Marika H

My 9 yr old autistic son has recently started acting out "sexually" at school, refusing to ride the bus home in the evenings, hitting himself, and refusing to do his school work. He's mostly non-verbal, but parrots things he's heard. Last week, he supposedly stood up in the middle of class and shouted, "I want to f___ you!" He fought his teachers and the bus driver, urinated on himself, and screamed on the bus all the way home-and two minutes after getting home, he was fine. He's been doing this for a week now. He acts like it kills him to get on the school bus in the evening, but when he gets home, he's perfectly happy. This is really unusual for him, obviously.

Well, long story short, his school called Social Services, implying that he was being sexually abused at home! I'm having him evaluated by a doctor and a psychologist to prove that he isn't being abused. I suspect that his verbal outburst is in imitation of something he saw online (or a complete misunderstanding-last year, his teacher thought he was saying, "Greg likes boobies," and he was really saying, "Great live movies!"). I'm now keeping a journal of his behavior, asking for written records of his behavior at school and on the bus, and taking him to a doctor and psychologist to prove he isn't being molested. Anything else I should be doing?

Okay, so here goes: my sister mutters angrily to herself all the time. She's done this for as long as I can remember, but it became really noticeable when she was about thirteen, and seems to be getting worse as she gets older. It isn't "normal" self talk, like going, "Where did I put that darn keychain?" It's more like, "Well, *I* don't...f***ing losers....*I'm* not like that....Cut your throat and s**t down your neck..." Really foul, violent, angry stuff. She's also been diagnosed (by proxy) as a narcissist.

Is talking to yourself like that just another sign of narcissism, or something else? She does it whether she's aware of being watched or not, so I don't think its just an attention getting gimmick.

Well, the school years has just started, and I'm already ready to scream! My son is autistic, and mostly non-verbal. His school keeps losing his paperwork-this morning, his bus driver handed me the fourth student info card I've filled out this year. School's only been in session here for a week and a half! He was sick last week-they called his emergency contact from last year, because they swore they didn't have his contact info for this year. His excuse note was still in his backpack this morning-they didn't get it out of his folder on Friday, apparently.

My son is also coming home with his lunches and snacks uneaten. He's on a high-calorie diet, but every day, it appears that he's being forced to eat the low-cal school lunch. There's no way they can't see the bright blue and green thermal bag I'm sending his meals in if they're checking his backpack every day like they're supposed to. If they were actually reading the paperwork I've sent in multiple times, they'd know he's supposed to be eating this stuff so he doesn't lose weight!

I've called his teacher and the front office three times so far. They're "sorry, but you know how it is-first week of school and all, its crazy." I'd be willing to accept that answer, except that we had the exact same problem last year! My son lost six pounds before they finally started checking his backpack every day last year! I don't want a repeat of that.

So, what do I do? I don't want to antagonize anybody-my kid can't tell me if somebody's being mean to him in retaliation-but I also don't want him starving or lost or put on the wrong bus! Suggestions?

What am I supposed to do in this situation? I know this guy who is absolutely obsessed with guns, has a C&C, refuses to even go to the bathroom without his gun on him, and he's very unstable. By that I mean he rages at people in traffic, drives like a lunatic, deliberately gets himself into confrontations with the local idiots, and he's already flashed his gun during verbal confrontations more than once. He WANTS to shoot somebody. He actually told me he hopes I'm around "when I have to use this thing," because he thinks I'd be a "credible witness."

As far as I know, he hasn't actually hurt anybody yet, but he keeps getting worse. His behavior seems more erratic every day. I don't think his parents will listen to me (he lives at home with his folks), and even if they do, he's going to figure out that I'm the one who called them. He's too old to be forced to go to a mental hospital for an evaluation, I think (he's 25). Anybody got any ideas? I'm really afraid he's going to snap and hurt somebody.

Before the Fall, all animals, humans, etc lived in harmony, correct? They were all vegans, and ate the plants in the Garden of Eden. So, at what point did carnivores develop their teeth, intestinal tracts, feet, claws, binocular vision, etc in order to hunt for meat? And why have the remains of vegetarian kitty cats never been found?

160 different species of elephant have been documented and proven to have existed at some point in time. Out of those 160 different types of elephant, only three are left alive today. Please explain why god would kill 157 species of elephant. Did he kill them off before or after the flood?

If he killed them before the flood, why is there no record of the massive slaughter of elephants? Why would your god do such a thing?!

Albinos are mutated animals that lack pigmentation, and cannot breed with other animals that resemble them. So, according to your definition of "kind," does that mean albinos are a new species? Wouldn't that be evolution in action?

Just clarify this for me, please. What, exactly, makes a species a species? And don't say "God," okay? I want to know what makes, say, a bobcat a different species from a housecat.

First of all, let me say I do have children of my own, but neither of them were "normal" at 2 yrs old, so I have no idea what normal 2 yr olds do! (My oldest liked card games and painting, and my youngest is autistic, so...yeah. No experience with normal 2 yr old kids, lol!)

So, I'm babysitting a 2 yr old girl. From 6 a.m. until 9 p.m., she doesn't stop-she runs constantly, jumps, walks with her toes turned under, screams, cries at least twice an hour, and does the exact opposite of anything I tell her to do. For example, if I say, "Please don't dump the crayons out," she looks straight at me and dumps them on the floor. If I say, "Go ahead, throw 'em everywhere," she looks at me and very deliberately uses the crayons one at a time, lol!

