lol

Wed Dec 27 2023 13:23:20 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Today, even if you dont do the stupid things like texting and
driving, so many cars are a distraction now just to turn on the AC..

What about voice control?

You: "Car, please turn on the air conditioner."

Car: "Air conditioner will activate after you focus your attention on this non-skippable ad..."

Yea, my 2023 Ford Escape ... HVAC controls are on the touchscreen, along with Ford Maps, Vehicle Settings, and of course the entertainment system.  Tho I do have to say, it is nice to be able to say "Hey Siri, play The Calling" and in just a couple seconds I get TheFatRat - The Calling (feat. Laura Brehm) playing.  I can also use the Voice Command button on my steering wheel to tell the car to tune to a specific AM or FM station, or an XM channel.

No voice commands for HVAC, sadly.

Sat Dec 09 2023 11:02:53 EST from Nurb432

Ya, world is far different than when we first started driving. Worst thing we might do is sift thru the box for the next tape to play.  Today, even if you dont do the stupid things like texting and driving, so many cars are a distraction now just to turn on the AC..

Ya, world is far different than when we first started driving. Worst thing we might do is sift thru the box for the next tape to play.  Today, even if you dont do the stupid things like texting and driving, so many cars are a distraction now just to turn on the AC..

It go ok, no vet trips needed?

Wed Oct 18 2023 17:42:00 EDT from darknetuser

Newsflash: my puppy ate a sock of mine and I am pissed off because I thought we were over that already.

Not good..

As an only child, that was one of my favorites to read as a kid. There's a sequel focusing on the mom after the dad died.

Has anyone here ever read Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth? I remember Adina had to read it in grade school and I picked it up and read it too. It was really inspiring.  This family decided to have 12 children and the father of the household was beyond impressive in how he ran his home and his life, how he didn’t want anyone wasting any time, ever. The way he thought and acted, I think I have wished I could be so focused and productive on a day-to-day basis. I should find and reread that book 

"Yes, children often, maybe even 'usually' rebel against their parents, and the values of their parents. But what is different about our modern era, is that there is an entire skill set that has been developed to facilitate the exploitation of that rebellion."

it wasn't bad' but last time i rode a horse ( when i was a kid, i would feel bad for sticking a 190 pound weight on an animal's back ) i had spent the early part of the summer on a boat down on the canals in Florida. 

If you have not driven a boat, you learn to turn before you actually want to turn.   Was coming up on a huge bush/tree and i turned early just out of instinct.  Of course the horse turned THEN and walked right into the tree. Nose right up to the trunk then stopped. I about came off from the branches.

No, i didnt get mad at the horse as his pilot was a dumb-ass, and i did apologize as he backed out. I think he was ok with it since no one got hurt.

Had one step on my foot once another summer when i was out at the farm taking care of the animals. For some odd reason i instinctively curled my toes as he did, i didnt even realize it happened until i tried to move and he was on the toe of my shoe.. 

Mon Dec 26 2022 06:02:08 AM EST from darknetuser

2022-12-21 09:34 from IGnatius T Foobar
You keep them as pets and don't ride?

Right on.

You could say my fourth job is collecting horses nobody else wants heh. I love being horse-hugged and horse-kissed and horse-lovely-brutalized every morning, but I don't care for riding. I had a devastating experience riding once and I don't feel positive about it anymore.

Not to get too far into the weeds. but i had an ex call on a current wife at the time. ( not to be mean or cause problems for fun, but out of concern ). They never even bothered to call. I found out years later when we were having dinner.  "I'm curious, did anyone call you back in summer of.. bla bla".

Around here they used to post yearly stats of how many children under their "care" that they lost.  And they were ( perhaps still are ) one of the largest staffed agencies we have at the state. One of the least effective.

Tue Nov 22 2022 12:18:02 AM EST from ParanoidDelusions

My kid once threatened to call CPS on me when she was just getting into her entitled woke phase - for yelling at her about something. 


I handed her the phone and smiled. 

She never played that card again. 

My kid once threatened to call CPS on me when she was just getting into her entitled woke phase - for yelling at her about something. 


I handed her the phone and smiled. 

She never played that card again. 

There are no more snow days, students are remote learning as it is so they have eliminated snow days.

Sun Aug 23 2020 12:34:10 EDT from triLcat @ Uncensored

So my daughter tells me she thinks she's bi, and I get a little sad, but assure her I'll love her and whoever she ends up with. 

Then her best friend, who I totally see as an extra daughter, tells me she thinks she's bi, and she can't tell her parents, and I'm thinking omg, she'd be such an awesome daughter-in-law... ;)

 

They're 13, so I don't know how much any of it means.

