I'll try calling tomorrow. Im worried I may have put my new bank info in wrong.

I have a UTI. I forgot to say or they didn't record I'm allergic to macrodatin she told me the generic name which I didn't recognize but the pharmacy picked up on. But I'll have to wait until tomorrow because it's not called in yet and I'm hungry and tired and so over this day. I know better than to try and do therapy and a Dr's appointments on the same day but I didn't have much of a choice.

Adventures in parenting - the "Where do babies come from?" edition. Ryan had started asking about this. Buggered if I know the appropriate age for this discussion. I found out when I was a little older than he is, by going to the library and looking it up. I figure following his lead was my best option. He already had some notion, largely through watching (prepare to be surprised) nature programs with his daddy. He understood that a father and mother share DNA to make a baby. (He voiced this understanding to me once: "Daddy, how long was I growing in Mummy's tummy after you shared your mixture?") But he's in all of second grade now, and he wants details, dammit.

Of course, first I explained just how important this aspect of life is by drawing lessons from nature, namely the extremes animals will go to in order to procreate. So he now knows that this is a part of life that it's important to share with someone you love, because male gladiator frogs are willing to fight to the death with retractable switchblades for the right to breed.

He now knows the basics of sex (his response: "eww"), which we discussed with the help of the Knowledge Encyclopedia. [link] This is an excellent book that we often read together at bedtime (interspersed with the 39-Storey Treehouse). I think it went well, although I'm concerned he may have formed the impression that men develop retractable bony spikes in their wrists during mating season. (I also warned him not to discuss it with his classmates just yet, as their parents may yet be Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men about it.)

The harder part of the discussion was on the next page, which covered the other end of the human story - in a column on life expectancy. There was a world map showing how it differs between countries (which led into a discussion about AIDS and life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa). And there was a pie chart showing causes of death around the world. One item caught his eye. "Daddy, what's 'Deliberate self-injury'?" So now my boy knows about suicide. It came up again last night, in all places, on a freakin' David Attenborough episode. It discussed Paul Kammerer, an Austrian zoologist who conducted experiments with amphibians. One of his findings was found to have been faked, and with his reputation ruined, he shot himself. That night, Ryan was asking me what he should do if he had nightmares about it.

In the last month, we've had discussions about Australia's policy on refugees, the US elections and Black Lives Matter. Somewhere around the start of this year I stopped just raising a child and started raising a future adult.

Oh man, that's so weird but sad but awesome, billytea. Kid is getting so big!

Somewhere around the start of this year I stopped just raising a child and started raising a future adult.

Looks like you're good at it, too.

Buffista parents are amazing and I appreciate them. They're making some awesome kids.

100% what Zen said.

Totally agree. I can't imagine a better guide for a bright, inquisitive child than you, billytea--you haven't grown out of being bright and inquisitive yourself, yet. May you never do.

billy you are raising an amazing kid.

The saga of my dr's continue. When last we left there was miscommunication and I was prescribed an antibiotic I'm allergic to. I called, the office said they'd let the dr know and she'd call something in.

I called this morning. Either she never got the note OR she wasn't able to call it in because she was with patients all day through the evening (we were really busy). She's not there today but the covering physican would call something else in. The original plan with my doctor was - she'd call in a scrip and send the sample out for culture and let me know if I had to change medicines.

The doctor on call is now waiting until the culture comes back to prescribe the right thing. Which could be Monday. I know this is largely my fault for not catching everything but this is not doing me any good. At least I think I have most of the pain under control.

AND the urologist they referred me too called and I have an appointment on Monday. It's in the same town as my therapist's office which is a drive but at least I can go back to dealing with a urologist for these problems.

Ugh, askye that sounds miserable.

ltc is most definitely my kid. She very much prefers grains to vegetables so far. She liked rice cereal. She isn't that impressed by sweet potatoes, but she is absolutely loving her first taste of oatmeal this morning.

There's definitely a genetic component to taste, sj, although it always surprises me when my kids pop up with flavor preferences that come from the other side of their family tree. Like back when my son didn't like chocolate. How could someone who doesn't like chocolate spring from my loins?

I'm still in awe of the fact that I apparently gave birth to an extrovert. How the heck did that happen? What am I supposed to do with an extrovert?