The kid thread: Planning, pregnancy & parenting

[geenamercile]

Oh everything ended up sorting itself out this morning.  DH is a stay at home dad which he is great with.  This morning was pretty much as follows, 

Friend with a medical issue, I know she doesn't have a job right now but this was serious enough that she needed to do something about it.  It is chronic so it isn't like she didn't know what it was, but it still needed to be treated.  Ended up calling her old doctor who called in a prescription that she was able to pick up for 3.00.  But seriously worrying, and putting it off just because you don't have a doctor up here is foolish.  Yes I suggested she call the old doctor, but she didn't want to because she was pretty sure they would want her to come in, and that is several states away.... but hey at least try.

DH- and the looking for a new car.....  He is still under the I don't understand why we can't get everything he wants in the price we want to spend.  But he agrees on the priorities at least. 

E- freaking out about not finding socks and his work pants for work tonight....  Ummmmm you left a whole basket of clean clothes by the drier go get it oooooooo look there are socks and your pants in it.... WOW. 

ODD- complaining about their is nothing to eat, how she feels yucky (yes I think that time is starting for her).  She is bored...  (ended up finding something to eat once she decided to go into the kitchen.

YDD- No one to go visit at 9 am in the morning.... No it isn't time for soccer that is at 5.... no it isn't forever it is just several hours.... By 10 she was at a friends house, came home for lunch, and then went and got her for soccer. 

At the time I really just wanted to finish my coffee......   


 

[geenamercile]

Well everyone seems to be functioning on their own today.  We have meet the teacher/drop off supplies today for both girls.  Besides that nothing.  

[cktc]

Hope you are doing ok and things are moving along with your insurance WholeLottaNothin. 

[WholeLottaNothin]

The insurance has approved it but now they are taking their sweet time scheduling it. No one seems to find it that urgent. I don't know whether to be comforted by this or annoyed. I just want to know one way or another.

[TheOtherMe]

Of course you want to know.  At least the insurance approval has happened.

[Pants]

Aug 9, 2018 10:28:28 GMT -5 WholeLottaNothin said:

The insurance has approved it but now they are taking their sweet time scheduling it. No one seems to find it that urgent. I don't know whether to be comforted by this or annoyed. I just want to know one way or another.

I would be both. But also - when it's really critical, they move fast. I would breathe a little easier knowing it doesn't seem to be an emergency on their end.

[WholeLottaNothin]

The plumber came today because we were having issues with our utility sink. Turns out we need to replace our sewer line. He showed DH by putting a camera down there. Just when I thought this week couldn't get any better....

[Pants]

Talk to me about school supplies. B is going in to 1st grade. I want her to have what she needs for school, but this list is like reaaaaaally specific. I have to buy a certain brand of pre-sharpened pencils, why, exactly? (Also, finding out pencils can come pre-sharpened is a whole different thing.) 

What if I send her with the wrong color folders? Are they gonna send them back home? 

[raeoflyte]

The ticondera's?  Those pencils really are better. lol.  

Some schools pool the supplies and then hand out so they want everything to match.  And brands I think just because they know it works and what they like and don't want to deal with anything else.  (I don't really care how great something colors either, but I have brands I'm partial too).  

The folder thing I think is more for organization.  Yellow is math, red is science type stuff.  Just makes it a little easier to keep the day moving with 25 bored kids.  

I doubt they'd send them back.  They certainly wouldn't at my school, but this is another reason I really like being at the poor school.  Our supply lists are pretty reasonable (in length, still very specific in brand, amount, color, etc).  

[Peace77]

Pants,
The teacher doesn't want to be stuck sharpening 30 new pencils on the first day of school. I don't think you have to buy them sharpened, just sharpen them at home and put them in a pencil box to send to school.

For the folders, she may the kids to all use the same color for a subject.

[Pants]

Aug 9, 2018 15:27:42 GMT -5 Peace77 said:

Pants,
The teacher doesn't want to be stuck sharpening 30 new pencils on the first day of school. I don't think you have to buy them sharpened, just sharpen them at home and put them in a pencil box to send to school.

For the folders, she may the kids to all use the same color for a subject.

Oh, no, I'm ALL FOR pre-sharpened pencils. Sorry for not being clear. I am wondering why certain brands of pencils, certain brands of markers, only 24ct crayons, etc. 

