Secular Confessions

[3andMe]

I don't think anyone in my family, none of my parents or grandparents, ever had sayings in the house. My parents had a ton of stuff everywhere, posters on top of postcards on top of dead bats on top of lip outlines on top of calendars from 1942 on top of old maps on top of a drawing I made in 2nd grade, but no sayings. My sister and I have discussed with dread the thought of cleaning out the house if they die. I would either have to take an entire year off work or hire someone or just burn it.

Suja, I was just thinking (on my drive home yesterday) how difficult it would be to be a nanny and in the position of disciplining someone else's kids, or to have a nanny and to have to deal with discipline differences. One doctor I work with has a nanny who has been with him for 7 years or so. She is a part of their family, essentially, and while his girls are at school she runs errands, drops off dry-cleaning, pays bills for them, etc. I was wishing I had that. But I was thinking how difficult it can be even within my own little family circle of me, DH, and my mom, all primary caregivers, and all of us on essentially the same page with discipline theory and all with 'ownership' of our children and the utmost level of trust. Even then, it can be sort of touchy to bring up a minor difference in discipline technique, or to discuss a problem with one of the children and figure out a strategy for how to deal with it.

Maybe you can give her a nice going-away present and a good letter of reference.

Erin, googling medical symptoms is not necessarily helpful, and can be harmful. A recent study came out that showed how people found the results either made them feel like they had more of a problem or less of a problem than they really did. I have had two different episodes of eye pain and vision problems and have had it be nothing serious on both occasions, but both times when I called in and described it I was told to come in right away, so it's worth getting checked out.

[daylilies]

Suja, I'm sorry you're letting me go. I'm sorry I missed first dibs on her though

So I think I will need to vent or ask advice here on my new job so to make it easier I will attach nicknames or letters to each kid. The "trouble kid" starts with I, so to avoid confusion I will call him Red because he's redheaded. The one who wants to go to college is C. Then there is J and D, who are both kind of quiet so I haven't figured out much about them yet.

I met Red for the first time this a.m. I was told by the driver that he would be okay in the morning, so I could sit up front with the driver. Turns out Red was feeling rambunctious and J and C kept needling at him. D often sleeps too late and misses the bus in the a.m. so he wasn't with us. Red makes strange noises which causes teasing from J and C and in turn Red screams "shut up!" or "leave me alone!" Red rarely lashes out without being provoked so I found myself trying to calm Red down a lot while speaking to J and C who would get upset because Red was screaming and "we were only talking about him" Well duh, when you call him Ginger or imitate his sounds behind his back, of course that will piss off Red.

The way back was even worse. It was just constant back and forth provoking. They'd make fun of Red, Red would scream, they'd laugh at him.

Red reminds me a lot of Josh. I don't want that to get in the way of how I discipline them, but it does seems like Red is the victim most of the time and that he is just reacting to being provoked. Once he started talking to me about things he likes to do, he seemed like a smart kid. He's 13. The other guys seem older like 16-17.

It seems like all of them besides Red are only vicious when they're working together which I guess is common for teenage boys. I have to sit next to Red because he's the only one who will throw stuff or start to get up when he's mad. Because of that, I got to talk to him a little.

[Suja]

L, I have placed her ad on CL for her, and will be giving her a glowing reference. The same kind I got from each of her previous employers. And she can stay on longer (or shorter, although that would be a bit of a hassle) if that's how it works out.

In your shoes, I'd set limits right off the bat. C and J (or D) do not get to instigate, period. You interrupt/intervene before it gets to the point where Red feels compelled to respond. And have a talk with Red to let him know that you have this, you see his side of things, and will be an advocate for him, but he has to give you a chance to work this out, and to learn to control his temper.

Tell Me More has been doing stories on bullying: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/14/148593...rs-to-speak-up Today, there was a follow-up on it. Excellent pieces. One thing I was surprised to hear is that it is NOT enough to tell kids to work it out, to walk away. The most important message one can get to them is that there are responsible adults that they can take these sorts of problems to, and help them identify who those people are.

[Ky'sMom]

Poor Red. I feel bad for him for getting picked on. But do you think you can stick it out on the job Kate or do you forsee many difficulties now that you got a sense for all the riders?

And I'm pretty sure my eye pain is eye strain and the fact I need a new perscription for my vision. I was trying to put off going to the eye doctor until May when the pollen count goes down as I wanted to get some new contacts. But I think I will go ahead and just get another pair of glasses. I am going to go ahead and go to a Opthamologist though instead of a Optometrist in order to get my eyes checked out. I notice that when I eat more carbs my eyes hurt more, especially if I eat anything sugary or even drink a sugary drink. I have stopped drinking sugary drinks because of it and I am considering giving up sugary snacks even though I love sugary snacks. I am one of those people that not having snacks in the house won't work because I can whip up some cookies or a cake in no time LOL! But I am always afraid of diabetes and even though eye pain is not a symptom of diabetes I still would like to get my eyes checked because I know they can see signs of it via the eye. Diabetes runs in my family like a lot of black people. We are lucky it is not extremely prevalent in our family but it seems all of us who like sweet snacks get it, my grandma, one of my aunts, and one of my uncles had/has it.

And Suja I have heard of not getting the antibiotics for sinus infections. I usually am pretty adamantly against antibiotics. Ky hasn't had any since he was around 3 years old and Elle has only had them once when she had strep last year. I am just worried about the infection contributing to the high fever. She is getting worse and has become pretty lethargic and actually didn't want to eat or drink yesterday so I am thinking it may be something that needs the meds.

That is too bad about your nanny. I hope she is able to find something really quickly but I'm srue it will be nice to have the extra money for your own household and even if you want someone to clean or something sometime, you can always get someone part time for less.

And Bridget, I didn't know you were Irish! I love Irish culture and it is one of my bucket list places to visit. I studied a lot of Irish poetry in college and one of my thesis papers was a comparison of African American literature and Irish literature in regards to the themes and struggles of both of these groups. Plus of course, my name means Ireland. I always tell people I'm black Irish LOL!

So happy you got to spend some time with your mom's family. It made me tear up, just your description of seeing your aunt holding Sawyer.

Erin

[3andMe]

I'm in the process of writing a long-overdue blog entry about Baby S and I just thought I'd pop over here briefly to tell you a funny story about him.

You know how we play 20 questions at dinner sometimes, right? Well, S. has started trying to play along sometimes. The other night he wanted to take a turn, so I asked him if he had something in mind. He said, "Yucky!" I said, "Is it a booger?" He laughed and said "No, no booger!" So I queried, "Is it throw-up?" He said, "Yes! Throw-up!" and high-fived me, which is what we do when someone gets it right. I can't be certain that he actually had that in mind from the beginning and maintained his answer through my questions or if he just decided to say yes at that point, but it was hilarious, and it struck me just how much he actually participates as a full member of our family now. He takes part in our conversations, plays games, gives and takes just like everyone else.

[AmeriBrit]

That is awesome that you got to see your mom's family, Bridget. It makes me teary eyed thinking of it, too! Families are awesome.

Ugh, sorry to vent to y'all, but here goes. I hate hate hate crying in front of anyone, and I just did! I went to zumba with my SIL and she asked me how it's been going at school this week (I'm only on day 2!) and I burst in to tears. I felt like I had an awesome day yesterday and today was OK, too. A few of the students who have behavioral issues were not on their best behavior, but I dealt with it in my own way, which is in a calm tone and explaining to them that they'll get a warning, etc. Well, most of the teaching assistants I've met at this school are screamers. They really lay in to the kids and I absolutely hate that and will not do that. So, today, the principal (who is a good friend of mine) called me at home to ask if I was OK. I was like, 'Yes, fine, why?' And she said she'd had mixed reports about me and that someone told her that I seemed upset today. She said that what she's seen of me at school has been fantastic, so today was a surprise to her. So, I told her it was a surprise to me, too. She kept saying, 'are you sure you're OK? You'd tell me if you weren't?' So, any how, she called me back about 10 minutes later and said, "I apologize for that last call...that was a weird conversation, wasn't it?" Apparently, what happened was the TA who was in class with me called the teacher I'm covering for (he's on paternity leave) and told him that I seemed upset and wasn't sure I was coping with the class being rowdy! Ugh. This is why I hate working with a women! They can be so catty! (What had happened at the end of the day was the TA took a boy to the principal's-my friend-office to calm down, but she was agitating him by shouting at him that the principal actually asked the TA to leave the room. I think the TA is now blaming me for that episode because she lost her cool while with him, so she's blaming me for not calming him down, so she's run to the teacher to tell him this 'upset' malarchy. Ugh. I have to work with this woman for 3 more days, so at least it's not a permanent thing, but geez louise, why'd she have to go and try to drop me in it?!

And to make things worse (and the main reason I burst in to tears after zumba!) was that I came home to yet another rejection letter from a college about not getting in to the teaching program. So, it looks like I'll be looking for work elsewhere soon as I can't continue on just volunteering at school and occassionally subbing at the school getting paid minimum wage!

I wish I had some white zinfandel right now!

[daylilies]

Hugs Ash!
Where has the other Ash been, have I missed something?

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I have a great advantage because I'm the mother of Josh. I think I will either actually really like this, or get too emotional about the whole thing and have to quit. It could go either way, this early in the game.
The thing is I'm never really alone with any of the kids enough to talk to them without the others hearing. I don't want the others to think I'm buddying up with Red or anything. I'm not sure how to approach it. C seems the most level headed of them all, when he's not being a jerk around the other guys so maybe I will talk to C since we pick him up first, and tell him I'm not trying to favor Red but that if I talk to Red for most of the ride I think it'll keep him out of trouble.

[AmeriBrit]

The other Ash is on facebook only these days, I think!

And I meant to say thanks for the swimsuit advice, y'all. I'm going to try the white bikini and see how that goes! (And thanks Myles, for the Gwyneth suggestion! I'll have to google her!)

[Gwenn]

I had to laugh last night, after the musical abilities conversation we had last week, DD told me I was making her ears hurt when I was singing to her at bed time!

LOL! Too funny.

Yes that is it. I do feel this sense of entitlement from waiting so long. Had it happened right away when we first started trying and I was younger and had less money, I probably would have settled or wanted different things. After more than five years of window shopping in stores or online....I have certain wants for me.
And really if I got a call tomorrow, I would probably have to revise a bit of my wants. If it takes another 18 months, gives me time to save up more money and buy things along the way. I find with my DH, he does much better spreading out purchases over the months instead of just buying everything at once and having a super expensive month that goes into savings.

Spreading it out makes a lot of sense financially. I'm afraid to buy stuff, though, for fear of "jinxing" myself.

Mandy those numbers look great! That is interesting that he said that about bigger follies. I tried to find info before on bigger follicles but really didn't have any luck. I always wondered if that was my problem. The three cycles I was monitored, my biggest were like 31mm! You numbers are much better and what I kept coming across in the literature as being optimal.

Thanks.

I told Mira's nanny that we'll be letting her go. The look on her face... I feel SO bad. We'll all miss her.

That's such a shame.

So I think I will need to vent or ask advice here on my new job so to make it easier I will attach nicknames or letters to each kid. The "trouble kid" starts with I, so to avoid confusion I will call him Red because he's redheaded. The one who wants to go to college is C. Then there is J and D, who are both kind of quiet so I haven't figured out much about them yet.

I met Red for the first time this a.m. I was told by the driver that he would be okay in the morning, so I could sit up front with the driver. Turns out Red was feeling rambunctious and J and C kept needling at him. D often sleeps too late and misses the bus in the a.m. so he wasn't with us. Red makes strange noises which causes teasing from J and C and in turn Red screams "shut up!" or "leave me alone!" Red rarely lashes out without being provoked so I found myself trying to calm Red down a lot while speaking to J and C who would get upset because Red was screaming and "we were only talking about him" Well duh, when you call him Ginger or imitate his sounds behind his back, of course that will piss off Red.

The way back was even worse. It was just constant back and forth provoking. They'd make fun of Red, Red would scream, they'd laugh at him.

Red reminds me a lot of Josh. I don't want that to get in the way of how I discipline them, but it does seems like Red is the victim most of the time and that he is just reacting to being provoked. Once he started talking to me about things he likes to do, he seemed like a smart kid. He's 13. The other guys seem older like 16-17.

It seems like all of them besides Red are only vicious when they're working together which I guess is common for teenage boys. I have to sit next to Red because he's the only one who will throw stuff or start to get up when he's mad. Because of that, I got to talk to him a little.

That sounds challenging, but you have a good attitude about it. I hope it goes well.

And Bridget, I didn't know you were Irish! I love Irish culture and it is one of my bucket list places to visit. I studied a lot of Irish poetry in college and one of my thesis papers was a comparison of African American literature and Irish literature in regards to the themes and struggles of both of these groups. Plus of course, my name means Ireland. I always tell people I'm black Irish LOL!

LOL! I'm part Irish, too, although you wouldn't know it since I got rid of my extremely Irish maiden name. I miss getting the "Oh, you're Irish" comments and the way other Irish people would treat us. But even though I have/had an Irish name, my dad and his siblings aren't very Irish. His dad was, but he married a protestant and was ex-communicated, and after that they didn't mix much with other Irish people. My dad's cousins, though ... that's another story. They have what you might call a colorful past.

And Bridget, that sounds like a great time with family. I'm glad they got to see Sawyer and realized he was an "old soul."

You know how we play 20 questions at dinner sometimes, right? Well, S. has started trying to play along sometimes. The other night he wanted to take a turn, so I asked him if he had something in mind. He said, "Yucky!" I said, "Is it a booger?" He laughed and said "No, no booger!" So I queried, "Is it throw-up?" He said, "Yes! Throw-up!" and high-fived me, which is what we do when someone gets it right. I can't be certain that he actually had that in mind from the beginning and maintained his answer through my questions or if he just decided to say yes at that point, but it was hilarious, and it struck me just how much he actually participates as a full member of our family now. He takes part in our conversations, plays games, gives and takes just like everyone else.

Love it!

That is awesome that you got to see your mom's family, Bridget. It makes me teary eyed thinking of it, too! Families are awesome.

Ugh, sorry to vent to y'all, but here goes. I hate hate hate crying in front of anyone, and I just did! I went to zumba with my SIL and she asked me how it's been going at school this week (I'm only on day 2!) and I burst in to tears. I felt like I had an awesome day yesterday and today was OK, too. A few of the students who have behavioral issues were not on their best behavior, but I dealt with it in my own way, which is in a calm tone and explaining to them that they'll get a warning, etc. Well, most of the teaching assistants I've met at this school are screamers. They really lay in to the kids and I absolutely hate that and will not do that. So, today, the principal (who is a good friend of mine) called me at home to ask if I was OK. I was like, 'Yes, fine, why?' And she said she'd had mixed reports about me and that someone told her that I seemed upset today. She said that what she's seen of me at school has been fantastic, so today was a surprise to her. So, I told her it was a surprise to me, too. She kept saying, 'are you sure you're OK? You'd tell me if you weren't?' So, any how, she called me back about 10 minutes later and said, "I apologize for that last call...that was a weird conversation, wasn't it?" Apparently, what happened was the TA who was in class with me called the teacher I'm covering for (he's on paternity leave) and told him that I seemed upset and wasn't sure I was coping with the class being rowdy! Ugh. This is why I hate working with a women! They can be so catty! (What had happened at the end of the day was the TA took a boy to the principal's-my friend-office to calm down, but she was agitating him by shouting at him that the principal actually asked the TA to leave the room. I think the TA is now blaming me for that episode because she lost her cool while with him, so she's blaming me for not calming him down, so she's run to the teacher to tell him this 'upset' malarchy. Ugh. I have to work with this woman for 3 more days, so at least it's not a permanent thing, but geez louise, why'd she have to go and try to drop me in it?!

And to make things worse (and the main reason I burst in to tears after zumba!) was that I came home to yet another rejection letter from a college about not getting in to the teaching program. So, it looks like I'll be looking for work elsewhere soon as I can't continue on just volunteering at school and occassionally subbing at the school getting paid minimum wage!

I wish I had some white zinfandel right now!

What an awful day! I'm so sorry you got dragged into that. And shouting? How can they get away with shouting at the kids all the time? Those poor kids.

Hugs Ash!
Where has the other Ash been, have I missed something?

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I have a great advantage because I'm the mother of Josh. I think I will either actually really like this, or get too emotional about the whole thing and have to quit. It could go either way, this early in the game.
The thing is I'm never really alone with any of the kids enough to talk to them without the others hearing. I don't want the others to think I'm buddying up with Red or anything. I'm not sure how to approach it. C seems the most level headed of them all, when he's not being a jerk around the other guys so maybe I will talk to C since we pick him up first, and tell him I'm not trying to favor Red but that if I talk to Red for most of the ride I think it'll keep him out of trouble.

That sounds like a good strategy.

[Gwenn]

I got my thyroid labs back today, and apparently my levels were just where the doctor wanted them to be. That's definitely a good thing. Although I've been feeling pretty negative lately, most likely due to the Clomid I guess. I was secretly hoping my thyroid was low, not that I want it to be, just as an explanation for something to adjust.

And, I got all my reports written for Thursday so I can stay home tomorrow with a clear conscience and without taking work home. Yay!

[missychrissy]

Ash, I'm sorry.

Kate, that sounds like a difficult situation. Teens are hard.

I'm going to add to the woes here...the guy that was hired with me is trying to overcompensate or he's acting like it's a competition between us. I was out ill yesterday and one of the things on my calendar was someone with issues with Internet Explorer. It should have been a simple fix, except it wasn't. Scott ended up taking it because I wasn't there, and it turned out the computer was severely out of date and needed nearly 150 updates. He worked on it a lot yesterday and all of today. He also had two big projects of his own to deal with. Right from get go I had offered to take mine back and deal with it but he kept saying it was ok, he had it. He ended up not taking lunch at all (we're hourly) and running all over the building in the afternoon. My afternoon cleared up because what I had scheduled was minor things, and then I had two people flake on me. I answered emails and helped people that had sent in help desk tickets, but nothing major. I offered to help and would have been glad to, but he wouldn't let me.

At 4:00 (we're done at 4:30), I went with Faye so she could teach me something. In 20 minutes we had 5-7 tickets come in and when I got to my desk Scott had assigned them all to himself! THEN our supervisor emailed us that someone was coming in and would need a new computer, but without a netid she knew we couldn't get it going right away but wanted to give us a heads up about it. Scott looked the new hire up on the Cornell directory apparently from his car and wrote back with her netid and said he had it. Technically, we're NOT supposed to be answering work emails after 4:30 because again, we're hourly.

He had shown signs of being a kind of overachiever-like he was trying very hard to make a good impression. But now it's just ridiculous. He's not leaving me any work at all. I had imaged a laptop and we finished the true crypt on it as well as two others. I had the user on my schedule for Thursday and Scott brought her new laptop to my desk and was like, "This is done." I was like, "Yeah, I know. She's on my schedule." I felt like he was saying, "Why aren't you doing anything?" I can't just go to someones desk with a new computer and expect them to give me two hours of their time. That stuff has to be mutually scheduled!

I think Faye saw some of it today. I know I'm going to have to say something. I'm definitely taking some of the tickets Scott assigned himself and putting them in my name. I don't want it to turn ugly, but I'm not going to sit there doing menial work while he does all the heavy stuff. I have 4 years experience and this is his first real IT job so I think he's feeling like he has to prove himself, but he doesn't. Not by me and not by anyone in our office. They're kind, patient, understanding, and very laid back. We can ask any one of them any questions. There's simply no pressure coming from them to do it all.

[missychrissy]

And, I got all my reports written for Thursday so I can stay home tomorrow with a clear conscience and without taking work home. Yay!

[Gwenn]

That's annoying. I hope he isn't taking jobs away from you intentionally.

[missychrissy]

I can't help but feel like he is. Or, he's at least trying to race me and get more of them.

[Gwenn]

Yuck. I would have a hard time with that.

[missychrissy]

It could be mean. I know I can be oversensitive. He IS a nice guy. I don't think he's doing it with any malice-not like he's doing it to make me look bad. If he's doing it on purpose at all it would only be an attempt to prove himself. Maybe it's a guy thing. But I'm not competitive like that so it makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to physically take work away from him. Reassigning the help desk tickets is distasteful to me. At the same time, I know I'm beyond capable of deploying new computers and troubleshooting issues. I did it for 4 years. AND the network stuff too. I can't help but feel a little insulted that he's leaving the 'install print drivers' tickets for me.

[Gwenn]

I was going to post earlier, but reading through the thread sucked everything out of my brain apparently. Anyway, I remember now what I planned to say!

I've been feeling really frustrated since that parent asked me if I did private therapy. I researched and the going rate for private therapy ranges from $80 - $125/hour depending on where you live. My IUI is about $550-$650 - so two hours a week of private clients, which I could easily do in the late afternoon after work, would completely pay for my out of pocket costs for the RE. It seems so perfect, for really a very little amount of work overall.

So DH has been giving me a reality check - I need liability insurance, I need a business license, I need a business plan, etc. before I am anywhere near ready to begin seeing clients. All of which would require time and start-up costs that would pretty much erase the out-of-pocket benefits I wish I were getting right.now. while I am paying the RE. I know he is right, but in the meantime I have been putting some thought into where to find clients. One website I visited stated that she started her private practice via patients she was already seeing in her hospital practice, then grew through word of mouth. That option is out for me. So short of that, where do I find people? A friend suggested Craigslist, but really? Would you hire a therapist off Craigslist?

Today I saw an ad for a local disability fair. The point is to bring people with disabilities together with people who offer goods/services and I would definitely fall under that category. DH again is my reality check. In addition to the liability insurance, business license, etc. I would also need a banner, business cards, marketing materials like custom pens, etc. Which would pretty much negate any extra income at least for the first little while. So, not ready for this year. Maybe next year. Ugh! I just want to make some extra $ on the side. I have three licenses/certifications and an FBI clearance. Why must it be so difficult? There must be a good answer to this.

[Suja]

Mandy, is there such a thing as group practice, akin to what doctors do? That seems like a logical next step. The problem is that you can't do that and stay in your current job.

[missychrissy]

What about a small business loan to get started?

[Gwenn]

Mandy, is there such a thing as group practice, akin to what doctors do? That seems like a logical next step. The problem is that you can't do that and stay in your current job.

There definitely is such a thing, but I'm not looking to leave my current job. I'd just like to pick up some extras for now. Although one day I might want to be out on my own, I'm not ready yet.

[Gwenn]

What about a small business loan to get started?

My credit is not in great shape at the moment, so I doubt that would be an easy option.

[missychrissy]

In all your spare time (haha!) look around and see if there are grants available. There just might be for your specialty. Or for women that want to start their own business. You never know.

And even if it's a no right now, that doesn't mean no forever. Keep looking/thinking/plotting and planning if this is what you want to do.

[Gwenn]

In all your spare time (haha!) look around and see if there are grants available. There just might be for your specialty. Or for women that want to start their own business. You never know.

And even if it's a no right now, that doesn't mean no forever. Keep looking/thinking/plotting and planning if this is what you want to do.

I did not think of grants. That is a good idea.

[daylilies]

Gwenn I have a feeling most businesses are going to experience a loss for at least the first year because of all the startup expenses. DH and I owned a business and it didn't start seeing profit until its second year, but Josh was a baby, and DH was working full time at the same time, and requiring me to put in hours in his place, while caring for Josh at the store, and the rest of our employees were sort of useless, so we decided to shut down before it completely destroyed our lives.

[Bridget]

Honestly, Mandy I probably would use a therapist off craigslist. Especially one with your rap sheet. The way I look at people advertising on craigslist for those types of services is that they are just a person like yourself, trying to make a little extra money without jumping through all the hoops it takes to start up a business. I may be in the minority though. I do know that craigslist has been valuable tool for both my job and dbf's household repair/remodel business.

I swear I feel like his mama sometimes! We were at my older brothers this weekend and they have all sorts of games and gadgets including what I believe was the ipad (?). I walked into the house to find my brother teaching Savana and dbf how to play Angry birds. They were enjoying it. The kids played some other games and it was all fine and dandy. I knew Savana was wishing she had one so i had a chat with her and explained to her why I don't want her to have things like that quite yet and she seemed to understand as well as a 6 year old can. But oy, dbf. Now he thinks we "need" an ipad. That's the last thing we need. I told him if he gets this new job and he's traveling a lot and doing business transactions in the midst of traveling then, yes, maybe he can use the word need. But at this particular time neither of us needs anything like that. No. I hate putting the smackdown on a grown man. Okay, I kind of hate it. Okay, I like it. KIDDING!

[missychrissy]

I hate putting the smackdown on a grown man. Okay, I kind of hate it. Okay, I like it. KIDDING!

You can get tablets for less than $100. They even play Angry Birds.

[Bridget]

The last thing this man needs is another screen to stare at instead of interacting with his family.

[missychrissy]

I'm sure. I was actually thinking more about the kids. I didn't buy one for Rich.

[Bridget]

When they are older. Not yet. I'm old school. Minimal technology.

[Gwenn]

LOL. My DH "needs" lots of things, too. I will give him credit that he "wants" an iPad. I do have one but he doesn't use it often because he's afraid that if he does, he will "need" one.

We use Craigslist a lot, too, for things for the house and all that. I'm honestly curious how people would perceive a therapy service advertised on Craigslist, though. Wonder if I should start a poll in Random?