I got toys for the nieces and nephews. Did pretty

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My brother-in-law and sister-in-law moved back to this state recently after being gone for many years. They have 2 teenagers. All 4 are living with grandparents right now, most probably indefinitely but that's a whole other story. My question is how often do your niece/nephews spend the night at your house? Mine are also out of state so it is hard to say what it would be from that side. I just feel like after having little family here for so many years I am now on family overload. These kids want to stay and be with us all the time. Granted, I understand they have no friends bc they aren't in school yet and they like us more than gma/gpa and their own parents but I rarely say no bc I don't want to be the bad guy but I like my piece and quiet! and of course I like less mess to clean up. not to mention teenagers are expensive. So what's the average out there? Once, twice a month?

I did it alone with child support help and being an MT. You can only imagine the hours it took to support 7 kids!!!!

Anyway, we never had money for fun stuff and if we had all the necessities it was a very good month. I finally told them: Look, I make $20-25 when I am working. Working means my hands are on the keyboard. I don't get paid to pick up your junk, clean the kitchen or scrub the toilet. Every time I have to take time away from the desk to do these things FOR YOU, it is costing YOU $20-25 for things you need/want. The more hours I can work, the more we have in the bank.

I can't tell you why they listened, but they did. They got to where they would name a "price" for a bigger job like cleaning the family room alone, doing all 3 bathrooms for me or cleaning the kitchen and then doing the floor in the kitchen and diningroom (it was huge). The "price" might be a movie ticket, a whole weekend with a friend, nail polish, large candy bars, a much-desired item of clothing. Small jobs could be added up and presented to me as a list and negiotations began. They worked, I "paid" and the house was no longer a mess. I also made more money under less stressful conditions.

My own kids, now grown, have all come to me and thanked me for the way I raised them. I used to say, I know you don't like this, but by the time you are 21, you'll thank me. They were all 19 when the said they feel that they were raised better than all their friends and thank you for being a great mom. They marvel at the spotless house I now keep alone and that I am always to calm like I have no stress. I remind them, I only have to take care of myself these days and you all were a LOT of work.

The LeapFrog Tag thingy. I saw them at Wal-Mart and it looks like certain books work with it. I saw the advertisement and thought it was neat until that crazy man in the lizard costume or whatever it is insinuated that books are boring unless they can be used by that talking pen. I cannot figure out how that thing helps kids learn to read as it says it does. It looks to me like that pen reads for them. My 6-year-old is in first grade and they are trying to teach her to read by phonics. So when she and I read together whenever she stumbles across a word I have her try to look at it and sound it out before I will give her an answer and most of the time she can. I think I am just frustrated by that whole industry now anyway because I have had salespeople come to my door basically telling me that my kid is going to be a dumbazz if I don't buy their expensive junk....all the other kids have it and mine will be left out in the cold. I guess I am not giving those electronics a chance. I cannot see what they can do for my child that I cannot.

With mine, the store-bought toys usually get ignored, while she instead plays happily with the box the toy came in. Strings are pretty much the Numero Uno toys for her. And bags. She spent this morning smugly sitting inside a clear plastic bag that had been a 12-pack of toilet paper, thinking I couldn't see her.

Lately she's developed an huge liking for grocery twist-ties. So recently I began making her "spiders" out of a couple twist-ties twisted together in the middle to form a body, and the ends of the ties are legs. She goes NUTS with these, especially in the kitchen, since they scoot and skitter in a very lifelike manner when she bats them across the linoleum. She also likes to grab the spider and zoom all over the house with it.

Eventually she hides them, and I have to make her another. I'm sure that someday if I ever move, I'll probably discover old twist-tie "spiders" in all sorts of unlikely places.

I came across this blog today on Craigslist: http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com/

And if you have a dog, it's a must-see. It details what happened to a dog that was severely injured by a dog toy called a "Pimple Ball" made by Four Paws, Inc. The dog ended up losing his tongue, and the pain he had to endure was excruciating.

The dog's owner relates that the Four Paws Co. hasn't owned up to the fact that its toy is dangerous, and he's calling for a international boycott of Four Paws, Inc. After watching his video links of his poor dog's suffering, even though I have cats, I plan to be sure I don't purchase ANYTHING from this company, andhopefully you won't either.

If it is something solid like that, the Drano can't break it up. In our case, it was the toilet when our kids were small with a Petey toy from McDonalds. We tried plungers and eels, and finally took the toilet up, and there it was stuck in the curve of the drain.

First, try a plunger and see if you can get it to break loose. Yes it will kind of make a mess, and I recommend the 2.00 trip to Walmart to use a sanitary new plunger! If that will not do it, try taking the trap off (the u-shaped piece of pipe). Most pipes these days are plastic PVC so it should be pretty easy to loosen the fittings. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT! Shut both the hot and cold water valves off under the sink before doing anything!! Yes again speaking from experience! If the water lines come loose during this process, it makes a HUGE mess. Whatever is plugging your sink up is probably trapped in there. Yes it is kind of gross what sticks in your sink, but it is much cheaper (2.00 for the plunger) than calling the plumber. If that still does not work, then call the plumber. The problem may be underground roots from trees near the home or who knows what. Hope this helps.

Millions of toys recalled; contain 'date rape' drug

Two U.S. children went into comas after swallowing Chinese-made Aqua Dots found to contain a chemical that converts into 'date rape' drug when ingested.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to the toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.

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In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

Fisher-Price recalls 155,000 toys for choking risk

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.

In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

More toys recalled on lead paint hazard

Panel to push for greater U.S. recall power

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I think it's wonderful that you posted this information for others to read. I had never heard of dogs tracheas collapsing, so this was new info I learned. Thank you for sharing.

The Christmas packages without bows reminded me of my cat, Flannel, who had a bow fetish. I could never leave wrapped presents around once bows were on because Flannel would sneak in and pierce every bow with her teeth. I saw her do it the first couple of times and she'd close her eyes and chomp with a look of ecstacy. She was a freak.