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LBK

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Posts posted by LBK

  1. 1 hour ago, rutheart said:

    One of mine had early adrenarche (body hair, underarm odor, etc) at six years old, but menarche wasn't until 6th grade. She is likely to be 5'10" or 5'11". I started taking her to endocrinologists when she was a toddler, but they insisted this was just normal for her. She has always been way, way off the growth charts. There are 7' relatives on both sides of the family, so we were worried about problems associated with genetic reasons for tall stature. We did blood tests and a bone age x-ray (which was about a year off, but not enough for the endocrinologist to treat it) to doublecheck.

    My other DD started off at the top of the growth chart for height, but stopped growing earlier. She is only 5'6". Her great-grandmother was only 4' (and married to one of the 7' men!), so we had no idea what would be normal for our kids. Her adrenarche/menarche was at normal times.

     Mine also started adrenarche (didn't know there was a term for it, thanks!) at that age and we're about two years in with no further developments...I have been wondering if everything else would follow early so good to know we may still have some time. We don't have any unusual height patterns in our family or family history though.

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  2. My daughter wrote to him when she was six as part of a letters to favorite authors project. Understandably she received a form postcard for a response, but it was still special. Some of the exhibits from the museum Pam mentioned came to our city's museum for a while, and it was so cool to see his stuff in embryo, photos of him standing on a big white sheet with a broom to scoot the paint around to get that brushy effect. 🙂 When I was growing up in the nineties, his work was so omnipresent that I figured he had always been around, a classic like Laura ingalls Wilder or something. 

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  3. Hi! I've noticed my three-year-olds will fixate on the "bad guy" in stories, no matter how comical or sweetly drawn. It's not a real anxiety, just curiosity, so I don't feel like I have to be particular about most of the fairy tale retellings -- ones clearly meant for the preschool set anyway, which are usually easy to distinguish from picture book fairytales written for school-age kids who can handle Baba Yaga in all her grotesqueness. 😉 

    Tomie de Paola did a little board book here with super short summaries of Rumpelstiltskin, Princess and the Pea, the Elves and the Shoemaker, and the Three Bears. He also has a bigger treasury (Favorite Nursery Tales) which are sweetly illustrated, tame retellings from what I remember.  She might like The Knight and the Dragon, once she is familiar enough with the genre that she can enjoy it being turned upside down. 
     
    The only other thing I can think of right now is Each Peach Pear Plum--not a fairytale collection, but an I-Spy picture book that features well-known characters and has been a huge hit with my newest 3-year-old for a few months now.
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  4. Thanks very much for helping brainstorm. Definitely there are times when I need the sleep, and needing to move back my bedtime requires better time management throughout the day/week. That's a weak point and a work in progress. But if I am getting better with that and can get to bed early enough to permit a 6 or 6:30 wake time (ugh, that used to be what I considered moderately late rising), the initial dilemma remains. How to wake myself consistently but not the rest of the family.

    I didn't know fitness bands had a vibrate alarm! That is a very promising option. Light of any kind would bother my husband.

    I'm okay with the division of labor here, really-- I get to hand off evening kid wrangling to him. I only do a bit of setting up homeschool work lists in the evening, except for Sunday nights to do the weekly planning. This is more about getting quiet time to gather my thoughts for whatever purpose the day requires before everyone else is up--and my relatively unique situation is the heavy sleeper + light/late sleeper combo I got myself into with this marriage, heh.

     Bulk cooking I would love to do and it would no doubt streamline weeknights. I really just need to buckle down and do it. 

  5. Posting here, because it's related to our homeschooling success...

    In short, I would like very much to get up earlier than my kids, who are early risers. Reasons are many, but a major one is so that I am not always preparing for the following day (too late) the night before. I have always been a morning person (I like going to bed/getting up early), but a very heavy sleeper. I will sleep through most anything, including alarm clocks of any reasonable type/volume. I am married to someone whose work hours do not require the use of an alarm clock, and who would very much not like to be the one turning off my alarm clock every morning as I sleep (unwillingly!) through it. I have a baby who weirdly enough, at the moment likes to sleep in, too. (She is right next to our bed, which is the only reason why I don't usually sleep through her waking/crying.) It puts a real damper on the days when I wake up at 8 and have to scramble to get our basic needs taken care of while still mentally waking up, making coffee, etc. If we didn't have regular outings/therapy appointments in the mornings, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but it is. I know I don't have to explain this to other moms of young children. Any ideas, short of sleeping in another room, and hoping that the vibrate feature + a fairly loud alarm might do the trick? Am I missing some obvious solution?  Going to bed at 8:30 to trigger a helpful biological rhythm for waking up early. is, alas, untenable. I'm just sort of hoping for the baby to become a better alarm clock someday soon. 😆 Thanks for any ideas.

