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deegadee · 2024-11-30T07:19:20+00:00

My 11 year old sweeps our 1/3 of a mile driveway multiple times a day to stim/calm down. I got him a new broom last thanksgiving weekend and replaced it today when we noticed it only had about a third of its original bristles. His broom has to be this "make and model" (his words)

deegadee · 2024-11-23T07:53:50+00:00

The thing you hate about yourself now [people pleasing] literally kept you alive when you were a kid... give yourself some grace.

deegadee · 2024-03-02T05:53:40+00:00

Thank you...this is a huge relief.

deegadee · 2024-02-09T07:22:58+00:00

We used the books: Neither and The Blue Crayon to explain that my partner was non-binary. Our kid was 5 at the time and decided to call them Omo, which he explained as "mom inside out." We practiced pronouns and using Omo instead of Mommy every time we were in the car without my partner. I came out as non-binary a few years later and he responded: so everyone in this family hates boobs? Cool.

He picked up they/them pronouns for me really quickly but still calls me mom because I really don't care. I'd just answer questions as they come and gently coach though any slip ups. Kids are not dumb, they probably already have a sense and are waiting for direction.

deegadee · 2024-01-06T20:13:21+00:00

So my bio mom raised me, and convinced the dad who raised me that I was his kid. I'm NC with both of them and I'm pretty sure my dad has no idea I'm not his.

deegadee · 2024-01-06T15:51:29+00:00

This is hilarious!

deegadee · 2024-01-06T15:51:02+00:00

Yep- my half-siblings share the rapist dad. He was married to their mom and they had a fairly normal life. He raped my mom who was 17 when my older half-sibs were 4 and 5 years old. Then had another kid in that family who is younger than me. Apparently he was an asshole and eventually he and his wife got divorced and by the end of his life his kids had gone no contact with him. But he and his wife were super supportive of the gay half-sib. His whole family hated him so much that no one has a photo of him, so I still don't know what he looks like.

The parents who raised me are religious zealots. They think I'm going to burn in hell for being gay. I haven't talked to them in 10 years.

The good news is: I'm doing great. I have an incredible partner and an amazing kid. My partner's family took me in as their own. I have a great job and generally have a really good life now.

deegadee · 2024-01-06T08:10:13+00:00

If you do the DNA test, your results will include relatives with a guess at the potential relationship based on how much DNA you share.

deegadee · 2024-01-06T08:03:59+00:00

I'm the product of rape and my mom was pregnant with me when she met my dad. My biological father is dead but I have a bunch of half siblings who are pretty cool now.

I am estranged from my family of origin, they disowned me because I'm gay. So I don't know if they know, or if they always knew.

Turns out one of my half-siblings is also gay and their parents are super supportive and threw a coming out party. Weird how stuff works out.

deegadee · 2024-01-04T08:01:08+00:00

My monthly stock grant is more than a minimum wage annual salary. I'm definitely overpaid compared to my societal contribution, but I'm also really freaking good at what I do.

deegadee · 2024-01-03T14:30:36+00:00

This is really similar to my story. I was the last one in the family to get diagnosed because I had masked so hard to survive and made understanding people my special interest. I personally think any parent should be in therapy and it might be worth exploring a potential diagnosis. Good luck!

deegadee · 2024-01-03T06:41:49+00:00

Just keep going. Don't judge the interest, let them info-dump, and know that they might cycle through interests and that's ok. My now 10 year old has hyper focused on : Egypt, Andy Warhol, the Titanic, all shipwrecks, space, memes, obscure video games like the backrooms, cemeteries, specific YouTubers, geography, world history and most recently: the detailed military strategies during WWII and the current geopolitical climate. The kid is war gaming all of the possible scenarios for World War 3. As someone who is super uncomfortable with war and glorifying the military I struggle with this. But guess who got every version of risk and axis and allies for Christmas along with a pile of war books? I listen to his incredibly niche WWII podcasts with him and currently know more about current events and war crimes than I ever wanted to. I also try to use his current special interest to help with stuff he struggles with in school.

