[I loathe cleaning my dc's bathroom. Does anyone have a plan of attack?]

There is one for the toilet and one for the bathtub. That might make it easier for your older kids to help with the cleaning of the tub/shower. My 9 yo ds helps clean the kids' bathroom three times a week. He wipes everything down (with wet rags followed by disinfecting wipes) and I scrub the toilet and tub. I don't want him spraying chemicals. If I had some of those scrubbers, I'd let him clean the tub. I might have to put some on the grocery list (but we are trying to get by with only necessities for the next month or two).

[Do your dc treat you, as their teacher, the same they would any other teacher?...]

Now, we are tackling other problems - illegible handwriting is one (out of sheer lack of motivation to write better - if I stand over him with the proverbial stick he can write beautifully).

 

lol We've gone through that with ds9 too. That was part of his probation. We told him specific things we wanted to see improved in this next month. One was his handwriting. It was so sloppy. Not due to inability but an attitude of "If I hurry up and get this done, I can go play." His handwriting has improved greatly. His spelling too has improved. I was so worried because his spelling was so awful! Now that he actually takes the time to think about what he is writing, his spelling has improved dramatically.

[Do your dc treat you, as their teacher, the same they would any other teacher?...]

So you aren't alone. In fact, I reached my breaking point last week. Dh and I sat down with ds9. We basically told him he was on probation for the next month . If thing don't improve, we are sending him to school. I am also so frustrated with the whining, tears, backtalk, etc.

 

Like you say, he would probably be a model student in a school setting. I've seen how he behaves in taekwondo classes. He acts so grown up and respectful there. It's hard to believe it is the same kid! We talk to him about how he acts there and how he acts at home when it is schooltime. He would never dream of falling over on the floor if his master at tkd asked him to do something. The long talk we had with him seems to have helped some. Last week he did beautifully. This week I noticed some of the old habits coming back though. I've started nipping it in the bud a little better and he hopefully realizes now that we won't put up with that behavior any longer. I hope it works out. I don't know how *I* will deal with him going to school. :)

[What did you drink during morning sickness? I'm getting dehydrated...]

Coke worked well too. I drank gingerale sometimes but it wasn't that great. Watered-down orange juice seemed okay too. I hope you feel better soon! That part of pregnancy is so miserable.

[Those with tile floors...]

I have a regular sponge mop. Someone on this board said awhile back that the Swiffer Wetjet left streaks on tile. The cleaners I have used have all left streaks.

[Blog Roll: Post a link to your Blog here]

with no updates since Dec!

[What do you SAHM do for extra income?? Tell me!!]

It is for a local company. I type in addresses and other info processing rebate requests. I've only been doing it a couple of weeks. 1000 entries per week is doable for me and I end up earning about $120/week. Not a huge amount but plenty for us. All extra money I earn is going towards getting us out of debt.

 

I also started doing mystery shopping. My first check (including reimbursements) for the first month was $89. I figure any money I spend (and get back) is like saving money. Again, not a lot of money, but enough that it adds up.

 

I thought about cleaning offices in the evenings but dh didn't like that idea. It would have been 4 hours every week night. Too much time away from the family in the evenings.

[How many of you are only homeschooling some of your children?]

It is getting harder and harder for me to school our 9 yo ds. I'm not ready yet to send him to school (I'm not sure that would solve the problem) but I'm actually considering it.

 

If one or more of your kids goes to public/private school, why did you send them there? What were your reasons for not homeschooling that particular child? I guess I'm just curious as to what your thought process was. :)

[Does anyone have experience with surgery on their little ones?]

She a bit older than your little one. They gave her a medicine to sedate her before giving her the anesthesia in the OR. The nurse said her last memory would be of being with me and dh in the waiting room. I liked that idea. I didn't want her to freak out as they wheeled her away. My advice would be to be with your son while he is sedated. Dd woke up from her surgery laughing and giddy. After a few hours when the anesthesia fully wore off (she had quite a bit because the surgery was 3 hrs long), she started crying, saying she wanted to go home, and began pulling on her IVs. That didn't last long though. The nurses said sometimes the anesthesia will make them very crabby for a little bit.

[Does anyone have experience with home births?]

My first two were hospital births and the 3rd and 4th were born at home. I loved the experience. Working with a midwife is so different (and so much better!) than using an OB/GYN. I learned more from my midwife than I ever did from the doctors. My 3rd was actually delivered by my dh because it happened so quickly. My midwife arrived about 10 minutes later. It was such a quick, easy, happy birth. My 4th was a hard labor with a few complications but my midwife handled them with ease.

 

I found my midwife through word-of-mouth. There is one in Oregon I can highly recommend but I don't know where you are. I suggest finding several different midwives (do some google searches if you don't know anyone who can recommend a midwife) and interviewing them. I had lots of questions and the two I interviewed were very informative and open.

 

Congratulations! I hope you can find a good midwife. It was a great experience for me.

[Anybody in AZ?]

We live in Surprise.