 

Being queer or TG or non-binary or some element of this is the new edgy for the kids who don't fit into traditional scenes. It is Gen Z's version of punk rock, because it is about the ONLY thing that makes their pierced, tatted, Gen X parents a little uncomfortable - and that we don't completely understand, as a group. 

Some of them really *are* - more kids are comfortable coming out, younger, about these things than ever before. But a lot of them are wearing it the same way my generation wore their mohawk and multiple piercings. 

So my daughter tells me she thinks she's bi, and I get a little sad, but assure her I'll love her and whoever she ends up with. 

Then her best friend, who I totally see as an extra daughter, tells me she thinks she's bi, and she can't tell her parents, and I'm thinking omg, she'd be such an awesome daughter-in-law... ;)

They're 13, so I don't know how much any of it means.

Your daughter is 15, don't wish for Grandchildren yet.

My daughter is 15 and she isn't into boys yet.  She wants to be a crazy cat lady.  This bothers me a lot.  I want grandchildren.

Adina was here for almost two years and you never told me?! Seriously?! We would have had her for a Shabbat! 

I was just thinking he turns 20 a week before mine do. What's he doing nowadays? And how's your daughter?

My only daughter is back from her second year of seminary in Israel, came back a couple weeks before the program had been scheduled to end. She cooked and cleaned for Passover and now she's baking a lot and tutoring my "baby" (he's 9) and running things that I'm too busy to take care of. She's also working on a degree with an online college, I think she's going for psychology. Her twin is still taking his college courses, but all online now of course. He hates it, said if he had wanted online college he would have signed up for online college to begin with. But he's muddling through anyway, he goes to the local community college, I believe majoring in cyber security. The next one under them is in 12th grade, doesn't care that they cancelled Regents because he wasn't scheduled to take any anyway. Doesn't know what he's doing next year. And the baby, in 3rd grade. He makes me crazy, thank God. 

So, everyone's kids are getting grown up. What's everyone up to now?

oh no! so sorry to hear!

https://9gag.com/gag/a1Q4vNY

so when I was 9, I started tying hair bands around my neck to kill myself. Then I took chemicals from my chemistry set, perfume, etc.

I was more playing with the idea than actually trying to kill myself. 

When I was 18, I had pneumonia, and I got an asthma inhaler. Almost on a whim, I tried to see if I could take enough ventolin to kill myself. 

When I was 20, I got knocked up out of wedlock, freaked out, and took 30+ benadryl. That time I actually wanted to die. 

There were various attempts over the next 3 years, and then I got on Celexa, and guess what? I stopped being horribly miserable all the time. It's been a good 15 years since I actually tried to kill myself. 

I had a few sort of "break downs" over the years, but with medication and therapy (off and on), I've managed to build a decent life for myself. I've married, I have three great kids. I have a real circle of friends. 

Yes, I've been taking medicine for depression for close to twenty years now, and will probably still be taking it twenty years from now, but I'm alive. I'm functioning.

Any of you parents who wants to talk to me about how it feels from the kid's perspective, a lot of it is still fresh enough in my mind to discuss. drop me a mail, and I'll try to answer.

Sometimes that "life sentence" for people are because of a chemical imbalance in the brain.  The start of taking the meds is either take them, or end up with more issues.   

My kid has to take meds for Bipolar.  The kid was diagnosed with it as a child, and will be on meds for it for life.   I would rather have the kid take the meds and be around, than the opposite.  

ah, you're still on about that. I'll answer you after I've popped some ritalin ;)

Wed Mar 20 2019 01:44:56 PM EDT from Ragnar Danneskjold @ Uncensored

I didn't though. I just hated everyone else. 

Why stop?

Could it be this time of year/month?  

We got woken up by our child at 3AM on Sunday.  Sunday was the kid's 20th birthday.   The kid had called the "Suicide Prevention Hotline", not due to being suicidal, but being stressed out about things going on with friends.  The kid just needed to talk, after they headed to bed, and I stayed up another two hours.   

Day 1 of college.  IGlet was pretty happy when he got in his car and drove off to the campus today.  IG is extremely happy that IGlet will be coming home at the end of the day, after classes followed by a couple of hours at his job.  I'm really proud of him and very happy that he's not going far away.

You watch one video from IGnat's kid YouTube thinks you want to watch videos from IGnat's thousands of kids.  jeez!! 

Kid #1 (Daughter, 10, 5th grade) is the most impulsive child I've ever met. 
I tried to send her to school without meds, because Friday is a short day. She totally melted down.

I don't know what to do with her. She's in therapy. husband and I are in therapy. We're doing everything we can, but she's only bearable when she's actively doing something FUN and fully-directed, watching a video, or on meds. 

