (3 months at a time), and we've had no problems there, either. Perhaps we have just been lucky, but I wanted to mention these options.
  2. I have never tried it with my goldendoodle, but my mom clipped her poodles, and my sister does hers, too. They had no special expertise other than just going for it. My mom was pre internet. I don't know if my sister watched videos, but I think it's a great idea to do so. I did get a set of dog grooming scissors online for trimming my doodle's eye area, because her hair grows over her eyes between grooming sessions. They have blunt ends, which makes me less nervous than sharp scissors would.
  3. I prayed for him to get good medical care and for comfort and unity among the family. I'm sorry this is happening and hope he gets better quickly.
  4. Both of our fathers live in the path of totality. We will go to my dad's place, because it's a small town that will receive less traffic. About two hours from where we live. I've asked for the day off of work, and we plan to let our 12th graders skip school for the day.
  5. I'm so glad you got to have the kids today. Merry Christmas!!!
  6. Please don't quote. DS takes 25mg every morning and evening and can take one in the afternoon, as well, if he needs it. DD has a 10mg prescription. My second son had a surgery this summer, and the doctor prescribed 50mg as part of his surgery aftercare. So 10 mg is a small dose, from our experience. It makes my kids (not biologically related to each other) feel chill but not sleepy. So I think that you won't know how it affects you, until you try it. I hope it works well for you!
  7. I forgot that the 2 player instructions are different. DH and I have played it, and we like it, but it's been awhile, so I don't remember details. I think that you deal out a hand for a third invisible player, among a few other changes? It's not too complicated, but it might make it less ideal for PeterPan, after all.
  8. Christmas Eve: homemade lasagna (already made and in the freezer), salad, garlic bread, Christmas cookies Christmas day breakfast: quiche (already made and in the freezer), Trader Joe's almond Kringle (already bought and frozen), juice, etc. Christmas dinner, which we will probably eat mid afternoon, so it covers lunch and supper: Beef tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, green veg, cookies. Anyone who is hungry after that will have to eat leftovers or snacks. We will have DH's extended family gathering on Dec. 26, and I will take things for that meal, too. In general, we have special food that is either easy or can be made ahead, because I don't want to spend my whole holiday in the kitchen.
  9. Wingspan is not a short game. But you can speed it up by using the Oceania expansion set, which includes wild food tokens. Part of what takes a long time with the base game is collecting the food tokens needed, but adding a wild token that can stand in for any other food, the game speeds up significantly.
  10. I wouldn't be surprised if I have 100. I have not counted. We have not played them all yet, because I grab them up when I see them on sale. Also, no one here likes playing them as much as I do; otherwise I would play more often.
  11. We like Patchwork and 7 Wonders Duel. Carcassonne is fun. Sagrada (dice) is not hard but benefits from some strategizing. Quixx is a fun dice rolling game (Yahtzee-like but different). Century Golem is fun and pretty (you can get the same game play with a different look with Century Spice Road). Cartographers (strategically draw symbols of rivers, trees, etc on a map to complete tasks that earn points), The Crew (trick taking card game), and Arboretum are small sized games that are fun. I might suggest The Crew for you and your son as my first choice. It's a cooperative card game that requires strategy, but the rounds are short. And there is a different "mission" to complete each time you play, so it's never the same twice.
  12. I remember you and think often of your family's story, and I so appreciate your testimony and the way that you glorify the Lord always. I am thrilled about your news and how God has provided love for you once again.
  13. The Princess Academy series. The Trelain series, starting with The Dragon of Trelain, by Michelle Knudsen.
  14. Has she read the Nevermoor series? It would be perfect. Two series that are currently still being written, so books 1 and 2 are out, but the authors are working on more: * Skandar and the Unicorn Thief * Amari and the Night Brothers She could read Tolkien, if she hasn't yet. Also Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series (start with The Dark is Rising, which is technically the second book -- the first book has a different set of characters and is best thought of as a prequel, instead of the first story). Has she read Tamora Pierce? She has several fantasy series and features female protagonists. Another fantasy author to check out is Diana Wynne Jones. I can't recall if her characters are girl-centric, but the stories are great.
