General discussion - Mom and Dad Esq.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Penske_Account

If Elf, one of the funniest Christmas movies out there, is to be believed, its the attitude behind snotty little missives like that that is killing the Christmas spirite. Not cool. Is Ariel your sock? I hope Ty@50 has the decency to apologise if it is......

All the children in my house still believe in Santa Claus. I am amazed, and every year I think it can't continue. Knock on wood....

[Cletus Miller]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

All the children in my house still believe in Santa Claus. I am amazed, and every year I think it can't continue. Knock on wood....

Do they really believe, or have one or more of them figured out the angle? I suspect our almost 5yo of having figured it out, but keeping quiet b/c it means a gift he thinks he wouldn't get w/o the Santa angle.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

All the children in my house still believe in Santa Claus. I am amazed, and every year I think it can't continue. Knock on wood....

transltion: there is not a significant Jewish population in my kid's school.

[soup sandwich]

Originally Posted by Cletus Miller

Do they really believe, or have one or more of them figured out the angle? I suspect our almost 5yo of having figured it out, but keeping quiet b/c it means a gift he thinks he wouldn't get w/o the Santa angle.

I think my seven year old has reached this stage as well. She is suspicious but afraid to say anything. She is especially suspicious that everytime she sees Santa, he looks different. Back in the day, I'd be lucky to see Santa once at the mall. Nowadays he's everywhere: at the mall, at the firestation, on the fire truck the Saturday before Christmas, at school, turning on the Christmas lights on main street). The kids aren't idiots. They're going to notice how he looks different every time. My wife blames it on how there are more and more "real beard" Santas who simply don't look at all like the "fake cottonball beard" Santas.

I have a few friends who are sick of the whole Santa deal (lying to the kids, not getting credit for buying all the gifts, wrapping the gifts in different wrapping paper, etc.) and have come close to spilling the beans just so they can move on.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by soup sandwich

II have a few friends who are sick of the whole Santa deal..........not getting credit for buying all the gifts,

you gotta be fucking kidding. they sound nice.

[soup sandwich]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

you gotta be fucking kidding. they sound nice.

I would never kid you, Hank.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by soup sandwich

The kids aren't idiots. They're going to notice how he looks different every time.

Aren't these just "people who dress up to look like santa"? I suppose they've got you cooked if you told them it was "real santa" when you had the pics taken at the mall.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

transltion: there is not a significant Jewish population in my kid's school.

Wouldn't jewish population make it easier to explain? "They're jewish and don't celebrate christmas, so of course santa doesn't visit them."

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Cletus Miller

Do they really believe, or have one or more of them figured out the angle? I suspect our almost 5yo of having figured it out, but keeping quiet b/c it means a gift he thinks he wouldn't get w/o the Santa angle.

Some cling. Our 11 year old knows there is no Santa, but believes anyways. Just like Dad believes the Mets will win.

One day, when my daughter was 5, one of her friends informed her that there was no tooth fairy, and the money that the friend had found under her pillow was put there by her parents (call them Krishna and Arjuna). We were shocked - we'd never realized that Krishna and Arjuna were the tooth fairy. How did they fly into all those windows? Where did they hide their wings?

For the next year, our daughter believed that her friend's parents, late at night, went flying into children's windows leaving change under their pillows. She just wanted to keep believing.

[Cletus Miller]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

Aren't these just "people who dress up to look like santa"? I suppose they've got you cooked if you told them it was "real santa" when you had the pics taken at the mall.

Yeah, they're all Santa's "helpers", of course.

[mommylawyer]

Originally Posted by viet_mom

Hello all. It's amazing how strongly people feel about pro and anti medicine for kids. Vietbabe's Aunt (my Sis) scolded me for not immediately putting Vietbabe on meds when she was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with "severe ADHD" (causing her to be very behind in language/phonics and other learning issues). Yet...just a few hours ago I met with Vietbabe's teacher for parent/teacher conference (she had read Vietbabe's neuropsych. report which recommends meds as an option) and when I told her I wasn't putting Vietbabe on meds, she was so relieved she actually shed tears and told me she was upset to see the medicine recommendation in the report b/c she hates the thought of Vietbabe's personality changing (despite terrible learning, she is so happy and confident and sweet) and thinks she can work with Vietbabe academically. She even told me she'd spoke with her husband about how she was so worried Vietbabe's Mom would put her on meds and she and hubby were hoping I didn't.

Wow! Such strong, heartfelt emotions from both my Sister and the teacher on different ends of the spectrum! I think if your kid (like mine) is not having behavioral problems and is happy and confident, maybe it's easy to say "No" to the meds (and just keep working on other ways to help learning...we're doing Orton-Gillingham private reading tutor$ twice a week). But when you see your child anxious or depressed....I imagine it is harder to dismiss taking meds. Are we sure the Xanax would be taken regularly? Or maybe only during very difficult times. Most everyone I know that takes Xanax pops them only during a tough time. I have a stash of a similar drug that I take every once in a while if I'm legitimately upset by something and I can't sleep. But that's only b/c I'm allergic to alcohol. I imagine I'd have a glass of wine instead. Truth be told, I like the pure effect of the Xanax-type drug without the side effects of wine. I think if my teen was up all night crying over being jilted by a boyfriend, I might be fine giving her a Xanax the next night to help her sleep. That sort of thing. Sorry for the long post.

Wel I know I haven't been over here in ages, and planned a hi post, just wanted to say that if the meds are right, there won't e ny personality change at all... I am certain I mentioned my concerns about oldest a few years back...well we spent almost 3 years and lots of $$$ on evaluations ruling out everything else but ADHD, and when we concluded it was, the psych recommended meds... the very first day it was life changing. em was able to focus and completed his weekly work plan in one day...within a few weeks his self confidence was back...Now its not just meds, we do other things too, but meds, if properly dosed etc... shouldn't result in any personality changes etc... now it may take a few tries to find the right one....

[mommylawyer]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

Show me one shred of evidence that Ritalin generally works. Show me some epidemiology. All you will ever here is a little anecdote here or there which mentions that Ritalin, when coupled with behavior modification, helps. And I am not talking about a good day here or there or manageability, I am talking academic success.

Plus there are significant side effects that are known and some that are suspected -- cardiac events, cancer, that make me say:
Fuck
That
Shit

remember: Michael Phelps = no meds.

My kids is on Adderral - different drug but similar to Ritalin. his school does a weekly work plan of work a student needs to get done - the first day he was on meds - he finished his entire work plan by lunch.......

Actually Michael Phelps - no meds on Saturday/Sunday...of course he was also in the pool 10 hours....

[mommylawyer]

Originally Posted by viet_mom

No. She's 6. Confident, sweet and well-behaved kid but can't seem to concentrate enough in order to learn letters, phonics, etc. Growth issues another reason why I don't want to try meds (they decrease appetite) besides fear of messing with her chemistry b/c she's so happy and secure.

Again, only if the osage is wrong. I sent my kid to school with less lunch...when I picked him up he said -Mom, did you forget half my food???? he eats - at 7, 2 scrambled eggs + egg whites, 3 pieces turkey bacon and piece of toast for breakfast everyday...

sorry - i am going to stop resucitating old posts....

[mommylawyer]

So hello everyone...been a long time since I've been around...thought I'd check in and see what's going on over here.....

ML

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by mommylawyer

So hello everyone...been a long time since I've been around...thought I'd check in and see what's going on over here.....

ML

Kinda quiet, apparently.

How old do kids have to be to get The Phantom Tollbooth? The Hobbit? I've got Charlie and the Chocolate Factory coming up, but nothing on deck.