It's always a good thing, to hear when a product is performing as one hopes and expects. I've seen the Cabrios and LG Waveforce, he toploaders...and I am impressed. If I was not a Miele-a-holic, I think I would like a Cabrios. Here's to more happy and clean laundering!!! -Larsi

For Pamb100... isn't it a curious thing the power a sons wife may have? When they want to like you, they will...but when their honeymoon is over with hubby...his mom becomes mud...and they sling it off...i have watched this...i know it exists..to really good parents... I hope by 2013, you have mended some fences...but the DIL sounds like if she cannot have a mom, no one else will...i have had women tell me that they resented their MIL because their own moms were deceased... We all say..that we raise children to be independent, but we do not get any parental reward when a son feels it is easier to stay away from his family to keep his angry wife happy...and then we think...was it worth it..the whole journey...for me, it was not I have a lifetime of photos that I need to give my son, because I have no use in looking so far back...i have no idea why i have so many pictures...forget scrapbooks...it would be a painful thing to do...the sad thing is that my son is teaching his sons to do the same thing to them....and i feel sad about that...i don't wish that on my DIL... She will not always have a busy life...circumstances will turn...and they will have wives...women in their youth, cannot fathom what retirement and losing family to illness will make their older years... I have had cruel words filtered my way, indifference, neglectfulness and many hurts that may revisit her....my son just seems to be helpless...what do sons really do when their wife declares she does not his family...maybe like isn't the word...but she does not want to give us any time...should they divorce? So...you see...turning loose to the hope of the all american family may be the best thing you could do.. Feel lucky though...your spouse supports you in seeing the reality, mine has hidden his head in the sand...and it is devastating....

I wouldn't use the word "wrong", but I would call it perhaps short-sighted and lacking in awareness. You seem to have no idea HOW or WHY the problem between your children, your husband and yourself developed. Why is it that you don't have any insight into this? Have you ever tried counseling or even a good heart-to-heart with any of your kids? have you sat down and pondered what might be underlying their distance? (I'm not presuming you haven't, I am just asking.) The children you gave birth to are too important (and not just them themselves, but to YOU as their mother) to not probe this deeper. By insisting that you delve int the source of the problem, I am not necessarily assuming that your kids have a great reason for keeping their distance from you and your husband. Their reasons may range from completely valid to terribly selfish, or --if they're like most people--- some combination or somewhere in between. They would certainly not be the first children of divorce in blended families to have such mixed feelings, or to find it hard to connect with their role in the newly blended family. They also wouldn't be the first to have some unresolved anger, or an attitude about it, not necessarily because you or your husband have done anything so awful but simply because of the fact that their family is not what it once was. Often, unfortunately, this kind of deep-seated upset can manifest by the kids choosing ---consciously or unconsciously--- to keep their distance, knowing no other way to effectively deal with feelings they may not even fully recognize in themselves. You are asking for a reasonable amount of consideration from your kids, but I would ask on their behalf for a reasonable amount of consideration on your end as to what their underlying needs and feelings might be. I don't know your kids, but maybe you don't know them as well as you could, either. It's possible they truly are despicable oafs who are no longer worth your time or consideration. But wow, what a thing to say/feel about your own kids. Is that really how you want it? I doubt it, or you wouldn't be on here asking about it. I might also ask you at this point what sort of input your husband and stepchildren have on the matter of your kids. Do they encourage you to explore the issues or seek counseling or literature on the subject of blended families? Do they express any empathy for what it may feel like to have been in your kids' shoes, post-divorce? Are they welcoming when your kids are around? Basically: are they a force for trying to build bridges or do they encourage you to build walls? Again, I am not assuming they are or are not one way or the other... just that this can have a big impact on the cohesiveness of the blended family and either ease or exacerbate tensions and distance...

She has a fence. Remembering being a kid, I didn't realize how much work went into people's yards. I think these kids have no idea, and it would take very few words to tell them how excited you were about your hollyhock . You could say you imagine they had no intention to do any damage, but that the ball is heavy and DOES do damage. I would ask if they could play in a different area of their yard where the ball won't come over the fence. Recently I had two very young kids, maybe 4 and 6, a brother and sister, come into my yard and start moving potted plants around. As I have things in my garden that could cause the kids harm I first told their mother how adorable her kids are ( they are), and then asked her to ask them not to come over here due to potetial for harm. We are also putting up a fence on that side. The mom didn't smile at me but the kids have not been back over here. I think if it's risky to set limits with people or explain your preferences or your rights, it can be a risk worth taking. If you seem basically reasonable and calm, not too belligerant, there's a good chance they'll listen. I had to tell my other neighbors that I was going to call animal control if they didn't stop letting their ferocious looking dog run around. That dog ran at me once...scary. The neighbors didn't seem that offended and kept the dog put up. I would far rather have someone give me a warniing about dog misbehaviour than for them to call the animal control out of the blue or even kill the dog. If you set your limits, reasonable people know that they can also set limits with you. So you could say, perhaps, " Please let me know if there's ever any problem you need to bring up with me." That said, there are things I object to that I don't bring up with the neighbors. Nidnay, that's too bad you encountered such an angry guy....I don't know what I'd have done in that case. I don't believe most people are like that.