Ask her to do half a page of math problems and she falls apart. 

Ask her to fold some laundry, same thing. 

Basically, anything I ask her to do that my three year old can't do, she falls apart.

She was moved to a small class (same educational level, but more staff)

Sort of helping, but not much. 

ARGH ARGH ARGH

Agreed...plus it can get kinda moldy smelling after a while.  I'm sure Costco can help you out

Wow, congrats, IG!  Crazy...I think the last time I saw him, he was barely in elementary school!

Oh, and enjoy the second "honey-do" list, Ragnar....that will definitely help with the grouchiness!  :-D

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

Yaakov's tooth actually DID come out, he was eating something and heard a crack and it was loose. Then it took a few days and finally he came to me and told me to pull it out. I thought once I made motions to actually do it, he'd run away scared. Pretty sure that was my experience with all the other kids who asked me to pull out loose teeth. But he stayed and kept asking me to do it, so even though it was kinda weird, I grabbed it with my fingers and pulled up. Third pull it came out. 

OH MY GOODNESS! I just remembered that we completely forgot about the tooth fairy thing. Oy vey. oh well, I guess there will be other teeth. Anyway, instead of giving him money, I can buy gems in his games or something. 

Try something like CCleaner ( on http://www.piriform.com ) with that computer.

Our son has the same trouble with his teeth. Always messy and looks nasty. Was about to use some pliers on it, the last time...

Ig, I hear that! That was actually the solution we came up with too, he reboots each evening when he's done. 

But now I can't back up my phone because the computer is out of storage space and for the life of me I can't figure out what is taking up so much space on this computer and my husband said to just buy a new computer. So I will get a new one anyway, so in fact he will get his own computer. 

I don't think anyone else had babies since I last logged in.  Oh well, hope no one is disappointed.  My baby brother's wife is expecting now. I think today is actually her due date. No, wait. Actually the 5th is her due date. We've been warned that IF the baby is born on its actual due date, and IF it is a boy, THEN the bris will be on Purim. That would be so cool. 

I know a lot of people like to "be surprised" about whether the baby is a boy or a girl, but my take was always that if you find out before the baby is born you ARE surprised anyway, you're just surprised a few months earlier than otherwise. But whatever. Can't talk logic to people. I'll have to wait and see like everybody else. 

Yaakov's first adult tooth came in! Yay. BUT his baby tooth didn't get loose or fall out first, the adult tooth came in way behind the baby tooth. I'm going to have to bring him in to get that baby tooth yanked. 

I want a new computer, one that will run Excel and Quickbooks but be incapable of running Minecraft or Roblox, so I can keep my computer to myself. I know, I'm selfish and all. But every single time he plays on my computer I need to reboot because after that everything moves too slowly to be usable. But he works so hard at school, leaves home at 6:20am, comes home either 7pm or 9pm depending on the night, and he wants to play a little before sleeping, so I don't want to tell him no. But I hate sharing because I failed kindergarten, apparently.  Anyway, he can HAVE my old computer if I can just get a new one that will do what I need it to do, and not do much else. 

There was a really good book Adina had to read for school called Cheaper by the Dozen, by Gilbreth. I was very impressed with the story.

In any case, my husband's sister had her baby, a boy. She let me hold him, he's so tiny and delicious. 

My Yaakov is learning math! He's 6 so I know he is supposed to, but I was so proud of him, yesterday he told me "In five years, Akiva will be 20" and my first instinct was like "No, that isn't right" but then I looked at Akiva and realized it's true.  Goodness. 

Wow, 12!  When they hit the bakers dozen, do you still wish them Mazel Tov?  lol

Cute! I never even heard of Oatmeal before. 

So that baby had his bris yesterday, I forget his name (of course) but it was fun seeing everybody.

My friend/neighbor had a girl yesterday. Yesterday evening was my daughter's school play (she's in 11th) and this friend had tickets. When I texted her "Mazal Tov" she actually apologized that she was going to miss my daughter's play. She doesn't even have any daughters in that school at this time. She's so funny. 

She had an interesting story, the baby hadn't turned and it was getting up to her due date and her doctor said it would be a C-Section. 

They asked this really famous big Rabbi (spiritually big) and he was dismissive of the questions and was like "It will be a normal birth" 

So two days ago she went to the doctor for a checkup and their doctor was busy so another doctor covered. I don't know what he did, but without anesthesia or pain he somehow turned it around, which apparently doesn't happen. 

She called her regular doctor and told him the baby turned and he didn't believe it and said to come in and they will check it out. And when she came in they saw she was right, and they induced and it was a normal birth. 

