We've used 3M velcro strips to attach our dry erase board to the inside of a closet door (for storage when not in use). The strips were a little wide, so I cut them in half, and they worked quite well.

Just a quick update! Allergy testing showed that my daughter reacted to nineteen of the things they tested for. There are other things that she is reacting to, but the allergist said we wouldn't be able to determine all of them (like the spots she gets on her face/hands at co-op). But we've also discovered that she can't tolerate Benadryl. The doctor called it a reverse reaction, which caused her to get irrational and violent. She hasn't had Benedryl in three weeks, and her temper tantrums have diminished in frequency and intensity. She's still strong willed (of course!), but we can actually handle it when she gets upset now. Phew! No Benadryl - who would have thought?!?

Do you still have the box? Are the Ticonderogas made in Mexico or China? We've noticed the ones for Mexico are awesome. The ones from China....quality goes down.

I haven't read all the responses yet. But with my seven-year-old, we went up a size in underoos. She was just about ready for size six and I got her size eight. That didn't work with my youngest. We tried several styles and sizes...and she hasn't worn underoos for the last year and a half. With my oldest, I found a couple of fleece outfits - pants and a zip-up sweatshirt, both really really soft. She would wear one outfit while I washed the other, and then we'd switch. Two outfits, all fall/winter/spring. Again, they were a size too big so nothing was "too tight". We've had constant battles with shoes. My older daughter spent two years wearing nothing but green rain boots, in all weather. We've reached a good place with shoes now: Keen-type sandals in the summer, and Mary Janes in the winter. Again, a size or two too big. I gave up on socks, but she has to wear slippers around the house in winter. I lack fashion sense, but even I know that sometimes what my sensory-sensitive kiddos wear is cringe-worthy. But I pick my battles with sensory issues - I'd rather they try a variety of foods that they might not like, than wear coordinated outfits after a fight to get the uncomfortable clothing on them.

We had the same experience with Saxon; it drove my math-loving kid to tears. (It DID help solve the attitude problem we were having about doing a reasonable amount of schoolwork when asked, without the lollygagging or whining...) My first reaction was "Yuck! If I had to do math like that as a kid, I would have disliked it even more than I did." I really, really wanted to like LOF. But it takes such a nice, orderly subject and makes it completely random and disorderly. I couldn't even hang on to it long enough for my next kiddo to try it, even though she probably would have liked it. I just couldn't do it. I actually sort of LIKE tearing apart all the cards for AAS - once I'm done, I feel like I have a good sense of what's to come, and it looks so neat and organized when I'm done. I get the same sense of satisfaction and preparedness after assembling the SL instructor's guide.

Sorry it took me a while to get back here..life happened... So, what I'm gathering from the wisdom of y'all is: -figure out the allergies -try eliminating food dyes -make sure she is getting enough sleep -keep her close and be very intentional about positive interactions -see if her regular doctor can refer us to a therapist Hopefully we'll be on the road to answers soon. Thank you all!

Yes, the fork incident was quite intentional - I turned around just in time to stop her. I did mention it to her regular doctor when were were there last month for well-kid checks, and he did seem concerned about some of the behavior but wanted to see if the allergy testing might give us some more answers first. Her siblings are almost 7 and 9.5.

The attention seeking had occurred to me, but she does get a LOT of positive attention. I read to her (specifically) about an hour throughout each day, where she is either sitting on my lap or sitting next to me on the floor. I read to everyone (older books, mostly) and she often sits on my lap for that too. We play a lot of board games, and she plays Go Fish, Pengaloo, Sorry, Spot It, Candyland, etc - often one-on-one with either my husband or me, because the older kiddos don't always want to play. They DO include her in their play though (forts, Playmobil, riding bikes outside, etc). Her older sister likes doing floor puzzles with her, and her brother includes her in dart gun fights. When my husband gets home from work, he gets on the floor and the three kiddos climb all over him. They sword fight, and she is always quick to say, "I'm on Daddy's team!" I specifically take only her to the grocery store at least once a week (I realized about a year and a half ago that she seemed more content after shopping and talking my ear off for an hour). And every third week she goes on an ice cream date with just me as well (I rotate through, taking each kiddo individually). She often sits on the counter when I cook, and is on a rotation where she is supposed to help cook dinner several times a week (again, that's one-on-one time). She helps me fold laundry, vacuum, etc, so she really is interacting with me a good chunk of the day. I am always reminding them to be kind to each other, and I do point out/praise when one child is showing kindness, including my youngest. We always chat with each kiddo for a few minutes before they're tucked into bed each night. To be honest, since she's the youngest and currently the most demanding of my attention, she gets the lion's share. I've talked with the older two about this, and I do make an effort to make sure each child gets enough positive individual attention.

Our formal dining room (in our house built in 1910) is centrally located and is used as the playroom/homeschool room. It gets walked through constantly, and I can't imagine having to walk around a big table and lots of chairs dozens of times a day. We added floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, the piano sits against one wall, and the play kitchen is in another corner. When we have lots of people over, we get out the large folding tables and play board games, but do most of our school on the rug or at the kitchen table. So the main part of the room is wide open for whatever crazy game my children think of next. It works for us!

