My grandson LOVED the Spiderwick books. He was beside himself for the movie to come out and was really disappointed in it. Told him that they had to change some things so they could fit all the books into the movie. I think he must have read those books at least 6 times each. He liked the Gary Paulsen books "Hatchet" and "Brian's Winter". He is 11+ now and reading the "Fablehaven" and "Pendragon" series. At least he is reading, he hatehatehated reading for a long time and now I can't get him to stop to go to bed.

elly has hit the nail on the head. You have a highly intelligent dog, they were bred to work 8 - 12 hours a day, so they are not going to be satisfied with being let out in the backyard for a couple of minutes in the morning to do their bsuiness and then placed in a crate all day - this is a good way to make a good dog insane. I suggest you find a local dog park, start training your dog with frequent and long dog walks - preferrably leash walking. You also need to start some obedience training, hopefully through a good positive reinforcement trainer with a good sized group of dogs. You should run your dog, let it play at a dog park or take it for a long walk before training - a tired dog is easier to train. Start behavioral training with the basics, sit stay lay down and leave it. These should be done in a calm manner with a firm voice. I suggest going to get a Natural Balance meat stick, cut off a round, dice that up and use it for training treats/rewards. When your dog does what you want, praise it with your voice and with the food. Find out if your dog is a ball dog, a frisbee dog or a stick dog, most Aussies are one, I suggest you have some time set aside each day for playtime, playing fetch. I would also recommend trying agility or flyball or some other activity - including search and rescue. Your dog is highly intelligent, very adaptable and willing to please you. You just need to direct it. Once you get training down you can tell your dog to leave it, when it goes to the place it likes to dig, once you have told your dog what you dont want, follow it up with playtime, and letting your dog know what you do want. Provide a kong, fill it with meat sticks, baby carrots etc, and have your dog play with that - your pup just needs some stimulation in its world, and it is smart enough to go start its own if you dont provide it. Good luck with your dog, in the right environment your dog will be an asset to your life.

Tough one! My son (34) had bi-polar disorder and ADD, he can be very abusive, loud, and disruptive when not on medications. When on his meds, he's the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. Being on the "Mom" side of the issue, I can say that Mom's have to set boundries, absolutely No gray areas. No visits unless he is on his medications, any abusive behavior towards spouse will not be tolerated! No name calling, etc. Mom needs to wise up. If she continually allows SS to cause chaos when he comes, the behavior will only escalate, and SS will continue to control the hosuehold and your marriage. The worst thing Mom's can do for their mentally ill kids, is accept bad or destructive behavior. They will never learn to interact with society if this continues. My son learned the hard way, destructive behavior in my home, got him arrested. Yes, I did have him arrested. A number of times, he needed to suffer the consequences of his behavior in order to grow, become more responsible, and to function in society. These kids can take control of their illnesses, but why should they if Mommy is always going to protect them, and clean up after them. Bad move, it does nothing to help them become adults. My son has spent time in jail, paid large fines, and had been on probation. Best thing that could have happened to him. He's doing so much better now, acting normally, appropriate, much more responsible, and most importantly not blaming everyone else for his unacceptable behavior. My H is very cruel to him at times, name calling, (when he's symptomatic) this rips your heart out. H is an walking rectum. Horrible names, yet I insist that my son treat him with respect, or get out. No punches pulled. It's for his own good. Mom needs to demonstrate a united front with you. Or SS will continue to reek havoc in the home. Eventually her son will end up in trouble as he gets older bad behavior is not tolerated by law enforcement or society. Mom needs to know that you care about her son, (that is so very important) that you want her son to live a happy and well adjusted life, and her inability to recognize she is not helping him in the least by denying the behavior is going to result in much more pain and suffering for her son. Tell her she needs to look at it from a different perspective, be honest and ask herself, what would she tell a friend to do if they had these circumstances. She needs to work with a therapist, I did for 7 years. Mom's notoriously feel responsible for disturbed kids, I always wondered what did I do wrong? It isn't my fault that my son is ill, it's genetic, there are three bi-polar kids in the family, two have done jail time. My son is the sickest. Yet, he's managed to get his act together and is living a much more productive life. Only because I will not go along with the behavior. I use to, and it was a nightmare, what a horrible existence that was. My son was a cruel, abusive, irresponsible jerk. When I changed MY BEHAVIOR, it was like night and day. H doesn't interact with him too often, but my son treats him with respect, kindness and thoughtfulness. He is no longer threatened that my H is going to "take me away from him." Which can be the reason he is acting out in your home. Fear of abandonment. Let your wife know that you want to see her son happy and well-adjusted, and that you want to support him in any way you can, but you are helpless to do anything if one or both of you remain in denial. Also, tell her how denial can hurt him in the long run. Suggest attending therapy together, and by all means, do not attack her son, Mom's tend to be very protective of their ill children. They (mom) needs support and understanding, even when they are doing it wrong. My H threatened to shoot my son! My son would never hurt anyone, but that's what I had to fear, he even asked a deputy sheriff, if he had the "right to defend himself?" Which is absurd, telling a Mom that "I'll shoot the f-----," is a horrible thing to say. Not to mention ignorant. I resent my H for saying things like this. Not to mention fear for my son's well-being. Good luck and hang in there, it is difficult to change Mom's behavior, she has to do that. Keep in mind, she can change, however, she needs to see how her denial and accomodations of her sons behavior is hurting him as well as your marriage.

Kids' tastes, likes and dislikes change so much as they grow. What I did when mine were young was go with their favorite colors in solids that washed and wore easily and well. For example, with my son, I went with royal blue for his washable comforter and then added touches of red, green and yellow with his valance (over blackout shades), bedskirt and throw pillows. I then bought poster frames and 5x7" easel back frames that allowed me to quickly, easily and inexpensively change out his art as he grew. The 5x7" frames were perfect for turning "cool" greeting cards into works of art that he could place around his room wherever. We went from zoo animals to dinosaurs to whatever he had a big interest in next. I brought in a long 3-section bookcase and primary colored bins to corral most of his toys and let him display his books and whatever toys he chose on the rest of the shelves. As time went on, I let him pick out printed fabric in "cool guy designs" and made throw pillow covers for his bed. I guess what I'm saying is that I liked to keep things basic so that he could inexpensively and easily choose new art and accent pieces. It was his room, not his decorator mommy's room, he used to like telling his friends and he was always very proud of it. Lynn