  15. I'm sorry you are dealing with this. My kid struggled with similar issues so much that we were relieved when he graduated this spring. We didn't get called by teachers, but DS would tell us things himself, because he has issues with "know your audience." He would share the inappropriate/racist/sexist/whatever-you-wouldn't-want-your-kid-to-be-saying comments and jokes with us at home, even when he didn't know what they meant, exactly. And even though he is a person of color. And jokes about people on the spectrum and in special ed, when he is on the spectrum and was in special ed. When we would explain why they were inappropriate, he would not stop, but deliberately chose his friends' opinions over ours (he would tell us this outright). Well, I won't go on. The good thing is that DS never really socialized outside of school hours. The bad thing is that he is still friendly with a couple of these guys after graduation. We really couldn't prevent a high schooler from choosing his own friends, but we did put limits and/or say no to some of the things that he was invited to. He had his internet and computer privileges taken away many times, and we had his phone set so that he could not add or open apps unless we entered our own passcode on his phone. We put passwords on all of the electronics in the house. He needed these boundaries all through high school, unlike my other kids, who needed less supervision. There were times when he would march over acceptable boundaries within minutes of giving him a bit of freedom online, so we would have to pull back again. The internet is a scary place when parenting kiddos like ours. I think you've gotten very good advice by others. I want you to know that you are not alone in dealing with these kind of things.
  16. Lasagna holds heat really well and needs to sit for awhile after coming out of the oven anyway. It would work especially well if you have an insulated carrier, like a Pyrex portable or something like https://www.amazon.com/LUNCIA-Insulated-Casserole-Carrier-Cookouts/dp/B0892YNM1S/ref=sr_1_15?crid=E7IJXDOVVQ6J&keywords=heat+pack+for+pyrex+portable&qid=1699928298&sprefix=pyrex+portable+heat%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-15 Or another dense pasta dish, like baked mac and cheese or rigatoni. Any of these can be made ahead and heated at your home the day that you leave. Brisket is also best when made ahead and then reheated. It doesn't have to be really hot when served, so you could also use an insulated carrier for it.
  17. Five months ago I started working as a part time bookseller at a large bookstore. I make a pittance compared to my husband, and we don't need my income for our regular expenses. But I had decided that it would be good for me to have a sense of purpose outside the home now that my kids are all age 18 and up. Before I had the job, we mentioned the tax issue to our financial advisor. He supported the idea that even if a lot of my income ended up being absorbed by extra taxes (we won't know until this year's tax return is completed), working wasn't a bad idea -- more income was more income, even if it's not a lot. At my job, I can only use retirement benefits after working there for 12 months, with an average of 20 hours of work per week over that time. I don't know if I will qualify, because sometimes I work more than 20 hours and sometimes less. If I do qualify, I would plan to put 75% of my pay into the company's 401K (the max allowed). In the meantime, I wanted to be able to see my tiny savings grow, so we opened another savings account at our credit union, and I put my paycheck into it each week and keep it separate from the main household account. Other than volunteer work, I hadn't worked for 20+ years. I'm enjoying it a lot so far, just for my own personal benefit, even though it doesn't contribute much to our overall finances. I am a book person, and my past jobs were in libraries and bookstores, so this part-time position is fun for me. DS18 is going to college nearby (25 minutes away) next year, and I am keeping an eye on positions open at that university. If something opens up that would suit me (specifically a library job) and would offer tuition assistance as part of the pay package, I will apply and be glad that I have recent employment on my resume. If that comes about, it would greatly assist our household finances. Whether this job ends up merely being more helpful for me personally than financially -- like a hobby that brings in a bit of income -- or whether it ends up being a stepping stone toward helping with college expenses, it's been worth it for me so far.
