Singthing

I'm considering opening a women's and children's (mainly girls) upscale resale store. I would carry clothes, shoes, purses and jewelry, as well as some gift items like frames, albums, perfumes, make-up mirrors, etc.

For those of you who buy clothes in consignment shops, can you please tell me what your reasons are? The location I am looking at is near several thrift stores, so I especially would LOVE to know why you might shop in my store, verses a thrift store? Of course selection is important, but could you be specific (desired prices, desired styles, desired brands, look of store, staff, etc?). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

It's a very big decision and I just want to make sure that I am going in the right direction. Thanks!!

I am trying to order our Christmas Cards and am unsure about this one (in reference to where the apostraphe would go in Smith, or if it even needs one)? Thanks!

My son is 3 and in a new daycare. It is the first time that I have been asked to pay more in a 5-week month like October. I have always paid by the month and always a couple days in advance of the month. Thus, I've always paid the flat rate for the month in other daycares and it has always been the same. I've never heard of a daycare charging more for a month with 5 weeks? Is this common?

I need to expand my current 1 car driveway to make it a 2 car driveway. I have heard that the new concrete will eventually fade over time to somewhat match the original?? I know that when it is first laid, it will look darker however.

Anyone have experience with this? I hate to have it look too mis-matched. Any advice? Thanks!

My son is almost 3. He has already had pink eye 5 times, including right now! Yesterday he was fine as we both happily raked leaves. He was having so much fun! And then a few hours later his eyes were both pinkish. This morning I see that indeed he has pink eye again!

We do not have pets, and live in a new house (so it never had pets in it). However, he does attend daycare and has since he was 1 year old. I moved his daycare to a new one about 10 months ago and his health overall has improved so much. And yet, we still have the pink eye situation.

Has anyone had similar issues themselves? Is there something I can do to prevent this from constantly recurring? His Eye Doctor doesn't have any clear answers. Are there homeopathic things like warm tea compresses or anything? I do put the antibiotic drops in his eyes every few hours as instructed but it is painful for both of us. He gets so agitated each time.

Thank you for your help and sharing any similar experiences.

My son will be 3 in May. He is coming along slowly in his potty training, all of which is at home however. He seems to be increasingly scared of public bathrooms, especially the sound of the toilet flushing. He just gets so scared and refuses to go near it.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what have you done to help your child overcome this fear?

Thanks very much.

This is the first real Christmas for my 2 1/2 year old son and me. So, I would like to get a real Christmas tree this year, verses my fake one. So, as a "first time real tree buyer", I do have some questions:

*When should you buy it to last longest?

*What type is the best for longevity?

*How do you protect hardwood floors under it?

*What is the best tree stand (plastic with the hole in the center or the metal ones that you screw in for the width of trunk?

*How to water it and when? Do you use aspirin in water?

*What to look for when picking it out at Tree Forest?

Any other advice would be great. It will be just me tying it to the top of my car and hauling it back to the house. Guess I also should know the best way to do that (string or bungie cords). I have a VW wagon with roof rails.

Thank you so much!

I have been offered a position and wanted to hear from others that have been in a sales position for upscale retirement homes or assisted living centers. Any information would be much appreciated.

OK, for those of you familiar with machinery, this may seem like the dumbest question you have ever heard. So, be kind in your answers as I am a single mom, new to using a lawn mower and apparantly very naive as to its use.

I have a Craftsman mower, just over 1 year old. It is a 6.5 if that matters, with a briggs and stratton engine. Evidently I think I flooded the oil tank. The last couple of times I used it, it would sputter out and die while I was mowing. So, I knew the gas was enough in it, and instead, I put more oil in it.

Unfortunately, it started to smoke up real bad and spew out thick stuff from the front side of it. I think it is oil actually. And of course, it shut down too.

Did I kill it? Is there any hope to fix it? If so, will it be expensive?

Thanks!

I am curious to know whether you use more gas by running your auto A/C at level 4, instead of level 1 for instance. Meaning, it pushes out more air, but does it use more gas to do so? If so, it is a lot more?

Don't know much about cars, but I do know that any way to save gas these days is always important to me!

I am a single mom who works 50++ hours per week. I have limited time, as well as, a limited budget. Plus, truth be told, I am really not a great cook. I need some ideas for pasta dishes or any type of meal that my 2 yr old son will eat and that I might be able to pack in his lunchbox the next day?? Something easy and quick.

He is a fairly good eater but I would love to find more ways to get him to eat his veggies (that is the age old question right)!

Anyway, all recipes and ideas are very welcomed!

The seller told me the car now has 2332 more miles than what was listed in the auction. They are a Dealer and have been selling on eBay for 6 years. They don't have very good feedback (95.3%) but I gave them the benefit of the doubt-till I learned of the added mileage.