Our youngest turned four in June, and we're wondering about some of her behavior. She is very, very bright (her logic skills scare me sometimes!), and is extremely strong willed. For the past several months, she has been stealing things around the house and stashing them different places: a loaf of bread in her locker, a solor panel from her brother's electrical kit found in her play mailbox, a bottle of essential oils that she insisted she didn't take (yet it was obvious by the smell when she walked into a room, and she did finally retrieve it when I agreed to cover my eyes and not see where she hid it). When I find these things,I calmly talk to her and explain that she shouldn't take things that aren't hers and hide them. She knows what stealing is, and gets extremely offended if someone takes one of her own toys without asking. In the past week, I found her hiding her sister's memory game (shortly after her sister said she didn't want to play it right then), a bottle of craft paint (that she opened and used on the floor and wall behind the couch), as well as a bottle of ketchup that she hid in the basket of tub toys. Some of her stealing seems retaliatory, but definitely not all. As far as I know, she hasn't eaten the jam she hid, though we haven't located that yet. Today she almost stole a bolt from the hardware store. We hadn't checked out yet, but if we had, I would have made her bring it back and tell the sales lady. I caught her with it, and she said she "accidentally forgot" that it was in her hand, though she was hiding it behind her back. We are also dealing with horrible temper tantrums from her. She has put dents in the walls by throwing toys, bruised my shins by kicking them, and almost stabbed her sister with a fork. It will take her anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour to calm down once she gets started. These have been escalating the past few months. As background information: she carries Epi-Pens for unknown allergies, and we have allergy testing later this month. My thought had been that her tantrums are due to feeling pretty cruddy most of the time, so she overreacts when she doesn't get her way. But the violence/damage of them has increased, along with the stealing/hiding. We can put locks on medications to make sure she can't take those, but her behavior is exhausting me. Her siblings don't want to be around her, for fear that she'll lash out at them or take their stuff. We've tried keeping her within arm's reach of me all the time, but she seems to delight in that while it drives me batty (she's quite social, I'm an introvert), and it really isn't practical as a long-term solution. She can be a very sweet child some of the time. But right now, I'm not sure what to do with her. Any suggestions?

We're about half and half with using the dishwasher and hand washing. My mom never uses her dishwasher, but as a single person, it'd take her forever to make enough dishes to fill it up.

I have heard of studies that compared "dishwasher families" to those who do dishes by hand, with the results that the hand washers are slightly more robust, due to the fact that their dishes aren't sanitized. I don't buy antibacterial soap, and I'm not a germaphobe at all. (I do believe that in the human-vs-bacteria fight, that the bacteria will eventually win...). BUT! I would use some kind of soap or detergent to wash dishes. It all has to do with polar and non-polar ends of molecules, which helps oils and grease dissolve in water. Without that little boost from a cleaning agent, I would think that a dirty pan may *look* clean, but there would still be a film of nastiness that just plain water, no matter how hot and forceful, isn't going to rinse away. When I wash clothes, I use less than half of what the bottle recommends, and our clothes still come out clean. I use less dishwashing detergent than they say to with our dishes, but I wouldn't use none-at-all for good long-term results. Less, sure, but not none.

We met when I was 20, married 13 months later when I was 21. Our first couple of years were really, really rough. In part, we went to a rather conservative college, and gals were not permitted in the guys' dorms. I had NO IDEA that he was a complete and absolute slob! I think it would have been better to wait a year until we both graduated college, just because as newlyweds, I was taking 21 credits and working 30 hours a week...it's hard to establish a good marriage when you're almost never home. But no marriage is without struggles, and our 13th anniversary is next week. I think we're doing pretty well!

Besides the toilet paper and other common things, we LOVE their Jaarlsburg and Gouda cheeses. My husband likes their pita chips, and various other snacky crackers. My children love their Madras Lentils - that's their Tuesday lunch every week. And we get tons of produce every time we go. We'd shop at Costco more, but it's a 70 minute drive each way. When we can time it right (and have room in the van), sometimes we stop at a different one on the way home from a weekend at the grandparents. That one has covered parking - oh, the luxury in the winter!

Well, if it's a quite serious sweating issue, you might want to visit the doctor. Both of my sisters and I have been on prescription deodorant for excessive sweating. It's not pleasant stuff - if you use too much, you can seriously "burn" your armpits. But once you figure out how much you need, it is so much better than switching shirts 4-6 times a day. I think we've all been on Drysol, but there are probably others out there.

