I agree with your disagreement :-) As I fit comfortably into my jeans, for instance, it's going to be at least 5kg before they're uncomfortable. And it's a lot more difficult to lose 5kg than it is to note a 500g fluctuation and be reminded about portion control and skipping the biscuits. I think most of us who weight often are very aware of fluctuations based on the 'bulk' v calories of meals, hormones, time of last meal, even insomnia. It's not about the specifics of a number, it's about encouraging ongoing mindfulness of healthy habits. I love the idea of an app that smooths out fluctuations - I'll look that one up.

No brand name loyalty at all here. Most days I use a mineral powder foundation and a liquid lip cream thing. Occasionally moisturiser with sunscreen (daily in summer) or BB cream with sunscreen. And eye liner. That's as fancy as I get.

Weigh yourself. You know there will probably be a gain and you know you can fix it because you've done it before (well done!). One day at a time and you'll be back where you want to be. But then I weigh myself every few days and use it as a reminder not to go overboard. That works for me, but not for everyone. I don't think hiding from a problem works for anyone, though... If you're motivated to eat healthily without the scale, then skip the scale, but if you're hiding from a visible reminder that you need to take action, facing up to it is better.

It's scary. And overwhelming. And exhausting. And probably depressing, even if you really, really want the move. But if we didn't do scary stuff, we wouldn't do much that was interesting at all, I think! I've done this twice, only across the world, rather than across the country. Honestly, I'm feeling much the same about a move we're about to make two suburbs over. A lot of things will be much easier, but much of the logistics are just as difficult, if different. Once the decisions are made, the process will be easier. It's the 'unsure' stage that is the hardest.

I am so very sorry, and thinking of your family.

Quizlet. If he's studying something from an established book there's a good chance the cards are already there for him (we've found Lively Latin, Trail Guide to World Geography, Caesar's English and dd's German, for instance). They can be used on the computer but are great for iPods or smartphones - there's an app you can download.

Do people comply? Our leisure centre says boys over 5years can't use the ladies' toilets/change rooms. Given that there are only 3 'family room' most people just ignore that... Even parents who are very relaxed about security aren't likely to send a 6 year old to change in the men's change room, I think.

When we lived overseas dd went to a school that started at 7:30, and she went to bed 8:30pm. Now for an 8:30 school start ds goes to bed at 9pm. We don't have real 'bedtime routine' anymore - ds (who is 9) watches his daily half hour of TV at 8pm, then has to be quietly in bed with a book or audiobook from 8:30 to 9:00pm. During the summer holidays he usually has a 10pm bedtime. I know at least two of his friends whose school term bedtimes are between 7:30pm and 8pm. I've never met anyone who does a 9pm bedtime for kids ds's age. It works for us though, so ds has more time with his Dad in the evenings.

The non-dairy one was a Whole30 experiment, so I don't have a recipe: For normal butter chicken I just sort of make it now, but these are two recipes I've bookmarked: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/6475/butter+chicken http://showmethecurry.com/curries/butter-chicken-murgh-makhani.html Sometimes I buy a spice packet from the Indian grocer and use the recipe on the back. The basic idea is to marinade the chicken in yoghurt and spices - in the dairy free version I substituted coconut cream for the yoghurt. For the sauce I'd use olive oil instead of butter for frying, and then stir in cashew paste instead of cream. I always grill the chicken then add it to the sauce - I think that adds flavour over the versions that simmer the chicken in the sauce.

Ds9 uses the men's room now if I am standing outside. But I wouldn't send any kid off to a public toilet unsupervised, girl or boy. That sounds more dramatic than I mean it, perhaps. I'm not standing with my ear to the door, I just like to be in the vicinity.

Perfectly clean.

I've made a pretty decent butter chicken without dairy: I use a little coconut cream in the marinade, and then use cashew paste (bought or homemade) to thicken the sauce and give it the right consistency. It's worth a try because butter chicken is not something I'd want to go without!

We occasionally drive down to the beachfront for an ice cream, or hunt down Baskin Robbins. It is always framed as a "special treat" though, and not necessarily after a meal - it might be after school in the late afternoon, for instance, or instead of lunch on the weekend.

I'm glad she's feeling better! Two things I read when I was investigating the damage 'stuck' tablets can do: drink additional water, not just one gulp with the tablets, and remain upright for 15 minutes, rather than lying down straight afterwards.

Dd dry swallowed a pill and hurt her throat. What I read was potentially very, very scary, and she'll never dry swallow a tablet again, but we were pretty sure the pill had gone down and so we were just left with the pain. For her it was bad enough that she stuck to a liquid diet for a day or so and then a soft food diet for another 2-3 days. She may have taken some liquid ibuprofen, but I think it was mostly just soft food and time. There are circumstances where serious damage can be done, though, so do be sure that it is getting better or seek medical advice.

I love tacos. I've only just been introduced to soft shell tacos which are even better. I think they should be available on at least every second street corner. This is a strange but tasty sweet potato taco recipe: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/09/honey-lime-sweet-potato-black-bean-and-corn-tacos/

Another vote for cake mix as more reliable. And the worst-cakes-ever award is firmly assigned to homemade - you seldom get an inedible cake from cake mix.

I'm with your friend! Actually, if you DO feel the need to know what textbook they're using it's possibly a reason to change school: by the end I didn't trust dd's Montessori school at all and I was constantly stressed out trying to fill gaps and instil good learning values. Now that we moved schools I know that they're on top of things and will let me know if there's a problem. I'm happy to pay for that!

I read it a short while ago. I'm interested in the cholesterol findings. I'm currently sitting with slightly elevated cholesterol and low ferritin (iron) - apart from taking iron tablets the advice for reducing cholesterol and increasing iron (within the context of our already mostly healthy diet) seem to directly contradict each other. So the idea of taking apple cider twice a day is appealing.

Sounds about age appropriate, although I'd be starting to set a much firmer line with a 5 year old. Mine are much further apart though, so you might have the sort of effect where one's behaviour affects the other (in both positive and negative ways though). On refection, by 5, ds wasn't really throwing tantrums in public at all (mostly because I absolutely would not tolerate it - we'd have gone home immediately) but we were still seeing them at home.

I like xahm's idea, or individual phone calls (except, nooooooo, because I hate making calls), but I wouldn't put your originally worded request in writing in case, as someone said, it got back to Susie and made her feel worse. Not conversation police though - a lot of people are clueless and need to have the obvious pointed out to them.

This is why even slow cooker recipes often ask you to brown meat first before throwing it in the slow cooker. Absolutely opt for frying the meat and onions (I'd also rather grill the peppers for a charring flavour). If this is a serious time issue everything can be fried up together although that won't be as effective because of the different temperatures and cook times required. You could then add a little stock (rather than water) to simmer at the end. Also spices, obviously.

We've gotten out of a few international scrapes - including arriving at a border post with an expired passport - because we always keep our cool and mind our manners. The importance of this really can't be overestimated!

This, and I'd copy someone else - the tutor, perhaps, or even the course co-ordinator as your lecturer doesn't seem to be entirely focused on what's going on.

I suppose I've replaced the dishes at least 5 times in the 20 years we've been married. But then we've also moved country twice and 'started over' to some extend each time. I definitely replace the set if we get below 1 item per person in any part of the set - if I could replace that part with a matching solid colour I'd do so only if I really liked the set. The remaining items go to the charity shop.