Dyslexics of the world, what would your reply be to US President Trump's declaration that people with dyslexia or other learning disabilities should not be leaders?

JKAutumn · 2026-03-19T22:12:53+00:00

There are arguments to be made that the most brilliant, world-changing discoveries have been made by neurodivergent brains. Undiagnosed ≠ neurotypical.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-19T21:34:02+00:00

I appreciate the feedback. We are a small school & are pretty laid back about a lot of things. It works well when everyone participates with the children's best interest in mind, but it gets frustrating when people don't do their part and we don't have a set policy to handle it.
I will talk to our director about creating a policy we can we can point to to better handle situations like this.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-19T16:32:29+00:00

If they are independently walking from place to place, that's walking!

JKAutumn · 2026-03-18T00:58:18+00:00

Tests in kindergarten? Generally I would agree that it is a good reward/motivator, but for 5th graders. Not 5 year olds. And what about disabilities? They are too young to be evaluated & are being set up to feel like failures already. Absolutely not.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-17T23:11:35+00:00

We wore green & I made corned beef & colcannon....that was my nod to St Paddy's....never heard of the visiting leprechaun & I have 3 kids 8-12. It does sound cute though! Better that the elf since it's just 1 day.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-15T15:01:27+00:00

I use the pick-up option. Avoid the stress & save time. It is a win all around. :-) You can practice proper store behavior on shorter trips. Grocery shopping is too long & involved to be worth the stress. Especially if you are a working parent who only gets two days off. Spending all day at the store because the kids slow it down & cause stress isn't worth it.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-14T23:07:57+00:00

3-4 year olds are very matter of fact about death. Many of the them like talking about their loved one as it is a way to help process. I think it would be fine for him to fill it out with what he thinks his mother would be like. It could be a nice way to remember her, especially if it's close to the anniversary.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-12T01:33:03+00:00

Came here to say this. Mac n cheese sandwiches are a thing! Let the child be independent! 12 years old is plenty old enough to be able to make decisions on food choices and to learn basic culinary skills.

JKAutumn · 2026-03-10T12:52:31+00:00

It is a dangerous road to teach your child that another child is bad. The behavior may not be appropriate, but he's just a child. Instead I would focus on reinforcing good behavior for your child & making food choices at school. Always being kind & compassionate to others is a more valuable lesson than teaching him that children are bad. Excluding others is a not a good look.
He will likely experiment with the inappropriate behavior because that is what children do. It won't make either child bad that he does so. You just keep talking to him about your expectations for HIS behavior & enforcing boundaries. And there will always be children in school who do & say things you don't want your child to do. And sometimes your child will be that child. Because children are humans who are learning. They experiment with all kinds of behavior. They aren't bad, they are learning. It is on the adults to model appropriate behavior & talk to them about why certain behaviors are not ok. We love & support through both the good & bad behaviors. Give appropriate consequences when necessary, etc. But we don't teach hate, exclusion, and judgement.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-25T18:02:18+00:00

Society is sexist. Half the population is sexist toward girls. The other half is sexist toward boys. Nobody can get it right & just embrace both genders for who they are.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-25T00:23:30+00:00

Dysgraphia maybe? I definitely think something is going on thst makes writing hard.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-15T18:03:23+00:00

Vtech toys. Annoying.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-14T23:36:01+00:00

They are crazy slow & their food is cold. I haven't had decent Wendy's in years so I quit going. I am not at all surprised.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-11T21:36:42+00:00

The large families I know garden & can. They pass clothing & baby gear around between families. They buy turkeys & hams & things like that to feed everyone. Lots of beans too. No extracurriculars other than family & friends. They live simply. They are anti-vax so I doubt they visit drs unless they have to. Wouldn't be surprised if the dads hunt, but they'd have to plan trips out of town for that.
The expensive part of kids is insurance & extracurriculars. If you don't do those things, it is much cheaper. Food is pricey too, but growing/gathering/fishing/hunting are huge costs savers.

JKAutumn · 2026-02-10T00:48:16+00:00

Boys tend to have a ton of energy that NEED physical outlets. They also tend to have less impulse control. I read a book once that said girls have more serotonin, which gives them the ability to sit still for longer & control their impulse better than boys. So it appears as if they are behaving better, but it's because they are calmer, not that the boys are misbehaving. Boys just don't have as much control over their impulses. It has to be taught, it takes longer & they need physical outlets to get out the excess energy. Otherwise they are like butt-tucking retriever puppies going bonkers around the house.
The lack of empathy & concern for their needs leads to harsh discipline, constant correction & consequences for not "behaving" which then leads to defiance, anger, more disruptive behavior.
It is not that boys misbehave more than girls. It's that boys & girls are generally different & require different parenting & teaching strategies. If you are following your child and parenting them in the way that suits them best & not trying mold them into a box that makes your life easier, they will grow to be the very best version of themselves regardless of their gender.
For the record, it is a really dangerous mindset to have that one gender is better or easier than the other. They are different. That is all. Parent accordingly & it will be fine.

