PRgal

Happy Flag Day to my fellow Canadians! Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first time our maple leaf flag was flown. Here’s a Heritage Minute of the story

@StatisticalOutlier you can arguably say that an allergy IS a disability. And before anyone asks, no, I was not charged for that therapy session with the crazy dog.

Though the school doesn't feel it's necessary to get my son evaluated for ADHD. I'm beginning to think he should. We sent him to a one day camp today since schools were closed. When I went to pick him up, I was told by one of the counsellors that he was a bit distracted while the group was crossing the street and he could have been hit by a car. Being distracted isn't unusual for him - we see it ourselves at home and we always remind him that there are times to wear the "serious hat" and others where he can be silly and wear the "silly hat." Needless to say, we were pretty upset. He seems to shrug it off, which bothers me a bit. And I'm worried that this is beginning to impact his social life. The teachers keep on telling me that he's a very bright child and can go far. He just needs to limit the silliness and to focus.

Which was CERTAINLY not the case with that crock of a therapist I went to a few years ago. There was no notice that she used a therapy dog in her sessions and I showed up. That dog had issues of their own and probably needed a therapist too. Therapist refused to send the dog to a different room, telling me that they didn't do well alone. I walked out.

I have a so-called friend from high school who got upset at me for criticizing animals being in stores. I get the whole support and invisible disability thing (I have one myself), but does accommodating someone have to mean you can't accommodate another person? What if I'm allergic or have been traumatized by dogs? She then said that one had a choice not to go somewhere. Well, so do people who HAVE the dog.

I saw dogs without humans attempt to run out of the elevator in my building once. The dogs somehow ran in before their human was able to get in (older gentleman) and they landed on my floor. I shooed them in and called my building's concierge to let them know. As for dogs in stores and restaurants, I totally get support/service animals, but aren't they supposed to be wearing some sort of vest?

It’s really up to parents to make the change. I bought my son Madeline books but he didn’t seem interested (I don’t want to get him Eloise for other reasons). Ramona is to come. Males not reciprocating is one of the reasons why there are far fewer male elementary school teachers.

I love this video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF-jKX3RxqP/?igsh=a3V4bWtpdDhqMjR0 And I would never have thought to top noodles with devilled eggs

Met with my son's teachers today. I decided to meet with the specialists (i.e. art, music, gym, French) in addition to his regular classroom teacher. They're all saying the same thing. He works well independently but not necessarily in groups. He also tends to be stimulated/distracted when sitting with his BFFs. The Bug Bros are probably going to be split up next year. I asked about ADHD, but the teachers all say that they really don't flag for testing until Grade 2 since Grade 1 brains are still getting used to a more structured environment.

This is all a mess. I'm not religious, but I'm praying for you guys.

@Angeltoes Bingo = Nick Cannon #sorrynotsorry

Actually, A LOT of people who aren't fans of DEI (at least in the academic world) are Asian. See Harvard case. And how Mindy Kaling's brother faked being Black to get into med school. So it depends on the kind of DEI. I think certain specialities in medicine may benefit with full DEI (e.g. psychiatry - Asians (regardless of geography or culture, so not just Confucian-influenced cultures like Chinese and Korean) where mental health and mental health awareness is even MORE stigmatized).

We had our annual Spin of Prosperity dinner last weekend, delayed one week because my parents had to be out of town. It was Winterlicious (an annual restaurant festival. Technically not annual, since there's also a Summerlicious, but it's not really the same thing), so there was a limited a la carte menu, but the prix fixe had things that I eat, so we were good! Kiddo ordered from the children's menu, and THANK GOODNESS the kids' menu is more sophisticated than other places!!! Kiddo had steak frites. And yesterday, my husband and I had an early Valentine's Day dinner, ordering takeout from a nice Italian restaurant and having a dessert (below) I picked up earlier in the day.

Maybe it's just my Canadianness but this is what I think when I hear The Famous Five. One of the women was an alumna of my high school.

Do you mean the Fabulous Five? It was a spin-off of the Taffy Sinclair books, right? The girls lived in Connecticut?

Maybe we should call the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Crazy Childless Cat Ladies.

What did British girls (BSC was mostly, no, OVERWHELMINGLY read by girls. Boys may or may not have read it on the down low) read in the 80s and 90s? As for Ramona, I SOOOO wanted to squeeze an entire tube of toothpaste into the sink. Didn't, of course, because I, too, would have gotten in SO MUCH TROUBLE! I've heard of the show, but it was well after my Judy Blume years. I think they updated it to the (then) present time (so circa 2000s?)? There was a Fudge book published after my time too.

Schools around here are closed today due to the storm. And many have PA Days tomorrow too. So combined with being the Family Day long weekend, many kids are getting an EXTRA LONG WEEKEND!!! A lot of parents are working from home today, but that doesn't mean that last minute childcare isn't needed.....I feel badly for them. My son is with his grandparents for the day while I'm doing virtual parent teacher conferences with his teachers. He has a one day long camp tomorrow!!!! :)

I think my son will like Fudge/Peter more than Henry!

Kid in the late 80s, huh? Then you must have read Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley as well! Did you read Sleepover Friends? I think kids today would look at the Beverly Cleary books like how we saw, I dunno, Little House. Period pieces.

Yes. I thought starting with the Henry books would get him hooked easier than Ramona.

If You Know Who was my six year old, he'd be grounded for the rest of the school year. No birthday parties (not that he'd be invited, anyway. Well, maybe by the frienemies like Putin or Xi), no play dates, nothing after school save for piano and swimming. Must set the table for dinner every night. And must read three pages of a chapter book with me (PRkid HATES reading aloud but we do it to help him with pronunciation. We are currently going through Henry Huggins. It's above grade level, but I know he can handle it. It's also a lesson on how things were 70+ years ago when the book was first published. Like how $7 was A LOT of money!!!). I let him get away with not reading a couple of days a week.

Would he consider going to trade school? Does he like using his hands?

I will never forgive the CBC for not giving the show enough seasons to see them graduate from high school. Before Degrassi Jr. High, there was a show called The Kids of Degrassi Street.

Some of these are so regional that I didn't even pass that quiz!