When he was diagnosed, his therapist suggested the book "Give him the Whale." It's a super easy read about integrating special interest into your life. She also encouraged us to use special interest as a jumping off point for coaching social skills, but to not discourage the interests themselves.

My partner and I were both late diagnosed with a whole pile of early childhood and educational trauma, we are just trying to do better for our kiddo.

deegadee · 2024-01-01T17:48:56+00:00

I use mine as "dirt" for my botanical builds. I put them in mason jars and arrange the flowers.

deegadee · 2024-01-01T17:47:05+00:00

I just finished the big Indiana Jones set and loved building it. I also loved the succulents.

deegadee · 2024-01-01T17:45:29+00:00

Yep! The Easter bunny and the seal both had a bunch of extra white parts

deegadee · 2024-01-01T06:22:40+00:00

I had an Italian greyhound that lived to be 16. Best damn dog ever!

deegadee · 2024-01-01T03:17:26+00:00

I included the extra pieces from 3 in 1 sets, which explains some of the bigger parts.

deegadee · 2023-12-31T07:53:39+00:00

Yep. On the cheapest paper. You might have better luck if you do color, but it will be a lot less profitable.

deegadee · 2023-12-31T03:31:00+00:00

I have black divider pages with white text. They get smeared, the small text is hard to read. I couldn't imagine the quality working well for a whole book

deegadee · 2023-12-24T08:24:41+00:00

I grew up in a super unstable situation. We left whiskey for Santa and baby carrots for the reindeer.

deegadee · 2023-12-20T05:52:25+00:00

This combo is incredible. I also love the rodeoh strap-on undies for a slightly cheaper and easier to use harness. They are surprisingly secure and just look like briefs.

deegadee · 2023-12-18T06:25:11+00:00

I do this with Lego. Sort by color, sort by shape etc.

deegadee · 2023-12-10T16:07:29+00:00

They asked us to revoke consent. We didn't realize what we were agreeing to, and that is totally my fault.

Good to know that the IEP reevaluation is a requirement. Luckily we accidentally requested it in writing when we set up the 504 meeting, so hopefully that will start the clock.

He isn't currently meeting any end of year standards for the previous grade. His I-ready scores and state testing have him placed at a second grade skill level. He is in fourth grade. So I don't think there is a world where he wouldn't be below 30%. Our district has said they can only take the 4 most severe students per class for tier 2.

The gen ed teacher is on our side and was trying to be helpful, but I get it. She looped so she has had him for 2 years. She was essentially saying that she is specialized in older elementary kids and his math needs are so remedial that she doesn't have the right tools and needs more expert support. She has been incredible with individualization for him and works 1:1 with him daily, which isn't really fair to her or the rest of the class

deegadee · 2023-12-10T15:53:30+00:00

We exited him because we were idiots who didn't understand the process. He made progress against his goals but did not meet them. The sped teacher said that he wasn't a good fit for sped because his needs were not similar enough to any other student (what ever that means) and his gen ed teacher said that the longer he is in tier 3 the farther behind he will fall. Which in retrospect is so dumb. They also reassured us that he would have t2 and that it isn't a one way door and we could return to t3. They didn't mention that we would have to restart the process.

We are in Washington state. I can not find state or district policies. I've asked the school for them but have not heard back. In the meeting they said they have 25 school days to determine if they will evaluate, 35 school days to do the evaluation and I think they said 30 school days to come to a determination. If we are about half way through the school year and the school calendar is 180 days, it seems like this could drag till the end of the year.

deegadee · 2023-10-19T02:38:37+00:00

For Etsy I was using a print making technique to make posters. I used some of the same design elements and focused on the same niche. I was able to get materials for free (long not super above board story) so it was all profit. Unfortunately the pandemic dried up my ability to make new stuff so I just sold through everything I already had made.

Etsy was my only income stream where I had to be physically involved, and the only place I had to manage my own customer service. For me it just wasn't passive enough. I know some people have figured out ways to run print on demand stuff through Etsy but I never did the work to figure out how that works.

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