So cool, huh?

Anyway, that was her 12th child. 5 boys and now 7 girls. 

Did I tell you guys that I have a first cousin in Israel who just had twins? A boy and girl like me, their 3rd and 4th, but they aren't religious so I don't know if they meant to have so many. 

Send 'em this: http://theoatmeal.com/pl/minor_differences4/kids

Our friends had a boy yesterday. The husband is David's friend from the ambulance corp, his wife is my Quickbooks expert. Yay babies. This is their first, so we get to make fun of how exhausted they will be for the next year or so.... And I guess they can make fun of how exhausted we are because we are old. Oh well. :-) 

There really is almost no one in my closer circle of people that count as real life friends that is having or has had a baby. Not even co-workers. I find that very strange.

Since last time when I mentioned so many people are expecting, two people I know had babies, but neither was in my original count of how many new little people I'm thinking about. It's so exciting. And I'm so glad it's not me. 

It seems to me that a LOT of people I know are expecting babies soon. I guess.. 7? It's totally baby season. 

I had a guest staying over recently with a 4 month old. Oh my goodness, she was so cute. 

I suppose I am looking forward to being "grandma", right? Well, I still have a few years. Maybe I can look forward to being "babysitter". 

Pyromania is awesome.  Burn the whole world!

It's hard not to passively stare at a screen in your down time.  I don't know how to fix it because I always actively stared at screens  :)

Yeah. remember the campfires? oops. That part of the apple is definitely very close to the tree...

It's a great idea. Self-entertainment is incredibly useful (of course the first thing I thought was sex, that's pretty funny that you realized I would) In the mean time he plays with lit candles and pour the wax out and plays with it, and I can sit and watch him but eventually I need to get up and go do something else. Anyway I don't like that he's playing with fire, but on the other hand I used to play with fire when I was a teenager, and I've seen Shlomo go through a phase of always wanting to play with it. So I'm thinking it's genetic somehow, and like everyone else, eventually it will bore him, and if he gets it out of his system while I'm able to supervise it every time, then I'm better off.. 

please don't laugh at me if you hear that my house burned down. 

I like the idea of a hobby, but what could I show him? Collection? Or building complicated things from tiny legos? 

He's kind of into "building muscle" even though he's such a sweet little skinny nothing of a kid, he keeps pushing up his sleeve and showing me his arm and he's like "Right I'm so strong?" It's adorable. But what? Tell him to go lift weights all day every day? Uch, if he would just learn to READ already. 

I wish Shlomo were academic, but he's not that either. 

Shlomo went back to school last night. I drove him to the bus station in NYC, and he arrived there about 5am. I am now waiting for the phone to ring to hear how he's doing. 

In case he doesn't call in the next couple days, I did just send a letter to him today, with his drivers permit in it. He will need his ID to get on the train home in a few weeks time. He usually calls when he gets letters from me. 

I got such a talking to last night at Yaakov's PTA, they want to me to seriously actually cut out all (ALL) video watching because he's too much in his own world and not with them in the classroom. She had said he could watch Dora (which I personally can't stomach, I hate the sound of her voice) but he'd never watch that anyway. He was watching Doctor Who with us, and some other (actual) kids shows (Jonny Test, Fairly Odd Parents, Phineas & Ferb) that are way more fun and he wouldn't agree to go back to baby shows. 

They also want him to have a normal bedtime hour and not just fall asleep when he passes out from exhaustion. Apparently he's been falling asleep in school lately. 

So... my kid's school is asking me to actually parent him... chutzpa.

I'm kidding. But I am both tired, and busy. He gets home about 3:45pm, what am I going to do to keep him occupied till bedtime, and how will I get anything else (laundry, dinner, help big kids with their homework, etc) done if I have to entertain him all the time?

Shlomo went back to school last night. I drove him to the bus station in NYC, and he arrived there about 5am. I am now waiting for the phone to ring to hear how he's doing. 

In case he doesn't call in the next couple days, I did just send a letter to him today, with his drivers permit in it. He will need his ID to get on the train home in a few weeks time. He usually calls when he gets letters from me. 

I got such a talking to last night at Yaakov's PTA, they want to me to seriously actually cut out all (ALL) video watching because he's too much in his own world and not with them in the classroom. She had said he could watch Dora (which I personally can't stomach, I hate the sound of her voice) but he'd never watch that anyway. He was watching Doctor Who with us, and some other (actual) kids shows (Jonny Test, Fairly Odd Parents, Phineas & Ferb) that are way more fun and he wouldn't agree to go back to baby shows. 

They also want him to have a normal bedtime hour and not just fall asleep when he passes out from exhaustion. Apparently he's been falling asleep in school lately. 

