One of my closest friends lives two blocks from me and has a daughter just a few months older than my DD, they are both 9 right now. Of course in the beginning we thought how fun for the four of us to do things together. We'd get together at each other home for coffee and bring the girls to play together. Always invited the other's daughter to birthday parties. Finally we recognized, these two don't click. Yeah, they *can* get along, and play together respectfully, there is no conflict. But they would not initiate playing together, after a while they get bored with each other, have nothing else to talk about, and generally think the other is "strange." My friend planned a party for her daughter's most recent birthday. At some point in a conversation she just said to me, "I hope you aren't offended, but B didn't put C on her guest list." She considered inviting C (my DD) anyway, b/c of our friendship. But decided the girls are old enough to choose their own friends. I was absolutely NOT offended. I see as well as she does that these girls do not click. My own DD would not be interested in B's party, she would declare the whole affair "too girly." Sure, she'd behave and be polite, but she'd be disinterested and want to leave as soon as possible. I agree that kids must learn to get along with all personalities and special needs. You never know what surprises await in new people, and you have to get to know them to find out. My kids' friends reflect different cultures, religions, and special needs and just plain quirks. One of DS#2's closest friends is deaf, wears cochlear implants, and it can be very frustrating to communicate with him. But the boys are together almost every day and make it work. We had some neighbors who drove my kids nuts, but I talked to them about how to make it work for at least a little while from time to time. I didn't make them play every time the boy rang our doorbell, but I didn't let them avoid the boy if they were all outside. Despite the fact that he could trip while walking, I encouraged my boys to give him skates and sticks they've outgrown to let him play street hockey with them... b/c he just wants to learn what they're doing. He had some learning disability and didn't socialize well, either. I did give my kids instructions on how to talk to him, to be direct and clear, literal with their words. He didn't get "between the lines." They needed to learn that, but when playing with him was all work on their part, they don't need to develop it any further. They did their part, but don't need to be responsible for his socialization. At the same time, kids deserve to have their feelings respected. If they say they don't want a close friendship with a person, it need not be forced for the purpose of life lessons. Especially when it is based on having spent time with the person and learning that they don't have a lot in common. We can learn to get along with everyone, but that's not the same as investing emotions and time into a friendship. Mom2emall's DS can learn to make it work when they are together, but should have his feelings respected and not be pushed to host playdates. Also, no kid needs to be the object of a "pity friendship." The other child deserves to be in a friendship with kids who have common interests and have fun being with him, who like him for who he is; not with kids who are with him so parents can teach them to be friends with people who are "different." That's condescending. The friendship my DS has with his friend who is deaf works b/c DS really has fun with the boy, not b/c DS is being charitable. It works b/c of mutual interests and complementary personalities... the way friendships are supposed to work. They really are quite a pair! Incidentally, the met b/c his mom and I were friends first, too. However, the boys' friendship as surpassed ours! They just hit it off the first time they met. Picking your own friends and getting along with (almost) everyone is not mutually exclusive. When the families are together let your DS know that it is a short time and they can find something to do that works for everyone. Regarding requests for playdates, I would agree to have the boy over if it helped my friend out with her schedule. But I think I'd just be honest, decline and say "I really wish our boys hit it off better, and maybe they will when they get older."

I've also been wanting to ask about this. I've been reading reviews all over the internet, and people seem to either love or hate every machine out there. It's very frustrating. I have shedding cats, and almost all hard flooring. The entry, kitchen, LR, DR, bathrooms, laundry room, and hallways are all stone-look tile, so the surface is uneven. I also have WHITE grout. Mopping this with a regular string mop just kills my wrists and shoulders, and some days, it just looks like dirty water settles into the low spots on the tile and grout, and I've "rearranged" the dirt, rather than cleaned it. That Bissell mop gets (almost all) great reviews, and you sure can't beat the price. Wonder how it works on uneven tile? The PO's installed this flooring, and when we bought the place, we just loved it. When it's freshly cleaned, it's just gorgeous, but keeping it that way has been a big chore. And white grout would have never been my choice for any flooring anywhere.

Ours has been installed for a while now, and we've not had one issue, including leaks. My DH did all the plumbing, but he's good at doing such things. As others have said before, if they leak, it is most likely an install issue. I'll take a moment to elaborate on my experiences thus far: I love our DD and would never, ever go back to a regular dishwasher. Ever. Loading/unloading is unbelievably easy - took maybe a couple times to figure it how to load our items. All items we have fit in the taller top drawer. We make sure to run the lower drawer once a week, also filled (which is also easy, but obviously not as easy as the top one). We have run them together and separately. Noisy? The first time we ran them we both kept walking up, putting our ears next to them to see if they were running! There is one point in the wash which is a bit louder, but loud is not a word to describe it. We can carry on a conversation standing right next to it at that point. We run ours every day, putting every single dish, glass, serving ware, pot, and pan in the drawer. Measuring spoons, cups, sharp knives (yes, my good knives that I'd never have put in the other)... everything that is DW safe goes. Much easier than waiting a couple days to a week and then unloading far more items. Never have had an issue with anything not getting clean and use the standard Medium cycle. No water spots, and dishes come out dry. Ours came with the salt intake, so we have soft water because of that, which is supposed to extend the life of the DD. Both the salt and the rinse aide intakes turn red when they need refilling. The knock to pause/open is wonderful, and works anytime throughout the cycle. Ours has cabinet doors on the fronts and cabinets on either side. We've not seen, and believe me I have stood in front of the DD with my hands feeling everywhere - any sign of steam or issues on down the road which might lead to wood problems. The racks inside ours are ingeniously versatile, and remove for large items, and ease of maintenance. Love the wine stem and knife blade holders. Love the tines that change widths for thin plates or thick bowls. Overall, I'd rate ours 9 out of 10 - only because I never rate anything with a highest score.

Eh, she's o.k. I guess. I've seen short pieces of her show here and there. I'm talking 5 min. or less. I prob wouldn't like watching the whole show all the time. Now Oprah on the other hand, I can not STAND that woman. All she did was talk over people and look at the camera to make sure it was on her. I will never in a million years understand how she got so popular and ridiculously rich. Everyone always says what a class act she is, not in my opinion. Her shows were trash in the beginning, like Jerry Springer, Maury etc. trash, now that she's filthy rich everyone thinks she classy. Nope, she can just buy expensive stuff, lol.