Also, am I supposed to send her to school with 60 pencils on the first day? Because that seems silly. 

[Works4me]

Pants - certain brands, counts and colors in large quantities because most likely the teacher collects all supplies and hands them out to the students one at a time as needed. It's also supposed to make it harder to tell which families have money and which ones don't. I'm curious, do your public schools have uniforms?

[Deleted]

All our school supplies are pooled into a cabinet and distributed as needed throughout the year.  Folders are color specific for subjects and I agree that Ticonderoga pencils are way better...totally worth the extra cost. 

[Works4me]

Pleasant surprise today- I've needed to update my address and phone numbers with my main bank for a few months and I had been putting it off as everything has been a hassle with them lately. In fact, everything in my life has been an over blown PITA lately. I finally did it because I got tired of not being able to sign into my checking account from my cell.

Wonder of wonders, one fast and easy phone call and it was done!

Until recently, I have had the same PO Box and landline forever, as in almost thirty years! I tried to port my landline and AT&T royally screwed that up. Then the PO screwed up, mis-credited my payment and mistakenly gave my PO Box away. AND they refused to fix their screw up so now that I am not working, I use my residence address.

There was absolutely no understanding from either entity and a few things have slipped between the cracks. I hate dealing with issues like this!

[raeoflyte]

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

MJ2.0

MJ2.0

MJ2.0

MJ2.0

What happened at the meeting with the camp?

[bean29]

On specific brands for markers and pencils-I think the crayola ones have more vibrant colors. Also some maybe dry up faster.

Same with colored pencils. It is their color quality and the way they perform.

Good luck with buying school supplies. My “baby” is now 21. She pretty much buys her own school supplies now.

On the markers, some teachers ask for the washable ones too. My understanding is if they are not washable, they can be very difficult to clean up.

[Pants]

Aug 9, 2018 17:07:42 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Pants - certain brands, counts and colors in large quantities because most likely the teacher collects all supplies and hands them out to the students one at a time as needed. It's also supposed to make it harder to tell which families have money and which ones don't. I'm curious, do your public schools have uniforms?

No, no uniforms. The pooling of supplies makes sense. I was only able to by some larger quantities online, so I will just throw it into the pot. 

I also ordered labels, but if it's a communal resource I'll hold of on labeling all her stuff. Thanks for the insight, all! 

[cktc]

Aug 9, 2018 18:38:53 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

I must be a horrible/incompetent person. I absolutely HATE refilling soap pumps. I do still buy the refills, but I grumble every time I need to top the pumps off.  

[MJ2.0]

lol damn!

Okay, so because of scheduling issues with the director we did not go to the camp in person yesterday. However, I did have a call w/ the director around midday. She told me how sorry she was to hear about what had been happening, DS never mentioned anything to her about problems with other kids (besides the one), etc etc. I told her that, bottom line - pretty much all the things going wrong were IMO a result of insufficient staffing... that either they had not enough staff or poor quality staff to deal with all those kids. She was all apologetic and was like "let me talk to him", blah blah blah. Bitch, if he didn't tell you the real issue when you asked him the first time, he's not gonna tell you now! I have a couple of working theories as to why he only told us and didn't tell the director - they all point to DS not feeling able to trust the staff. Yes he did make friends and he does like the activities, but a kid going out of his way to think of ideas to NOT have him go to camp tells me that he does not feel secure there.

Thank the LORD his old camp is able to take him M/W/F for the rest of the summer. It's a little young for him but he knows the environment and already expressed that he will feel safer. Ane they can take him starting tomorrow! It'll be Sprinkler Day so he's happy. XMIL will be able to cover Tue/Thur. X sent a formal email last night to the Y director thanking her for trying to think of alternatives (she mentioned putting more staff on and a specialist for specifically his group), but that we don't feel right forcing DS - who essentially doesn't want to return - to go back. My concern is that the problems would be temporarily solved and then re-surface or just flat out continue. It's X's and my job to help DS feel secure and we wouldn't be doing that by having him continue. I then went on top of that later today and asked for Monday's availability so we can have an in-person meeting to review all this. I haven't yet mentioned that I will be seeking a refund. I need time to think up all possible ways to make that happen. Yelling and threatening may not work, so I have to figure out a way to manipulate them "nicely" if need be. Regardless, Imma get that money back.

