hwings, I'm so sorry for your loss. My daddy died 3 years ago. Everything you describe sounds so familiar. I felt the same way. Daddy was a large part of my life and I felt so lost. The first year was so hard. I cried often, sometimes for days at a time - off and on. I remember not wanting to participate in any holidays. It just wasn't the same. I didn't want to be around people much at all. And I asked myself the very same question that you did. I had also lost grandparents who were very close to me but it wasn't anything like the loss I felt when daddy died. You asked when will this stop? I really can't answer that, I can just share my experience. After 3 years I still cry. Not every day, not every week. But it strikes like a sniper when a thought or a song reminds me of him or I am involved in something he would be there with me on. Father's day was really hard this year. I was depressed for 3 weeks. I have heard some say time heals. Well for me time lenghthens the time between the times I feel sad but when the sadness comes, it feels the same as it did back then. For me...It isn't a matter of getting over grieving, it is a matter of getting through each episode of sadness. And it isn't all sadness. I think of daddy in good ways too and smile lots. Just his morning I was up at mom's washing my hands and saw the bottle of Old Spice on the bathroom shelf. Mom took it down several months ago but put it back after I complained. I picked up the bottle, took off the lid and took a big whiff. It smelled just like daddy. At one point that would have made me fall to pieces but today I could do it just fine. Grief is such a personal thing. And it helps knowing others feel some of the things you do. This forum helped me so very much during that first year. I didn't post much, but read what others were going through. I also eventually went through some counseling to help get me out of the depression. I guess the bottom line for me is that nobody loved me like my daddy did and I miss him every single day. But I also celebrate what his life was too. He was a great guy who was loved by so many. By your post it is so very clear how much you loved your dad and it is so great that you got to say goodbye. That helps. Hang in there sweetie.....We're in the boat with you.

i'd make a dr visit and have a check up...wonder if you've added something to your diet with "natural" hormones?

Yes, it is normal. I never understood the whole terrible 2s concept. Three is ever so much harder! At 3, they do it on purpose and that is frustrating. Try to keep some perspective on what your goal is. You cannot control him. Your goal is to teach him to control himself. And, really, that is what he wants, to control his own world instead of having it controlled. He needs you to teach him how to do that and to accept the consequences of his choices. Sure, sometimes he is not going to make a good choice. He will make mistakes and learn from them. Keeping peace with 3s has a lot to do with choices. Sometimes between cereal or bagel for breakfast, sometimes between playing nicely or throwing your toys. Put his choice to him and stick with it. Choose between A and B, sometimes a C, but no more than that or your asking for trouble. So, cereal or bagel? I know, that's what you did. Stick to it, calmly. "Honey, that is what you chose when I asked you. I am not making another breakfast. Now you can eat that or wait until lunch." The control is up to him. He cannot control you, either, by they way. If he continues to argue, keep telling him his choices, do not add another. When he chooses between playing nicely or throwing toys, that is obviously not a choice you put to him, it's just a way of looking at what goes on in his mind. Let him know that choosing to throw toys means choosing the consequence that goes with it: sent to room and toy taken away. So, he can choose to play with it right, or not at all. He can choose to get dressed with help or without help. Lead him to his room, give him the clothes, and say "Do you want my help or are you doing it yourself?" He can choose to blow his nose with help or without. OK, sometimes I really only give mine the choice of "the easy way or the hard way?" Meaning, cooperate or I'm going to hold you down and wipe your nose. Or if does want to do it himself, he gets a turn then you get a turn. Teeth brushing is another one when we would take turns. I can so clearly remember when my now 8 y/o was 3. When he gave me a hard time, refused to cooperate, I put him in the bathroom and stood right outside the door. I said "Tell me when you are ready to cooperate." And every couple minutes I'd ask him again if was ready. Sooner or later he would say "I ready to copperate now." It cracked me up to hear him say that! It also helped to motivate him to cooperate by telling him what we were going to do after he got dressed, ate breakfast, whatever. "We're going to the store with the horse ride after we get dressed." Keeping in mind why they act this way, whether they need something physical (like sleep, a drink or a snack) or emotional (to test limits, assert independence, make choices on their own) helps you think clearly how you want to handle it. Try to think long term even when it's one incident at a time. Instead of thinking ONLY in terms of getting through this battle, think how this battle fits into the big picture of what you want him to learn. When you look at it that way you are more likely to be consistent, or pick the right battles. Think in terms of getting him to cooperate, not just obey. My vocabulary with my kids that age is "cooperate" and "good choice." I tell them they need to cooperate, they had time out until they chose to do so. When they did cooperate, I would tell them "good choice." Sometimes I gave them a choice between one thing they'd like and one they'd hate to help ensure the right choice: "Do you want to take a bath now or go straight to bed?" Naturally they chose they bath, I'd still say "good choice."

gniel, You have several questions, I'll try to answer all. Sump pumps are designed to be easily replaceable and you probably realize this after replaceing yours. If you can cut plastic pipe, solvent glue fittings, screw fittings to pump, operate a screw driver and plug cords into receptacles - Then you can replace a sump pump. When you said both pumps were burned out, this is unusual, but common causes can explain why this may have happened. One common cause that leads to pump failure is the lack of a "Check" valve. As the pump forces water up and out of the sump the pipe fills with water until it reaches a "Gravity" line. The best design for a sump pump is to only pump verticaly and not horizontaly. If the pump is selected with the right head pressure you can pump horizontaly. When the pump shuts off, the check valve (located in the vertical piping) shuts and prevents water from flowing back into the sump basin. If there is no check valve, the volume of water in the vertical pipe flows back into the basin raising the float switch and may be enough to turn the pump back on. The will cause the pump to cycle on and off until the pump finally overheats and burns out. A common cause for pump failure. Another cause would be the float adjustment. If you have a submersible pump with a float switch on a cable, these are adjustable. if the float has too much cable, the switch can get hung up on the pump, piping, cable, side of basin and if stuck in the on position, the pump will pump the water out and quickly overheat and burn out. If the float switch is too short the pump "Short Cycles" on and off and will eventually overheat again and burn out. The water in the sump cools the pump and therefore the pumping cycle should be long enough so the pump can remain in the off position long enough to cool down. Spend some time adjusting the float to maintain the highest high, but making sure it shuts off with 3"-4" of water in the basin (Or consult the manufacturers recommended settings) Zip tie any extra power cord to the discharge pipe to prevent the float from tangling up. Float switches can also go bad, newer pumps have a seperate switch so you can plug the pump in without the switch to test it. Another cause for pump failure is foreign objects getting into the basin. Although the pump has a mesh screen that catches most debris, a nail, wood sliver or similar object can penetrate the screen and obstruct the impeller again causing the pump to burn out. Keep the basin clean and covered. Another cause for overworking the pump would be not pumping the water far enough away from the house thus the water flows back to the foundation finding its way back into the basin. The gravity pipe should spill to a hard surface and flow away from the foundation or the gravity pipe should spill to an exterior basin and be piped underground away from the foundation. One last issue, Lowes carried a certain manufacturer which recalled all their stock because of a design flaw. The manufacturer got tied of recieving burned out pumps so they bought back all defective stock and redesigned the pumps.I can't say which manufacturer for obvious reasons. Hope this helps with any issues you may have, Stay dry, Take Care, Dan