  6. Hetty McKinnon's Family may be the sort of thing you're looking for. https://www.amazon.com/Family-Vegetarian-Comfort-Nourish-Every/dp/3791385429

    I got it earlier this year and have barely cooked from it, but am planning to start soon--I like your idea of working through a cookbook one night a week. I tagged lots of recipes as potential wins for everyone, some I'm pretty sure only I would like and not my family... There are also tips for super fast pantry meals with a pantry staples list (why do I love those in cookbooks so much?).

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  7. My 6-yo boy (also a new reader, yay!) is surprising me with his enthusiasm for answering questions in complete sentences. He'll even correct himself mid-word and give a rather eloquent sounding answer....in his tiny 6-yo voice. After about five minutes of this he'll need to go jump/tumble/wrestle a stuffed animal with sound effects for a while...I find that juxtaposition adorable. My oldest is a girl and more academically "accelerated" so I was expecting it would be hard to maintain realistic expectations for him with schoolwork, or he would need more drawing out, but no. (He loved Bears on Hemlock Mountain too btw! The audiobook was an all-time favorite around here. That's a great idea for having him read independently in small chunks.)  

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  8. On 9/1/2020 at 12:03 PM, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

    Yeah, my husband sometimes just says out loud, " I'm in a foul mood right now and I'm not fit for company, so I'm going to be alone for a while." 

    I hope you do appreciate that like crazy. Seriously though, I wonder why is it not Humanity 101 to learn how to politely, calmly, and directly set boundaries--for our own good as well as for those closest to us? It seems like an inexplicably rare skill. 😕

    Not close to menopause here but I have gone through periods of intense irritability I did not recognize as anxiety/depression till later... OP has to decide what she's willing to try in terms of medication or lifestyle changes, whatever the cause, but I think with respect to others in the house, it's more than enough to try to mitigate the effects on them exactly how OP described she's already doing---albeit maybe more directly, and *before* the irritability is triggered.

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  9. Following in hopes of hearing from more people... Not sure what OP wants to know specifically from such a huge area, but I am also interested in hearing from families who live in more isolated areas about what it's like to homeschool there. Are there pockets of homeschool communities even in smaller/more rural places? I am not really surprised that CO Springs would have that given its size and cultural/demographic reputation. Or are people living outside of big cities in this part of the country pretty much going it alone as a family...? 

  10. 10 hours ago, IvyInFlorida said:

    Newbie pregnant person here!  Thankfully, my terrible nausea seems to be letting up (I'm almost 11 weeks), but my food aversions are still strong.  I usually am a very healthy eater--big salads, chicken, fish, greek yogurt, etc.  But since about 6 weeks, I've had strong aversions to meat, veggies, yogurt, garlic, and tons of other stuff that I usually eat.  Basically the only things that don't sound utterly gross to me are peanut butter toast, cheese toast, cold fruit, and Gatorade.  Even water is gross is me.  Please weigh in about when your pregnancy aversions went away, if you experienced them!

    For me, that's just the first trimester experience.  This current pregnancy, my fourth, I had the "worst" (for me, definitely not compared to many others' descriptions) and earliest nausea/food aversions thus far. I also always had this awful taste in my mouth no matter how recently I had brushed my teeth... Had to keep mints and hard candy (whatever kind that didn't gross me out that day!) especially when driving to take my mind off of it... My poor teeth. I'm about 20 wks now and no trace of that issue or nausea luckily.

    For the water aversion, have you tried ice cold water with a good squeeze of lemon juice? I've never been picky about water temp or asked for lemon with water at restaurants and such but for some reason that's my favorite drink right now and often took the edge off nausea in the first trimester.

    Don't torture yourself looking at the poll results and assuming you're in for months of eating nothing but what you listed! It's totally normal to not be able to eat your healthiest diet during the first trimester. If you're already noticing improvement I'm pretty sure you'll be doing fine given another couple weeks. 

    • Like 1
  11. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/clean-kill-coronavirus-covid19-safety-health/

    This has a lot of answers to the questions we are asking...for peroxide, at 3% or diluted down to 0.5% one minute is sufficient to ...doesn't say sanitize or disinfect.

    And bleach is a good idea...I just had a doubt about that yesterday, since my mildew cleaner that is simply a bleach solution did not make any claims about viruses, so I was afraid it wouldn't work. That article says it's fine as long as it the bleach is properly diluted (1/4 c. to 1 gal water) and not expired.

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  12. I'm confused about this too right now. Kind of a moot point since we are out of Lysol wipes and naturally they're nowhere to be found, but all I have is a disinfectant spray (Lysol bathroom), and while I don't like how "foamy" it comes out, the label says that for sanitizing only 30 seconds is needed. For disinfecting, surface must be wet 10 minutes. And I just learned that sanitizing means reducing germ count to a "safe" level, whereas only disinfecting is where you get the fulfillment of the claim that said cleaner "Kills 99.9999%" or whatever of viruses and bacteria.

    I also wonder, since people keep saying that the virus breaks down really easily with soap and water, when is just washing things, like we are doing with produce, with soap and water for a good amount of time (say 20 seconds) actually a better solution than these disinfectants? Thanks for posting, I need to learn more about this.

