I read this on ScienceDaily a couple of weeks ago and posted it. I'm not a fan of the theory, and it doesn't help that most of the people that are promoting it are concurrently flogging their own books and curricula based on it. I prefer to have my research done by uninterested parties.

I store them in Password Agent. I not only have to remember my own passwords, I have to remember my clients' passwords as well. In my case, it's worth the $25. (If you keep fewer than 25 passwords, you can get the lite version for free.)

This year there was nothing offensive under the tree. One year my sister gave my ds a gold bracelet with his name inscribed on it. It was misspelled. :001_huh: He doesn't even have an unusual name.

Now that's what I call a Christmas present. I hope everything works out well and you can bring her home very soon.

And more Christmas wishes from Miami, Florida, where it's a balmy 82 degrees!

The Brazilian family was offered a police escort and entrance through the subterranean parking lot just like David Goldman was given. The family refused it and chose to parade the child for for over a block while the media shoved and pushed them. Their spokesman said the Brazilian family chose to do that to protest having to return the boy. I saw the video and the child was frightened and crying. The Brazilian family put him through that -- forced the kid to walk the gauntlet of hysterical, aggressive media, to make a point. I'm very glad that poor child is back with his father where he belongs. He's going to need years of counseling to undo the damage done to him by his kidnappers.

Just once I'd like someone to explain to me how my straight marriage is affected by two gay partners living together for 20 years, supporting and loving each other, and raising a family. I've been told many times that it is, but the persons have never been able to tell me exactly how that would happen. It's always some abstract fear of the "erosion" of marriage that can't be quantified or qualified.

I just made my little dog a quilted coat that sounds sort of like that. :001_huh:

Walmart carries fabrics and notions. If you can't find another fabric store, maybe that's an option for you.

Did he buy it?:D

They're "underpants" around here -- all of them -- boys' and girls' unmentionables. When I say "panties," dh cringes. What is that all about? :001_huh:

Yup.

But we're willing to do whatever we have to do to ensure the best possible education and home life for our children, instead of whining about how terrible schools and then sending our own children right back to them. That is the difference. And it's a really, really big difference.

Your dd's midwife was a man? That's interesting -- it used to be an "only women" profession. When I had my home delivery 10 (almost 11) years ago, my midwife, who runs a midwifery school, had been approached by her first male student. It was very unusual then.

I had a home birth with ds (10). It was amazing. I can't recommend enough being cared for by a midwife. Their whole approach is different. While a doctor will treat you as a patient and your pregnancy as a condition that must be taken care of, a midwife will approach your pregnancy as the social life event it actually is. Beyond that, a good midwife will afford you exactly the same care as a physician -- same blood tests, same ultra-sounds, same everything. But she'll also sit and rub your back when you're chatting and she'll make time to have a cup of tea with you. (Try that with your doctor.) Both of my births were physically similar. Same number of hours in labor, same physical symptoms, etc. But the experience I had at home can never be compared to a birth at a hospital where I had all the physical care I needed, but my heart and soul were ignored to the point of complete strangers walking away with my baby before I'd had a chance to see her. They think nothing of that in a hospital. A midwife wouldn't take a newborn baby from its mother -- she understands the subtle damage that can happen. I can't recommend a home birth (or center birth) enough. Just say no to hospitals -- they're full of horrible super-germs and that is no place to bring a tender baby into the world. Your own bed, with YOU in charge, is best. My experience with family is that they think home births are crazy because they're afraid. The love you and they don't want anything to happen to you or your baby, and they're convinced that you can only receive proper care in a hospital. Your midwife can help you find statistics that will more than soothe your family. For one thing, the minute you walk into a midwife's office, you just reduced your chances of having a c-section by more than half. Sorry if this post rambles -- I have strong feelings about home births vs. hospital births. Good luck whatever you decide. I can't think of a better Christmas present! Congratulations.

Excellent advise. :iagree: For first grade, all we did for science was the Magic School Bus series, along with a huge number of TV programs pre-programmed by me. Science is his best subject now, so the lack of formal curricula didin't hurt a bit.

Use full-spectrum light bulbs and buy one or two full-spectrum "daylight" lamps for the desks. It makes all the difference in the world -- you can make a dark, closed-in space feel like outdoors just with full-spectrum lights. Excellent mood enhancer.

The program can be used as a stand-alone math curriculum. (And I agree on TT7 being unnecessary after TT6.) Someone here posted that her son uses only TT, and that he has passed his state exams with no trouble. We do two lessons a day in 30 minutes. (We do an additional 45 minutes of Singapore Math and other supplements because ds is mathy and loves that stuff.) What I do notice is that my son is very engaged with TT. The explanations are much better than mine, so he understands what he's doing, and since he's having a good time, he's not prone to day-dreaming or dawdling. I've given him the same problems to do from the TT workbook, and it takes him twice as long to work through the exact same problems. (I don't buy workbooks anymore.) That surprised me at the time, but in retrospect, it shouldn't have. I'm not sure this would apply to every kid, but it's a possible explanation for the speed at which your dc is burning through his lessons. In your place, I'd have the dc take the TT placement test and take it from there. As well, if he continues burning through the lessons, assign two at a time as we do. Good luck.

We're finally dumping what's left of RS4K Biology and we're moving on to Singapore Science (My Pals are Here). Love it! Also, I'm very intrigued by Amy's Unschooling Challenge. I'll be thinking of ways to integrate some of that into our day.

Our health insurance covers us here. We have been blessed in business and we have the best available. Still, our co-pays would cripple us if dh or I became seriously ill. When we're in Canada, their "lousy" system covers us 100%, no deductibles, no co-pay for drugs, and I can get an appointment with my family physician on the same day. We have everything done that requires a large co-pay in Canada. We will definitely retire there.

Mine are 17 years apart. :001_huh: They have a wonderful relationship.

:lol::lol::lol:

I think Tiger Woods is in a category all by himself. :tongue_smilie:

I'm not. I really don't have a problem with large families, and I don't have a problem with the Duggars putting it all out there. If you look at my original post, I asked the question of whether the Duggars preemie could have been avoided if she'd waited a little longer between babies. Some people took that as a personal attack. It's not. It's a question to be taken at face value.

She's been on the news every day this week.