Transactions

I realized that when I have random amounts of cash in my wallet I tend to spend it in pointless little dribbles so I have made an effort to only make an ATM withdrawl with specific things in mind. This has been a good system but it frequently leaves me with nothing but Cheerios in my purse and when I need $2 to accompany Patrick's last minute permission slip and I do not have it.

They're going to the ballet, by the way. When I got the notice I thought about a couple of comments you guys left on the last post, specifically the ones from Betsy and Kathleen, about the merits of ballet training and I am hoping Patrick falls in love with it so he can get a gruff Russian teacher of his own to tell him to straighten his back and plié, damn him. As for tumbling I thought Victoria summed it up nicely when she said Patrick has been benignly neglected in his current tumbling class, being left to bounce happily but ineptly by himself when it became obvious that he was going to need some pretty specific coaching to improve. Patrick had his last tumble on Thursday and I decided not to sign him up for another session just yet; although he might go back this summer if I can get a different teacher for him. Meanwhile he has been asking to take swimming (the gym and the pool share a building) and I have a credit with the swim place left over from last year when Patrick wound up hospitalized mid-session so I signed him up for a twice a week mini swim camp starting next week. I also called the place that does Edward's speech therapy and they are going to give Patrick an evaluation this afternoon and we'll see what they think. The woman I spoke with said it sounded like he was more of a PT than an OT candidate but we're going to have them assess a broad range of things and see. Oh and for your benefit I want to repeat something from a comment that Aurelia left. She said that rather than doing piecemeal assessments we really should do a complete psychoeducational assessment that looks at the total enchilada of intelligence and achievement and fine and gross motor and whatnot. And she is absolutely right. However our insurance will only cover OT ST and PT stuff so they will pay for the assessment unless it looks at IQ in which case they will not. So there it is. Piecemeal ho for us but I am mentioning it in case you are wondering about a child of yours and have more flexibility.  And thank you, as always, for your thoughts. I always find it enormously helpful when you weigh in and I hope you do as well.

I wasn't sure how to explain that we were going to the place where his baby brother gets speech therapy so he could balance on one foot in front of some total stranger. So I told him that this place has coaches who work one on one with kids to help them develop the skills that allow them to get really good at things like tumbling and soccer and swimming and he said ok. Actually first he explained to me that the way he swims is a deliberate STYLE and then he said ok.    

Where was I?

Oh right, borrowing cash from the littlest godfather. So I needed $2 this morning and I didn't think Patrick's teacher would appreciate an envelope full of the loose change from the car's cup holder. I asked Steve if he had any cash and he said, of course not. So I sighed and he said I guess you have to ask Patrick and I sighed again.

Patrick is loaded. If you were to look at the members of this family and evaluate them solely upon their liquidity Patrick could buy and sell us all, no problem. Caroline and Edward each have a few coins in their piggy banks (courtesy of Patrick. he was feeling generous one day) and I currently have eight dollars in my wallet (I found a ten dollar bill in my coat pocket and used the Bank of Patrick to make change in order to return his $2.) Patrick on the other hand has his coin collection (currently unvalued) his piggy bank that clanks like a knight and the empty box from a Maurice Sendak boxed set literally stuffed full of cash.

For the past seven years he has been collecting birthday tributes, Christmas offerings, just because cards from Nana and the occasional allowance and hoarding it all. Every so often we venture to Target or the Lego store and Patrick considers the possibility of a purchase but then he realizes that if he spent the money he would no longer have the money so... so nevermind.

Recently he saw the latest Lego catalog with the Emporium that features a chandelier and a revolving door and an escalator and he decided he absolutely positively wanted it more than anything. So I said are you sure and he said yes. And I said are you really really sure? And he said yes. So I took him down to the Lego store and they didn't have the damned thing and he was crushed. Then he realized that they did have the other thing he wanted even more than the Emporium, the thing he has wanted for over two years that I have always said was too expensive and for which he was too little anyway: the Lego NXT 2.0 Mindstorm robotics set.

