Like someone else said, even if the ringer is off, you can still hear the vibrating noise the phone makes when you get a text if you're a light sleeper and the phone is right next to you. That doesn't usually wake me up once I'm in a dead sleep, but when I'm actively trying to fall asleep it can be annoying. Mine charges right on my nightstand next to my bed and while I suppose I can put it somewhere else, if I wake in the night I usually grab it to look at the time, and since I have no landline I feel like my cell phone should be within grabbing distance for any emergency or whatever. Plus sometimes while I'm lying in bed but not quite ready to go to sleep I use my phone for games, Internet, etc., so I like having it right there. In the OP's place, I would text those people back and say, "Hey, can you do me a favor and not send me any text messages after 10 PM? Thanks!"

A pile of construction paper, a one hole punch, decorative edged scissors- my son loved cutting and hole punching! Silly putty and some comics. Some dominoes if he has a little table he can set them up on and then knock them down. I like the rubber band/cup idea! Maybe add a geoboard? The game Perfection.

Nothing much going on in PA here yet. It's raining but not heavily. It looks breezy but not crazy windy. We have our power, water, etc. Hoping it stays that way. We're still under a Flood Watch until tomorrow afternoon, and a High Wind Warning is in effect until 9 AM tomorrow. According to Excite: Today High: 55 Rain. Rain may be heavy at times. Strong winds with highs in the mid 50s. North winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph...increasing to 40 to 50 mph with gusts up to 65 mph this afternoon. Chance of rain near 100 percent. Tonight Low: 45 Rain. Rain may be heavy at times. Strong winds with lows in the mid 40s. North winds 45 to 55 mph...becoming northeast 40 to 50 mph after midnight. Gusts up to 70 mph. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

In the morning the checklist might say: Get dressed Clean litter box and sweep up any scattered litter Wash hands afterward Eat Breakfast Brush Hair Brush Teeth Put on lotion (she has eczema) Put on deodorant Unload dishwasher Make sure table is clear/clean for working at In the evening it might say: PJ's Brush teeth Put on lotion Make sure humidifier is filled (this helps with eczema) Anything else such as schoolwork or if I want somebody to do an extra chore such as taking out the garbage or bringing down their laundry or the litterbox needs an extra cleaning or some such, I just ask them to do it when I want them to do it as it comes up. Usually I just do checklists if I'm exceptionally busy or have to run errands or go to an appointment or something and won't be on hand to keep reminding or asking "Did you do this, that, etc." and sometimes if I'll be gone for a bit, like at the dr or something, it might include a few school things I feel she can do independently.

My just turned 12 year old usually has to go to bed around 10ish but if something's going on or she's hanging out with her dad or whatever, it's been known to be later, it's kind of flexible. She can play freely on our block and yard but to leave the block and go to the park around the corner or bike ride around a few block radius, she has to be with other kids, not alone, and has to have her phone on her so we can get in touch with each other. They usually fix their own breakfast and lunch (this usually requires no cooking although she is allowed to cook something like soup or perogies or pasta on the stove top), are served dinner by me or DH as a family, and have to come ask before taking snacks etc so we can "approve" what they are eating and ensure they aren't just eating junk each time. She's recently starting to be allowed to stay home alone now and then while we go food shopping or to her brother's soccer game or some such and we touch base by phone. I do like to ask her to spend most of the time upstairs in her room playing or watching TV though as I feel a little uncomfortable with her being right near the front doors/windows and someone realizing she's home alone. I don't leave her to "babysit" her brother, he always comes with us, because I don't think he'd necessarily listen to her if he got in a mood about something and sometimes they fight (yep even with a five year age difference)! Not really so crazy different from yours, I don't think!

