Update! It went well and BM did not show up, excellent!! The hour flew by and when skids came out SD12 asked us straight away if it was possible to go longer, like maybe 2 hours per session! SD10 was surprised they only talked, she thought the lady was going to question her. The counselor took FDH aside and told him SD12 had requested to have BM take them from now on (in our time!!). FDH said HE is the one that has made the effort to organise this and he is paying for it as well. And since the counseling is therefore in OUR time we don't want to deviate from the court order, so no. FDH said he suspected this to be a control issue for BM. Counselor insisted it is SD12's request. We were pretty annoyed to be honest, thinking that once again a counselor is NOT getting it. Aarrgghhh. So anyway, we came home and when the skids went to bed FDH had a chat to SD12 to explain why we want to take them ourselves. He also said he was confused about her request because SD12 has always said she only wants to go when she is with us, not with her mom (pressure of questioning after). And guess what; we got it totally wrong.. SD12 wants her mom to take them so she can be there and get some help herself. SD12 wants her mom to join in with the sessions. Isn't she a SWEATHEART??? So no alterior motives by BM this time, just a 12yr-old sweetie. FDH explained that after a couple of sessions the counselor will ask their mom to join in, but we will still bring them ourselves. Everybody happy :-)

Looks good in general! What is your weather like, because I think the plants would still do better out there, even though you seem to have a large window and supplemental light. As long as nights don't go much below 10°C and days are above 15°C, you're good to go. Even an overcast day has pretty strong light compared to indoors setups. That and they'll also need to go in larger pots eventually, which will get unwieldy inside IMO.

I agree that one wall -- or a ceiling, might have more impact in a good way than all 4 walls. One post above talks about brush strokes, but also keep in mind that any texture or imperfections in your wall are going to be emphasized by and/or compete with the metallic finish -- which you usually want as smooth as possible. And please, don't grab a spray can for your walls. Not very efficient, a lot of nasty stuff to breathe, the odors linger a long time, you may find it hard to get an even finish - for one wall, much less 4 -- and you will create issues for painting over that paint when you want to change it.

I always knew I wanted to have children. I'm an only child and I used to beg my parents for a brother or sister. My father was one of 10 and my mother one of 6, so perhaps that's why they only had 1! I also knew I would never have just one child. I would have been very disappointed if I had not had grandchildren. It's a lovely thing to see ones own children being wonderful parents. I adore my grandchildren but I told DD that while we would enjoy babysitting from time to time, I did not want a regularly scheduled time - far too confining. But a call to see if we'd be willing to take them? Absolutely! I think I'm getting the younger next week while they take the elder to college! One of my grandchildren is adopted and I love him just as much as the others. My late husband had an adopted younger sister and so it seemed very natural to us both. He's a very dear boy. Having said I didn't want a regular time, I did agree to help DD when her eldest started 1st grade (he did Kindergarten at his nursery school). She asked me if I would come over the first two weeks of school, when school got out and just be sure DGS got organized and did his homework. By this time, her husband was a SAHF but he is so severely ADHD that he would not be good at doing this. I was glad to help her out and did so. After two weeks, she said that DGS liked me being there and would I be willing to continue? My husband had died the year before and I was pretty much at loose ends, so I said yes. I did this Mon-Thurs until 2nd son finished 5th grade. We all enjoyed the time together. DD and I have very similar parenting styles, and similar philosophies about homework being the responsibility of the student, not the parent. I was just there if they had a question, to sign that I'd seen their homework/graded work etc. I taught them to look things up, first on my iPhone and later on my iPad. I often took a book to read. If they had trouble, I helped them figure it out. If they wanted to be quizzed, I quizzed them. I don't know if I would have done this if DH had still been alive. Actually, I know it would have been DH who would have done this - he was a teacher and would have loved it. But I very much enjoyed the bond that we got from this. I was not tied down in any way - if I were sick, the weather was horrid, or was going to be out-of-town, I was under no obligation. I also rent a house for 4 weeks each summer and DD's boys are always there the entire 4 weeks. When they were young, there was a babysitter along as well - I was not missing my beach time to stay home with napping children! Parents were there, too, for varying times. It's been very special for me and when I come back home, I go into "boy-withdrawal"! I'm quite comfortable being alone, but I sure enjoy their company and all their friends in and out all the time. I love that I can do this for them. I have a couple of friends whose children will never have children. They are greatly disappointed as they had looked forward to doing various thing with grands. They certainly respect their children's decisions, but are sorry that this is what they want.