So... my kid's school is asking me to actually parent him... chutzpa.

I'm kidding. But I am both tired, and busy. He gets home about 3:45pm, what am I going to do to keep him occupied till bedtime, and how will I get anything else (laundry, dinner, help big kids with their homework, etc) done if I have to entertain him all the time?

I know a bunch of not really socially adjusted people, most of them do well in an academic job.

If he made it to 11th grade with that behavior, he probably does not see a need to change. If he is otherwise harmless, leave him be. Society already has enough over adjusted drones. ;) 

My Shlomo is getting suspended from school.   :-(  I feel so sad but I'm not sure what to say about it. 

He has been inappropriately treating the Rosh Yeshiva, which is like the principal, and his other teachers and Rebbes as if they were his buddies, throwing his arm around them, throwing snow balls at them, walking into their offices without knocking.  Apparently he was talked to many times, and now he is getting suspended for a few days. He will be coming home tomorrow anyway for Thanksgiving, but instead of going back on Monday, he will stay home till Thursday or possibly the following Sunday. 

David is all for working hard to find him a therapist or social worker. I thought it didn't sound so bad, but he is pointing out to me that in 11th grade if he doesn't understand appropriate boundaries in life, he needs to learn it real quick before he finds himself arrested. 

He never really "got" social things. I took a real long time to get it too, maybe I also started to understand the world and people better in high school. He's going to be so embarrassed to see me and talk to me. I'm sure David and I will talk to him at length but we will probably tell my father and step mother and all his siblings some story about the school allowing him to stay home longer because he deserves a break. Or something. See, he not BAD as such. He just really doesn't understand social things. 

With a dad like his, I don't know how healthy that would be.  There are a lot of good theories out there, I mean to go looking for alternate theories to Mat Pat's even though he does tie up quite a lot of it really nicely. If I understand him correctly, his theory is that the message is that having advertisers on television destroyed television, which apparently happened in England in 1955. 

Aren't they? I thought you would like them. My Adina loves them but I can't seem to get anyone else to even look at them. Did you see MatPat's theory on it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAa4aI5wKLo

Akiva's ride comes every morning, Sunday through Friday, at 6:20am.  I'm so impressed with him, he only ever missed the ride once (then we drove 20 minutes to the house of a teacher who also was going to be driving in to the school a bit later) but he makes in on to the transport every day. Some days he has woken up at 6:19, and still got on the van at 6:20. But he goes hungry on such days, so he really does try to wake up earlier. He comes home at 7pm Mondays and Wednesdays, and at 9pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 3:45pm on Sundays and probably about 1pm on Fridays.

As to how he is doing, I am dreading the upcoming parent-teacher meetings, because my David has a scheduling conflict so I have to go alone. I have to drive into the city, and find parking, and parallel park. I'm a huge baby about that, I avoid driving in to the city whenever it can be avoided, and my parallel parking would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.  But I hope to hear good things about him. I'm glad that he is in school so much, when he is home all he does is watch Popular MMOs and play Roblox. And eat and sleep a bit too, which is good. 

When Shlomo comes home, he watches Film Theory and Game Theory (and makes me watch them too, I've become a big MatPat fan) and he plays Roblox with Akiva. 

Incidentally, anyone else seen the Don't Hug Me I'm Scared episodes on YouTube? Ah, the fun things I would miss out on if I didn't have kids. 

I went to public school and loved it because socially I found a niche to fit in to, while, at private school, there were a total of 8 girls and I didn't like the other 7 girls and they didn't like me. That sucked. In high school I joined all the after school activities (which have since been cut due, ironically, to the increasing number of orthodox Jews in the district voting against the school's budgets). 

Anyway. My daughter has been with only girls since first grade and it occurred to me recently that if she winds up going eventually to a public college, it might be a serious culture shock on her. My boys have been with only boys since first grade. Teenage hood is hard enough without forcing a new shock on them. I'm not sending to public schools. 

Akiva was convinced that he wants to apply to the city school, so we applied. The school accepted him right away and he is enthusiastic about going. Funny, huh? He will have to be out of the house every day by 6:30am, and be coming home around 9pm, and he is enthusiastic. Goes to show. If I figure out what, I'll tell you. 

Sending religious Jewish children to public schools is a can of worms that most Orthodox American Jews prefer not to open. 
Having been to public school as a kid, I up and left the country ;) 

they're all private schools, no defaults.

Tue Apr 05 2016 01:36:40 AM EDT from triLcat @ Uncensored

Send him where he's slated to go, and if there's a problem, you'll figure it out later. 

