Temperatures - What is Too High?
 

Eegads! Sorry you had to go through this. Was it the flu? Yes, that post from Bilmore was good - that was back in Sept. when I asked about temps after getting back from ER b/c Vietbabe's had gone to 105.5. Is it not terrifying how hot they can get? (dye from jammies cooked onto sheets; pee pee in diaper steaming!). And then they're ok and sleeping while you suffer post-traumatic stress symptoms!!

It's good you remembered to bring the temp down before you rush to the ER. For kids like mine who refuse oral medicine when they are freaking: I got acetiminophine (sp?) suppositories. It seems cruel but they go in real easy and dissolve right away. This way you know they got the right dosage. For some reason, when I put the suppository even near *the* spot, it gets sucked in and I don't even have to really put it in. Jet engine butt!

Well hope you can recover quickly from that experience.

Temperatures - What is Too High?
 

First, thanks everyone for your thoughts. baltspawn is sick and miserable with the flu, but otherwise okay. Her sister has followed her into the flu, but that was to be expected.

Thanks for the suggestion on the suppositories. Generally, our kids don't have a problem with taking oral meds, especially grape. Of course, in a middle of a seizure, no one is taking any meds. I lowered her temperature by taking her outside with just a onesie on, which included the three minute trip to the hospital; her seizure stopped on the way. I had just given her some Tylenol anyway (like seconds before - that's what really freaked us out, wondering if there was a Tylenol connection. The doctor said it was just a coincidence).

Four hours later we were back home again, and she was sound asleep. All in all, a pretty harrowing experience., but at least everything turned out okay.

Temperatures - What is Too High?
 

Glad we're not the only ones suffering. Magnus' fever finally broke on Sunday after seven full days. We went through a bottle and a half of children's Motrin. On the worst day all he ate was juice and six Skittles. He never had a fever seizure, but he did lose about 20% of his body weight, and he didn't have much extra to start out with. Now he still has cough (loose, phlegmy now, instead of dry and tight like it was late last week when we finally took him to the doc--she gave him antibiotics for his double ear infection) and runny nose, but his mood is miles better (he's actually playing! and talking to himself!), and his appetite is gradually returning to normal.

I got it too (though my fever only lasted four days), and am now considering a second run of antibiotics (first was for bronchitis that came on simultaneously with the fever) for another bug the SFC brought home that's got my head feeling like a brick. Ugh.

Happy holidays, everyone!

tm

math
 

math
 

I just want to call this to dtb's attention:
How rich is Mr. Darcy?

math
 

Only an economist would consider giving those problems to a nine-year-old. Sheesh.

math
 

Interesting approach, but for me it was building things. Needing to measure, figure out topographical problems to make things square, estimate materials, that sort of stuff, all involves math. I got into designing costumes a little in highschool, which involved trig to make patterns. That's a little more concrete than his examples.

Maybe I'm just a visual learner. But I still love math.

math
 

My ten year old can handle a number of them, but I think the underlying point that kids learn math better when it relates to the real world is accurate. It's also called the Chicago School and is the basis for a lot of math being taught in school these days.

For example, my daughter is very interested in history, and I worked through some of the math involved in the calculation that everyone today has a common ancestor (or rather, MANY common ancestors) in about the 14th century. That one came from discussions on this board. She also figured out Delong's clock problem, though in a different way and without ever even thinking that there was an infinite series.

is it just a stage?
 

Our 3.75 year old seems to have a really hard time entertaining himself. He's very social with friends, playdates, etc. and obviously loves playing with either of us but never seems to get that into toys or any kind of solo hanging out. I suspect everyone with toddlers gets what seems like 24 hours a day of of "will you play with me" but I'm just wondering what others' experiences have been with kids around this age.

Little brother is still a crawler so he's not much help yet on the entertainment front. Thanks for humoring me with any insights.

is it just a stage?
 

Ask him to calculate the total blood volume of the world's population. Kept my kid occupied for hours at that age.

is it just a stage?
 

Taught our's about rubbing at his penis

strangely i forgot to mention that the one thing that does hold his attention is compulsive masturbation

is it just a stage?
 

Dad?

Well, this is more basic of a problem than I first thought. Stop masturbating him, and he'll quickly find new hobbies.

You have clearly been seeing too much of that Michael Jackson mug shot.

is it just a stage?
 

So what's the answer?

How much does it change if it's a hot day in India?

is it just a stage?
 

Don't tell Shape Shifter. He may be inclined to test the hypo in the lab.

is it just a stage?
 

I love it when people use those ^s!

