It is rough to see damage to the garden especially shrubs and trees. I would tend to leave everything through most of this season to see if any of the stems put out new growth. I don't think I would have said this many years ago, but we had one experience and now I wait, wait, wait before I dig out or cut branches/stems back. We planted a beautiful small blue spruce one spring. Within not too long every single needle had fallen off the tree. We figured it was surely dead and my DH wanted to rip it out and plant something else. I wanted to hold out to see what might happen. I figured for sure it was dead, but maybe stressed? I left it that entire year and it looked awful. Dead. Waited until the following spring and it put out all new needles. I would have never believed it if I hadn't witnessed it myself. The beautiful spruce still makes a statement in the yard. "So much is damaged I don't even know where to start." Then don't! Hold out your hopes and give the shrubs a chance. They may really surprise you with some new growth.

I have a 7 y/o DD, too. But she has three brothers, two older (14 and 11) and one younger 5). When DD has friends over to play they are often fascinated by the older brothers and their friends who might be here, especially my 11 y/o. I subbed in a 2nd grade class last week. My 11 y/o came to the room to meet me at the end of the day. The 3-4 girls still in the room were instantly little flirts! I didn't know they had it in them, but they wanted to be right next to DS, snuggled up to let him read stories to them, show him their "cheerleading" routine. I told people about it later, it was a phenomenon I had never seen before. And I have talked about this phase of girlhood with other moms of young girls. My DD is one of the minority who is not at all boy crazy. The thing she has in common with the other girls in that group is that they all have older brothers (older seems to make a difference). Between DD's brothers and their friends who are here all the time, DD has an immunity or something. LOL. Boys are not a new mystery to her, they are an extremely annoying fact of life. She doesn't see them as cute and charming, she sees them at their worst. She just can't seem to convince her friends that boys are really just mean and stinky and generally "not all that." The other thing I've talked about with other moms is how annoying it is when adults notice a pretty little girl and only comment on that trait. I try really hard not to do that, especially in front of the girl. Some of us make a point, when we hear someone say our daughters are pretty, to say "Thank you. You should see how well she writes." Or reads, or play soccer, or piano, or how kind and caring she is, or how funny she is, etc. Especially in front of our daughters. There is too much around young girls that reinforces the idea that their value in life is in getting the attention of boys. I think with the private parts exposure, you should just calmly tell your DD that should never happen again. That the boy was not funny when he did that, it was rude behavior. I might also ask her how it made her feel, pick up on the "weird" part of what she might say and say that's whey it's rude, it makes other people feel weird. I also really think I'd tell the boy's parents. Not in an accusatory way, but b/c I think they should know. Maybe it's something they've dealt with before with him, and they need to know it's still happening. Even as if it's the first time he's done it, they need to know so they can have a conversation with him. Not b/c I want him punished or to make a big deal of it, but for 100 reasons, I just think I would give another parent a "heads up" on that kind of behavior. I absolutely agree it's probably innocent and within the range of normal, but a parent should still be informed. If a kid has fun with the response he/she gets from showing private parts, he/she might be encouraged to try it again and maybe take it farther next time. As for the dancing, I think the next time I had my DD in the car alone I'd start a conversation about dancing. How she likes to dance, why she likes to dance that way, and how sometimes in life what's OK for adults is not OK for kids. From dancing and clothes to certain drinks and certain words. Then when I saw her dancing that way again, I'd remind her "we talked about that, that's a grown up dance, not a kid's dance." I'll confide, I think little girls are encouraged, in subtle ways and sometimes not so subtle, by our culture to behave much older. From their clothes, to music, to toys even. It's not right that 6 y/o girls are encouraged to emmulate a 16 y/o young woman. I cringe at the latest Barbie commercials for products that come with pretend credit cards for pretend shopping sprees. I even say outloud w/my kids in the room "That is so wrong!" Maybe I'm a little freaky, but I am picky about the dolls I let DD have. I think she should play with dolls that that look and act like little girls. Not ones who wear make-up, mini-skirts, high heels, and shop and have boyfriends. I choose books for her about girls who are fun, strong, and smart, and make sure she learns about real women to look up to for their accomplishments. I have no tolerance for relatives or family friends who tease any of my kids about having a boyfriend or girlfriend. I remember how that felt as a young kid and teen. It's embarrassing and feels invasive. My mother would never do that, but I have some aunts and adult cousins who think it's funny. As soon as I hear it I just say "Come on, that's not nice." and to my kids "You do not have to answer that." And change the subject to something my kids are happy and proud to talk about, like the latest "A" in school or score in sports. Oh, and you're so right about the job being harder in a new way as the kids get older. It was physically exhausting when they were little, with feeding, cleaning up, diapers, etc. Now, it's emotionally and intellectually exhausting, trying to stay ahead of the next hurdle. I tell people I think the job of parenting changes when your kids reach an age which you remember being. Make sense? I remember small things that happened when I was 7, 11 and especially 14 and how those small things stuck with me, for better or worse. So I am conscious of how my choices and responses will stick with my kid who are that age now.

You have a lovely house, but it seems like part of the problem may be that you're one of the most expensive houses in the neighborhood. Based on Zillow: * A lot of the not-for-sale houses immediately around you are valued in the $250,000-$350,000 range. * There are 121 houses for sale in your neighborhood. * 3 of them are priced above $600,000. * 4 of them (including you) are priced $500,000-$600,000. * 12 of them are priced $400,000-$500,000. Even though your home may be priced fairly given how nice it is, if Zillow is accurate and it's in a neighborhood of significantly less expensive homes, that fact alone may be stopping buyers from choosing it. I've been looking at houses in a particular town, and there are two that are currently on the market that I really like but haven't made an offer on. One of them is the highest-priced house in its neighborhood by a long shot. On the face of it, the other is in line with its neighborhood... but it doesn't have a finished basement and most of the other homes in its neighborhood do. If you factor in the cost of finishing the basement, it becomes one of the highest-priced homes in the neighborhood. In both cases, the price they're asking is something I would be willing to pay if the other homes in the neighborhood were in the same range. I'd also be willing to buy a house that's a little more expensive than most of the houses in a neighborhood... but I won't buy one that's a lot more expensive. It just seems like it would be asking for trouble during resale, assuming a lender would even go for it to begin with. I don't know if there's a good solution for you, and I really do have a lot of sympathy for your situation. If that's what's going on, it's crummy that the houses around you are cutting down on your options.

oh you should post a video!! My feeder came with "bee guards" It limits the size of the hole for just hummers. It works great for the bees. But then I found a different kind of feeder and nothing gets in it but the birds, not even tiny nats.