For us, I would take whatever math concept was being worked on at school and cover it in a "real life" way. It keeps me engaged with their school life and shows them the different ways the concept can be used. Other than that, I agree with everyone else...lots and lots of reading. It's a great excuse for more cuddle time! :hurray:

It always makes me feel better if we can "end the day well"...it helps keep the hope alive when we have a rough start! :-)

I love high school for just this reason! Although, sometimes I miss the times when they wanted my participation.

Ok...so the key thing is meet in public, no getting into cars, and meet several times in person first, right? Thanks, guys! I feel much better. I just need to know how to navigate this issue.

I have a 19 year old who just moved across the country to live with his aunt and uncle. He has only been there a week. Already he has arranged a date with someone through Tinder (?) later this week and is currently driving around with someone he met online as they show him around town. I understand that social media is the new normal, I guess, but I just can't see how this is safe. He's telling me, "this 5'2" is not going to murder me, I'm not an idiot, mom"....ugghhh! Is it just me, am I out of touch? I can't do anything about it anyway, but it's not unreasonable to be worried, right? I'm just not sure how to deal with this.

Oh, phew!!! Thank you all for your replies. I feel so much better! :-)

Hi, I was stunned when my daughter told me today she didn't want to tell me the subject of her essay. She is having one of her writing tutors critique it for her so I haven't even seen it. I was glad to see how proactive she has been about her education this past year because I've been so busy with my 2 year old. It never occurred to me that she might not want me to see it. Is this normal? Or am I missing something? I'm trying to not make a big deal out of it but I'd be lying if I said it isn't bothering me. Is this a "growing into independence" thing or indicative of something more serious? What do you guys think?

Thank you!! I found it available on My Father's World! Just finished ordering it and breathing a sigh of relief! Thanks, again!!

I haven't figured out how to post to the sale board and I'm desperate...I am looking for this book for my daughter. Every place I've looked, it has been out of stock. Can anyone help??

I don't watch TV anymore for financial as well as time issues. I just don't have the time and cable is so expensive! We watch some Netflix and Amazon Prime here and there with the kids...mainly kid stuff and documentaries. So, perhaps you can imagine my absolute shock when this past weekend, while on vacation in Atlanta (I live in a small New England town) I turned on the TV at 5:30am because the baby was awake and I thought, cool...a little fun TV time.. So, there's some news, lots of infomercials, some kid stuff...I'm clicking past the kids channels and then hit upon some shows, maybe TV dramas...I'm not really sure. One show catches my attention just because of it's title...something about an attic. I watch a few minutes, just another show. I continue clicking, flipping through all the channels again thinking I guess nothing is on, when I hit the "attic" show again....and now, it's, well, quite graphic. In fact, I thought at first that this was an adult channel. And it was only a few channels down from the kids channels. So, I'm thinking, what? you can just find this stuff just by channel surfing, I thought you had to order it or something and I'm quite upset at this point because can I just tell you...this was graphic stuff. THEN, I notice at the top of the screen that a rating is shown for each show...this show had a TV-14 rating!!!!! To say I'm in shock in an understatement. Now, please don't misunderstand me. I'm no prude. I know there is a lot of stuff out there. But it used to be "under lock and key" so to speak. You had to go search it out. So...I'm busy digesting this and processing it in my mind. I talk to my husband, he seems to agree...blah, blah, blah...we're home again and life is busy and we are getting back to normal routines. Then, my husband invites my 18 year old son to watch a Netflix show. I happen to sit down to catch up on some emails and listen to what they are watching. It's all vampires, death, violence, some comedy (??), and lots of swearing and graphic stuff (I can't remember what you guys call it here...there used to be a code word of sorts) but I'm sure you get the gist! I make the mistake of looking up at the screen and here it is again! Although, this time, it's my husband and son watching it! I can't believe it. Like it's Seinfeld or something. They're laughing, they think it's so funny! I talk to my husband later and he says it was an HBO mature show, not TV-14 and I guess he knew and doesn't think it's odd or anything. I don't know. But what I saw on that show was exactly the same thing on the TV-14 show in Atlanta. So, obviously...I'm living in a bubble or something. I feel like I've been so busy taking care of my family, homeschooling, trying to decipher curriculums, raising teens down to raising babies again, working on my spiritual life and trying not to get too busy for God, that something has happened to the world I once knew. How could this stuff be on normal, everyday TV...it's not like you have to go rent it anymore? And...how is it that my husband seems to not think anything of it? And now, evidently, my 18 year old thinks it's "refreshing to hear swearing in shows because it's realistic and 'real world'?? But mainly, it's like porn has hit mainstream TV, I just.can't.believe.it.... I don't know what to do right now. I can't sleep because I now feel like an alien and like I've dropped the ball somehow. I've worked so hard to try to provide a good, healthy environment. I've tried to keep up on what's going on in the world and tried to "keep the conversation and discussion going" with the kids on movies and books. But admittedly, I don't go to movies and I don't actually read the books. I just read reviews and talk to others to get an idea of what's out there. I don't know what else I can do but I can't just do nothing. Not after what I have seen on the screen this weekend!

Would love to but I fear we may be working (on a reduced schedule) during this summer! Trying to be upbeat about it...

I haven't read the other replies but for us, we have met others through playgrounds and parks, bookstore (during bad weather) and places like Burger King or bagel cafes....basically wherever moms and kids congregate. Hope that's helpful. I find that when the weather warms up, it gets easier. Good luck!!

I found having a newborn SO much easier than my now 9 month old who is everywhere and into everything! The only time I can get anything done is if he is confined to a crib, jumper, or backpack. I had to just take it a day at a time, sometimes things go very smoothly and I can stay a step ahead and sometimes no matter what I do, I'm completely lagging behind. At my house, things change constantly and I have to be flexible. I don't know if that's helpful...I'm feeling a little scattered today. :-)

We always try to continue reading, writing, and math...especially math. It's too easy to get math-lazy (for us, anyway) otherwise! I find that I have so much more energy to do the "fun" type of activities that still teach these subjects in the summertime. During the regular school year, it's all I can do to try to stay on top of the lessons in the books, never mind doing anything creative and fun! :-)

Completely agree! Makes me sad to see the stress put on the little ones and the lack of expectations on the older kids. I homeschooled my oldest until 11th grade. He is a senior this year and the stories he brings home are so hard to believe, I'd chalk it up to exaggeration if I didn't know him as well as I do.