The car is still a good deal and a couple thousand below the Kelly Blue Book. However, I am still bothered and considering not going through with the purchase. It just doesn't sit well with me.

Your thoughts?

I am curious to know how many single parents have ever lost a job because they could not find qualified childcare? Or, the childcare you had made your child constantly sick so you had to miss work (daycares)? I am finding it to be the hardest thing in my life as a new parent and especially being single with no living family as a back-up plan. Though I am excellent at what I do, College educated, and considered a valuable employee, the childcare issue is always at the forefront. Now it may even cause me to lose my job.

Any personal experiences with this would be much appreciated. Thank you.

I just found out there is a convicted Sexual Offender living in my neighborhood which is within 1 mile of an Elementary and a High School. I thought they were not supposed to live near a school?

I have worked as a Sales Manager for almost a year at a 4 Diamond Resort. They always preach about giving excellent service to guests. Well, it has to start from within.

My Boss is becoming increasingly bitter, unprofessional, and downright horrible to work with. He makes much more money than all of us since he is our Director, and yet he complains and rips up his bonus check in front of me. He complains (and sometimes cusses) about the GM of the Resort. He threatens to leave all of the time. He also doesn't address employee issues so now the other Sales Managers are fighting amongst each other because he won't confront their problems.

I went to HR last week. The HR Director said she knows he's unhappy and shes even talked to him about it. OK, well, why is he still here? I don't know what else to do. I am not going to quit because of him either.

It is almost legally considered a "hostile work environment" but does not involve sexual harrassment.

OK, my son is now 20.5 months old. Honestly, he is one of the best, happiest, easy to care for, children on the planet. However, lately he has become a little devil! He whines, gets upset at the littlest of things, wants everything done on his schedule, has ZERO tolerance, etc.

Is this the start of the "terrible two's" I hear so much about? If so, what do each of you do to handle it? Some people say ignore it-believe me, that is hard to do! Any thoughts, suggestions, advice?

I am a single mom who works fulltime. When I was hired, I was hired into a Sales Position that did not require travel. I had told my boss of my situation with a young son and he understood. Now the company is calling for a nationwide Sales Meeting out of state for 5 days. They say "all Sales Managers are required to be there". Well, I can't leave my son for 5 days. He is only 20 mos old and I also do not have any living family to help me watch him. I will not just leave him with anyone either. Yes, I could pay for a live-in Nanny during this time, but that is very expensive and I do not think the company would reimburse this.

Does anyone know the law in a case such as this? Can you get fired because you can't provide childcare in order to travel? Honestly, even if I put up the exhorbitant amount of money for a live-in Nanny for the week, I still would not feel comfortable leaving him that long. What if he gets hurt or gets sick, which has happened several times already.

I'm a single mom to a 19 mo.old. I adore him, but as a first time mom, I'm unsure if he spends too much time around me? He'd much rather follow me into every room (bathroom too), instead of playing with his toys or watching a video. Some toddlers sit happily in front of a TV but mine doesn't. I prefer he not watch too much, but a little more space from him would also be nice at times. Even if we are sitting in his playroom, he jumps on me, makes smiley faces at me, does "toddler babble" at me, etc. If I get up to leave, even for a minute, he gets upset. It's cute but sometimes hard.

I work fulltime and he's in daycare, otherwise, I'm with him. I take him everywere I go since I also don't have family that can watch him. Sitters are expensive, but occasionally I know I probably need to have a night to myself since I never do anything alone.

Do more experienced moms feel that he is just being a typical toddler? Do we spend too much time together? I never want to neglect him.

I purchased a pure Pomeranian male at 9 months old as I did not want to go through the typical housebreaking of a puppy. He came from a good breeder but was kept in a 10x10 run with another dog, free to go to the bathroom as they pleased.

I have a new house that I want to keep free from undue dog mess if possible. I'm also a single mom who works fulltime, so my time is a little limited with the dog. He's now 10.5 months and I keep him in a very large room with tile and his open crate while I work. He has pee pads too, however, prefers to hold it all day till I return-no problems there. Yet, when I do let him in the main house with us, it is not long before he poops on the floor. Even if I just took him outside and he did it out there, within an hour he does it again on the floor. I like the dog, he is really a good boy. But I am at my wits end with this. It's been 2 1/2 months since I got him. Any ideas? I hate to get rid of him.

I signed up for a dependent care FSA this year. The total amount available per calendar year is $5000.00 and I chose the whole amount. I get paid weekly, so, I have $96.15 taken out of each paycheck.

My son's daycare is $145 per week. I know that I will use the $5000 prior to year end so am not worried about "using it or losing it". However, I was wondering if this is a good plan and how it will affect my child tax credits when I do my tax return next year? Also want to know if this account can also be used for my son's medical prescriptions & Dr. visits? I heard that you may not be able to if you have only a dependent care plan set up.

Do you ultimately feel the FSA is a good advantage and why?

Thanks