So he paused in his grief over the Emporium and considered the robot. He was tempted but it was a staggering one hundred dollars more than he had intended to spend. What to do? For an hour he debated with himself, assisted by the Lego store personnel who clearly work there because they love Legos and who thought nothing of standing around en masse with a seven year old going over and over the NXT product features while a line of Mall of America shoppers grew long enough to snake outside the door.

It was very sweet actually. At first the Lego store guy tried to talk him out of it because the NXT is not an easy thing to deal with but he took Patrick through his Lego CV (the VW Beatle, the Fire Station) and decided he was up for it. Patrick - and I say this objectively - is amazing when it comes to spatial relationships and construction. He does incredible things with both Legos and paper, which reminds me that his class is working on 3-D cities this week as part of their geometry unit. Each kid has a big sheet of paper upon which they have drawn roads and blocks and then they are using paper to create three dimensional buildings. Patrick dragged me into the classroom to show me his work in progress and I could spot his from across the room; partly because he does really good work and partly because he had a NASA rocket in one corner. When I got closer I saw that he had a small rectangular building a few lots away from the space center and when I got even closer I realized...

"Is that a bathroom?" I asked.

"It is a public restroom, yes."

"Why?"

He looked at me with the pity of a thousand years worth of administrators forced to take stupid questions from the masses during public planning meetings.

"Because people need to go to the bathroom."   

Anyway, the Lego store guys convinced Patrick that the NXT was as cool as he thought it might be and he handed over a billion dollars and he brought home the Mindstorm and that is the last we have seen of him. Robotics. We are now alllllllll about the robotics.

And now where... the point is that Patrick is $300 poorer and although he is very happy with his purchase he - like the rest of the lenders in America - is now a lot more cautious when I come to him with my hand out. When I went to borrow the $2 from him he hemmed and hawed and asked what I needed it for and why I couldn't go to my real bank (his words) and get some and when was I going to return it and in what denominations and what year would the bills be from... I almost dropped kicked him. The end.

+

Spring!

Patrick and I were at the children's consignment store looking for a raincoat for Caroline when he spied a little red cozy coupe car for $20. He told me that Edward and Caroline (who he still tends to call The Babies) would love it and I agreed. He said we should buy it for them. I disagreed. So he begged. He pleaded. He said, "How much joy do you think we would be buying for only twenty dollars."

Only twenty dollars. This from the kid who just a few weeks ago would sooner have parted with a kidney than five quarters but I caved.

 

 

And the short answer is: a lot. A LOT of joy for $20 although it has been more like $19 worth of Edward joy and $1 for Caroline since every time she walks within five feet of the Big Red Cah Edward lets out a scream like a gwythaint and races over hands a'slapping. We are, by the way, working to correct this trait.

I got some good advice from my old friend Carrie (sorry my... my childhood friend who is only six months older than I am) about climbing children. She said you need to help them learn to climb safely and then back off or you will crush their spirits like so many dead ladybugs. This is sort of the exact opposite to the approach I took with Patrick who I wrapped carefully in cotton batting and carried everywhere until he was six but... ok.

I wasn't going to win the climbing battle with Caroline anyway so I have removed deadly and semi-deadly stuff from the counters and I try not to freak out when I find her perched in the kitchen like a pretty pink gargoyle.

I discovered her on top of the breakfast bar and I thought she looked so pose-y with her crossed ankles and flattened palms so I grabbed my camera.

Look cute, I said. She obliged.

 

Now look happy, I suggested.

And show me mad.

I think she needs to remember to elongate her neck and always find her light but regardless she kills me dead. I know my children are not here just to entertain me but they are sort of.

Total aside: we are not an AA Milne friendly house (an old Wodehouse dispute mainly) and as such the only time Caroline has seen the creatures from the Big Woods are on the waistbands on a diaper. She was interested so I said, "Eh, that is Winnie the Pooh."

"Oh," she said and promptly mangled the name in her mind such that a commercial came on the other day and Caroline shouted, "Oh no, Poopy the Bear! It's a boo-boo trap!"

