DDA Chapter 4

[Pooh67_68]

But if you stay POFQ, you get picked up and dropped off first. What doesn't he like?

I would prefer to stay at POFQ but DH hated the bus sharing.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Glynis, hope Alan feels better soon and you don't get to sick.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Jen, good luck with the dating site(s). And it can't be said enough, be careful.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Morning.

 

[yellowfish78]

Morning DDA!

Our SW flights for March have dropped again, but Bob doesn't want to switch to the cheaper flight! I don't know what's wrong with him...connecting through Midway and gets us in by 10:30am or nonstop that gets us in by 1:40pm. Personally, I'd be on the nonstop - but I guess that three hours is important to him. (Nevermind the extra $45 we'd save!)
OK...rant over for today. It's snowing (yet again) and I better attempt to leave early for work.

Have a great day everyone!!!

 

[marcij]

Now that I'm caught up it looks like everyone else has vanished. Alan stayed home from work with a monster cold! Runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing, coughing, you name it! He felt it coming on a couple of days ago, so I moved to the couch to avoid getting hit with it. Well, it didn't do much good apparently. My throat is starting to feel scratchy. I've started Zicam, and will take some cold medicine and head to bed. Still going to sleep on the couch, though, since I'm hopeful I can avoid the worst of the cold that way. Of course, my neck will be in need of one of Lindsay's massage pretty quickly. Ouch!!!

Night all!

I hope Alan is feeling better and that you are too!

Good morning, DDA!

Elin -- how are you feeling?

Lindsay -- good for you for the day of pampering. The spa sounds wonderful. I have a bunch of gift certificates that Randy gave me last Mother's day to use at the ZaSpa. He gave me enough for a day of beauty for me and a friend, or I could use them slowly over the months. I'm thinking with the boys sports schedule about the re-start, I should just go for the day!

I've been on the elliptical two days in a row, but really need to do a better job on food choices/volume. We got our garage cleaned out on Sunday (I paid my boys plus my nephew to help, and they made quick work of it -- I was so pleased!) and I did some other cleaning out in the house, but I have a lot more to go. The toy room will be the hardest. I don't know why I have trouble letting go of toys, but not other things in the house.

Have a great day DDA!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I'm in need of some advice. Long story short, I found out that Nicholas had taken a $50 bill out of Alyssa's money and put it into his. I confronted him, he readily admitted to it, and when I asked why he said he wanted to get enough money to get a Wii. I had the whole stealing talk with him, how I'm not proud of him for this, if he were older he would go to jail for it, and that I've lost trust in him. I have no clue how to punish for this. Taking away video games for a week or two just doesn't seem to do it justice. I considered having him pay a "fine" to Alyssa, since she is the one he stole from, but I'm not sure about that either. Anyone have any suggestions or have had this problem with your kids?

I think you have gotten some good advice already, but I also think Alyssa should get to help choose his punishment. Being punished by his little sister might sting enough to get the lesson to stick!

So....i have to tell you guys something that I havent told anyone...After chatting with some of you guys---and some of my friends---i have finally been convinced to sign up for an online dating site...
Then, as i was thinking about it, there was a post on the community board talking about some free ones..so i signed up and figured what the heck...i just signed up this morning, but have talked to one guy on instant messager.

So that was a big step for me..now we just see what happens...but i had to tell SOMEONE!

When I first moved to TX I joined a dating service. Of course there was no internet back then. In addition to being extremely careful I would suggest that you meet as many people as possible. I turned down meeting any guy who wasn't EXACTLY what I was looking for. I look back on it now and see that I could have made a lot of new friends, or maybe one of those guys would have intorduced me to someone I would have liked to date. I ended up meeting DH because the dating service was so freaking expensive I needed a second job!

Bernadette, just off-hand, I think your snack credit estimate is likely a bit low. Also, are you talking $10 for each of you for CS meals ($20 total per meal), or would you be sharing, so the $10 is total? If it's the latter, that might be a bit low too, in some circumstances.

