It's illogical . . . but that won't help. She's not in the realm of logic, so pointing to the logic or lack thereof won't do any good. At all. Really. Pass the bean dip. Smile. When she says she can't decide if your decisions are right until 10 more years have passed, say sweetly, "You're right--time will tell." Then suddenly have to go to the bathroom, and when you get back, get her talking about her own life. I've dealt with these types before--don't confuse them with facts or logic. It's like wrestling with a pig--you get dirty and the pig has a great time. Just stay out of the mud.

:mad:I had to learn to sew to combat this problem. I. Hate. Sewing. But we can often make "t-shirt dresses" for everyday wear, and they work well for us. You can make them for warm or cold weather depending on what shirt you use. We've used t-shirts, collared shirts, blouses, nice sweatshirts, long-sleeved t-shirts, etc. You basically cut off the shirt a little above the waist and sew on a gathered skirt. Since a bodice is most of the work on a dress, you save time. Also, you usually don't need to fool with buttons, zipper, etc. The gathered skirt is of a coordinating fabric, light or heavy, patterned or plain, depending on your needs/taste. It's easy--and remember, I really hate to sew, so I mean it. For nicer dresses, we watch the thrift shops. But that's getting tougher . . . :( Hope this helps.

Very imperfectly. I only have two (11 and 9), and this whole thing drives me crazy. DD rushes through just to be able to pop up and ends up redoing it half the time. DS is slooooowwww. For some subjects, I try to alternate them so one is with me and one is working independently (to use the term loosely). During these times, I often find to my chagrin that they both end up at my desk needing me at the same time. Grrr. Other times, I am trying to get them both to a certain point so that we can do a "together" subject like history. At these times, they are almost never in sync. Then, usually I'm rushing DS while trying to rack my brain for meaningful things to keep DD busy until DS is finished that yet won't put him further behind in a key subject (like Latin). Or, I have her change a load of laundry or something. Sometimes a slooowww child or a misbehaving one has to take "homework" to do during their daily reading time so I can keep them in sync in the right subjects. I have not yet figured out how to herd these two cats, keep these two plates spinning, etc., without coming dangerously close to losing my sanity. The bright spot is that sometimes I can go to the bathroom without them losing focus while I'm out of the room. So, I'm afraid that I have no good answers for you, but I certainly sympathize. I hope others have some good answers.

Don't want to rain on your parade, but don't let the map fool you. Congestion, traffic, and lower speed limits make the drives looonnnnger. Frankly, there's enough in Virginia to keep you going for several weeks, with perhaps a day trip or two to DC (definitely park outside the city and use the Metro). I would choose a base of operations and then do what is within driving distance. Setting up and tearing down camp too many times, with no other adult helpers and a group of small ones, is no joke. It will Get. Old. If after you've done a week or two in Virginia you feel brave, maybe you can head up to a base of operations in PA where you can again set up in one place and do day trips. Be careful of all of those little ones in big cities. Have them hold hands, maybe have them wear matching clothes and ID bracelets. Personally, trying to keep track of small children in big cities wears me out--so know yourself before you try it. If I were you, I would just focus on Virginia and maybe add in the DC if I felt brave. But maybe you're not as much of a chicken as I am . . . Blessings to you, whatever you decide.

I moved with movers for the first time on a cross-country move in Fall 2006. I made sure I was there the whole time everything was packed, and I ran around putting room stickers on all of the boxes. I asked them to label the top, one end, and one side, and they usually did. I tried to be really, really nice yet really, really present. I recommend that you check the company's "prohibited" list and purge your house of those items before they arrive. Also, before they arrive, designate a room or a closet off-limits and put stuff in there that you plan to take with you. Anything not going with you that can't be moved easily needs to have a big sign on it that it is not going. What we took with us: CPUs/hard drives from computers (we let them take monitors), glass heirloom Christmas ornaments, clothing/suitcases/toiletries, an "arrival box" or two, photo albums, jewelry, CDs and DVDs, etc. Watch to make sure they don't mark something as owner-packed if it isn't true. Some companies have been known to do that to cut down on costs if something goes wrong. If they put some kind of code or designation on the box that you don't understand--ask. Your two new best friends need to be the guy doing the inventory on your end (the supervisor of the packers) and the driver, when he arrives. Be really, really nice to them. Hope all goes well! We got moved 3000 miles with North American with no major damage and no lost items.

My DH and I used to work for the government back east, and I remembering finding that "non-essential" designation pretty hilarious. We are in Tri-Cities, and we got about 7 inches here, but on top of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice, which is the bigger problem. That is huge for us, and we were home from church yesterday, and DH is working from home today. The children are thrilled beyond words to actually have snow in Tri-Cities. I gave them vacation from school today to play in it.

I googled and it came up on Walgreens.com. I have a Walgreens in my town (southeastern WA state)--are they likely to carry it? What chains carry it in your area?

I have tried various lotions over the years and have not been impressed. I have to be desperate to put it on in the first place, and if I endure its greasiness only to find a few hours later that it doesn't seem to be doing anything, I get annoyed. What will work for basic winter-caused dry patches on my skin? I am desperate enough to go out and buy something (when the ice gets off our roads). Thanks!