Like I said, she kills me.

And I digressed so far in this post I no longer remember what I thought it was going to be about. No questions for you today but I always like a nice dialogue so any questions for me? Or each other?

The floor is yours.

PS BIG p.s. I have an ad up right now for a reader who makes gorgeous jewelry and I would love it if you checked out her site. So if you need any additional incentive to pick up your finger and cliiiick I will say please. Please.

Comments

[ali]

I have nothing particular to say except that you make me laugh and I appreciate getting to hear all about your family. I love your writing.

[Anne]

I'm with Ali. Complete agreement.

[vanessa]

I almost never comment but I just LOVE you for using gwythaint.

[nrbp]

Digging through a long-neglected cupboard at my kids' school the other day, I found a treasure trove of old Lego robotics equipment. Guess who is now running an after school robotics program. (If you guessed "the physics-PhD-turned-stay-at-home-mom-with-apparently-too-much-spare-time", you would be correct).

Otherwise, my son calls his swimming style "the submarine" and insists on holding one crooked finger at his temple as a periscope. It makes for some very awkward laps.

[Christa]

Here's a question for you. We have a newly turned 9 year old son. From our point of view (as his highly biased parents), he's brilliant and a total lazy bones when it comes to doing any actual school work. He rarely finishes all of his school work at school and getting him to finish his homework is a constant battle. Nevertheless, he reads 2-3 grade levels above his age, has an excellent vocabulary, is great at conceptual math (slow at computation and timed tests), loves science and history. Hates writing--will spend crazy amounts of time crafting the shortest sentence possible when required to answer in a complete sentence. Has moments or even weeks when its like his motivational switch is turned on and he does work like a champ--so we know he can concentrate, we just don't know why he can't sometimes. Plus there seems to be little correlation between the amount of work he completes and his grades. He gets 100% on all vocab and reading comprehension tests, 80-90% on spelling, 85-95% on math, but still hasn't finished a 50 problem-5-minute timed math test.

For quite some time I've thought that he needs to be evaluated by someone for something. I am loathe to consider ADHD, mainly because I tend to think (that while it is real) its become a catch-all for kids that learn differently or present a challenge for parents and teachers. But I can get over that if it is indeed what he's got.

So, you mentioned psychoeducational evaluation. What is that? A quick google search leads me to think its only indicated where there are suspicions of ADHD. Is that right? What can this type of testing tell us? Where do we get it? We live in Chandler, Arizona (large-ish suburb of Phoenix).

What other types of testing or evaluations are there?

Thank You,
Christa

PS--Per you and your readers' suggestion, we're reading Magyk together and loving it. You've never heard a kid laugh so hard as when my husband does the voice of the boggart.

[Helen]

Definitely a good buy for 20 bucks or so. It's in such good condition too.

[Jackie]

My youngest brother had a car just like that when he was a toddler and it was pretty much his most favorite thing for as long as he could fit in it. If I saw one for under $40 I would scoop it up for my 17 mo old son in a heartbeat.

[Jen]

Ah, Julia, I heart you and your writing. Endlessly entertaining! And your beautiful children ... Tiny Diamond has a future on the runway, I predict.

I have a question for you -- what's the AA Milne issue? I love reading Winnie the Pooh to my 3-year-old, what with message of how things are friendlier with a friend, and helping others is encouraged. Of course, Eeyore does get annoying, and Owl, and occasionally Rabbit ...

[elise]

Ooo ballet, my first love before horses. Danced since I was 4 and my OCD tendencies love love love the strictness. I can't stand a dance teacher that tells me to be creative, NO! I want to be told my arm is in the wrong spot and to correct it. Anyways, yay for more men in recreational ballet. My favorite youtube channel ... Anaheim ballet 9http://www.youtube.com/user/AnaheimBallet)

[Christine]

I mean, it's not robotics, but maybe Patrick would be interested in the new Philadelphia Zoo exhibit. They've made a number of different endangered animals out of legos. I mean, my very large husband found them pretty amazing, so maybe Patrick will agree. (Although Patch is going all robotics, and we watch mindless TV so I'ma guess Patrick wins in the IQ department.) I would also guess that the Gorilla will be forthcoming. http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/about/AboutZoo/Press-Info/Creatures/Photo-Gallery/Exhibits.htm

[Sarah R]

I agree that Disney Pooh is reprehensible but really...Milne Pooh is delightful. But then...I keep having to remind myself that not everyone has to like everything I like. (Kind of me, no?)

