pegs-and-dinos

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“who is linkin park?” - one shot KO by my younger coworker

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Cats getting caught doing crimes

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Yesterday, for the 4th time in 7 school days, we were called by the twins' school to pick up M early because she was having a meltdown and they couldn't handle her and were concerned for her safety.

Today, we had a 1.5-hour emergency meeting at the school with the principal, all five 2nd-grade teachers, both of the school's guidance counselors, and the school therapist. The student advocate sent detailed notes but had a previously scheduled appointment to attend.

During the same time as the meeting, we learned later, N became overwhelmed by the noise during an African dance performance in the gym, and had a 1:1 with the Assistant Principal.

So just to recap, that was 10 school staff members (plus notes from an 11th) who were all focused on the problem of dealing with just my two kids.

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ugh I jinxed it, I'm sitting at the emergency vet with the puppy right now

been a while

Hi, tumblr. Been a hot minute since I posted an update.

My twins just turned 8 last month. They're... A lot. Very smart, very strong-willed, defiant, take no shit ever, impulsive, and easily overwhelmed. N lashes out if she thinks a child or adult is treating someone unfairly (sometimes she's right about the unfairness, other times she isn't, because she's 8); laudable impulse, but challenging to deal with when e.g. she starts yelling in a teacher's face that she needs to have more patience with a misbehaving student. (Her delivery needs work, too.) M meanwhile gets physically aggressive when she feels cornered or is frustrated at being unable to achieve her desired object. M also has chronic fatigue subsequent to a bout of Lyme disease almost 2 years ago, which both SUCKS in its own right and also makes the behavior stuff more challenging because emotional regulation and executive function drop even more when she's tired, natch.

School has absolutely no idea what to do with them and I can't entirely blame them. They run rings around their classmates academically but also have meltdowns that would raise eyebrows in kids half their age. They are alternatively each other's best friend and mortal enemy and it changes on a dime, sometimes multiple times per day, and parenting/teaching them is equally challenging in both modes. They're in separate classes at school except N will roam the halls when she feels like it or pop into her sister's classroom to chat when she feels so inspired. You'd think a 2nd grader would stay in her classroom when told, but N has figured out that it's very hard for anyone to actually _make_ her do anything she doesn't want to. So school mostly lets her do what she wants so long as she's not unsafe or disrupting other children (besides her sister), and so long as she's completing enough work to be making As in all her classes.

They're lucky they're cute little white girls but they're still running out of time to get their shit together.

Baby Pastiche is still with us, he's going to be turning 1 soon. His parents are still very invested and really want him back, but they also still don't have their shit together. And the court system is still incompetent. His 4 older siblings all have permanent homes elsewhere. I have no idea where his case is going to go but I don't imagine it will be closed any time soon. People have started to ask us if we would want to adopt him if it comes to that and my answer is always that that has never been our goal. Everything is on the table right now and I just have to hope that whatever the courts decide will match what is best for Pastiche, and that what is best for Pastiche is compatible with the rest of our household's needs.

For now he's just a very cute, extremely chill, healthy, happy little baby with no idea about any of this. The twins adore him and it's truly delightful to watch their bond with him. At least there's no shortage of people who love him in this world.

We got a new puppy in January and she's snuggly and soft and fantastically uncomplicated.

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Really been mulling this over a lot lately.

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been a while

Hi, tumblr. Been a hot minute since I posted an update.

My twins just turned 8 last month. They're... A lot. Very smart, very strong-willed, defiant, take no shit ever, impulsive, and easily overwhelmed. N lashes out if she thinks a child or adult is treating someone unfairly (sometimes she's right about the unfairness, other times she isn't, because she's 8); laudable impulse, but challenging to deal with when e.g. she starts yelling in a teacher's face that she needs to have more patience with a misbehaving student. (Her delivery needs work, too.) M meanwhile gets physically aggressive when she feels cornered or is frustrated at being unable to achieve her desired object. M also has chronic fatigue subsequent to a bout of Lyme disease almost 2 years ago, which both SUCKS in its own right and also makes the behavior stuff more challenging because emotional regulation and executive function drop even more when she's tired, natch.

