Andrew, the things we do for these plants, right?! Haha!Thank goodness there's a place like this forum for us sickos!!! Do you tell your partner like I do, "You think I'M bad?! There are plenty of others on the forum that have WAY MORE than me - you're lucky, really..." I don't think he believes it...hell, I don't think anyone believes it but it seems like the right thing to say. I can't believe your DSP is blooming, CONGRATS!!! I'm, getting to the point where I need some kind of dolly or something, there's no reason to suffer through lugging these pots if I can find something that'll work. Before I shell out the big bucks on the tree dolly K got, I did some research & found this one: Most regular dollies just won't work, the toe plate is too short. This one however, says the unfolded depth is 32", so the toe plate must be substantially larger than average. The reviews I could find say that also. The toe plate on the one K got from Northern Tool says the toe plate is 21", I think this one should be almost as long. It's rated for 250 lbs. although Bosch says you could go 275. It's fully collapsible for storage or transport but the reviews are great, saying it's sturdy. It's called the Bosch L Cart and it's made to hold these tool box things but of course many people are using it as a regular dolly. It was $99 + tax / free shipping. It should be here within a few days, I'll let you all know if it works! This post was edited by elucas101 on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 10:36

Interesting. I had posted a while ago about my senior citizen Mom who has the Miele DW with the hidden controls. She has a great deal of difficulty pressing the buttons, since her dexterity and eye-hand coordination are no longer that great. She has to use the eraser end of a pencil to press the little buttons that are hidden in the door. Not only are the buttons small, but they're not really raised buttons, they're sorta just bumps under the label. I have the Miele DW with the control panel on the front. I only chose that style (at the time) cause it was several hundred dollars less than the Miele with the hidden controls. But when my Mom is at my house, she always comments on how much easier it is to press and see the buttons on my Miele. So for anyone reading this thread who have senior citizens at home, the difficulty of the hidden panel should be taken into account. No need to make a FIL, MIL or Grandmother/father feel helpless when they try to use the DW! I really feel bad about my Mom's DW, and have offered to buy her another one, but she refused cause she is frugal, and also cause her Miele DW is an excellent machine otherwise. Also, I am one of those people who don't like appliances to be hidden, and similarly, who wouldn't panel a fridge. I like appliances in my kitchen to look like they belong in my kitchen, not panelled for my library. Just MHO.

I have to agree that if a child has the opportunity to repeat the same bad behavior over and over, there is a lack of supervision. I also agree that some kids require more supervision than others. When you have a kid like that, and you know, you have to work harder. It's not the parents' fault that the kids is more difficult. But the fact that he/she is more difficult requires more, and different, strategies from the parents. I also agree this mother needs support in the form of other parents. She needs to get an idea of what behavior is within the range of normal, and what is not, and what other parents do to modify the behavior of their kids... normal and not so normal. I'm not sure online will be sufficient. There is nothing like having a good long chat with friends who are in the same place in life as you are. It doesn't help to blame, or even to diagnose sometimes. Doesn't matter why or how the child came to be more difficult that others. What matters is creative strategies to modify the behavior, and coping strategies for the parents who get worn out dealing with it. I have a 6 y/o DS who is difficult. He is the youngest of four, and I swear came into our family just b/c DH and I thought we had this parenting thing figured out and needed to be reminded we have a lot to learn. He is oppositional; he is defiant; he is difficult. I worry about it; I apologize for it; I even joke about it. But I do not deny it. My 15 y/o expresses the 6 y/o's attitude perfectly with this line, "I reject your reality and substitute my own." He does not take authority or instruction well. He will argue with almost everything. He can also be cooperative and respectful... getting it from him just takes a lot more effort and creative thinking than the other kids required. He forces a person to think outside the box... way outside! He exhibits the emotions and behaviors of any other 6 y/o, just amplified. On steroids. With greater zeal and stamina. While some kids will test the boundaries, learn and give up, DS will test and test