Love your blog...and I've favorited your friend's Etsy shop. She does do lovely things. Alas, I have fat fingers, so I'd probably have to special order something...

[Alice]

That's the precise reason I tend to hide $10-20 in the car. We had a few restaurants that we liked to go to for breakfast which were cash only, and this was the result of one of us having to leave the other behind as collateral a few too many times as we trudged to the ATM. Having a Patrick with a box o' money would have been easier, at least in the more free-lending days.

[beth s]

OOh, I can't believe Patrick didn;t already have the NXT set. We've had it for years and LOVE it. Couple suggestions once he's worked through all the projects in the box. Look up book sby Jim Kelly or Faye Rhodes. They both do great books full of new robots. I especially liked the Mayan Adventure book by Kelly. It is a story and puzzle typoe book where he lays out the first chapter of an adventure story. Then you build the robot to solve whatever happened and move on to the next chapter of the story. It has full instructions for his version plus ideas how to do your own. We've worked through it twice now (once using his plans, once on our own) and I bet my BugMan (7) could mkae several of the robots completely on his own now. Fay has some endangered species books too.

[ali]

@Christa
psychoeducational assessments are used to look into a variety of issues, but particularly learning styles and differences. It would show your son's strengths and his weaknesses in terms of taking in, processing and expressing information in a variety of ways. The results can be used to determine in what areas your son might need accommodations or remediation and/or to pinpoint strategies that would help him cope with those tasks that are more difficult for him (this is a very basic explanation).
You might want to start by speaking to his teacher (or if there is a resource teacher in the school, even better) because sometimes this kind of testing can be done through the school board (I have no idea about AZ, I live in Canada), and if not, they should be able to refer you to a psychologist in your area.
More information is always better.

[liz]

I used to borrow cash from my son and one day I asked him how much I owed him and he said "$357". "Really?", I said and had to pay up because I'm sure he was telling the truth and he is very meticulous unlike his mom. He's 18 now and I just did his taxes for him and he's accumulated quite a tidy sum.

[Cara]

"He looked at me with the pity of a thousand years worth of administrators forced to take stupid questions from the masses during public planning meetings.

"Because people need to go to the bathroom."

Oh my Goodness. If you're children aren't here to entertain you, they are most definitely here to entertain us. Perfect, just perfect.

[Camilla]

I noticed with Denton that all the times he'd fallen and hurt himself, he had been within arm's reach of an adult (sometimes being actively spotted). For some reason, one of us being right there would split his attention and encourage him to take risks. Also, our catch rate when spotting him was pretty poor.

This theory of where his danger zone was did convince me to back off. I caught some flak from other parents at the playground, though, since he was very small for his age, as well as being adventurous.

[Chris]

Forget correcting the greediness trait. My 3 yo b/g twins have gotten worse as the years have progressed (I have well behaved, good natured kids as I assume you have since I have followed you forever and you are obviously a great parent). The boy twin absolutely will not allow the girl twin to have anything at all - ever. He is greedy and stingy and demanding and he bosses her around ad nauseum and she just casually brushes him off. She could care less. I think we may have a likewise percentage on the use of our kiddie car, thusly (as you like to say).

[babelbabe]

"...like a pretty pink gargoyle" made me laugh out loud.

Our Cozy Coupe also brings lots of joy. Good purchase.

[Jen the Catalyst]

The wee actress... love the Breakfast Bar Drama, looks like the series they do in Vanity Fair each month!

