I am from the South (US) originally -- where people do not ask you if mental illness runs in your family. They just ask on which side it runs. :P I wish mental illness weren't such a stigma. It's a common health issue. I have some people in my family who have very serious, difficult to manage dx, and others with dx that are much more readily responsive to treatment. Treatment, in my family, is not an option. We love you. You have this dx. We will make sure you get the treatment you need. My mother put it this way: If Auntie were laying on the ground with a broken leg, would you not take her to a doctor and have it treated? To me, mental illnesses are no different than that. That said, I think different families develop different family culture about mental illness. In my family, we've always tried to keep a sense of humour about it, but at the same time, we've always been very protective of our loved ones who are dealing with mental illness. My dh was (and probably still is) quite mortified at the way my family will joke and talk about mental illness, especially the way we joke with the loved ones who are dx with mental illnesses. I think he doesn't understand that mentally ill people can have a sense of humour about their own situation, too. Or, maybe it's just such an ingrained taboo for him, that he can't help but be very uncomfortable around it.

I get like that, too, sometimes. Eating Well is a site that I like to browse for recipes and ideas. They have a lot of different meal plans. Here's a link to some family meals. And here is one for a 7-day budget meals plan. And another one for kid-friendly meals.

I'm very sorry for your situation. I wish I had something more than sympathy to offer. I think there are a few folks here who have bipolar spouses. I hope some will chime in or PM with you. Do take care of yourself, too. :grouphug:

:scared: Glad you got that all ripped out. Ew! doesn't begin to cut it!

This is a subject that can (and I highly suspect will) be debated to death. IMO, it depends on how you define healthy. Most of the diets you listed are for weight loss, not support of longevity of the biological unit. IMO, real food (not just food -- but real, whole foods as unprocessed and uncontaminated as possible) and moderation are the keys.

I'm very late to this, but I did read all the way through (skimming the diversionary arguments over good food / bad food). I just want to offer that WW can be very good for being aware of the quantity of food one is eating. I think teen boys just aren't aware of the volume of food they eat. My own ds isn't overweight, but can consume an enormous amount of food over a day if he didn't pay attention to it. FWIW, boys lose weight differently than girls and women. Exercise is a fantastic weight loss support for boys and men. Their bodies respond to it much better and it speeds up their results. So, my suggestions are really just to help him to understand how WW points equal quantity/calories of food so he is aware of what he's eating, and to get him active and exercising as much as possible. Bike riding is great, but walking, playing any active sports, lifting weights, etc. will just spur his weight loss even more. My dh and ds lift weights together in the winter to stave off the winter weight gain. And kudos to your boy for his success this week! Experiencing success is the best motivator!

I'm not sure where our income ranks us compared to other Canadians. I voted based on actual income in Cdn dollars, not adjusting for the exchange rate. I'm going to guess the exchange rate becomes irrelevant when you consider that I don't pay for insurance premiums and co-pays and such. But, I can un-vote if you think it will skew your results. I just like polls. :)

Real eggs, but not anymore. He outgrew that ages ago. We're not religious, but love the pagan origins of all the christian holidays, plus candy. The more candy it requires, the better the holiday, IMO. Also, bunnies!

Well... don't count that out quite yet. My brother drove my dad's huge Studebaker (a manual on the fly) for several blocks, including stops and turns along the way. Obviously, he had no youtube videos for it as it was the late 70's, so had only figured it all out from watching our parents drive. He was 8 or 9 years old at the time. He was driving fast enough that my dad, running after him, only caught up to him because there was a long red light before the highway. Little did my parents know at the time that this was only the beginning of the mischief he had in store for them.

Absolutely none of the above, nor anything in the Pilot's wife article are an excuse for physically assaulting a passenger. The policies in place that allow such a thing to even begin to occur are atrocious and completely reprehensible. The airline is culpable here. The backlash they will suffer is due to their own policies and procedures.

I think that the kindness, generosity, and intellect of the AU and NZ representation on this board alone is enough to outweigh any negatives one could cite.