School has absolutely no idea what to do with them and I can't entirely blame them. They run rings around their classmates academically but also have meltdowns that would raise eyebrows in kids half their age. They are alternatively each other's best friend and mortal enemy and it changes on a dime, sometimes multiple times per day, and parenting/teaching them is equally challenging in both modes. They're in separate classes at school except N will roam the halls when she feels like it or pop into her sister's classroom to chat when she feels so inspired. You'd think a 2nd grader would stay in her classroom when told, but N has figured out that it's very hard for anyone to actually _make_ her do anything she doesn't want to. So school mostly lets her do what she wants so long as she's not unsafe or disrupting other children (besides her sister), and so long as she's completing enough work to be making As in all her classes.

They're lucky they're cute little white girls but they're still running out of time to get their shit together.

Baby Pastiche is still with us, he's going to be turning 1 soon. His parents are still very invested and really want him back, but they also still don't have their shit together. And the court system is still incompetent. His 4 older siblings all have permanent homes elsewhere. I have no idea where his case is going to go but I don't imagine it will be closed any time soon. People have started to ask us if we would want to adopt him if it comes to that and my answer is always that that has never been our goal. Everything is on the table right now and I just have to hope that whatever the courts decide will match what is best for Pastiche, and that what is best for Pastiche is compatible with the rest of our household's needs.

For now he's just a very cute, extremely chill, healthy, happy little baby with no idea about any of this. The twins adore him and it's truly delightful to watch their bond with him. At least there's no shortage of people who love him in this world.

We got a new puppy in January and she's snuggly and soft and fantastically uncomplicated.

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every time you see a headline like this

I want you to remember these ones

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One thing people often forget about the Black Death is that the plague was still a major problem after the initial epidemic. There was a time before it and then there was a time after it. And it was always a concern. The last major urban outbreak was in Los Angeles in 1925. Only 100 years ago.

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So… I got a notification from the State Department at like 8 PM Pacific that my passport was approved, and I was quietly thankful and stunned bc my legal gender in Oregon is listed as X, or undeclared, and that's what's on my passport. I'm pretty sure someone(s) worked late to get the X passports done today.

I was already really grateful to whoever in the Seattle Passport Office worked late to get these things processed on the last Friday before That Man gets back into office... and then I got a notification that my passport shipped at fucking midnight Pacific and whoever got that shit out the door so it couldn't be picked up on Monday and like, denied and shredded?

They're my fucking hero.

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Dealing With Executive Dysfunction - A Masterpost

The “getting it done in an unconventional way” method.

The “it’s not cheating to do it the easy way” method.

The “fuck what you’re supposed to do” method.

The “get stuff done while you wait” method.

The “you don’t have to do everything at once” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be permanent to be helpful” method.

The “break the task into smaller steps” method.

The “treat yourself like a pet” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be all or nothing” method.

The “put on a persona” method.

The “act like you’re filming a tutorial” method.

The “you don’t have to do it perfectly” method.

The “wait for a trigger” method.

The “do it for your future self” method.

The “might as well” method.

The “when self discipline doesn’t cut it” method.

The “taking care of yourself to take care of your pet” method.

The “make it easy” method.

The “junebugging” method.

The “just show up” method.

The “accept when you need help” method.

The “make it into a game” method.

The “everything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method.

The “trick yourself” method.

The “break it into even smaller steps” method.

The “let go of should” method.

The “your body is an animal you have to take care of” method.

The “fork theory” method.

The “effectivity over aesthetics” method.

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if you're aware of the Vulture article on Neil Gaiman, there's not much i can add; if you aren't and you go looking, my only advice is that if you hit a point where you're wondering if you should bail, do so, because the details of his behavior only get more vile as it goes along.

however, one thing i WILL say is to be on the lookout for smear campaigns against the sources and/or the journalist, Lila Shapiro, in the coming weeks and months. i cannot stress enough how brave this article is. if there's one thing more hazardous to your reputation than blowing up a rich and influential serial predator in the entertainment industry, it's making the church of scientology look bad, and she's managed to do both in one stroke. remember Lila Shapiro's name, and be extremely skeptical if it suddenly turns up later this year as the target of some slimy allegation.

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Medieval badge displaying three phalli bearing a crowned vulva in a procession, 1375-1450

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The wild thing about kids is that they are learning to exist in the world by watching you. So often Sweet Bean is clearly thinking "this is great. I am so normal and I am going to get a good grade in Being Human" and what he is actually doing is just a mortifyingly accurate impression of me, as a person.

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Less magic schools. More magic universities. Unlearn the simplified models of your secondary education. Discover how to reference scrolls written by a wizard possessed by a different wizard. Identify bias in the voices that whisper from beyond the veil. Have your institution be accused of promoting a Merlinist agenda. Become addicted to energy potions.

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