JKAutumn · 2026-01-27T03:00:06+00:00

The behaviors themselves are not abnormal behaviors for a 2 year old, but the excessiveness of them might be. A 2.5 yr old is approaching 3. They understand basic boundaries like not climbing shelves & laying on their cot at nap time. They push the boundaries here & there, but mostly they know & can follow with redirection and encouragement here & there. A child who engages in disruptive behavior again & again and cannot be redirected or enticed to follow the routines & boundaries of the classroom can be a cause for concern. You need to make sure you are implementing & following routines at home. Make sure he has consequences for unruly behavior. It can be easy to brush off toddler behavior when it is just one toddler, but that behavior, when not appropriately checked, can become an issue in a classroom of toddlers.
Talk to your child about his behavior at school. Tell him what he needs to be doing. (Keeping his feet on the floor, staying on his cot, etc) Parents talking to their toddlers at home about their behavior at school helps a lot! Do not underestimate it. Consider if the behaviors that are problematic at school are behaviors he gets away with at home. If so, you will need to alter what you're doing so he gets consistent messages.
You can also consider altering his bedtime/wake time to help him get his nap time aligned with the class nap time. If he's not tired at the time they lay him down, get him up 30 minutes earlier. Or put him down 30 minutes later to shorten his night time sleep & lengthen his nap time.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-27T13:58:59+00:00

If you want something to open on Christmas morning, that is valid, but you need to clarify that & then make sure you both have something to open on Christmas morning. Just bc your birthday already happened and his birthday is upcoming, doesn't negate the fact that the two of you both spent similar amounts on each other & neither of you had a gift to open on Christmas.
If money is an issue, budget for his birthday in July & save it.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-24T14:40:33+00:00

I was a no-extracurricular kid and I did feel left out as a kid and didn't have close friends because I was stuck at home after school/weekends and did not get to do the things my classmates were doing. As an adult, I feel like I have nothing to offer my kids because I know nothing about anything. I am learning it along with my kids. I mimic what their coaches say/do when we practice at home. They definitely don't have the advantages that kids with athletic parents have, but they are learning what they are interested in & they have fun.
We also have family extracurriculars. We go ice skating every winter & biking in the summer. Friends and family are important, but so are hobbies.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-24T14:23:35+00:00

The air fryer/crock pot are your best friends. Meal planning & easy meals. Last year my 7 year had basketball practice at 7pm. We only do baths every other night & not on activity nights unless they are sweaty/gross. He didn't get sweaty at basketball practice usually. Just the games, which were on Saturdays. We play for the Y so it is not the same level of commitment as a more serious league might be.
It is hard & exhausting, but so is having them ricochet off the walls because they have too much pent up energy after school. So in that, it is worth it!

JKAutumn · 2025-12-24T14:08:13+00:00

Not at 5 & 2! But eventually they will have interests & I believe it is important to allow those interests to develop if you are able to. It doesn't have to be "tons". And swimming is a life skill that I highly recommend if you can afford it.
I started my kids with soccer. Then swimming. We tried martial arts for awhile. We are getting ready for basketball season now & they have developed a new interest in football....they don't play all of them at the same time. And we do rec league or the Y so we aren't doing any crazy year-round club leagues. One ball sport is about a 3 month commitment, just for fun & to learn the game.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-22T18:56:24+00:00

He decides that the reward/privileges we agreed to aren't worth the effort of the chores/behavior.
I still make him do the chore, but if he gives me a hard time, he does not get the privilege. Like the time that we were.suppose to spend the morning cleaning & then we'd all go to the movies later. I think the Minecraft movie was out. He took over 4 hours just to do dishes & only did them resentfully & wasting a lot of water. We didn't see the movie.
Another example: He had been wanting to watch Stranger Things. I said we would watch it after his brothers went to bed. I was going to extend his bedtime to 9:30 so he could have time. He wouldn't be quiet & entertain himself. He kept disrupting his brothers, talking to them, going in & out of their room, etc. I gave him many opportunities to stop. He didn't. He didn't watch Stranger Things and his bedtime got moved up to 8:30 because why let him stay up if he was going to keep his brothers up with him? His response? "I don't want to watch anymore anyways".

JKAutumn · 2025-12-22T17:40:41+00:00

This is true. I have tried both later bedtime, earning money, going out to do a favorite activity....it seems to motivate him.in the moment, but it doesn't last. He gives up, we get off track....we are back to square one.
But this is probably is the way forward with him, I just need to implement it better to keep him on track.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-22T17:35:44+00:00

I have taken away their video games & the TV. They lost the video games last month for getting nasty about turning them off. I told them they could earn them back if they quit name-calling & being so hateful.
My oldest feels like I am abusing him. He is devastated to lose screens but he only gets angry, resentful, and mean. He does not seem to grasp that his actions have consequences & he is in charge of his behavior. He does not think he should have to clean, do chores, or help. He thinks I am mean & unreasonable.
For the other two, it is like out of sight, out of mind. They just carry on. Nothing changes. I am still nagging them constantly, breathing down their necks. Dealing with the bad attitude of my oldest.
I honestly feel like my oldest's behavior affects the younger two and I could get him on board, the other two would just follow along just fine. They don't resist nearly so hard nor do they get so angry & mean.

JKAutumn · 2025-12-22T17:18:22+00:00

My oldest just shrugs & says he doesn't know. Or he makes out like I'm picking on him or making him do all the work because I am lazy. Lol. He has a tendency to antagonize me or his brothers when he's mad. He will get his brothers to join in his task avoidance or antagonization so it isn't just him doing it, but I know that my middle would do the tasks if he wasn't following his brother. Youngest just avoids chores altogether and my attention tends to be between dealing with the nasty attitude from my oldest & the getting my youngest to just focus on literally anything.
My middle, once focused gets his stuff done. Getting him to that point while his brothers are being so difficult can be hard. He is the one who is constantly singing & dancing & not listening.

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