I agree that whether the teacher is competent in his math skills is the most important issue. I do not, however, think that that should be the only valid issue. In my mind, for an educator, regardless of subject taught, to send home a note abusing the language arts as badly as that note does sends a message that English simply doesn't matter anymore. "Dumbing down" is completely acceptable and even encouraged. (I'd better stop there - I just went into a rant that belongs on TOF - not here.) I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it yet, but I agree strongly with Suzy that doing nothing is giving silent approval. I'm very bad at confrontations (which is why #2 DS [the one Jan referred to] is now living with his father), but I might be able to manage Meldy's "draft" line. I really appreciate the input, keep it coming! Thanks! BTW - on the topic of "dumbing down," does any one else go nuts every time someone says "bird flu" instead of "avian flu?"

This is so great. My 9yr ds loves the Diary of a Whimpy Kid series. He also likes Beast Quest and Goosebumps. Both my kids have always loved encyclopedias and history type books. We picked up a book on tanks and army machines recently. I did not allow my dd 12yrs to read Twilight because she is struggling with boy/girl stuff and told her she could in highschool. She loves the Riordan books and is also reading the books Glass, Impulse, Crank. The library rarely has these in so she has had to wait. She reads them over and over. This weekend she read one in just a few hours. I know these are very grown up but these kids are being forced to grow up so fast. She is studying sexual reproduction in Science and this is not the class we had 30 years ago. They say it is because our kids are being forced to grow up to fast these days that we need to teach them about sex way earlier. I remember my mom not wanting me to see "the movies" in science because she simply did not want us to know anything. But these days your 12yr old will end up pregnant if you don't teach them early. At least the teacher she has is really taking this from a scientific approach which is a great way to learn. I told ds that she will learn why things happen the way they do, where most of the boys in her class just think it is all funny when the teacher uses certain phrases. When she comes home it is easier to then take the scientific info she now has and apply it to real life. So when she reads these books about addiction and abuse she looks at the subjects more deeply and we then discuss them. I really want her to see how harmful things can be and how it really can ruin your life and everyone around you. She likes to have these kinds of talks so that makes me happy. She never liked the Little House series for some reason. She recently read Uncle Tom's Cabin and has picked up Pride and Prejudice but has not completed it. I am seriously going to look into some of these other series for her. It is so hard to tell if one is going to like something or not. The folks at our used bookstore were really helpful in suggestions too.

Thank you all for the help! I'm really unsure how to move forward from this point. It sounds like I probably should have hired an architect from the beginning. Or, at a minimum contracted directly with the designer to prepare the plans instead of him being sub-contracted through the builder. The one time I was able to speak to the designer, he seemed knowledgeable, so I don't want this to sound judgmental towards him. I think we just got ourselves into a poor process from the start, where the builder is the middle man and there is probably lots lost in transmission. Would it be worth it at this point to consult with an architect? The foundation is poured, so there is only so much we can change. Plus, we already have financing, so there is definitely a limit to changes without blowing our budget. Windows should still be easy enough. Would an architect even want to touch this at this point? I'm not even sure what services I would need from him/her at this point? What I normally do... is to locate the egress window (only one is required per bedroom) ...on the sides.... So, if I understand this correctly, this wouldn't resolve the issue of needing to switch window types (double hung to casement/slider) to avoid the 18" sill height, but it will put the window on a less noticeable side of the house. My three windows were placed higher and ganged together and they were narrower. On the other wall I made the single window wider and then added a window seat below it. That sounds like a lovely way to disguise mismatched windows. Do you have a picture of the window seat/egress window? I tried searching through your older posts, but didn't see it. I'd suggest a traditional approach often used in 2- and 3-story traditional residences, i.e., the windows on the first floor were the largest; the windows on the second floor were visually smaller; and the windows on the third or any other upper level, such as dormers, were the smallest of all. Virgil, thank you for lesson. I've always felt something wasn't quite right with the elevation, but couldn't figure out what it was. Part of what is triggering this ordeal, is that the plans were drawn with 10' & 9' ceilings, but the budget was based on 9' & 8'. When I caught the discrepancy, the builder didn't want to change the plans. I insisted because there is no way you can take out 2 vertical feet and not need to reevaluate the elevation, right?? Loosing those extra feet really made the larger 2nd story windows look odd and when I requested smaller windows, I was told they didn't meet code...would need casement windows...blah, blah.

Hubs and I have both had both doses of Pfizer, and both of us got both doses in our left arms. I'm 3½ weeks past my second dose, and Hubs is 4½ weeks past. The days after his second dose he felt really tired, but that was pretty much his only reaction. After my first dose my arm was sore that afternoon, which continued through the next day. After my second dose, my arm was really sore, and it lasted about 6 days. I was also very thirsty the afternoon and evening after my second dose, and tired the following day. My younger sister has gotten both doses of the Pfizer on the same days I got mine. She reported no after effects at all, but she has so many other day-to-day complaints that a sore arm and/or tiredness probably wouldn't register with her. My older sister and her husband have both received both doses. My brother-in-law got Pfizer on the same days my Hubs got his injections. I don't recall him having any reactions. My sister got the Moderna vaccine, and today she is one week past her second dose. She said that after the first dose, she had a headache and the next day didn't feel well and was tired. When she got the second dose (same arm as the first dose), she said that she immediately got a headache and an all-over feeling of malaise, so she went home and went to bed. She was also very thirsty. But the next day she was fine. Different people have different, if any, reactions to the vaccine, but for the most part, the reactions don't last more than a day or so and aren't intolerable.