[Sara]

Gorgeous jewelry indeed. I'm now coveting all things garnet on her site, it's my daughter's birthstone...and I'm a sap like that. I swear Etsy and all its crafty awesome-ness will be the cause of my financial ruin. If I show my husband one more thing I've added to my favorites, things might get dicey!

[Mara]

My younger brother, who is a college freshman this year, did robotics all through high school. His robotics team went to state, I believe. Anyway he's on a full scholarship now, not due to the robotics but just sayin'...

[PlantingOaks]

I hate to scare you, but the downside to teaching children to climb safely, is that they will turn out like my husband, and climb a grain silo one day.

His mother taught him how to roll when he falls, and this apparently makes him invincible. He still doesn't think the silo was a bad idea 'I only went 2/3 of the way up'.

[stacy]

oooh Patrick should get a bank account! I loved having one when I was little (with a passbook!) so I could add up how much I had. And if you could get one with interest (I use ING, which is online and could just link to your existing account) then you can introduce him to the wonders of compounding...

on the other hand, this could hurt your ability to borrow from his bank!

[victoria]

"I know my children are not here just to entertain me but they are sort of." They also entertain us.

[Terri C]

Wonderful post. Wonderful pictures. How is your liver function??? I want you to be--and feel--well!!!

[tgsdmom]

A post full of pearls! Thanks!!

"Why don't you go to your real bank?"
"Poopy the bear"
"Pretty pink gargoyle"
And the pictures....

Christa, not just ADD. They also like dyslexia and other such LD and also autism spectrum. My opinion about evaluations is that they have only a handful of labels and sometimes try to force-fit a child into one. It can be useful, especially if it involves getting needed accommodation, but should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Lesley]

For a long time we had mangled Sesame Street characters - Burp and Ernie.

[Niki]

Christa,

I'm sure others here can give you a more thorough answer, but briefly: no, a psychoeducational evaluation is absolutely not an ADHD eval. The PE test is what they administer when a child has suspected learning disabilities. My stepson had one last year and we had to pay extra for the ADHD part, which was separate from the psychoeducational part. I mean, yes, a psychoeducational evaluation is generally included in ADHD evaluation, but you can have the PE without ADHD. Personally I think it's worthwhile to have the whole shebang done at once, but you can definitely leave ADHD out of it.

To the best of my recollection (we did this early last year and had some issue with the evaluator, so I've blocked some of this from my memory banks), a phychoeducational evaluation breaks cognitive functioning a number of different ways, giving you insights into how your child learns best and whether there are any areas where cognition is impeded. What we learned (okay, what I was finally vindicated on after pushing and pushing for the eval) is that my stepson struggles with a) cognitive processing speed, b) tasks which require visual distinction, and c) anything involving handwriting, drawing, etc. Processing speed is something that often lags in young boys, but the visual and motor issues led us to further testing (of, um, visual and motor skills). We learned that he had some visual closure issues and hypotonia (under-firing muscles), each of which could be helped significantly with a bit of occupational therapy. His handwriting is at a kindergarten level (he's in 6th grade), but apparently we've missed the good window in which to help him get better at this? (By the way,if a child has difficulties with fine motor skills required for writing, apparently s/he will go to great lengths to write as little as possible. I'm not saying this is the case for your child, but it immediately jumped out at me.)

Hm, I guess I had a lot to say, although I still don't know that I shed a whole lot of light on the subject. I would recommend some of the posts by a California school psychologist (see http://studentsgrow.blogspot.com/2008/05/psychoeducational-not-psycho_26.html for a general discussion of PE evaluations).

[Heather]

We got by with the one kiddie car, but SO often I wished for two for my twins. But now one rides while the other pushes it like a scooter; then they careen down our grassy hill. So that's a way to share for the future. If you can take it.

[Kristin]

It's not nearly as complex (or as expensive) as the Legos kit but this Soda Can robot kit is a lot of fun.

My youngest was/is a climber like Caroline and it was far easier to take a laissez-faire approach. It saved my sanity.