and test and test... systematically looking for a weak spot or to wear a person down. He tries to negotiate everything, even when it doesn't make any sense to negotiate, when it's not even in his advantage. He just has to debate everything! Not just with me, with everyone. I read the description on that website for Oppositional Defiance Disorder. He fits it, although I'm not sure it interferes enough with school and life. It does sometimes, but not always. For example, third day of kindergarten he was removed from the school bus and I had to pick up him at school. The bus driver enforced a new rule that: kindergarteners sit together in the front, older grades sit with their grade going back the bus. My 6 y/o wanted to sit with his brother in 5th grade and refused to follow the rule or the driver's directions of where to sit. He argued with the driver, defied him, until an administrator was called to remove him from the bus. That day, it interfered with his life. He has not been back to the principal's office since. Now in first grade, about twice/month DS comes home with a comment in his agenda that he did not follow directions at some point that day. About 3 times this year he's had "silent lunch" (sitting at an isolated table) for not following directions. I believe his teacher to be fair, and I believe she likes him and does what is best for him. I've known her a few years and she's earned that from me. (Ironically, the bus driver eventually asked me for suggestions on how to handle the kid when he gets that way, I said sit him with his brother and let his brother work with him. It works. His brother knows what to say to make him think about his choices. So he did, and it works. Go figure.) I have had to learn (and teach DH and sometimes older siblings who watch him or work with him on some task). I know what will trigger inappropriate behavior. Stress, new situations, and frustration are all sure ways to bring it out. So that first week of kindergarten, something was bound to happen. I explain it to DH like this. Think of how you feel, as an adult, when you are thrown into a new situation. It seems like everyone else around you is very competent and familiar with the tasks. You, though, have no idea what to do and even what questions to ask. That is how DS feels every day. He wants to get it right, but has no idea how, so he acts out to release the stress that causes. As the youngest in the family, it probably looks to him like everyone else knows what to do, and he's useless. So I give him tasks and don't let the other kids step in and do it for him. He needs to feel competent and valued. I talk about what to expect from a situation, I have to remember that even though I've taught this lesson three times already, I haven't taught it to him. (I can forget that.) My new phrase with him lately is "People don't like it when you act that way." Or variations on it, "People won't listen if you talk that way." If he starts debating for the sake of gaining control, being in control, I tell him that. So far it is actually helping. He stops and thinks about the way he is acting. He'll even rephrase what he wants to say in a better way, a way that others will listen to. My next step is to make a behavior contract for him. I'm working it out in my head, then I'll put it on paper. I want to list behaviors that I expect from him: following directions the first time; doing homework in X amount of time (not dragging it out with complaints); following the rules in a game; obeying house rules like 20 mins computer time limit. I'll give points (0 to 3) based on how well he met the expectation. Never, sometimes, usually, always. And a reward (or lack of) based on the points each day/week. There are kids who behave worse than DS. I mean, I can take him in public. Usually. ;o) He is just more difficult than the average kid. I don't like to send him to play at a friend's without me b/c I know he will sooner or later defy that adult. He does not obey without some compelling reason. "Because I'm the grown up" carries almost no weight with him. Even with a compelling reason, he will try to negotiate. It's almost like a compulsion to oppose. He could tell me for 30 minutes he needs to use the bathroom when we're out. I finally find one, and send him, and he'll refuse, "I don't have to go now." Just b/c I told him to go. He'd stand there and pee his pants and deny that he has to go the whole time. He could be sweating til he's soaked and when someone says "It's hot," he'll insist it's cold. Dozens of times every day there is some debate like that. Now, I'm saying "People don't like it when you act that way." He also knows that when I start counting down, I'm done hearing his arguments, I'm not listening. I give him a direction, he might refuse to follow, I start counting backwards starting with what I think is a reasonable time to comply. Just doing that triggers something in