Assumptions. I have always worked at least a couple of part-time jobs or full-time while we homeschooled. My dh works from home and I was able to secure work that often allowed me to work from home as well. Not everyone homeschooling has to sacrifice income earnings to do so.

Up until high school years, we spent rougly $300-$400 per year for curriculum, supplies and outside class fees (art, sports). High school was roughly double that. I used mainly Oak Meadow which meant lots and lots of nature, science and art supplies (well worth it to go with high quality on those things, IMO and IME) and Saxon for math. I did not source out used materials very often, although we did use the library for literature.

I don't know you, and I don't know if you've been on the boards a long time or not, but I have noticed your posts over the past several months. Many are like this one. You seem to have quite a lot of anger and bitterness in your life right now. Have you noticed this as a pattern? Is it a new pattern for you or something you've been dealing with for a long time? Have you considered helping yourself in overcoming whatever it is that brings that out in you? You might not be interested in spending money on counseling, but is there a pastor or someone else you could turn to for some advice, relief, help? I think you could really use a break from all that anger and bitterness. It must not be a very happy way to live.

Ah, yes. Nothing rallies a people like launching a war.

I agree with you. It's a terrible (and short-sighted) proposition. You do not need education beyond high school to be a productive, employed person or earn a living wage. You don't even need a high school diploma for that. There is a great myth out there that post-secondary education is some kind of guarantor of success in employment and life. It's too bad this mayor is buying into that and trying to perpetuate it further.

I said "one." I did not say "me" or "you." I said "one." As in anyone. To suggest that anyone should change their behaviour to avoid unprovoked attacks, flirts, come-ons, etc. is victim blaming. Buying into the victim blaming mentality is perpetuating it, which is a far more shameful thing to do than dealing, in an adult-like manner, with a bit of 'drama.'

I voted no. I don't believe that. But, the larger question might be whether one considers the phrase "women and men cannot ever be friends" as an opinion, or as a directive.

So, one must adjust one's behaviour just in case someone else is tempted to act inappropriately? Hmm... victim blaming? All right then, perhaps Mr. Pence and his ilk might consider attiring in burquas so as to further reduce any unwanted attentions.

You can't control how other people react to you. You can only control your own reactions to other people. So, this defense of having to nix dinners with women because they might come on to you, is absurd and ineffectual, at best. Men know the word "no" and are capable of keeping both their emotions and their genitals away from women who might "come on" to them.

What bothers me most about that is that those posts are examples of women defending oppressive patriarchy. It more than bothers me. It disgusts me. Et tu Bruta? Et tu?

I used to live in FL, then OK, now in the Great White North. I have rotating wardrobes. It's just necessary because of the huge range in temperatures. I can have -20C to -40C in winter and +35C or more in summer. For areas with a less drastic change, you can have a mini-capsule to add to your main one -- so for example, add a couple of sweaters and a peacoat to your basic wardrobe.

Way, way, way, way back when I rode a dinosaur to work at the Gap, they had a sales technique called exactly that -- "Wardrobe Basics." They still use that idea at Banana Republic (Gap's upper end stores), but the name of the technique changes. Lots of other stores use it, too (but primarily where they have high engagement salespeople). This concept works easiest for customers if they shop for all items in the same store because then you have assurance that the colour lots will coordinate and match (your navys are all the same navy, e.g.) But, you don't need to pay BR prices to get that same effect. You can do the same thing shopping Wal-Mart very easily, or Joe Fresh (which does a great job of it for very cheap, IMO). Anyway... in my next career, I just want to dress people and shop with/for them. A capsule wardrobe is fantastic, but if you really want to up your game.... accessories take it to a whole new level and they're easier and cheaper to update and make even a plain white tee shirt and jeans into something really special.

I hear your frustration. It does get better. It doesn't sound, from what you've described, that he's being malicious about it. It sounds like he just doesn't think of these things. IMO and IME, that's not atypical of teen boys. But... it does get better!

It's definitely okay to have those feelings. I would be devastated if I got pregnant now. I can only imagine how you must feel. :grouphug: