The kid thread: Planning, pregnancy & parenting

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Sept 18, 2017 9:52:52 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Sept 16, 2017 10:03:56 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm still trying to get my 15 year old to hold a fork correctly!!  (I'm not kidding his fine motor does suck).

My 7 year old's writing is still pretty bad and while they teach them cursive I tell him to PRINT for his spelling tests.  Even if it's huge, block, capital letters.  At least it's legible enough to know he knew how to spell the word. 

they were trying to focus on proper holding of the pencil while writing.  DS loves writing and he finally got to the point where he is writing legibly.  BUT he holds his pencil clutched in his fist.  Let me just say - and I'll say this to the teachers if asked - as long as he is writing and writing well, I don't give one single solitary F how he is holding the damn pencil.

Don't let them put that god awful giant rubber thingy on his pencil to force him to hold it correctly.   I and another student got stuck with those in 4th grade and it was so embarassing.   Turns out her "approved" way of holding a pencil is not good for you and can cause arthritis.   After I was done with her torture I reverted back to holding a pen as I naturally do and I write just fine thank you very much.

[MJ2.0]

I don't know why we focus so much on how a pencil/pen is held anyway - most of us will do most of our communication on a keyboard.  If anything, put the extra emphasis on proper typing skills because holding your pencil wrong and still being able to write in school beats hunting and pecking for YEARS as an adult.

[muttleynfelix]

Hugs Taz.


So besides DH being sick, I am having the period from hell this month. PMS wasn't nearly as bad as last month, but Jesus, I had cramps wake me up in the middle of the night Friday and Saturday nights and it just has me worn out. I need a week with nothing to do, but just an hour would be nice. DH did keep the kids away most of the afternoon yesterday while I watched the Cubs, but there was still stuff I had to do.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Sept 18, 2017 10:01:44 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

I don't know why we focus so much on how a pencil/pen is held anyway - most of us will do most of our communication on a keyboard.  If anything, put the extra emphasis on proper typing skills because holding your pencil wrong and still being able to write in school beats hunting and pecking for YEARS as an adult.

DH hunts and pecks.  I can't watch him type, it makes me want to murder him.  


I haven't counted recently but last time I had my speed measured I was at 65 wpm. 

Mom used to be a word processor, she can type 100+ words a minute.  I once asked her to show me how fast she could go, it was impressive.  No mistakes either.

She learned to type on a type writer, she said if you could master that then learning a keyboard was easy.

[NastyWoman]

Sept 18, 2017 9:58:25 GMT -5 taz157 said:

I'm texting with 1 of my cousins. She married last month and already have a 1 year old daughter. She texted me today to say that she's pregnant. I'm excited for her but I'm also jealous.

I haven't told her yet about my miscarriage last month... I don't feel right telling her now either. She knows about 1st one but not the last one.

Hugs Taz

[NastyWoman]

Sept 18, 2017 9:58:25 GMT -5 taz157 said:

I'm texting with 1 of my cousins. She married last month and already have a 1 year old daughter. She texted me today to say that she's pregnant. I'm excited for her but I'm also jealous.

I haven't told her yet about my miscarriage last month... I don't feel right telling her now either. She knows about 1st one but not the last one.

Hugs Taz

[MJ2.0]

I'm sorry taz157

[tcu2003]

Hugs, taz.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2017 9:58:36 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Sept 18, 2017 9:52:52 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

they were trying to focus on proper holding of the pencil while writing.  DS loves writing and he finally got to the point where he is writing legibly.  BUT he holds his pencil clutched in his fist.  Let me just say - and I'll say this to the teachers if asked - as long as he is writing and writing well, I don't give one single solitary F how he is holding the damn pencil.

Don't let them put that god awful giant rubber thingy on his pencil to force him to hold it correctly.   I and another student got stuck with those in 4th grade and it was so embarassing.   Turns out her "approved" way of holding a pencil is not good for you and can cause arthritis.   After I was done with her torture I reverted back to holding a pen as I naturally do and I write just fine thank you very much.

My son used those all through first grade and he actually really liked them.  He was writing with a fist, but it was not legible at all, so we had to do something.  He's a lot better now that he doesn't do that. 

[Sam_2.0]

Sorry, Taz It sucks. And you are right to feel however you feel - you can be happy for her AND sad/jealous/angry. They aren't exclusive.

[Sam_2.0]

Started out today in counseling with DH's counselor. I've gone to writing him letters since I can get out my thoughts more clearly, and I've sent him two in the past month. So that was the main subject of our session today. She encouraged me to keep writing and to be available to talk about what I wrote after he's had time to process it, which I have. And I think it was good for him to hear her affirming me in where I am at and encouraging me to keep going.

But now my mental and emotional energy is completely sapped. After a long, stressful weekend, I need a couple of days to just curl up in a hole and stay there. But of course we are in testing for our systems and there's no time to take off work Oh well. I will steal my zone-out minutes when I can.

[zibazinski]

Sept 18, 2017 11:10:52 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Sorry, Taz It sucks. And you are right to feel however you feel - you can be happy for her AND sad/jealous/angry. They aren't exclusive.

Amen. I'm happy for my friends who are still married but sad that I'm not. Well, sad that I'm not with DH anyway.

[Jaguar]

<< BIG HUGS >> to taz157, Sam_2.0 & zibazinski.

[zibazinski]

It'll be two years come October 5th. 

[Deleted]

Wow.  Time sure does fly by...it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. 

[zibazinski]

Sept 18, 2017 12:09:30 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Wow.  Time sure does fly by...it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. 

Sometimes it flies and sometimes I feel like I've been alone forever. His secretary just emailed me yesterday. I wasn't having a good day. It's almost like she knows when I'm down.

[whoisjohngalt]

Sept 18, 2017 11:44:46 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

It'll be two years come October 5th. 

wow!!!!! how time flies. 

taz157 - too bad I am not in MD anymore - I would have taken you out to dinner so you can vent and rant and then get drunk.  At least not being pregnant - getting drunk is an option

[TheOtherMe]

Taz, I am so sorry.

When I was in school and learning penmanship, we had to not only hold the pencils correctly, but the elbow had to be in the correct position. 

I typed over 100 wpm in high school.  I don't type as much now so I'm sure I no longer have that speed.  I feel very speedy after watching my co-worker at the voting poll last week hunt and peck.

[empress of self-improvement]

Sept 18, 2017 16:11:06 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Taz, I am so sorry.

When I was in school and learning penmanship, we had to not only hold the pencils correctly, but the elbow had to be in the correct position. 

I typed over 100 wpm in high school.  I don't type as much now so I'm sure I no longer have that speed.  I feel very speedy after watching my co-worker at the voting poll last week hunt and peck.

I am so glad when I learned to write I didn't get beaten for it since I'm a lefty and my writing style will suck, no matter what. I did get a lot of grief about the smeared ink but other than that, as far as I can remember, no one ever really gave a shit.
My eating style, well, I prefer to use my fingers over forks just because I'm a heathen. I'm weird that way.

[TheOtherMe]

I knew lefties had problems with our teacher because my mom was a lefty.  She smeared ink at times, but she would never have allowed a teacher to berate me for not holding my elbow correctly if I had been a lefty.

Two of my sister's kids are lefties.  Times have changed and they didn't get harassed at school by their teachers.

[Deleted]

Sept 17, 2017 14:31:52 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Anyone with preteen girls have a birthday gift suggestion? DH's niece and nephew turn 12 and I need to figure out the niece's birthday gift by Saturday. I got nephew a Lego City set, but no idea for niece and SIL was no help. I thought about a magazine subscription, but not sure what to get if I go that route. Or a new board game - they have the standard ones, but if something new is out, that would probably be a hit.

Look in the craft department at Michael's.  They love crafts at that age.

[MJ2.0]

huh... at 12 I would have been thrilled with a subscription to BOP magazine.

[Pants]

I would not have been thrilled with crafts at 12.

[taz157]

I would have been thrilled with crafts at 12.  It really depends on the person.

[Lizard Queen]

Yeah, I liked crafts, makeup, clothes, and music at that age, from what I can remember. (It being so very very long ago! 😘)

[MJ2.0]

Sept 18, 2017 18:18:51 GMT -5 taz157 said:

I would have been thrilled with crafts at 12.  It really depends on the person.

I think that's the issue - teens are all over the place in terms of interests. I'd try to get more information before buying a gift.

[Deleted]

I would definitely give 11+ gift cards. But if one has a gift and one a gift card ? 

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2017 17:49:00 GMT -5 Pants said:

I would not have been thrilled with crafts at 12.

I don't mean little kid crafts like potholders.  I meant stuff like jewelry crafts, shirts to decorate, and that sort of stuff.

[empress of self-improvement]

Sept 18, 2017 16:31:28 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I knew lefties had problems with our teacher because my mom was a lefty.  She smeared ink at times, but she would never have allowed a teacher to berate me for not holding my elbow correctly if I had been a lefty.

Two of my sister's kids are lefties.  Times have changed and they didn't get harassed at school by their teachers.

Most people tiptoed around me back then anyway. We had just learned I couldn't hear, my parents were getting divorced and I grew up in a small town so I was already an anomaly.  The left-handedness was a blip compared to everything else.

[TheOtherMe]

Sept 18, 2017 19:29:53 GMT -5 empress of self-improvement said:

Sept 18, 2017 16:31:28 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I knew lefties had problems with our teacher because my mom was a lefty.  She smeared ink at times, but she would never have allowed a teacher to berate me for not holding my elbow correctly if I had been a lefty.

Two of my sister's kids are lefties.  Times have changed and they didn't get harassed at school by their teachers.

Most people tiptoed around me back then anyway. We had just learned I couldn't hear, my parents were getting divorced and I grew up in a small town so I was already an anomaly.  The left-handedness was a blip compared to everything else.

I'm sorry.  Hearing aids now? 

I never fit in either, if it's any consolation.