Tr has green eyes. Your kid has Hazel - brown plus grey tones.
I have what I call ‘water colored’ and my husband calls ‘sweater colored’ eyes since they change with my clothes: grey/blue/green tpnes. It says grey on my license (they are more blue/green than grey but not specifically either of those so I went with grey). My youngest and husband both have distinctly amber eyes but he lists his as brown.
the first time I left one of my kids at home alone was last spring when my 11 year old had covid. I wouldn’t make her come in the car with me to pick up the little one so she would be home alone for 20 minutes at a time.
however, in December my 8 year old left school through the back gate and walked themself home over the side of a small mountain alone. *i* almost called the police on that.
I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.
Lol what, how do you know they tried to arrange a sitter but one was booked?! It sounds like they knew people in the area, plus I guarantee if they really wanted a sitter they could have found one.
People do stupid shit all the time, so this unfortunately isn’t too surprising. I won’t even go a couple floors downstairs in the elevator that opens directly in to my apartment to check the mail while the baby sleeps! Sad for those kids.
I don't. As I said it was just a guess that they are used to other people taking care of their problems given the way they tried to blame the hotel for the kids being unattended. But perhaps skipping a sitter is their normal.
I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.
And her parents! So she had both friends AND parents in the area who were available enough to rush over to the hotel, but not available enough to watch the kids in the first place?
Surely the hotel could have arranged a sitter service.
I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.
The ambulance waiting for his family under such dire circumstances worries me. It suggests they don’t think arriving at a hospital faster is going to make a difference.
We watch the sun set on the old year and then rise on the new year with something in between. I like it so much more than midnight. (This year we also did midnight. I’ve had a few new years where the countdown was worth it, but this has been more consistently rewarding.
my family moved to a different city in the middle of 5th grade, and how it messed up my math education,
Yep. If you go 4th and up there is a good chance it'll mess up math. More parents are ready to supplement reading at home and catch a kid up than math. So they should go planning to lean heavily on whatever the kids should be doubling down on at that age.
I moved, usually between countries, at ages: 3 years, 3rd grade (mid year), 4th grade (only same country move), 5th grade, and 7th grade.
I was a strong reader and the US had lower standards for math education compared to other countries. Landing here in 7th was easy. Leaving here for somewhere else during any math centric year would have been hard.
If she is going for language immersion: (1) younger is better. (2) longer is better. A month or two in a country (especially not enrolled in school there) won't make much impact. I'd say do a full school year there for a fairly early education level (1st or 2nd. 3rd at the latest), and enroll in a local language school. By 5th grade, the differences in education styles between countries plus the lower natural fit for new languages will likely leave them struggling more. I moved around a lot as a kid and the small but significant differences in teaching/education styles really add up over the years. There will be two "languages/cultures" to learn - the basic one and the school specific norms.
IF they are planning to move and not integrate, later is fine. But don't expect the kids to learn the language. I've known a number of kids who lived abroad for a stint 4th grade and later and learned none of the language.
I’m ready for my SIL’s family to leave. My nephew is a menace. He cut DS’ pillow with scissors, broke several toys, and does not listen. H had a coke to Jesus talk with SIL and nothing has changed. H and I agree they can’t come back until he can listen and behave.
I know it's a typo but this has me amused. I imagine it as "even someone with the patience of Jesus, but high on coke, couldn't keep up with this kid's antics. Time to rein it in."
Go to Machu Pichu or Egypt. (because I really want to go to both, and got close to pulling the trigger on each recently but they don't fit with our group right now).
my mother brought refrigerated pate that expired in June to Christmas dinner last night (I hadn't asked her to bring anything. We had all the food we needed. She had insisted on bringing deviled eggs which I was fine with, but this was a surprise. As was a frozen dessert she wanted us to eat rather than what I had prepared). She then got upset that we didn't want to serve the pate and wanted to throw it out. It ruined the mood. For six month expired meat paste.
I was honestly kind of meh about the graham cracker crust. I figure something like that is just going to be stale and tasteless.
But 6-month expired pate? Omg. That's really, really gross.
I know! It would have been one thing if she brought it without thinking - pulled it from the fridge and didn't look at the date and then tossed it as soon as she/we realized. But she knew the date when I pointed it out and got into a whole thing about she just wanted to taste it because she was sure it was fine. She then opened it, insisted it smelled fine. She was so annoyed at everyone and then sulked all evening because we threw it out. WTF?
My sister just texted the rest of us that she found in her cupboard, and used, a graham cracker pie crust from 2006. 🤢
She'd get along great with my mother. lol.
my mother brought refrigerated pate that expired in June to Christmas dinner last night (I hadn't asked her to bring anything. We had all the food we needed. She had insisted on bringing deviled eggs which I was fine with, but this was a surprise. As was a frozen dessert she wanted us to eat rather than what I had prepared). She then got upset that we didn't want to serve the pate and wanted to throw it out. It ruined the mood. For six month expired meat paste.
sonrisa - any updates on the genetic testing? Have you been able to find out what it is?
PDQ: A sequence of deleted genes of unknown significance. We are now both going in for testing to find out if we were carriers or if this was spontaneous. They don't know the specifics but it includes a gene for coding a protein involved in mitochodria. We need to run cardiac testing since it can be related to heart problems. These deletions can be associated with moderate to significant intellectual impairment, but not for our kid.
What’s interesting (to me) is that “getting lost” used to be a common experience - if not universal. Now it’s rare.
My eight year old managed to walk themself home from school - leaving the back entrance and up and over a hillside - without telling anyone. So it still happens. Blarg.
my kids *love* them. In all sizes. (even smaller, too) Squishmallows seem to are one of the few things with mass appeal from preschool to middle school.
Ds1s bday is 1/5 & he wants to have a party but I’m seriously concerned no one will come 😢 what should I do ? I tried encouraging him to do the “we give you the money we would spend on a party” option but he wants a party like his brother had ….. I considered spending more than I normally would to rent an awesome place out but I don’t know….
We are doing a birthday party in late January (1/22 for a cancelled early December date). Do you think he'd be up for that? I also think if your school starts jan 3 or so, most people will be back to normal by that next weekend. But I'd text 2-4 key people to find out if they are free
I'm so sorry, my bday is 12/18 so I can sympathize. I don't remember it being a big issue as a kid, because I don't think people were SO BUSY ALL THE TIME like they are now. Did all the other invitees RSVP no, or did they just not respond?
Nope I didn’t hear anything at all from 5 of the kids parents. I guess all these kids have so many friends that they don’t care to encourage other friendships? If it had been DS getting the invite from someone I know he’s friends with but we couldn’t come I would have at least made a connection with the parents and said we should get the kids together a different time. I don’t have any of these 5 parents contact info.
That's so hard. I'm sorry to hear that. We have a similar situation so when they were younger I invite the whole class and hold it a week ro two early so the chances *someone* can make it are better. We still failed this year when my kid got sick on the party day.
If you don't have contact info, how were the kids invited? Is there a chance the parents never saw the invites?