[Aunt Becky]

There is an entire site devoted to pimping out those cars. I admit, I'm planning on the leopard print one for ours. Because clearly, we need that in our house.

[melissa]

As always, brilliant!

Congratulations on the Lego Robo kit.

Lots of projects that can be built with the parts in the NXT kit
NXT Programs -
http://www.nxtprograms.com/

FIRST LEGO League here - http://www.usfirst.com/

[Sharon]

Now that Patrick has discovered the world of Lego Mindstorms, he may be interested in the FIRST Lego League. Until I left my teaching job (we moved) this last year, I coached a team from my middle school. While it's a big time (and money, to a lesser extent) commitment, it's a great way for students to learn about a topic (next year is food and water safety), solve problems, learn to program, and explore teamwork and sportsmanship.

I've really seen it do wonders for students who never thought of themselves as belonging in team sports, etc. It gives them some really good experience working with others towards a common goal. It's been a very positive program at our school. The website is here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/default.aspx?id=970

[Sarah]

I love reading your updates Julia. Fun and silly and educational as always.
I want to know at what age people generally start to indulge their children's interests with lessons. My kid loves three things: ice hockey, music, and movement (dance, tumbling). We tried a toddler gym class and I was completely turned off - 2 year olds girls in tutus and lots of "stick it." And a teacher who didn't teach, just demonstrated, as if that is enough for a 1.5 year old child. It was parent participation but she could have at least shown us as first timers how to help him. Won't be going back there but want to figure out when and how to broaden his horizons and include things he loves.

[Allison]

LOL! I think my husband was Patrick as a child. The lego store story cracked me up!!

Let me assure you that "that type" grows up to be a double-degree earning (physics and computer science), sweet, wonderful man. :)

[kathleen999]

Ha! I am probably the only other person who knows about the A.A. Milne vs. P.G. Wodehouse issue. And I will give a brief synopsis.

Wodehouse was apparently a little naive and sort of lived in his own world. He was living in Germany when WWII started (he was British). The Germans very nicely stuck him in some kind of monitored facility for VIPs but he was not free to roam around or go home. Then they invited him to do a series of radio addresses for them. I believe they were non-political. Wodehouse did them, not realizing there was anything wrong with doing that. Because he lived in his own little world where politics don't really exist. If you read his books you can see how this would be.

When he finally returned home, the press savaged him and at the forefront was A.A. Milne. Wodehouse retaliated by saying something about how soppy his (Milne's) books were and he even has some of his characters in a Jeeves book suffering because they have to recite some of his poems at a church function and they are dreading having to do it...I think the term was "Frightful bilge" although I am not sure if that was it and I'm too lazy to go look it up.

So they were kind of enemies. Eventually people came to realize that Wodehouse was not helping the Germans, he was just basically clueless about these things and he remained popular his whole life.

Julia, please correct me if I got any of that story wrong. I actually like the Pooh bear stories, but they are obviously for kids, unlike Wodehouse's works.

[a.]

Patrick! Love that kid. I was at the mall the other day to visit the brand-new H&M, and there happened to be a LEGO store across from it, and I stumbled in and immediately became 9 years old again. I actually had a conversation with a store worker that went "can I help you find a gift for a child, ma'am?" and "no, thanks, I'm just looking...for myself...because this store is awesome."
Anyway, I am happy for Patrick on his robotic purchase, but part of me wishes he'd held out for Le Grand Magasin, because I swear, when I saw that thing in on the shelves, my heart skipped a beat and I did embarrassing things like talk to myself.
That thing is cool. It has a dressing room. I want it. But Patrick has more money than I do.

[carrie]

Hilarious post once again. Love hearing the the stories about the kids. Our twins are in 2nd grade and going to be 8 in July. Up until they were in kindergarten/5-6years old all of us in the family referred to them as the babies!

[Carrie (in MN)]

We have the advantage that our twins are both girls so they were only briefly "The Babies" before they became "The Girls". I fear they will be universally known as "The Girls" until they're 90.