But you forgot the part about how much it changes on a hot day in India.

Temperatures - What is Too High?
 

I had no idea such a thing even existed! Quite the description. I think I'll just stick with Tylenol for myself and avoid the anal aspirin, thank you.

What's up
 

It's been quiet lately. How was everyone's holiday? We had a nice trip to Disneyland, some parties, but mostly a quiet time at home with just the four of us.

It's nice that school's back on, though. I think the kids were watching too much TV. There's only so much one can take of the Fairly Oddparents.

What's up
 

Four trips to the emergency room. Two broken bones, seven stitches. So, yeah, pretty quiet here, too.

(BTW, does anyone know where you can buy concrete furniture? They broke a couch, too. I didn't even know you COULD break a couch.)

Answer and Question.
 

Um, yes. http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/furniture/

Okay, my turn:

HELPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!! I have had a Nanny since last July (the July 4th weekend when Nanny #1 absconded to a foreign country and I found out the evening before Monday, in the middle of a huge transaction). I ended up hiring a woman with zero experience (couldn't even change a diaper) because she was a friend of the cleaning lady and, true to the cleaning lady's word, this woman has been loving to my child, and reliable in terms of not missing work.

But...no matter how many times I have tried to provide incentives, this woman does not want to do ANYTHING besides sit in the tiny living room with my child and have my child play with her own toys. It doesn't even occur to her to play patty-cake, or to have a pretend tea party. She teaches her nothing - not a rhyme, tune or anything.

I have tried to provide ideas and manufacture some variety to the day because I know it's not easy to be with a child all day. I signed up my child for a Gymboree type class for the Nanny to go to with her, and have encouraged her to meet other Nanny's and get my child out of the house, even if she runs her own errands and my child tags along. I even have an account at a local fancy cafe for her if she wants to take my child and have coffee. She's yet to use it.

I have asked her if she does not like the job and her reply is that she like my child and me so very much but basically "it's hard to find ideas on what to do with a baby." I would not have a problem with that kind of honesty, but what I do have a problem with is that when I asked her if she was looking to leave the job she said, "well, I don't have any other job right now" and also, she is NOT enthusiastic at all when I showed her all the places she could go to around town (like cool discount places for HER to shop, which she loves). Meanwhile I am paying more than ANY OTHER PERSON I KNOW for childcare.

O.K. - so....I am interviewing new Nannies this weekend. I just got off the phone with one who sounded GREAT!!!!! But... I am terrified of firing this Nanny because she has at least been very reliable, and I know that she absolutely loves my daughter. Sometimes, it takes her 1/2 hour to leave in the evening she is still saying goodbye to her. And also, I really really like her as a person. She's part of the family.

So....I have the hesitation to fire her which I would love to have your thoughts/experiences on. Also - it would be so much appreciated if I could get your thoughts on the firing process. I would do it on a Frida. She's never been a Nanny before and is probably thinking I'd give her two weeks notice. I of course would expect that from her. Problem: I don't know that I want anyone caring for my child for 2 weeks after I fired them. But on the other hand, if I were to give her the money instead, I am not thrilled with giving her $1000 (2 weeks pay) while having to pay that same amount to the Nanny who replaces her!!

So...there is my long story. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Edited to say: I am SO sorry for this message being so long.

Nannies
 

I will say this Nanny sounds OK in the grander scheme of things - of the one's we've had, and we did Au Pairs for a while so had at least one per year, she'd be about in the middle.

BUT, none of us want "OK" for our kids. You could always try the approach of, look, I like you, I know you like VietBabe, but if we can't get more interactive inside of two weeks you're gone. You also could try the let's also find a teenager to supplement at a cheap price. But none of us want to subject our kids to someone on the edge of getting fired, and the teenager approach might work but is a shot in the dark and more expensive.

So, it's never easy. I think you are doing the right thing, even if the next Nanny doesn't turn out to be as good as she seems at first. And I wouldn't worry much about paying an extra $1000 to make the severance easier - I guarantee you, over time that amount will be meaningless to you, but to her it may make a big difference.

Best!

Nannies
 

Yeah, this is no horror story. Not wonderful, but no bleeding or abuse at all.

If you didn't drag her away from some wonderful high-paying job that she has now given up forever in order to be with your child, then, if you fire her, she's in at least as good shape as she was at the beginning, and in fact probably better, since she has your money from that period.