When my daughter has sleepovers, I don't enforce a bedtime, but I do make them take it up to her room instead of being downstairs at whatever time I'm comfortable with (usually when I want to go lay down for the night), and once they're up there and other people are starting to want to lay down etc., I do warn them they have to keep it quiet. DH is a night owl and stays up later than I do, so if he feels like they're being a little too loud a little too late, he might call up to them that they have to be quiet. But if they want to talk quietly, listen to music quietly, watch TV quietly, play quietly or whatever, they can do that until they fall asleep. But that wouldn't affect my daughter for days as you are mentioning so in your case if you feel you need to make them go to sleep at a certain point, you know what's best for her!

I'm still waiting to see how bad it's going to get here in PA. I did get a notification that my older daughter's school is closed tomorrow, and got a recorded voicemail from my electric company (as did other people around here) saying that we might lose power for up to a week and they have extra people working and blah blah blah- I really hope that doesn't happen, we only have a very small generator here. Hopefully we have enough supplies. The latest I hear is that we are under a flood watch as of 2 AM (there's a creek right behind our house) and a high wind watch from 8 AM tomorrow on. Guess I just have to wait and see what happens!

You could do a Lego club, art to eat, hands on science experiments, a tinkering class where you take old or broken small appliances apart and put them back together. You could do a wilderness club. You could do survival skills type things. You could do some sort of unit on occupations boys tend to be fascinated by and see if you can get people to come in and give talks or presentations. You can do stuff related to insects. You could do some sort of sport or physical activity- even like a "Greek Games" kind of theme...

My daughter's name is Alexa. She has one grandmother who sends her cards and writes something like Aleixa or Alexia (??!) each time. Friends who have known her for years insist on calling her Alexis. It never seems to bother her but it irritates me just a little bit sometimes lol. She won't even correct them and will just answer when they call her Alexis. Whereas I'm all, "It's AlexA!" You could just give her a polite reminder about how your son's name is spelled and see if that does the trick. If not, you could ignore it and just treat it as an inside joke with your kid, or you could start spelling her name wrong all the time haha.

Eh, if we take what you said at face value and your son doesn't particularly love soccer or care to go or to stay once he's there and so on and would enjoy the visit to Grandpa's, then, no, I don't think it's a huge deal for him to miss a game, or to be pulled from the team as it doesn't sound like something he loves, and it sounds like things are pretty chaotic for you. I also don't think you're a horrible mom if you indulge yourself in something you want to do over what the kids want to do- IF it's something that only comes up now and then and not on a regular basis. Taking time for yourself sometimes is okay! Constantly putting the kids on the back burner so you can satisfy your every desire is not okay. There's a difference, and I'm sure you know what that difference is. I love to provide my kids with the best possible life, too, and I like to give them as many varied experiences as I can, and to help them follow their interests, so we do quite a few activities (feels like too many sometimes but since some are just temporary/short term, it gets easier again once those end and we just have the ongoing ones). Sometimes I just have to say no, or a scheduling conflict comes up and somebody has to miss something so the other can go (when that happens, I try to juggle it fairly each time). And once in a blue moon I want to make plans for ME that might involve somebody having to miss something- we all roll with it. I'm still doing my best, giving them as many experiences and memories as I can, while sometimes just throwing up my hands and deciding to meet my own needs instead. And yes sometimes "my own needs" just means my desires, but if I don't have a little bit of time to recharge and make myself happy, I don't see how I'd be making anyone else happy, either. (I do get the commitment angle, though, that many posters are talking about and teaching a kid to follow through on their commitments, but sometimes with that many people you can't always be there, and I don't agree that the alternative is just to not sign them up for things at all. I'd rather they get as much as they can out of the experience when they can).

Of course. They are my nieces/nephews. Likewise, my aunt and uncle have both always referred to me as their niece (not just my aunt's niece)!

My daughter just turned 12. She has a Nintendo DS, and some sort of Android tablet kind of thing (it's not a phone but she can play games on it and stuff). And a cheapie cell phone so we can get in touch with each other when she's out with friends or riding her bike around or whatever. My son, almost 7, has a Nintendo DS. As a family we have a Wii in the living room and a Playstation 3; the kids are allowed to use those but have to ask first. My daughter has a TV in her room, my son does not yet have one in his (and won't for a while yet).