[Christa]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question. I knew Julia had great readers, but seriously, taking the time to give me the benefit of your experience and knowledge is awesome.

I have to say, I have been dragging my feet on getting him evaluated for fear that he would thereafter be "labeled." But Niki's mentioning that there is a window for handwriting development is certainly a motivator to get over myself and talk to his teacher about what they can offer or arrange in terms of an evaluation.

Again, thanks everyone. I'll let you know what happens.

PS--Julia, I assume you already know, but that mutant (I say that with love) blogger (tryingtogrok--I told her about you and your travails) had her baby girl and managed to hold out until her hubby came home from Afghanistan. She's got a cute picture of the two of them--her with a t-shirt that says "mutant" on it and her baby girl with a lucky, heads-up penny on her onesie.

[Uccellina]

Yeah yeah yeah, your kids are awesome and my twins are weirdly similar to yours (right down to the girl climbing and the boy hogging the vehicles), but mostly I had to comment to say GWYTHAINT! How often do I come across references to the Chronicles of Prydain in my blog reading? Not often, and thus you have pleased me beyond reason.

[Jan]

Ooh Lego Mindstorms and robotics. Purrfect for Patrick. Sigh, I just took my first computer science course, using Python for robotics, and I'm 56. It was wonderful. Would that I could go back in time. Agree that he should be persuaded to open a bank account. Is Caroline still fascinated by clocks?

[Alison]

I love Wodehouse, but I also love Winne the Pooh - especially read by Alan Bennett on Audible.com, it's an absolute godsend for road trips, and I can't wait for Anna to grow up saying 'and that's no way to talk to someone who can spell Tuesday'. But then I may be guilty of trying to push an English accent on her at. all. times, so you might want to disregard this.

As always, thanks for your writing, I love every single descriptive sentence and you always make me laugh out loud.

[Cris]

Ugh, Winnie the Pooh. I can't think of a more annoying cartoon creature, especially the Disney-fied version. His voice sends me teetering! Here's hoping my kids never take an interest....

[Clarity]

Of course your kids don't exist solely to entertain you silly, they also entertain US and that makes them worth all the astronomical sums spent on lego empires and clinical evaluations.

*I* just got back from a wonderful meeting with my own twitchy kid's school and turns out he's only half as twitchy now as he was this time last year so heyyyyy...progress!! We've done both OT and PT and OT is way better for my heathen, but he's spazztastic and perfectly coordinated while Patrick is super-student and just can't walk and chew gum so maybe that's a different kind of 'special'.

Major major thank you's for all the website love, you guys are fantastic! Thank you so much for helping me realize my dreams, anything else I could wouldn't do it justice so just know that you're part of something amazing for me and I appreciate your support more than you can ever imagine.

[Marsha]

If Patrick's Lego desires outpace his willingness to spend cold hard cash, you might point him in the direction of the nearest electrical supply shop. My husband (who would have worked at a Lego store if such things existed back then) refuses - for now - to indulge our son in pre-packaged robotics sets (or snap circuits, for that matter). But! He consents instead to purchase all the solenoids, switches, battery holder thingies and whatever else you need to make your own little walking spider thingie or heliboat and so on. Also, the American Science and Surplus catalog (I think that's what it's called) has a whole section for robot bits.

Maybe Patrick can put cruise control in the twins' car?

[jemy]

The Pooh comment reminded me that my son told me the other day he had Poo on his arm, and I said "That is awful! Don't tell me that! Go clean it off right now!"

He tried to interrupt but I kept re-interrupting him about how I didn't want to hear about it.

Of course it was a Pooh tattoo. He cried and his feelings were hurt all day.

[Erin]

I have a question, hurray! My daughter Lily is 10 months going on 25....literally. All the normal toys for her age group are just not interesting her. Does anyone have any suggestions for good toys for a slightly older group that is still safe for a child interested in chewing on things?

[Christine]

That looks seems less "mad" and more "sinister." Sinister in that 'I will bide my time and then you shall pay' sort of way.