Not sure if that will work.  It would work to default to the default school, but not the other way around - i.e you can get a slot in the non-default school if you apply early, and fail back to your home school later.  I am not trying to play games with his education, but he seems to fit in best where he has challenges.  Thanks for responding trilCat.  I wanted to respond to you on your situation, but never could come up with a good response as I am stuck with many of the same issues.

Send him where he's slated to go, and if there's a problem, you'll figure it out later. 

That is most likely in the cards - assuming she gets her license soon.

Have your daughter drive him to the other school.  

My daughter (15) does not want my son (13) to attend the same high school.  Good thing the school district we are in offers 2 high school options, and my son fits in the opposing school program better.  Now we just need to figure out transportation....

Sounds like you made a good solid decision with good reasoning.  I'd say don't let someone else make you second guess yourself.  And besides, who really wants to schlep to the city every day?

I was in private school till 8th grade and public high school, but I don't have very strong memories in general. I do sort of remember taking some aptitude test to help me decide what career I should pursue, and it told me I should be a farmer. Now, I like gardening, (although I didn't then) and I loved the LIttle House on the Praire books, but that's not even close to having to be a farmer. 

So to update, my 13 year old I saw was playing Minecraft? I was sleeping or something when I wrote that, because he is and was at that time also 14 years old. Anyway, he was rejected from two high schools and accepted to two high schools. One he was rejected from was for not being strong enough academically, and that had been my favorite school, because they are so strong academically. I figured if he will put 80% of the minimum required effort, (which, based on my observations, is what he does now) then whoever requires more will force him to do and learn more.  But alas. That school said no. The other said no because they were overwhelmed with applications this year because a different boys high school up the road from them just closed down, and they have no room.

The two that said yes were Shlomo's school, based on that they love Shlomo and want his brother as well, and a brand new school that will be opening for the first time next year.

Shlomo asked us to please not send his brother to his school.

So we told the local new school yes.

Now my son's 8th grade Rebbe said we should quick apply to a school in the city, because he doesn't trust the new school, because they are new. No track record, see?

So I'm not sure what to do. It's not exactly correct to say that it doesn't hurt to apply. First of all, there will be an application fee, and we've already paid a lot of application fees lately and the budget is already stretched thin. Secondly, we already said yes to this new school, and gave them a deposit on next year, and I don't want to lose that money or insult the new school by applying to another school.

Once I write it out like that, those reasons seem pretty lame. But I also don't know anything about this city school (Broyers) except that we had applied to them for Shlomo and they said no, and to their girls division for Adina, and they said no.  But Shlomo is a little different, and Adina's application was handed in late. 

While growing up did you experience any social experiments by the public school system?  The other day I was watching a video and the guy talked about how the desks in one grade's classroom were not arranged in rows but were in groups.  Six desks next to each other, and three desks faces those desks. I remember this as a kid but I thought it was one teacher's idea.  I had also heard about open room classrooms where there were some kid of dividers but not a wall between the classes, other wise it was a large open room.

I remember taking these tests were we poke each other and a testing sheet about what we liked.  It was one of those we are going to find out what you want to do when you grow up by giving you choices as a child.   I remember vague questions such as "Would you rather be outside or in an office?"  

What strange ideas do you remember from public education?

At one time they said we would need to learn this strange and odd thing called "The metric system" because we would be switching over to it.  We had to start learning it, and then that idea just stopped.  They changed a few signs on the thruway from miles to kilometers around the same time.  I don't remember the reason why they stopped teaching it.

 I think I learned my best friends phone number about the age of 15 or 16, so no, not too far from my experience I am afraid.

So it's not just my kids that are boneheads?

My daughter is 15.  Fun times.  They boy (now 13) has no concept of how to call a friend.  If plans to do something are not discussed at the lunch table at school, it won't happen.  It might not even happen in that case either as they don't know how to change a plan if school is not in session.

Honestly I don't mind him using the phone all the time.  He doesn't play Minecraft, but my daughter does.  She's just about 11 years old.  And she's a hormonal psychopath right now.

My 13 year old is on the phone all the time when he's home. Usually while he's playing Minecraft, and he's talking to the same boy he is chatting with. 
I am applying to high schools for him now, he doesn't even seem to care where he goes, as long as it's not far away like his older brother, because if he can't come home every night, it would really cut into his playing time. 

heh, yes. once you get used to have more than one person phoning... its hard to think about what else.

but, to be honest, I don't use phones very much, and only have ISDN since my Eurit 30 ISDN phone is still around.

That's the standard setup in the US.  Since we went directly from POTS to broadband, pretty much skipping ISDN in the consumer market, no one ever got used to having more than one simultaneous call path.

