mom of 2

I am at a complete loss for what to do with my son. In the afternoons my son sits alone and the driver always says he's good, but I've been getting daily reports from his morning driver about how bad he is: he yells, he jumps around, and doesn't listen to the driver when he tells him to stop. Of course I understand where all this is coming from: the bus is crowded in the morning so the kids need to sit 3 to a seat, and when my son gets riled up with other kids he goes insane (I see this at home with his siblings, even). I have to literally grab him by the shoulders, hold him still, and make him look at me before I can talk to him when he gets like that or it doesn't even register - so I know that there is no way he will hear or process what his driver is saying from the front seat when he's all riled up.

We've tried doing a sticker chart and rewards of iPad time (his favorite thing in the world,) time outs, everything. He recites the rules of the bus for me every morning before school. The problem is, it doesn't seem like he's willfully misbehaving. He doesn't seem to know when he's not being good. He always tells me that he was "good" or "pretty good" on the bus, and then I hear from his driver that he was going nuts (and his sister on the bus corroborates the driver's story). My son seems genuinely confused when his driver says this and insists that he "forgot" that he wasn't being goo, or that he thought he was being good. He seems to have no control and no awareness of what he's doing or how he's behaving.

My son is a sweet boy, very analytical and loving and talks your ear off. He can sit and pay attention to drawing or coloring for hours, and is really capable of sitting still sometimes. But other times he is just out of control - in people's faces, talking way too loud, hitting for no reason. At those times he can't sit still, can't make eye contact, and can't calm down. He's always been like this, I saw it even as a baby.

How much of this is normal boy behavior (he's my only boy so I have only my super-mellow girls to compare him to)? Should I be thinking about ADHD or something? And what should I do about the bus?

I've never had a crayfish (or any aquatic animal) before, but my daughter wanted to bring home the class crayfish to keep. So we have a crayfish now. It's got a tank, a filter, some rocks, some caves to hide in. We've been dropping a shrimp pellet in front of it a few times a day since we got it yesterday, but it doesn't even appear to notice them or touch them. Shrimp pellets are what the teacher fed the crayfish when it was the classroom pet. Should I feed it something else? Just wait for it to acclimate to its new environment for another few days first? How long can a crayfish live without eating? My daughter will be devastated if we starve her first and only pet.

We would like to plant a small tree near the walkway to our front door, but I know nothing about trees. We live in the northeast US, zone 6. Ideally we want something that will stay small (under 10 feet) that won't make a mess by dropping blossoms, fruit, or seeds everywhere. We don't mind raking leaves in the fall.

I want to show two little girls how to write the pronunciation of their names in Chinese. They have unusual names; I found one, but not 'Arcadia.' Any ideas? Suggestions?

I'm organizing a community service activity for a group of 30-50 kids ages 3 through 12 and need ideas. The activity will be about 1 or 1.5 hours long. I don't want to collect money or supplies because that is more the parents doing it and the kids doing nothing - besides, what would we do at the actual activity? Some ideas so far are writing letters to cheer up chronically ill kids through a penpal program at our local children's hospital or tying fleece scarves to donate to local homeless shelters in the winter.

I'm organizing a community service activity for a group of 30-50 kids ages 3 through 12 and need ideas. The activity will be about 1 or 1.5 hours long. I don't want to collect money or supplies because that is more the parents doing it and the kids doing nothing - besides, what would we do at the actual activity? Some ideas so far are writing letters to cheer up chronically ill kids through a penpal program at our local children's hospital or tying fleece scarves to donate to local homeless shelters in the winter.

I am painting a wooden sign to be placed outdoors for a week to advertise an upcoming concert. Do I need to use water based paint? Oil based? Acrylic? Spraypaint? I want to buy something cheap but I don't want it to wash away in the rain!

My husband and I want more children, but may not be able to have any more. We're thinking about doing a foster-to-adopt program, but I'm disappointed with the lack of information online. I'm curious about what it's like to be a foster parent, day to day. How long have children stayed with you? What types of problems have you encountered? What percentage go back to their families? What is it like to deal with the foster care system?

I also want to know about the logistics: how do you start? who do you talk to? is a state or a private foster program better? how do you choose?

My 2 yr old son (27 months) doesn't exactly have temper tantrums, but gets frustrated extremely easily and immediately starts screaming bloody murder if one wheel on his matchbox car doesn't turn right or a pea falls off of his spoon at dinner. I think it's just a phase and we shouldn't react when he does it; my husband thinks we should start putting him in time-out or something when he does it. Who is right?

In the last month I've gotten emails from almost every one of my friends with a bunch of gobbeltygook and a link for online pharmacies or viagra... I'm just waiting for my turn to be hacked. When it happens, will changing your password solve the problem? Or do you need to worry that they have hacked into your computer, too? I'm clueless.

You've seen those circulars - get a $10 gift card or other incentive with any new or transferred prescription. I've seen them too, I just can't find one now.

My daughter went to a birthday party where she had a ton of fun. She painted her nails, decorated a crown, had cake, and brought home an enormous gift bag of treats and goodies. Then all she did was cry and scream the whole way home because she didn't get a balloon. That is so typical of her - she is always focusing on the one thing that didn't go her way and ruining the whole day. I never want to take her to another party again! What can I do before her negative attitude drives me insane?

My out-of-state mother in law LOVES the Nutcracker ballet and she happens to be visiting while it is playing here. Not thinking, I asked if she'd like to go with us and she was so excited. The second after I asked her I thought, "That would have made a great Christmas present!" Is there some way I can still make it a gift even though I already told her about it? Throw in lunch beforehand, maybe? Have my 2 kids make something Nutcracker-related for her in conjunction with the tickets? Ideas?

We are looking at houses in Acton and Westford, MA and most of them in our price range have no air conditioning! We noticed that a lot of houses don't have A/C, even some of the more expensive ones - is it completely miserable in the summer without it?

My husband got a job in Lexington and we're trying to figure out where we want to live. We're looking to live somewhere outside the beltway, not more than 20 min from work, with a great school district. Any suggestions? What do you think of Acton, Littleton, and Westford?

I live in Ohio and have 3 kids (5, 3, and 1.)

I'm going to my first MLS game and have no idea when to tell the babysitter to expect us home. How long do they typically last?

We live in Ohio and have 3 kids (ages 5, 3, and 1).

My husband is filling out paperwork for his new job and it asks for a 7-year living history. Our address in 2002 was in another state while we were going to school and we've both completely forgotten it. How can we find this out?