Good luck with the number-crunching! It begins to make my head hurt after a while. I'm glad I can't do it currently, since I'm staying at the Swan.

Bernadette, did you add in the cost of tips?
DH and I talked about doing DxDDP for the one week at AKL. Even if we did a buffet breakfast and a signature dinner every day we would only save like $5 per day. I would have to go back and add a BUNCH of ADRs, and there are some days we would lose money even with the added ADRs. If we do buffet breakfast and signature dinner and use DDE we will save a lot more money. Even if DS orders an entree from the adult menu we will save money because the rest of his food won't add up to $70 per day. Snacks are about $3. Water is $2, ice cream is $3.

Not you guys too??? Hope you can get over it fast!

Feel better, Glynis & Alan!

Momboss said to keep Princess home from swimming today, so I guess we'll just run a couple of errands.

 

[tinknme]

Good morning

 

[Tammi67]

Girl you give me a headache.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

 

[mommykds]

Good morning! No school today & the kids have playdates.
Yes, I am still changing/adding my ADR's & I call tomorrow morning..still no TGM charts...

 

[mommykds]

Marci,
I can sooooo relate to your comment on getting rid of toys being harder than getting rid of anything else. We just got a new tv & some curtians & Disney accessories for the tv/playroom. The room was a mess so I dumped the toy box out all over the place & went through everything one by one. Some of the toys we have had since Katie was little & in my mind I could see her playing with them. I could see all my kids when they were little playing with those toys & now here they are too "old" for them & me having to give them away. That hurt.

 

[bethbuchall]

Marci,
I can sooooo relate to your comment on getting rid of toys being harder than getting rid of anything else. We just got a new tv & some curtians & Disney accessories for the tv/playroom. The room was a mess so I dumped the toy box out all over the place & went through everything one by one. Some of the toys we have had since Katie was little & in my mind I could see her playing with them. I could see all my kids when they were little playing with those toys & now here they are too "old" for them & me having to give them away. That hurt.

I'm trying to do this right now, too. To make it even harder, I have kids that have trouble letting go even though they haven't played with things in ages. I have to go through some things when they aren't around. Then I feel guilty.

 

[bethbuchall]

Now that I'm caught up it looks like everyone else has vanished. Alan stayed home from work with a monster cold! Runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing, coughing, you name it! He felt it coming on a couple of days ago, so I moved to the couch to avoid getting hit with it. Well, it didn't do much good apparently. My throat is starting to feel scratchy. I've started Zicam, and will take some cold medicine and head to bed. Still going to sleep on the couch, though, since I'm hopeful I can avoid the worst of the cold that way. Of course, my neck will be in need of one of Lindsay's massage pretty quickly. Ouch!!!

Night all!

I hope you feel better!

 

[bethbuchall]

Tammi,
Well I like the fact that he didn't try to cover it up. I give him credit for that. When my kids have done something wrong & when confronted with it & not lied to me, I have been more lenient.

If it were one of my kids, I would have him return it to his sister with an apology. Also I would ground him for at least a week or 2, no priviledges (tv, video games, playdates). I am also harsh with punishment so take it for whats its worth.

Just remember he's young & probably didn't think about what he was doing. At that age sometimes all they can see is the end (his Wii) & not the process to get there. Being a parent can sometime suck eggs eh? (but youre not alone!!!!)

I'm reading backwards, so I haven't seen the original post yet, but this makes a lot of sense to me, too. I give a lot of credit to my kids when they own up to something rather than lying about it. Also, if this is a first time and not a trend, I would be more lenient. Often once my kids realized what they had done and that they had disappointed us, they were harder on themselves than we would be. Have you asked him what he thinks his punishment should be? You can get some good insights that way, and it makes him think about what he has done. Plus it shows him that you are still a team and can work through rough situations together. You, of course, get the final decision on the punishment.

 

[bethbuchall]

Wish I could help you, but we haven't had this particular problem, yet. My SIL did have something like this happen. Her daughter stole 10 dollars from an older sister to buy a purse that she wanted. When her parents found out about it, she had to give the purse to her older sister, plus repay the 10 dollars. She was given extra chores to help pay it off. I also think that she wasn't allowed outside the house without an "escort" for a good long while.