  18. Oh, two more things. We thought DS would likely never drive, but he did get his license! He still does not drive himself, but he is legally able to. He prefers to be the passenger, and we need to push him to keep practicing. Secondly, our state does also have internships through vocational rehabilitation that are for office jobs. So it's not just things like Goodwill or grocery store work -- though that has been the first step for DS and will likely be the level that he stays at indefinitely, due to his employment abilities.
  19. Vocational Rehabilitation has worked for my son, too. He started at age 14 with the teen program. A job coach helped him get his first job, and months later, when that hadn't worked out, they helped him get his second. They worked with him in both jobs for a period of time when he first started. When he had difficulties with his second job, the job coach was reactivated by vocational rehabilitation for a time. Vocational rehabilitation also paid for his adaptive driving lessons. DS balked at getting in the car for his lessons, and his first instructor wouldn't work with him any more (even though we had heard he was a great instructor). Son was a very hard case for anxiety and refusal. The second agency had an awesome instructor who majorly adapted her expectations and gave him many more chances than their official policy allowed, and this fall, he passed his test by one point! Vocational rehabilitation will also pay for training if he decides to pursue any kind of technical certification in the future. DS's job is at Goodwill 30 minutes from our house, and we will have to drive him for the foreseeable future, because it requires very tricky highway driving, which he is not ready for (and may never be). It's definitely an issue that he works so far away, and sometimes DH has to take time off of work to drive him (I cannot leave my workplace, but DH has freedom to). DS has a history of balking about going to work (and school, but thankfully he (barely) managed to graduate this year). There was a period of time when his manager reduced his hours to one four-hour shift per week, and there were times when we couldn't get DS to go. But they didn't fire him, and now DS is back to working 15-20 hours per week. We have a special needs estate attorney who will help us apply for SSI. We just haven't done it yet. But, even though DS works now, the attorney expects that he will be approved. DS does not make nearly enough money to cover rent, much less any of his other expenses. We do need to start having him pay rent but then show documentation that he does not make enough to pay what he owes us. Our attorney says they have only had one case ever that he has not been able to get approved for SSI. Evidently they are very good at predicting who will and will not qualify and very good at doing all of the paperwork, etc. We need to get on the ball and follow through. So we are still in the midst of all of it. But having a job will not mean that someone cannot get SSI. Income may reduce the amount, but there are also other financial planning things that can help with that (such as using an ABLE account). The burden for figuring this out does fall heavily on us as parents. We have some things we have to figure out right now about DS's county disability services, and we aren't sure how to handle it. It's hard.
  20. In our state, there are different levels of the academic classes needed for graduation. For example, standard geometry and honors geometry are choices for kids who don't need intervention help. Then there are "co-taught" classes with two teachers -- one math teacher plus one intervention teacher -- and those classes will also move at a slower pace with more assistance from the teachers. Then there is special education math; in our district, this class's goal was to teach "aspects" of geometry, but it was not a full geometry class. It was called Math 3, not geometry. The special education students in Math 4 didn't attempt algebra 2 at all and were exempted from that graduation requirement; instead they reviewed some basic algebra and geometry, then did consumer math. The special ed students still had to take all of the math end of course state exams. Out of my four kids, we've had a kid in each class -- honors, regular, co-taught, and special ed. There is also a lower level for a few kids who have severe intellectual disabilities, but we didn't experience that level. So do all of the students who graduate fully master algebra 2 (our state's requirement)? No. The good thing is that there are many more ways to fulfill that math graduation requirement than there were when I was in public high school in the 80's, based on individual abilities. Most of these students will have algebra 2 on their transcript, but they won't all exit school with the same level of understanding of the math. Which I think is generally okay, because it reflects the reality of the large spectrum of innate math ability that people are wired for. I myself took through calculus in high school, but today my math knowledge tops out around the pre-algebra level, because I haven't had to use math beyond that in real life, and my brain has not retained what I haven't used. I don't have a mathy brain, so a lot of it I didn't master but just memorized to get through. I don't believe this was the fault of my teachers; it's due to my own math ability. The difficulty, of course, is when students need a certain level of math (or whatever subject we would want to insert here) to pursue their post-secondary education goals, and the course listed on their high school transcript doesn't match their true understanding of the material. That is an issue, for sure. But there also can be a discrepancy between what a student may be able to do in class, and what they can do on a qualifying test. My oldest took through precalculus in high school but didn't score very well on her SAT. Her standardized tests have never matched what she is able to do in real life (one of her teachers brought it up to me as possible test anxiety). She had to take an online college algebra class the summer before her first college year (a remedial math at her school), and breezed through it, because she already knew the material but had just tested poorly. This happened to me, too, with foreign language in college. I only tested out of one of the two required semesters, because I didn't do well enough on the test, so I had to take a German class that was too easy for me (the professor had several students like me in that class and had us to some extra work and gave us honors). It's complicated.
