'Sorry that you're running out of MW, Susan! If you actually see her laying more eggs, and you want to fool with packing up a few, like less than 10 eggs, I'll take them. I've only got one big tropical MW plant, plus a good bit of honeyvine, but it takes so much to fill up those monarch cats, as you well know. You'd need to mail them off immediately, since they hatch quickly, as I recall. Maybe you can find some roadside MW, like weed30 said - that would sure help! Sherry

This is a control issue, and you need to win. You can win soft, like Stephanie suggests, or you can win hard, which is what I've done (I actually remember lying across by 2.5-yr-old on the bed to hold her in place--not that I recommend it, but all the other nice methods had only developed into delaying tactics). And winning here will make it easier to win at other times and places, which will be important. It's true, you can't force a child to sleep. But you can insist that bedtime comes at a time the GROWNUP decides. And you can insist on quiet time in case the body needs a nap. When we Ferber-ized my oldest, she was 16 months old, and the battle was over bedtime. I realized pretty quickly (like the 3rd time of going in to pat her on the back) that this was a control issue. I've come, now that I have 2 kids, to realize that it's important for mommy to get her way, even when it's simply a matter of preferences and not safety, etc. We've got a lot to do in a day, and fighting over stuff simply wastes time, energy, good will, happy feelings. But the way the fight is SUPPOSED to end is with the GROWNUP winning. I had a friend (who chastized me for using the Ferber method on a 16-mo-old possibly damaging her self-esteem--yeah, right, 2 nights of mommy insisting on bedtime was gonna make her stop thinking she's the most important person on the planet) whose 3-year-old daughter wouldn't sleep in her own bed, wouldn't go to sleep at bedtime (my friend was so exhausted from staying up w/ her that she was afraid she'd be fired at her part-time job), etc. I held my tongue and didn't ask her who was in charge of her household, or ask why she'd abdicated her responsibilities as a parent. It's in the basic job description for kids, that they're supposed to make it tough on parents. And yours just recently got a promotion to top trouble-causer, so at least you know that developmentally she's right on track. Now your job is to match her--to find ways at THIS age to insist on the basic rules of your household, of which bedtime and afternoon down time are prime.

Great ideas ! The vet gave her Rimadyl for pain and antibiotics (just incase) Right now - I put a sock over her bandage . ( one of my old ones that I bought way too small. ) I taped the top and so far she hasn't bothered it. DH & I have to be gone tonight for about 4 hours - I just know the little stinker is waiting till we leave to have at it. I think I'm going to do what was suggested - go get some bandage stuff and wrap her foot up really good . At least this time if she tugs at it while we're gone - it'll take her till we get home to get it off. I'm off to check the site on how to wrap it. Thanks sooo much for the help . Believe me - she is never going NEAR our gate again (wasn't closed tightly )and she saw a dog across the street . Totally our fault and I'm sure we'll feel guilty about this the rest of our lives.Anyway - I'm so glad I have this forum to help me ! ((everyone))

I can definitely relate to how you're feeling. Yes, I have been in counseling for step-family issues and need to get back in it on a regular basis. i'm having lots of issues/feelings right now and can empathize with you. " Of course, I'm p1ssed that DH is sitting on his butt while I do everything and sometimes find myself mad at SS for that. Then I have to stop, and redirect it where it should be - aimed right at DH's lazy butt, LOL!" Ceph said this really well. A lot of times I get irritated with BM or SS but then I have to remind myself---we can't control what BM does or doesn't do, but DH CAN control how HE handles it. For example, tonight, SS came over with 4 pages of homework: 2 from last night that BM had not bothered to do with him and then 2 for tonight. Well, DH had to work until 8:30 tonight so guess who had to help SS with his homework? Homework time is a struggle for my SS. He gets really frustrated and angry and will throw his pencil down, crumple the papers, storm out of the room, etc. He struggles academically so what takes an average 7 year old 5 minutes to do takes him 10. We labored and fought over his homework for over an hour tonight. All the while, I was getting frustrated and thinking "If BM had just done with him the 2 papers he was supposed to do LAST NIGHT, that would make MY job tonight a heck of a lot easier!" And then I found myself getting frustrated and irritable with SS. But it's not really his fault that BM didn't do it with him last night, and it's also not his fault that my DH is working so much and I'm the "parent" in charge most of the time here. SIGH. It's a learning process, I think! At least you recognize your feelings---acknowledging them is the first step!