I think it's okay (and understandable) for you to just stay home if that's your preference. I would not ask to bring a friend. Although I'm with the person who said she likes cake and open bars lol.

Thank you for these suggestions! (And thank you everyone for the comments/support!) When my doctor calls me with results of the original panel I already had done, I will mention these to her. I started my first period yesterday since the loss (32 days post m/c) and hope to get results early this coming week so I can find out if it's 'safe' to try again this cycle!

Thanks, all, and sorry I didn't respond sooner. The doctor finally gave me a prescription today for the labwork and I'm going to go tomorrow morning. It lists: Anti-thrombin III activity Prothrombin Gene Mutation Protein S Activity Protein C Activity DRVV, Factor V Leiden Mutation Cardiolipin Ab w/Reflex to IgM, IgG Homocysteine Maternal Karyotype I don't even know what most of that stuff is, will have to research a bit later. Hopefully there's nothing missing on there I should be doing!

Love it!

Aren't we allowed to like both teams?! :D

So as you most likely already know after my third loss just last month (one ectopic like 15 months ago followed by almost back to back 1st trimester miscarriages this past June and September), my doctor was going to do testing on the tissue we collected to try to determine why. Well, I just got a voicemail from her saying the tissue did not grow so they couldn't continue. So no testing could be done on it, but her gut feeling was it was something genetic, I tried to call her back but just got the answering service. So. Now what? I'm on Metformin, she gave me oral progesterone this last time around, I've had my thyroid tested more than once. She did the day 3 FSH test back in March and that was "normal." Do I just try again and see what happens and hope I don't lose a 4th baby? Is there something else specific you guys think I should ask her to test me for? November's cycle is going to have me at 39 1/2 years old and December marks two years and three losses since dh agreed to try for just one more. It's just so frustrating. Does anyone have any concrete suggestions for something I should be asking my dr to do/test for ASAP before I just try again? Blood clotting disorders was one thing I'd read about... I don't know. I can't even believe I'm thinking of putting myself through all this again! I have to admit, it's all getting old! :(

My daughter started guitar lessons the month before her 11th birthday. She's still taking them just over a year later.

You handled it perfectly!

Is there someone you can email or Facebook and ask to call it?

When we first moved to this area, the one dentist in town that took my insurance would not let me in the room with my young child. Because my child was not afraid I let that one visit (check up and cleaning) happen, but we never went back because of it. Instead, we've been going for years to a dentist I have to drive further for, but who lets me sit in on every single exam and procedure for every one of my kids. I'm much happier there.

Oh my gosh, you poor thing, and poor kid! It looks like you already got a lot of great ideas with regard to waterproof cast covers, bathing in swim trunks, clothing, etc. It is definitely going to be a trying time, but it's temporary- keep reminding yourself of that. He hasn't gone and permanently paralyzed himself or anything, it's a few weeks, do take a deep breath, count them down, get siblings and dh to help where possible, and do NOT stress over school etc right now. Videos, audiobooks, etc, he'll still learn stuff! I am SO sorry about your dad and all this stress piled on at the same time!! :grouphug:

I am so so incredibly sorry for you both. Having just had my third loss last month and being 39 years old I know how horrible this feels- though mine were a bit earlier. Ugh, how heartbreaking. I just feel terrible for you and anyone going through this, especially multiple times. Please don't make a decision to go ahead with permanent bc though- not during a time of grief- you may come to regret that and I would hate for that to happen to you! Just wait it out- I know it's hard- we are here for you!!! :grouphug:

Thanks for sharing this. I've had three losses in a row- an ectopic not this summer that just passed but the one before, then an early miscarriage this past June and another just last month. Still hoping to conceive again and hopefully end up with a healthy pregnancy!