Now, at her level, people just don't normally get two weeks notice. She likely wouldn't expect that at all. However, have you been paying taxes, unemployment, etc? 'Cuz, she may apply for unemployment, and then you'll have problems if you skated on that procedure. If that's the case, the $1k might be a good price for her goodwill in not applying. You don't need to pay it otherwise, but, if unemployment isn't an issue, it might simply be what you need to pay in order to assuage your own guilt.

(Firing is the most painful for the three days prior, as you think about it. Then, it lasts a half hour. Then, it's done.)

NannyGate
 

Hmmn. I do agree this is definitely not a horror story. That's why I'm struggling with the firing. I'm a real pushover and if I sensed she wanted this job I'd probably keep her just for that.

But...she has made clear that while she likes us, she is not happy what she is doing and is only with us because she doesn't have another job. Before she was with us, she was at a factory job that paid her less and worked her more. She was thrilled to be in a climate controlled place she could do her own wash and she said her coworkers annoyed her and she didn't want to have to deal with coworkers. I think the novelty wore off. She's bored out of her mind.

I've done everything I can to give her ideas what to do with the day. :poke: But...bottom line is she worked 8 hours today, 3 of them Vietbabe slept. I'd have gone shopping or hung out at the cool cafes in town with the Babe - some fine java and pastry :yum: charged to the house account of the Babe's Mom and chatted with the fine townsfolk. Instead, she stayed in and moped.

Well, I'm glad I wrote. I'm sensing here that I need to bite the bullet and shell out the $1,000 and do the icky deed. :uzi2:

I'm paying taxes on her (but only on $200 of it - she said she only wants it to show she's making that much so she pays less income tax) . Maybe she is waiting to reach the minimum amount of time you have to be working at a job to collect unemployment (don't know what that is) and then she'll bolt? This kind of sucks trying to figure this all out. But I assume it's sane not to want someone caring for your child after you fire them (in other words, I pay her the two weeks pay and she doesn't work during the two weeks).


Thanks again all, Happy New Year and have a great weekend!!:band:

NannyGate
 

Nothing more to add on substance, but I will say I already miss your "What if the hokey pokey IS what it's all about?" That was one of my favorite signature lines.

Maternity Clothes
 

I have outgrown a good portion of my wardrobe and so I finally bit the bullet and went maternity shopping. Just for the record, as someone who has to look like a fairly serious and non-sloppy person on a daily basis, which prevents me from following the "you will just want to burn it by the time you give birth so just buy cheap crap" advice of most of my friends:

Pea in the Pod sucks. The very idea of paying $300 for a polyester suit with a tie in back offends me. Deeply.
Liz Lange sucks - but at least her Target line is cheap.
Motherhood sucks (but is cheap).
Mimi sucks (but is cheap).
All the "cool" or "funky" mother places suck (both in person and online - Nom, I mean you), because they think cool means having 20 different types of jeans, boot-cut or cargo pants, paisley printed peasant blouses and T-shirts with inappropriate phrases on them.

Veronique rocks (if you catch a sale; even if you don't it is not that much more expensive than Pea in the Pod and the clothes are vastly better).
Eileen Fisher rocks.
Betsy Johnson rocks. (Really.)
My husband's sweater drawer rocks.

Also, if I never see matte jersey again in my entire life it will be fine with me, though I admit I admire it's stretchy, stainproof, fadeproof, synthetic qualities.

Er, that's all. I'll report in again when I've hit Avenue des Reves and some of the newer places down in Soho.

Maternity Clothes
 

Seriously, no one cares. Just buy some cheap crap. And while looking put together is important, you're excused from going above the business casual level for anything short of court after about the fifth month, at least in my book. Those that might care under most circumstances will chalk it up to the pregnancy, especially when you stroll back in four months later wearing your best looking pre-pregnancy clothes.*

Actually, the best option is to get decent stuff handed down from someone else (preferably someone whose taste runs to black - it's easy to look good in black). Almost all maternaty wear sucks, but it's better now than even a couple of years ago. I was amazed that almost all maternity wear falls into two almost mutually exclusive categories: loungewear, and incredibly expensive. Expensive loungewear is the more common crossover than reasonable office wear.

Of course, I'm just a guy. But I was hauled all over three cities looking for maternity clothing, so I think I have some expertise.

Gap and Old Navy both carry maternity wear, and surprisingly some of it was business casual appropriate, but the only places they carry it in stock seems to be in Manhattan. Otherwise, online. Lands End has some good, basic pieces that are business casual appropriate. Nothing fancy or particularly fashion forward, but well cut and built, and reasonably priced.


*One word: breastfeed.

Maternity Clothes
 

I care. That's the problem.

