taysteewonderbunny

CAVEAT: The following advice is per what I would do if I were in a long-term babysitting situation with a child who exhibited this behavior. I'm not a professional and I'm not a parent. Do you make her clean it up? If you don't yet, I recommend you start. I'm assuming that she is doing this to get your attention and she may not care whether the attention she gets from you is good or bad. Leave the toothpaste and the soap in the bathroom since it's the easiest to clean. Then, when she gets into it, instead of yelling at her, try encouraging her: "Ooh! I see a spot you missed on the mirror. Don't forget to smear toothpaste there, too." But when the mess is made, be prepared to show her how to clean up. DON'T DO IT FOR HER, but get her started. Tell her that if she is big enough to make a mess on purpose, she is big enough to clean it up. Don't let any amount of whining and crying deter you. Don't yell or criticize, but be firm and keep her company for the duration. Then, when she is done a good enough job (for a five year old--she should be able to get most of it up), complement her on the work she did. Be consistent in this so that she cleans up all her messes, even the regular ones, like picking up her toys, and helping to clear the dinner table. Also, if you don't have one on one messy play with her every day, it may be time to make sure she gets some. Making messes are part of being five; it's part of building the creative process and part of lessening anxieties. If this persists, or your daughter has tantrums that escalate, especially if she becomes violent toward others or herself (and it carries beyond threats to herself where she could do real harm), definitely seek the advice of a professional. I'm also not against spanking one's own children, but I think it should be reserved for the most severe situations, such as when kids do something impulsive that could result in loss of life or limb, like running out into the street or reaching into the yard of a fenced animal--just because the pain is a strong motivator to NEVER repeat the activity again. In other situations, it may be too easy to let it be about one's own hurt feelings and not the best interest of the child. And, no, I am not raising a child yet. It will be fun to see if I seem as smart then when I have my own screaming brat to care for! But I have done a good deal of babysitting "problem" children, and teaching kids that they are responsible for the AFTERMATH of their destruction does go a long way in deterring it in the first place, provided that the destruction isn't a symptom of a deeper unmet need.

I agree. That makes my day.

Spook and I have a tent with FOUR ROOMS in it. Seriously, we could have a circus in there.

I hope everything goes well.

Wow. That really IS hate worthy. Seems like you should be able to give them a hard swift kick in the shins so that they are indeed feeling pain prior to medication.

I think I nearly completely agree with you on something.

I love it that a man cited in the article claims to be outraged over Frito Lay's use of his idea when he admits sending it to them years back. 1) By sending them the idea unsolicited using their product and branding, he has relinquished any claim to credit or remuneration, 2) he is hardly likely the ONLY person to have had such an idea, 3) at the time of his submission, they responded that they weren't seeking third party input--legalese for: if we use it, you won't get credit.

Go to the movies with Spook.

Awesome find. I have a pet theory that homosexual activity is biologically desirable to promote cooperation within the species (as opposed to the largely competitive behavior of heterosexual mating). [Pun intended.]

So you have more respect for someone who would stab you in the back....?

All I want to say is: Walgreen's does not offer pap smears.

Nah, I'm okay with you. I mean, I edit everybody, including myself, and I'm actually hardest on me: I only post about ten percent of the things I begin to type and even those have been edited to death and I STILL make errors. Some errors I know are done in haste and that's okay. Some are stylistic or tonal choices and that is fine. It is the consistent errors of those who just don't care that bother me. And that's only because I put such priority on language. I suppose that if I were as obsessed and nerdy about math or something else and NOT language, I wouldn't even notice.

I love you dearly, but was it necessary that we watch that particular episode during dinner? It was kind of hard to choke down my squash during.

I got what I wanted: someone with good spelling and grammar. It's nice not needing to mentally edit everything he says or writes. Actually, he corrects me betimes.

No, no, no. They shouldn't have the account numbers. I don't even think it's legal for them to ask. The social security number is, though, because they can use that to generate a credit report--HOWEVER, they should have a legal waiver which you must sign first acknowledging that they plan on making the credit inquiry because those inquiries (and potential subsequent rejection based upon that inquiry) can affect your score. From what you said was on the application sounds to me more like this is a scam. NEVER give bank account information and credit card numbers to your landlord or employer. They have no legal reason to obtain them.

I think I found a list of some resources that might actually be useful in learning ancient Greek. Try here. If it isn't actually useful, accept my advance apology and know I didn't really put much effort in it but entered the first not totally garbage link that came up in a web search. Sorry.

Please stop being so offensive. That's my mom you just called out there, and no, she is not lazy, never was, and no, she never did have a hidden agenda. My mom was never adverse to work. She was up at 4 am most days so that she could take a five mile walk before my dad left for work. She did all the housework, the bulk of the child-rearing, and was up until 10 or 11 at night checking school papers or doing lesson plans. She put herself through college working four part-time jobs; her parents never paid a dime. And she paid off her school loans within five years, forgoing vacations, new clothes, and even doctor visits to do it. Then, she went back for her masters. She wanted to make money representative of the 300+ credit hours she put in to getting her degree. Her first year out of college, she made $4,000 working full time with no benefits. She wasn't allowed to leave her classroom to pee. She had no real lunch break. And, there was no maternity leave. Teachers who had kids then often were expected to leave the field--permanently. That's why my mom joined the union. She wanted a fair crack at a lifetime career that she loved at adequate compensation so that she could support herself and a family.

I am not even quite confident that Rosetta Stone, even if you did buy it, would be that helpful re: Greek and Latin, since you would want to know (probably) ancient Greek (relevant to Classical studies), and their Latin program apparently has the same immersion/conversational approach as their other products when, really, you will need to read and write in it much more than speak it. My advice is to contact the Classical Dept. of a university and seek their advice. And after all that, no, I don't know shit about on-line software.

Somewhere, supposedly, there is a video of me wherein I'm getting married to the love of my life, but as seeing is believing, and I have yet to see it, I am wondering now whether ever I was married or if it was just a delicious dream. If it is but folly, I shall entertain the happy delusion for the remainder of my days. But if it is fact, I would have the video, please.

First, you are misusing, as most everyone does, the phrase "begs the question." Begging the question is an error in logic where the conclusion of the argument is stated IN the argument as one of the propositions making up the argument. As to your ACTUAL question: I find that separating a person's public acts, particularly his or her artistic work or political acts, from his or her private foibles very helpful. Otherwise, I would end up "hating" every author, musician, actor, or politician I currently admire [bukowski--ASSHOLE, Beethoven--ASSHOLE, Ralph Fiennes--ASSHOLE, FDR--ASSHOLE]. Secondly, keep in mind that just because these people are famous does NOT mean that they are anything other than human, and not humble monk-like future saint human either, but human like those members of your family you would rather disown, just like the rest of us. Except they're famous.

Yay! Wonderful news!

Awesome news, SK! So happy for you, but I will miss you. Why don't you come over to the next stone soup (Tuesday, March 28, 6ish 'til 9) so Spook and I can give you congratulations in person? *hugs*

I can flip my tongue, too, but only in one direction. I can get it to make a bowl shape and a clover shape, too, but I haven't found any use for it besides entertaining small children. I mastered gleeking in middle school, but it didn't make me any more popular (or unpopular either, actually). I'm pretty good at crossing my eyes and can sort of imitate this thingee with them:

It doesn't say they don't bite ever. It says they bite only after obtaining permission to do so. Anyway, it's not my thing, but I don't necessarily dismiss someone for going for this kind of thing. To each his or her own. Besides, we have at least one member (after reviewing all that site's members) in common.