She doesn't nap for me. I found out yesterday that her mother doses her with melatonin every night to get her to go to sleep, but I'm iffy about using anything like that on a child that young without a doctor's approval, so I don't use it. I haven't got a clue how to get her to take a nap-with my kids, I just put them on the couch with a blanket and they fell asleep. With this wee one, I put her down for a nap and thirty seconds later she's trying to climb on top of the fridge, lol.

I've been sitting her for a week so far, so this isn't a "bad day" sort of thing. I've tried taking her to the park to run off energy, but she just gets cranky and screams instead of taking a nap or calming down, and when she's cranky, she attacks my son or goes after the cat. I've tried talking to her, setting limits and time-outs, distracting her, etc, etc, etc. Her mom says she's "just being a brat" and doesn't offer suggestions. I'm at my wit's end. HELP!!!

I just found a copy of it, and I gotta tell ya, it sounds like he was planning to skip town from the start. Has anyone else read it? What are your opinions?

Okay, so I just got back from shopping. While I was at the store, this 15-16 year old kid got busted for stealing cheese and a couple of little deli sandwiches. The woman who runs the shop let her go, because apparently this kid is homeless and just needed something to eat, so I figured I'd "do a good deed" and chase the kid down and give her a bag of groceries.

I caught up with her, gave her the stuff, and was talking to her when a cop pulls up and starts harassing her for shoplifting. One of the other customers had called the police, even though the shop owner didn't want to press charges! The cop was a real jerk, even after being told by the shop owner that she didn't want to have the girl arrested; he kept telling this kid he'd "be looking out for her" and "you better hope I don't get called about YOU again." Then he turns on me and tells me I should be "ashamed" for helping her out!

As soon as the cop left, the kid took off, and I have no idea where she went. I'd like to find her, try to help her, even if I have to put her up on my couch for a while, I don't care. I only have her first name, and that's probably not her real name.

So...anybody got any idea how I would find a homeless kid who probably gave me a fake name? And is there anything I can do about that stupid cop?

Is anyone else really afraid that when "Rapture Day" comes along in May, there will be a bunch of crazy nutters leading their fellow church members in a "toast"? As in, Jonestown style? As much as I rag on the gullibility of certain people, I really don't want anything to happen to them.

I've just been given a bolt of dark green satin, and a bolt of white chiffon. I've already started making a satin comforter and drapes for my daughter, but I'm stumped on what to do with the rest of this stuff-I don't have enough windows to use all the chiffon for drapes or window scarves, and, well, really, how much green satin can one house take, lol? Give me some ideas, people!

Ok, a little history first: I married my husband 14 years ago, and for the first few years, everything was great; we both worked, we had a kid, we were poor but slowly moving forward anyway. When our daughter was 6, we both decided I would stay at home; by then, his income was high enough to afford to do that, so it wasn't a problem.I took on odd writing jobs and did paintings to supplement our income from time to time, but overall, it worked out okay. However, every time I brought up the idea of buying a home, he would balk at the last minute, saying we couldn't afford it. (Even though we could!)

Fast forward to six months ago! I bought a house. I paid cash-ALL my cash-to do it. My husband acted like he was happy about it, even though it meant moving out of state and finding a new job. And that's the problem-he still hasn't found a job.

He doesn't even TRY to find a job. He sits in front of the computer, plays video games, sleeps, eats, and that's it. In the past six months, he's turned in maybe three applications, all of them to places he knows he isn't qualified for. I found a job my first week looking, but was forced to quit because he kept borrowing money, which I had to pay back, which meant I didn't have gas money to get to work! Now he says he "can't" find a job, because he hasn't paid insurance on the car in six months! (Funny how that wasn't a problem before-he drove me to work in an uninsured car every day!) I'm not making enough to keep up with the bills right now, we're a couple of days away from losing our utilities, and he STILL refuses to get off his butt and try to find work. He won't even go to a temp service! I just asked him what he wants to do about our power being shut off in a couple of days, and he says, "Nothing we can do about it." It's freezing up here, we have kids, and he doesn't even want to TRY to do anything. I feel like he's punishing me for "forcing" him to live in a real house instead of an apartment or something.

I know, logically, that kicking him out won't do any good to fix the immediate problem, which is our bills. But I'm furious that he can so casually sit there and ignore the fact that in two days, we will have no heat in our house, no way to cook, nothing. He spent the money I had set aside for the bills on stupid stuff-a computer, dog toys (?!), movies, etc. He knew exactly what that money was for, but spent it anyway. He's only started acting like this since I bought the house. It was like the day I got the deed, he turned into a spoiled six year old! What is wrong with him?!

If you believe marriage is between a man and a woman, fine. What harm does it do to YOU if Fred and George walk down the aisle? I believe it's wrong for churches to ask poor people for money, but I'm not going to start firebombing churches when they pass the collection plate, either. Why can't gays just be left alone to get married or not if they want to?

I've seen a few people posting questions and rants about how aliens are going to save us all, or that aliens created life on Earth, or whatever. Since when did aliens become religious deities? Why would anybody worship little bobble headed monsters who like to "probe" people?

I mean, the Creation Scientists all say man and dinosaurs lived together. Maybe the reason we don't have dinosaurs anymore is because they ate Jesus! I mean, they all got on the Ark, right?

I mean, couldn't it have been sold to a Roman circus and set old Saul up for a lifetime of free bread and harem girls?

His Noodly Appendage touched us just last night! We prayed to the Flying Spaghetti Monster for a good meteor to go right overhead, and sure enough, the second we said "RA-men," there was a huge orange fireball streaking directly over our heads! It was a sign from the Holy One! If the Flying Spaghetti Monster answers our prayers, why don't people believe in him?!