Maternity Clothes
 

Wife swears by Belly Basics,* available through BabyStyle stores and website. I can't speak for office casual appropriateness, but it does look good and the quality seems to be there. Separates are better than sets, because your top and bottom will vary in size and you don't want to put an entire outfit out of commission as you grow.

For dressy occasions, you can't beat anything with an empire waist. But I'm sure you could have figured that out already. The key is indeed to inherit as much stuff as possible. And don't buy any leather jackets or anything investment-quality.

*Personally, I find the name the only bad thing about this line of clothing.

Maternity Clothes
 

No matter what you buy, it will be crap -- the problem is, it's not cheap -- no matter how crappy.

What's the place that's on 70th and Madison? While not gorgeous, it was slightly less crappy than most of the stores. One thing I wore ALL THE TIME (and yes, like baltassoc says, you're excused from having to have a vast wardrobe) was a CK regular-clothing straight skirt with an elastic waistband. When not pregnant, it reaches my ankles. As my pregnancies progressed, the skirt got shorter and shorter.

Barney's has maternity clothing -- but that and the store on 70th and Madison (why am I blanking on the name?!?) is one of those places that seems to be only for those types who don't get fat all over (sadly, I am unable to count myself among those ranks) and their biggest sizes didn't last 'til the end for pregnancy subsequent to my first.

Maternity Clothes
 

Uh -- if you have ginormous boobs, empire waist is, how do you say? -- really, really bad. Once your stomach outgrows your boobs (and, don't worry, it will), you may be able to get away with it.

True on the inherit thing -- in fact, if you're in NYC, I'll give you all my crap (and it's all CRAP). We can arrange a double-secret drop-off at a secure location... Come to think of it, I did (still do, I suppose. Somewhere, anyway.) have a couple pair of toile pants that were actually kind of cute. You could fit three of me in them now, but I actually liked them (from that store on 70th and Madison whose name I can't remember).

Maternity Wear
 

I had some slip dresses - they were a mostly normal looking skirt, but instead of waistband the top was a dress out of thin stretchy fabric. You wear a sweater or A-line over it. They were nice because the slip part was stretchy enough to accomodate belly growth. A few of those in dark colors were enough to get to work through the last trimester (with a suitable selection of big sweaters and the afore-mentioned A-line top).

I hated the adjustable skirts, and those stretchy panels.

Maternity Clothes
 

Be a realist. The period in which maternity clothes matter is very short. My contacts tell me that, not only is it short, it is distracting. Thus, you may hardly notice that you are not sartorially resplendant.

In other words, suck it up, be a closed-door office hermit for about two months, and spend all of that saved money on something fun post-delivery. You'll need that more, anyway.

Maternity Clothes
 

This is especially true if you have ginormous boobs like dtb.

Maternity Clothes
 

HAD, not have... HAD!!

Unfortunately (well, I don't think it's unfortunate, but others may disagree...), the ginormity is no longer. The five sizes (that's right, FIVE freakin' sizes...) that I inflated are long gone.

Imaginary friends (no, not you)
 

My 2.5 year old was telling me the other night about his imaginary friend, Hanu (or Hanoo; obviously it's difficult to get accurate spelling). When I asked him questions about who Hanu was, he could tell me only that (1) "Hanu is not a monster" and (2) "Hanu is not a skeleton." There weren't a lot of other available details; he changes the subject a lot. So I'm left to ponder the significance of the fact that these particular details were offered, as if to disprove the alternatives.

This being a post "Sixth Sense" world, I am now entertaining myself with the notion that my son is communing with an actual dead person, possibly a child, possibly an indigenous American (in this case, Ohlone or Costanoan, based on our geography).

Anyone else have kids with invisible friends, or have invisible friends (other than FBI agents posing as sexual predators in chat rooms, of course)?

Imaginary friends (no, not you)
 

One child had an invisible friend for a while at about age 4. We got a variety of vague details now and then, older kid expounded and expanded on the details, and one day the imaginary friend went away. But "it" was always a friend, and always another child of about the same age.

I was informed this week that Mickey and Minnie Mouse have moved in with us. At first, I understood that they were just visiting. But it is apparently a permanent move.

I have also recently been shown several "animals" whose names I can't really pronounce, much less spell. One of them spends a lot of time in our wine rack, hopefully not sampling the product.

Imaginary friends (no, not you)
 

I forgot to muse: I wonder if it runs in families. I never had one, but my wife did. Not indigenous American, though. Totally Anglo: "Susan Collins." Of course, my wife grew up in a part of the country where there were several additional centuries in which a little Susan Collins might have lived and died nearby, so you never know . . . .