I can certainly relate - I recently started a part-time job, working 3:00-7:00 a.m. five days a week (this means we have no childcare expenses). I have provided in-home childcare (two days a week) for years, but this is my first out-of-the-house job since my oldest was born. It is so much harder than I expected. All that you mentioned, I have become aware of: needing to have my children pitch in more around the house, realizing our typical diet has changed and not liking some of those changes, having a hard time fitting in school and losing quite a bit of quality time for each doctor's appointment and other hiccup that comes up, the constant stress of trying to keep up with housework and feeling more stressed that I am always behind (I do not think well with mess and clutter around me). For us, the extra money is needed, so we have to make it work. I am surprised to see my husband stepping up to the plate a little more, but it is so discouraging that I can hardly take time to rest or do anything for myself, especially when I feel so stressed about all that needs to get done. If I were in your situation, I would quit the part-time job. It sounds like it is adding too much stress to you and your family's homelife to make it worth it. Your church can find someone else who will also enjoy the work but can fit it in better with what else they have going on in their life. I think in this case, you need to put your family first.

I'm not sure what else is available, but I'll be the nay-sayer for the Fitbit Charge. My husband has one, and Fitbit replaced it because the heart rate monitor would stop working during his work out routine. The cause: he was too sweaty. Um, what's the point if it doesn't work when exercising? So they replaced it (free of charge), and the second one works a bit better, but it is not *continuous*. Also, the rash issue that so many talk about: I have sensitive skin, my husband does not; but both of us get a rash from the Charge. He cleans his band with rubbing alcohol, as per Fitbit's instructions, and he tries to switch wrists to give the other one time to heal. Several Fitbit representatives have said to "give his wrist a break" and not wear the Charge for a while. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? I'm not anti-Fitbit, really. I love my One! But we have had a LOT of frustration with the Charge, and Fitbit seems to ignore the ongoing problems that many people have. Since it's the heart rate monitor that you're interested in, I'd be more inclined to get one that straps around your chest. But I have no advice as to which one. ETA: Oops! It's the Surge my husband has, not the Charge. Maybe the Charge really IS that much better!

We have friends who moved from Minnesota to Alaska shortly after graduating college. The wife applied for a teaching position, and confused her state abbrevations. She accepted the position, thinking they were moving to Arkansas. Once they realized their mistake, they were excited about the adventure, fell in love with Alaska, and never plan to move back.

I also recommend the Ikea bibs - I think they're actually art smocks? My almost-four-year-old is just now outgrowing the sleeves (we used them for co-op art class), but they work really well on the toddlers I babysit.

My sister graduated valedictorian, and got almost a full ride to an ivy league school in Massachusetts. On her first phone call home, she casually asked, "Oh, and which ocean is by my college?"

Yes, we do worry about the structural integrity of the house with so many books. Actually, we kind of worry about the structural integrity of the house in general - it's 106 years old. When my kiddos play HotWheels in the living room, they can sit in the center of the room and push cars in any direction, and the cars roll back down to them. We don't store books in the living room. And we are careful about a certain section of hallway upstairs. Most books are stored in what used to be the formal dining room (now play room/homeschool room). We built floor-to-ceiling book shelves against one (load bearing) wall. Around the corner we have a deep pantry, and I also worry a bit about how much the floor there can hold. So far, none of my flour or sugar buckets have fallen through!

When my sister had one, they made her stay at the hospital for eight hours, lying down. They said that it was crucial to not move AT ALL, which is why they wouldn't send her home. Fortunately, she did not get the headache that some do.

My nine-year-old uses the word "transportate", as in "how are we going to transportate all of these groceries home - we're out of room in the van!" My almost-seven-year old has decided on a career: doggie daycare worker at PetSmart. We consider this a good choice, because whenever someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she has always said, "a squirrel."

I'm going to play devil's advocate for most of the responses. I was one of those borderline birthdays. The school district I was to start in encouraged my mom to put me in kindergarten, making me the youngest in my class. Due to a planned move in November, as well as my mom regretting starting my sister as the youngest in her class, I ended up waiting a year to start school. Unfortunately, I was bored my entire public school education (my mom refused the suggestion that I skip third grade...and then seventh grade, feeling it best that I stay with my "peers", even though I was the oldest by far). I also hit puberty early - very, very awkward to be a third grader needing a larger bra than the teacher. One of my friends in my class shared a birthday with me, but was a year younger. By the time high school rolled around, I was just *done* with school, and ready to move out and be on my own - I ended up graduating early, taking community college classes to fill that last semester, and went off to a four-year college when the rest of my graduating class did so. My daughter is a borderline birthday as well. Due to my own experience, we decided to put her as the youngest in her class (we needed to "declare" what grade she was for Sunday school, soccer, Awana, etc). But the plan right now is for her to have five years of high school: three at home and two dual enrolled. If it was necessary to send her to school though, we would put her a grade lower, so she'd be the oldest in the class. That is mostly due to her absent-minded-professor syndrome. Sometimes it's helpful to look far, far ahead. Do you want your child going off to college when they are seventeen, or would you prefer they were eighteen? Due to my parents' decisions, I was almost nineteen, and the chance to spread my wings was long overdue. On the other hand, it's easier to bump a child "up" than to "hold them back". I can't really say which way for a parent to lean with their own child, but I did want to give you another perspective,

I have experienced something similar to what you described, though not as extreme. I tried regular-sized cups and simply could not use them. I finally found the MeLuna cup - it has a "shorty" option that is the only cup I can comfortably use. I do think that releasing the suction before pulling out the cup makes a big difference.