    • Like 1
  13. I cannot seem to find eggs around here lately, and I'm not inclined to go to the store more than once a week to hunt them down. We have them almost every morning for our breakfast protein so this is a minor deprivation. Does anyone have any vegetarian high-protein breakfast suggestions? Yogurt and oatmeal or granola are working but would love some more family-friendly ideas. 

  14. 9 minutes ago, mmasc said:

    @parent I don’t have coriander either, but I DO have ground cumin since I use that in a lot of Mexican dishes. Thanks for the help! I’m making this over the weekend, also for easy lunches for myself. 😊

    On a side note,  I hope you are feeling better today!

    I second dal as a great use of red lentils! I'm craving some myself lately but didn't think to stock up on that particular kind, and brown or green definitely do not substitute well. I don't bother cooking the veggies/aromatics separately like that recipe says. I just cook the spices (like 30 seconds) and then onions (7-10 mins) and garlic and ginger (toward the very end) in the same pan I dump the lentils and water into. Also, if you happen to have coconut milk (canned) on hand, replace half the water with that, or finish with a couple tablespoons of butter. We like it better with some form of creaminess added.

    • Thanks 1
  15. On 3/17/2020 at 2:42 PM, happysmileylady said:

    But I think something that's really important to note is that most people who get this will only get a mild case.  The vast majority of people who experience this actual disease are going to come out the other side and think....well, that wasn't so bad. 

    ...

    And, when you combine all that with the fact that society has a bad collective memory about such things....I think "normal" is going to look pretty "normal."  

     

    You're right as far as the proportion of "mild" cases (though some I've read are emphasizing that this can mean a week of misery, not just a brief cold), but I think what will greatly improve the collective memory---and affect people's behavior during and after the "acute" phase---will be the experience of losing or nearly losing loved ones to this. People whose healthy children die of seasonal flu never see the flu the same way. I am afraid many people will understand that after COVID-19 works its way through our country.

     

    • Like 2
  16. On 8/20/2019 at 8:15 PM, sweet2ndchance said:

    In that case, I assign a few problems and tell them if they can execute it perfectly without my help then we can skip ahead in the lessons. Or we trade roles and I have them teach me the lesson. If they can explain it to me (and I purposely make mistakes for them to correct me on) then they obviously know it and we can move on.

     

    What a great idea...I think these two tactics could help me immensely in dealing with my sometimes obstinate 7-year-old. Thank you for putting that out there. I think your kids are very fortunate to have a mom who takes the time to listen and deal with their feelings and not just their counterproductive behavior. I know intellectually that is almost always the right way, but while homeschooling I often react out of this sense of pressure to get things done/keep the lesson going, and it's as counterproductive as the kids' bad behavior, if not more. Your post helped me realize that. Thanks.

     

    • Like 1
  17. I worked in the NICU then, and one of the docs was doing a study, and they drug tested all the babies in the NICU. FORTY-TWO PERCENT tested positive for opioids (not counting the babies who had been given pain meds or whose breastfeeding mother had.) This study helped get the lawmakers off their behinds to clean things up. But now what? Heroin addicts and suffering post-op

     

    It all really started when some idiot decided that "pain is the fifth vital sign", and we nurses were to assess pain extremely frequently. If the patient said 4 out of 10 on the pain scale, one percocet. If they said 5 or above, 2 percs. When I was working postpartum, 2 percs were given every four hours to women who had given birth vaginally and were intact, if they said they were cramping.

     

    The medical industry and the pharmaceutical companies created this epidemic. One recent study shows that if you give 10 postop patients 10 days worth of opioids, SIX of those patients will still be taking narcotics A YEAR later. Addiction is easy with these meds.

     

    ETA sorry I repeated a bunch of stuff before I read the whole thread.

    At first that pain scale made me laugh when it showed up a few years ago. Then I heard being implicated as part of the opioid crisis, and it made sense, and made those stupid posters look a little more sinister.

     

    It's horrible to hear of people being denied painkillers after surgery. I've only had the opposite experience, over and over--narcotics being offered after very minor procedures. Another one of those things that used to make me laugh. For my recent postpartum experience at a well regarded hospital there was Percocet and ibuprofen on offer for my uncomplicated natural (as in not c-section) delivery. For after pains. Which were not nothing, but ibuprofen took the edge off. The midwife at least counseled me to avoid the Percocet if possible. I guess there's still some policy in place where it has to be offered.

    • Like 5
  18. Thank you all! I was surprised to find a group here just for Orthodox Christians. it's one of those things that was all but invisible to me up until this past year; I pretty much dismissed it as ethnic Catholicism and figured people who converted were just doing so because they were into incense and beauty in worship (a very suspicious thing indeed for the Protestant circles I've been in). I've learned through attending Orthodox services how much beauty can express the majesty and transcendence of God, and have started to let myself enjoy it...

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