It's ok, we have unlimited calling on that line, so he can use it all day if he wants to.

but why do you then only have "one landline" ?

yea, the infrastructure is being given the boot over here too - I've been told later this year by telecom employees. You usually terminate it at fritzboxes nowadays, which translate it to voip.

ah, in the US you don't have ISDN?

He is a hipster.

I agree I.G., but I am not saying that, exactly.  It would seem that things have blown up beyond a point where you can paint a black or white situation with a run in with the law (no pun intended).

I understand the militarization of the police, but I think (it) stems from some sort of fear that was at the tail end of my childhood that I just have not figured out yet.  

All the police officers I know try their hardest to be friendly with kids.  There always seem to be shithead parents out there who think it's funny to tell a cop "go ahead, scare the crap out of 'em" and the parent usually gets a talking-to.  You don't want that, they're told.  You want kids to trust that a police officer can be their best source of help when they're in trouble and a parent isn't nearby.

Yes, there are asshole cops.  But to teach kids that all police are bad is a recipe for disaster.

There was a post by ryan42 where he says (in regards to Ian Murdock's apparent suicide):

"..I have known a few highly intellectual people who because of the circumstances of their upbringing never really had a situation in their lives where they were subject to forced compliance to authority. I'm not sure if that applies to Murdock but I can certinaly see how the situation may have quickly escalated if it did."

Does anybody else have trepidation from the fact that kids are not able to have a minor scrape with the law any more.  It would seem that it is quite different from when I was a kid.  Not that I had no fear, but rather that I had some minor incidents with some police growing up that made me realize that things would probably work out just fine given time.

It seems like there is too much an us vs. them attitude growing these days with police / schools, along with a zero tolerance mindset that leaves no room for good judgement. 

afaik she noted on FB that everything went well.

Anyone hear back yet from TriLcat's on her latest kiddie adventure?

this kid is growing up the good old US of A.

:(

Wow. I don't even know where to start.

1) No principal in a civilized country spanks children.

1b) If he gets caught he should have better have left for a secure place in some bunker in an uncivilized country. And stay there.

2) Boys hate bluejeans because they restrict the freedom of your precious parts. I'd rather attest a mental condition to any boy who likes to wear them.

3) Gluten is overrated. Dairies probably too. Sugar is what I would try to avoid and is much more widespread across the whole food palette. To quote famous nutrition expert Vincent Vega here: "They fucking drown them in that shit!"

4) Never post pictures of your child on the internet. Ever. Especially not when you write about how special he is.

My gf is an art teacher, we are very much looking forward to the discussions about "proper coloring techniques" with other art teachers when our son goes to school. Our son is still in kindergarten, but he counts till 25 mostly without errors, begins to dig simplest math and knows the letters of his name and a hand full of other simple words. No reading skills yet, but he recognizes words in videogames, like "Start", "Last round", etc. He can write his name, but it is a simple one. I wouldn't never call it autism, it is rather a combination of a loving but overachieving family and his curiosity, which we nourish instead of diminishing it. It is no magic and I do not even think he is much smarter than other kids. I guess most parents simply do not give a flying shit about their child's development, as long as it keeps calm and doesn't annoy them.

...and now I get why they need a freaking label 

http://countrygirltosouthernbelle.blogspot.co.il/2014/06/our-special-little-man.html

without a label, the principal had free reign to beat up on her kid...

Screw that! 

pretty much

thanks :)

Baby's eviction notice has been served. I go in for induction July 13th!

The question isn't "what's the diagnosis?" 
That's fine if there actually is a pill that can solve the problem, but honestly, even when you're talking about purely physiological problems, there's a large gap between having a diagnosis and having a treatment.

(Which is why I was completely thrilled to discover that my son was screaming because of worms. Pinworms may be the single easiest to treat problem there is, medically-speaking.) 

Anyway - my point is that if Shazam's son doesn't get along well in a regular classroom, it's probably wise to send him somewhere that has a different approach towards education.

I would be more concerned with how the school can help him than with how they handle his particular label.

 

It sounds like there are some real issues, particularly with social skills, and it sounds like it's not an issue of him being so incredibly smart that he's bored out of his mind.

I don't know if ADHD is the right direction, but a school that caters to kids who are a bit 'different' might help him get on track.

the other sort of  lullaby:

http://youtu.be/LWbndoki3aM

Tue May 13 2014 10:34:19 AM EDT from Shazam @ Uncensored

....

Shazam, it sounds as if you are trying to raise my son.  He has the same foibles, but I was mostly the same way growing up.

I know you will do the best for him.  Keep posting as I will try to do the same.

go to the boces website and look at schooling options. River View seems to have a standard educational curriculum (including AP and such)+ help for whatever other issues there are.