[chiver78]

Aug 9, 2018 19:52:45 GMT -5 cktc said:

Aug 9, 2018 18:38:53 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

I must be a horrible/incompetent person. I absolutely HATE refilling soap pumps. I do still buy the refills, but I grumble every time I need to top the pumps off.  

I've been known to go into my bathroom and use liquid shower soap to wash my hands rather than refill the hand soap at the kitchen sink.

I'm more than okay with recycling the bottle and buying a new one, we don't go through it THAT quickly. and then you figure, it's the KITCHEN soap, even as good as we both are about clean hand/dirty hand when cooking meats, the bottle is still going to get some bacteria on it. well, roommate was loud about it, and brought home a refill bottle. so I just leave it for him most of the time. 

[raeoflyte]

Aug 9, 2018 19:52:45 GMT -5 cktc said:

Aug 9, 2018 18:38:53 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

I must be a horrible/incompetent person. I absolutely HATE refilling soap pumps. I do still buy the refills, but I grumble every time I need to top the pumps off.  

You're not.  I realized I have replaced all of our soap dispensers with wide mouth mason jars, which means we can put in a lot more soap then the little ones handle and there's no spilling over the edge that happens with the small store bought ones.  You've convinced me I should just buy a couple bottles of soap.  

[cktc]

Aug 9, 2018 21:52:17 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Aug 9, 2018 19:52:45 GMT -5 cktc said:

I must be a horrible/incompetent person. I absolutely HATE refilling soap pumps. I do still buy the refills, but I grumble every time I need to top the pumps off.  

You're not.  I realized I have replaced all of our soap dispensers with wide mouth mason jars, which means we can put in a lot more soap then the little ones handle and there's no spilling over the edge that happens with the small store bought ones.  You've convinced me I should just buy a couple bottles of soap.  

And you've convinced me I should go buy some Mason jar dispensers

[geenamercile]

For elementary here, each kid has a container that that they put their extras in and then put that above where they hand their stuff.  That way through out the year they can get what ever they need.  

Middle school things like glue stick, pencils all of that have a note by them on the list saying replace throughout the year.

Wholelottaofnothing- I would be annoyed but re ensured of the no need to rush.

MJ- good luck getting your money back.  

[Sam_2.0]

Aug 9, 2018 18:38:53 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

Dollar Tree sells a 32oz hand soap refill for $1. I buy 5 at a time and keep them under our sinks. I also bought the bigger pump bottles so we aren't refilling as often

[andi9899]

Aug 10, 2018 8:51:18 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Aug 9, 2018 18:38:53 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Our school supply dilemnas this year are: 

1) What counts as "resealable" for wipes?  Each kid needs to bring 2 packages.  I think the little plastic foldy thing counts as resealable.  Dh thinks we need to buy a fancy wipe containers.  

2) Can I send a refill container for hand soap instead of a new pump?  Everyone wants to save the environment and refilling a soap container is like the easiest thing ever.  I'm sure they don't ask for them because you can't buy small cheap refill bags--they're bigger and a little more expensive then what is on the list.  But still.  I think I'm doing everyone a favor.  

Dollar Tree sells a 32oz hand soap refill for $1. I buy 5 at a time and keep them under our sinks. I also bought the bigger pump bottles so we aren't refilling as often

I never knew this. I buy the big refills at Sam's, but you only have one kind you can get. I looked at the Dollar Tree website and there are multiple kinds. I always go to Family Dollar because it's just a few blocks away. Going to have to check out Dollar Tree this weekend.

[cktc]

Now I've fallen down a handsoap dispenser e-shopping rabbit hole. Tell me I shouldn't switch to castile soap in foaming dispensers.

[Sam_2.0]

Aug 10, 2018 11:17:42 GMT -5 cktc said:

Now I've fallen down a handsoap dispenser e-shopping rabbit hole. Tell me I shouldn't switch to castile soap in foaming dispensers.

If you are going castile, just get a bar and call it a day. No dispenser needed

[Sam_2.0]

Actually, if it didn't make the shower so scummy, I would go with all bar soaps.

[justme]

I've been using the liquid Castile soap as body wash for a few years now.