him, flips a switch almost, to shut off the opposition. In fact, especially in a public place or he's too far away for me to shout at him to hear me, I hold up my fingers and start counting down 10 to 0 that way. He is mentally exhausting. He is a handful, I know it. I don't know what/if I "made" him that way. I don't do things knowingly to contribute to it. DH was home with him recently and had to leave to get other kids somewhere. DS refused to put on his shoes b/c they weren't the ones he wanted to wear, couldn't find what he wanted. DH called me on my cell phone saying DS was having a tantrum, refused to get up and out the door. I just said "How big is he? How big are you? Pick him up, put him and the shoes in the car, stop talking to him, and he'll get is act together before you arrive." He did. And the 15 y/o told me later, "Mom, that's what I told Dad to do!" LOL! Sometimes this kid can just wear a person's mind down until you cannot think anymore. That is exactly what he is going for! So I push myself to resist, knowing it will get worse if I don't. I'm in charge, I act like it. The other kids just did not challenge it as much (at least so far). This one... ay yi yi! He spends more time challenging me about doing a task than the task takes when he finally just does it. I tell him plainly, "I'm not changing my mind. You will not win this." And I stick to it. I do b/c I know if I don't, there will be chaos and anarchy. Sorry so long. I'm just want to say, a parent HAS to have other parents to talk to. To debrief, compare notes, vent, brainstorm... That's how you know if your child's behavior is something other have dealt with and how, or if you've got something extreme on your hands. I think my DS is still within the range of normal, but he's at the "difficult" end of the range.

shanghai.. thanks so much! so nice of you to say. I think this new kitchen has huge potential - it is just so tricky with the chimney and also stairwells separating the kitchen from the other parts of the house. I guess we'll see how it progresses. I have to commit to a floorplan first. bmore, -- can the w/d hide in the bp somewhere? odd, I know unfortunately not. when entering the bp from the kitchen, immediately on your left is a cabinet - it has a false front which is hiding headspace for the basement stairs - and there isn't much headspace to start with so I really cannot push this back at all. on the right as you enter the bp is a bank of cabinets and a sink. the sink is huge, a big 36" kohler cast iron sink for a room that is only 72" wide! way too big. we will keep a sink in there - it has been very handy. the kids brush their teeth there before leaving for school and we have filtered water over there so they can help themselves to water anytime. I will try to post some pictures of the bp so that you can get a sense. the cabinetry hiding the basement stairwell headspace is so funky you can't even believe it. having the W/D out in the open in that utility space doesn't bother me. Obviously in Plans 2 and 3 it is pretty well hidden which is nice, but even in Plan 1 as long as I can't see it from the kitchen I am okay. I do laundry every day so I don't want it behind doors as I want the easy access to it. -- Can the basement door have a surface mounted sliding door? probably.... this would be worth investigating as that doorswing is CRAZY making. -- Get the tall things not to be between you and the door? exchange the table and the ref stuff? will try this next along with Brian's idea on #2 - ran out of time earlier today. hinge the exit doors on the other side (on the bp side)? if I do this I will have to move the casing down toward the sink wall such that door when open is not obstructing the opening to the bp (as I have shown in plan #2 above). The wall space to the right of the opening to the bp is only 22" and without the option of moving the doorway over (because of the above mentioned basement headspace issue) I am limited here. can you move the bp door at all? I can widen it a little which might alleviate the log jam we are feeling in this space as it is a major traffic pattern. On the left side I can pull it back about 5". On the right side maybe about 5" as well. I am trying to go for a little bit more of a contemporary look so I might try to tone down all the heavy duty casings in this space. From that standpoint I love the idea of the basement door on a sliding track. I have seen them by Fleurco for shower bathroom doors....maybe could be used in this application as well. florantha, do you mean over where the W/D currently resides? if so, no this is not even remotely a possibility as there is very little set back. This house is an 1850's sea captain's house in the village section of my town. Very cute and quaint but not a lot of space for bumping out (because of set backs, etc.). if you have any other ideas or that is not what you meant please let me know. thanks.