Assuming he qualifies for that, it should be state paid - you could hire a tutor to teach him Jewish studies and financially, it would be a lot less of a burden on you.

Plus, if he doesn't learn well by interacting, it might be a better way for him to learn in general.

My dad did the whole daf yomi cycle by watching/listening to online shiurim. There's something called web yeshiva...I mean, there are plenty of ways for a bachur to learn without actually being surrounded by other boys who like to pick on the one who's different. 

You're talking about something like River View?

Does he qualify for something like that?

Learning how to deal with stupid jerks is actually an important life skill. 

Between his dietary restrictions (kosher is a LOT more than not eating pork or cheeseburgers) and the expectation that he will achieve a certain level in Jewish studies such as Talmud, Catholic boarding school is about as realistic as sending a non-Jewish kid to boarding school in Japan...

Public school would be a better option than Catholic boarding school, though only by a small margin.

Suffice it to say that I recommended an Orthodox school above, and I suspect that even that school would be considered 'not religious enough' by Shazam's crowd...

Of course, I went to the 'even less religious yet still Orthodox' school nearby, and I don't have any issues with where I ended up.

Has he applied to TABC?

http://www.tabc.org/

It's MO, but all boys. NJ, but should be in range for bussing. 

What does the principal at his current school suggest?

I hear that....  Not easy either way, for sure, Shazam.

Just from acquaintances.  Which is to say that I know it's very hard...but also rewarding if done right.  That said - if he's socially awkward, I imagine that home schooling might amplify that?

A girl said something that I didn't hear, but the impression I got was that she said i smelled bad - this was in 9th grade. For the rest of high school, I never went 48 hours without a shower.

Shazam, he is in a mixed gender school, but it is just that he has not hit an age where he notices girls yet.  That is the part I am doing the waiting for, so I can give up the nagging part.

Ha, I don't think I will take the pin-up approach, but funny none the less.  Also Shazam, he is a little bit socially awkward (apple not far from the tree I am afraid), so that is not as effective.  I will weather the storm (and the smells).  Just need to get to the point that he wants to be cleaner for the aforementioned reason, and nag in the interim.

Talk to me an a few years.  The boy here is in the 11 & 3/4 stage and has to be coerced to shower. 

I spent half the day with my mom yesterday, but today, we mostly cross-commented on Facebook. If she's not travelling, I see my mom at least twice a week. I don't get along with my dad as well, but I still see him at least once a week... and when I saw him yesterday morning, he made me a cup of tea, which I desperately needed.

Last week, there was one day I didn't call my mom all day. Felt weird. Usually I call her every day when she's not away.

My sister lives less than a block from me, and she only sees my parents when they drop by her garden on Saturday mornings. 

All depends on the relationship.

My mom also spends way more time with my kids than with her other grandchildren. She's not much of an initiator, and my husband and I are.  (other siblings aren't)

My mother-in-law doesn't have a job and lives within 30 minutes drive of both of her daughters, yet she talks to my husband more than she talks to her daughters... again with us initiating... 

lol Shazam - about Facebook.

Wed Nov 20 2013 13:55:50 EST from Shazam @ Uncensored

What would you do when you found out your kid was the class bully?

See above, counter-violence...

No, seriously, I have no clue, depends on the situation.

Sun Oct 20 2013 11:13:13 EDT from Sig @ Uncensored

One of the objections you hear to home schooling frequently is the whole "how will your kid be socialized?" issue.

My wife and I attended the same public schools. I'm not sure public school socialization is something to be sought after.

They say the same about Kindergarten here, I have my doubts too.

I also think there are kids that can be identified as being assholes from their early days. But education systems are too underfounded in order to weed them out give them the proper education to overcome their deficits.

I also found that counter-violence against bullies was the one thing that turned them away, at least when they were single-serving.

I guess I'm glad I didn't go to a public high school. 
In my high school, you could get away with name-calling, but that was pretty much it.
I can't think of anyone who was bullied very much. 
There was one kid who got showered once (in his clothes) and pinned down a couple of times freshman year, but I never saw anyone draw blood or throw a real punch or anything like that...
It was more like the thing that dogs do where they force the puppy to lie down to show their authority...
 

This topic makes me want to avoid going down certain hallways :-)

I was bullied a lot in smaller schools. In larger schools, I was able to find a niche and hide out with a few friends. I found that if I had 2 friends, I stopped being a target for bullies, or maybe I stopped caring enough to let them get to me... hmmmn. I only experienced violence one year. I think various people attacked me 4 times in 6th grade, and I have a scar from one of those...