  21. I will also say that I personally feel very conflicted about some of this. I was a very academic student myself, and I believe that grades should stand for something and be earned. Students should not just be passed through. On the other hand, as the parent of an IEP kid who really could not do high school level work but was also not functioning low enough to be in all special ed classes (he had special ed math and sometimes special ed English), I was so incredibly grateful that he was able to get a high school diploma in the end. Because he has a ton of roadblocks to employment success, due to his disabilities. If he had to go through life without even a high school diploma, that would just multiply his troubles achieving employment. I have an entirely different perspective on things from the parenting point of view than I did when I was a student myself.
  22. This is all about a specific requirement in our state called "seals" -- like a sticker added to a document. Students must complete all of the academic credits PLUS earn two seals. For example, you can earn the science seal by passing the biology EOC exam (DS failed it) or alternatively by earning an A or B in the class (he got a C). DS did earn the Fine Arts seal for being in band, but he needed one more seal to graduate, and he was down to having only one that he could potentially earn. I won't go into details about our experience, but he was highly at risk for not being able to earn it. Military enlistment is one of the possible seals. Students would have to also meet the academic credits and pass the EOC exams (unless they had IEP exemptions for some of those things). I will post the link for a bit, in case people would like to read about it, but please don't quote it, because I will delete the link later. https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-s-Graduation-Requirements/Ohio’s-Graduation-Requirements/Graduation-Seals Here is what is crazy. DS had a 3.0 GPA and had all of the academic credits for graduation, but it was the darn seal that put him at risk for not graduating. In what other states would a 3.0 GPA result in failing to graduate? (The only reason he had a 3,0 was because of his IEP interventions -- he was really operating at a junior high ability level and could not have earned a 3.0 without a lot of help. That is side note, but I mention it, because he was a struggling student, even though his GPA didn't reflect it.) It is not allowed by the state to exempt a student out of the seal requirements. DH and I had an hour-long video meeting with a bunch of people from our state department of education to discuss these problems. I think there were five people on the call, because the seals were a new graduation requirement last year, and there were people like DS all over the state who were facing the possibility of not graduating, due to the seals. They were very gracious and tried to offer ideas, but the things they suggested we could do were not available in our school district, unfortunately. It was very complicated. DS graduated by the skin of his teeth.
  23. About military enlistment being a path toward graduation -- yes, this is true for our state. And for students who cannot complete a different pathway toward the diploma, the options can narrow down to enlistment being the only option for graduating on time. During one conversation with our high school vice principal, she told me that my son was not the only student at risk of not graduating and that some might have to enlist to graduate (or not graduate on time and continue to work on grad requirements after their peers had finished high school). I don't know how many students end up feeling compelled to enlist for graduation, but it is a possible occurrence. I hope it is very rare. My son was not eligible to serve, so we didn't even contemplate this idea for him. I doubt my son could have passed the GED. He only passed one of the six required EOC exams.
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