Now, that's one I've never heard before!

This is what we used. I mounted the picture on a 3x5 card and used it for our PP bookmark. It worked well for us.

Woohoo! Nurse Bee! Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming, but this makes me happy. I wasn't sure if it happened at post 101 or 126.

OK, I'm going to be vulnerable here. I choose it based on whether I like it! Now, on a deep intuitive level, I think I do take into account whether it fits our religious beliefs, the learning styles of our children, WTM's goals (our benchmarks), reviews, recommendations from others, my teaching style (no-fun Mom), etc. But all of that is unconscious, so the process looks and feels completely subjective at this point. Over the years, I have slowly learned not to fix what isn't broken. I have slowly learned to accept that there will be some gaps and that I can't frantically run from one curriculum to another to avoid that. My process isn't perfect, but I must say that I'm pretty happy with all of our main curricula.

Wow! That's terrific! The best of the best! I'm with you about being a little freaked out about three boys by themselves in a hotel room, though. Can you call ahead and have adult movies blocked from the room? That might help a little.

I'm sorry that happened to you. I don't like this negative ratings stuff. Personally, I think if one uses it at all, it should be for egregious stuff like flaming people.

Whoaaaa, unless I post a message like that! Since I have no subject line, it's posting the first part of my message. And that is so long that the line is now out of control. Colleen, you're right! This is a pain! And I agree with ELaurie that your avatar is beautiful.

I have a MacBook Pro laptop, and when I experimented with the size of the WTM window, if I stretch it almost the full width of my screen the subject lines come back within their proper "borders." And, I must admit, it's pretty easy to read that way, although it's not conducive to having several windows open at once. I don't know--I could grow to kind of like it.

I have always lurked more than posted. How much I post always depends on how much time I have on a given day and on my interest in the topic. This is still true. But I think I sometimes "miss" threads in the new format.

Sorry--that smiley next to the post was a mistake when I was trying for the smiley within the post toward the end. Sorry!!!! I don't anyone to misunderstand.

I watch very few movies, but DH asked me to watch this with him a few weeks ago. Well. It's a good thing they didn't watch the dancing scene. It was very weird and slowed down, interspersed with a s*x scene of two of the main characters. As for this question, the first thing *I* thought of was what to do to help the boy who watched it. I'd like to address that before you address how to deal with the friend's mom. Is your boy prone to nightmares? I'd watch out for that--not from the violence so much as for all of the weird and scary images of that "world." Fortunately (?), the violence is so bizarre and otherworldly that it really isn't even scary. (And I'm not the type to say that lightly.) There's SO MUCH of it in the second movie, though. Since he's already seen it and the damage is done, I'd have a long talk with him about how the movie and guns are sooooo not real. You don't want him to get this invincible idea that people can shoot strings of bullets at one another and no one really gets hurt. In our home, we would've also talked about the implications of the "good guys" wearing black, but that may not be a big deal to you The end is pretty surreal, and the implications are pretty scary for an adult, but I think it will go over your boy's head. The darkness, the despair, the violence, all of these would be my main concerns in trying to help my son process this experience. And then I would get pretty torqued at the mom, and then I would breaattthhhhe before I talked to her. So. I *would* mention it to the Mom, but I would try to be somewhat offhand about it when I bring it up. Like, "Hey, x, were you aware that the boys watched Matrix Reloaded when they were together?" Use the reaction to that statement to gauge where you go with the conversation. If she is clueless, you could say, "That's not a movie I would choose for my son at this age. Can we stay away from those kinds of movies when we're together?" If she's contrite, then you can say how you've talked and processed it through with your own son and suggest she do likewise. If she's defensive, thinks you're strange, gets made, or otherwise starts crazy-making, I would quietly "not be able to make it" if she suggests any more overnights before the move. Or, you could offer to do it at your house instead.:D Hugs to you. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this in a young child. P.S. We have the original Matrix because we like to dialogue about the philosophical implications. But we keep it out of the reach of children, they don't know we own it, and we would never dream of letting them watch it. But this movie we decided to resell.

Jam?!?!?!?

This is great! I'll have to remember that for when mine are a little bit older.

Well, Crissy, this time *we* are getting the snow! We got ice yesterday and last night, and now it's snowing on top of that. I'm loving it because we are staying home and not going anywhere! There's a couple inches down, adding up fast, and we might even get 4-6 inches, which would be a record for us. It's been so frigidly cold this past week that it's sticking really well, although it is a very dry, powdery snow because of the cold. Hooray! My husband and children are outside wallowing in it.

I'd sure like to see that, Cat. May I have a copy?

Wow, wow, wow! Brag away--you've earned the right! Congrats to you and your DS. He's learned some lessons in persevering and "pressing in" this week that will be valuable to him the rest of his life. And, yes, I would let him sleep aalllll day tomorrow, and maybe Monday too if that would help him recover.

What lost classics website? Do tell! Don't tantalize us now and fail to provide a link! Aaaaaahhhh!