Ok, now I've seen the OP. I haven't had that situation, so I'm not sure what I would hand out as a punishment. I will still plead for leniency for Nicholas, since he admitted to it. If he hasn't shown any other signs of stealing/cheating, I would use it as a teaching moment more than a discipline moment. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be punished at all. Also, if this is a first time, and he doesn't do anything wrong in the coming weeks, I'd let him know fairly soon that he has earned your trust back. Remind him, though, that a second offense will cause you to lose your trust in him much longer.

 

[bethbuchall]

Bouncy seats didn't come along until my last was born. We used it some. My boys were all swingers, they loved the swing. The johnny jump up was also popular, but their are new contraptions out for that. We could not have lived without the exersaucer for all 5 kids. I had at least 2 in the house at all times in varying rooms.

I don't remember exersaucers with my first two, but we didn't have the wheeled "contraption of death" that they absolutely loved. I made sure that they only used it under constant supervision and away from any stairs/hazards. I also had a johnny jump of sort of thing that they loved as well. My kids liked to be upright as much as possible.

I haven't had this problem, but if it were my house the Wii would no longer be an option. Alyssa's money would be returned and the rest of his money would be deposited into the bank with a clear understanding the he can't be trusted to monitor his own money until he was regained your trust. I know that I tend to be harsh with punishments, but I expect my children to know right from wrong and to make the right decisions. Sometimes it is tough to follow through, but I know in the end it is for the best. That being said good luck with whatever you choose.

It's interesting reading the different ways of thinking on this problem. I also have high expectations for my kids. After reading your opinion, I thought some more on it, and I'm still leaning for a little leniency for Nicholas. At Nicholas's age, I still think it's very important that he be allowed to earn that trust back relatively quickly for a first offense. If there are further offenses, then I would be extremely harsh.

 

[bethbuchall]

So....i have to tell you guys something that I havent told anyone...After chatting with some of you guys---and some of my friends---i have finally been convinced to sign up for an online dating site...
Then, as i was thinking about it, there was a post on the community board talking about some free ones..so i signed up and figured what the heck...i just signed up this morning, but have talked to one guy on instant messager.

So that was a big step for me..now we just see what happens...but i had to tell SOMEONE!

Good luck! Just be very careful when you set up meetings. I'm sure that you know all the precautions. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Have fun!

 

[Glynis]

Good morning, everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes! Alan is still feeling pretty icky! He's staying home from work again!!! That never happens. Add to that, he's staying in bed for the second day in a row!!!!! I've never seen that happen!! He must really feel icky. As for me? Well, my throat is still scratchy, but not swollen or very sore. I'll continue with the Zicam and cold medicine. Guess one of us has to parent, though, so that will be me. I'll get the kids off to school, finish putting up posters for the school play, and then run to the library to avoid any fines I might get by waiting until tomorrow. Then it's home to put the finishing touches on Katie's costume, and then I can relax.

Oh, I forgot! Got to stop at the store since we're out of milk. Might as well do the weekly shopping done, too. Good thing I did the menu for the week yesterday.

Better get off here and get my hair curled!

 

[bethbuchall]

Thanks. When I was talking to him I was telling him that when adults steal from other people they can go to jail for that. Then I said maybe you should have to go to jail....home from school and straight to your room. I told him he could come out for dinner but then back to his 'cell'. Then I explained that the only things prisoners could have in their jail cell were books and pencil and paper to write letter. He didn't like that suggested punishment at all!

Actually, that sounds like a great punishment if it isn't too long. Also, he should use that pencil and paper to write an apology to Alyssa and another to you. I think that you can make your point in several days, especially if he is thinking about what he did wrong while writing those letters.

 

[bethbuchall]

Since I have a ton of things that I have been putting off this morning, I should end my P3 and get something done. It's going to be afternoon before I do anything at this rate! I have a couple of things that have to be in today's mail that I need to go work on.

Have a great day, DDA!