Just spent a lot of time and money on soaker hoses. In the past have had the same trouble of pressure making slits in soaker hoses and shooting water in the air. Thanks to this board,read that soakers are not to have pressure over 20 to 30 lbs. Now I have been bursting hoses for years,as the instructions on the soaker hoses only say to not use high pressure,now I use 50 lb of water pressure,(this cant be viewed as high pressure,as that is the pressure of most homes) You would think that the idiots that make them would warn us of the pressure trouble. Once you find out about it,non of the box stores sell the regulators. I called the factory and they were not aware on the low pressure. So I called Swan hoses and they told me that their hoses have a restrictor washer that cuts down the pressure. Now I asked how could a washer with a small hose cut down on pressure,as it would only take a little longer to build up the pressure. So not really believing them,I punched a Swan and connected it up and put my end of hose pressure gauge on it and guess what,0 pressure. Then it finally hit me,the disc only lets in the same amount of water the hose distributes which means 0 pressure and will last for years. Now I tried using the disc in one of the other that doesn't use the discs and it did cut the pressure down from 50 to 30 lbs. Surely all manufactures will go to the discs. Another advantage of the disc is if you do get a leak the disc will restrict the amount of wasted water.

Like many appliance brands, Norge changed hands several times over the years. Got bought out by Admiral and Magic Chef IIRC, who in turn got bought out by Maytag. And what little was left of Maytag is now owned by Whirlpool. Maytag's excessive cost cutting in their final years all but destroyed their once-stellar rep for reliability. Someone thought they could save a few cents by eliminating the seal around the rinse agent dispenser in their dishwasher doors; instead, it allowed the stuff to leak out and start fires, prompting a costly recall. And their new line of front-load washing machines was disastrously unreliable, worst by a wide margin in CR's surveys, and prompted a class-action lawsuit. Even all of the cheapening couldn't make Maytag's inefficient factories profitable, so their refrigerator and laundry facilities were shut down. The "Maytag" badge lives on for now, but mostly on rebranded Whirlpool products. Although they own the rights to the name, I don't think they're using the Norge brand at all anymore, although i still see Norge-branded commercial Laundromats.

There is something so very wrong here, I don't even know where to begin. "A year ago he didn't even like her, now she cries as soon as he goes to correct her so he back pedals and pats up the drama" That is so very sad to me, a year ago her own father didn't like his own child. So naturally there are going to be bad behaviors, but the child is still being blamed. Whats more the way it was said lends to the problem being that Dad doesn't treat her as if he dislikes her anymore, as if that is the entire problem. eyeroll..this is terrible. I'm pretty sure ANY child that has one parent that openly dislikes them is going to have some major behavior problems. So disturbing that the child is still being blamed.

"his ex hates my husband she is not sad they they are not together. She likes to cause trouble though." I didn't mean that she is pining away for him, but you said, "My husband was fooling around with the mother of his other child for years on top of everything to start off. I stayed with my husband because I believe in love and 2nd chances." & I thought you are saying that he was fooling around with the mother of this 8 year old & if he was doing that while he was seeing you, then yes this child saw his parents 'together' at least in some way, unless they were so sly that they hid it from their own child. And even if the mother hates him & is not sad, that does not mean she does not let her son know how angry she is (anger is also a feeling that is much easier to express than hurt, so who knows if she truly hates him or is hurt he finally ended it with her and married you) but I'm sure the child picks up on those feelings because children are little sponges & know more than most people give them credit for. If mommy is angry all the time at daddy, of course it's going to affect how he feels about daddy's house & the new wife, baby, etc. "I think that it's good to be proactive and encourage my stepson to be nice to my son. I don't try to force it upon him. To me to encourage him to love his brother should be a good thing. I agree that yes he is eight and may be frustrated which is understandable. I just don't think that it should be ok that he takes it out on my 2 year old son. If their our any mothers out there you know how you are protective over your children no matter who it might be. If it was my neice , my friend son. I would not stand them to be nasty to my children." If you want to protect your 2 year old, then never allow the 8 year old to be alone with him. It's THAT simple. If dad refuses to acknowledge the problem, then it rests with YOU to protect the baby & make sure he's always in your sight when big brother is around. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a happy little family, but if he (the 8 year old) does not want that, it is going to backfire to force it. I believe he does know right from wrong & he has anger, resentment issues... maybe from how his mother expresses, directly or inadvertently. He is manipulative if he changes face when dad comes around the corner & I agree with Sylvia that is a dangerous child that does that. (reminiscent of "the good son") Lovehadley has a great point that leaving is probably not the best idea since the child only comes over every other weekend and leaving could place the younger child in jeopardy when he would visit. The bottom line is that unless mom & dad are willing to work together to find out why their son is so aggressive & deal with it, then the only solution is to never allow your baby to alone with him. Yes, he was part of the package as you & your kids were part of a package, but YOU and your DH accepted each other's package... the kids don't get a choice. He didn't choose the package so how can you expect him to accept you as you've accepted him. You are the adult.