I also have a child I believe has sensory issues along with his picky eating habits. I'll reiterate that these kids will NOT just eat when they are hungry. I fell for that when he was younger. He's three, he just has to eat what I serve, it's a power play, I'm not a short-order cook! My poor little guy didn't eat for almost two days and then I found him eating paper, he was that starving. I still can't believe I did that to him. My ds sounds a little better off than yours in that he will drink chocolate milk and certain orange juices, loves medicine/vitamins (I do not understand that at all) but the salty, buttery (only one brand!), carbohydrate thing is identical. He lived on pediasure his whole second year of life. I don't have any advice. We stopped fighting him so he can trust us again. You'd probably recognize the look of terror that he brings to each and every meal, fearful of what food I'd be forcing him to 'just try two bites'. He will now ask what's for dinner and just be absolutely giddy that the menu includes something for him and there won't be any pressure to try new foods. As we've regained his trust, he has willingly tried one or two new foods that we were 99% sure he'd like (like garlic french fry puffs at a restaurant). We've got a visit to a specialist on our list, and I thank the other posters for their suggestions. It's nice to know we're not alone in this. It's just so sad when your child is fearful of food.

I know of a case where both parents were in prison, serving long sentences, and the student was STILL considered a dependent because she was living with a grandparent. Really, the 'easiest' way to prove independence to the government is to have a baby (to whom you provide 50% support) or get married. Instant independent student status. Not that anyone is encouraging that.

There are actually lots of things that require the FAFSA to be completed: grants, scholarships, work-study positions, lab positions, the list goes on and on. Lots of times you don't have to show 'need', the box just has to be checked. (Speaking as someone who used to work in financial aid eons ago.)

Ask the allergist. If asthma is a distinct possibility, they might want to get the methacholine challenge done even if she is sick. The ability to breathe is a good thing. Depending on what medications she is on, she may have to stop them for a week to get a clear result from the skin test.

I also have heard only positive things about the camps. (Other than the cost!) My sister was lucky enough to go, and I have a friend who has been sending her two children for 3 or 4 years.

We just redid our kitchen with dark espresso stained cabinets and dark brown, almost black granite. Appliances are stainless and we have a metal tile-looking backsplash. We LOVE it! The kitchen does get a lot of natural light and we have natural stained oak floors so it doesn't seem gloomy - just clean and modern. We aren't fans of all white kitchens. Too sterile. Give me warm wood tones any day.

Thanks for the detailed response! I had a generic math club going last year - maybe I'll have to start it up again and form a team. Thanks again!

I could have written this exact post. We found out about Mathcounts at the last minute, so obviously didn't get as much prep in as most. My sporty, mathy, 6th grade son is also looking forward to the next two years. I have a question for those who have organized homeschool teams. I read the rules, but would like to hear it spelled out in layman's terms. Can we really just grab 4 homeschoolers from our region to form a team? The bits about how students must compete for their school of record had me concerned that homeschoolers could only form a team if they all attended the same homeschool (ie were in the same family). Our chapter didn't give us any grief when we registered as an individual.

Thanks! The kids love to watch things like this in the car. (Though I did put them in our Amazon watchlist as well.) Using my boys as a guide, I'd guess the age range is 6-14.

Very interesting article. It summarized many feelings I'd been trying to articulate recently. I especially like the ending quote: "It’s that whenever we talk about science and society, it helps to keep two rather humbling premises in mind: very few of us are anywhere near rational. And pretty much all of us are hypocrites." Thanks for sharing!

I found quite a lot of Harry Potter stuff on pinterest and at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Our children's theater does have an infants welcome, but take 'em out if they start acting up policy. I've never attended a production where it was a problem. I'd be annoyed it hadn't been mentioned, but I've set up a few field trips so I now ask about stroller-friendliness, bathroom proximity, outside food policies, etc. I wish all parents of infants and toddlers were conscientious enough to leave if necessary, but I've found that they don't often because the parent doesn't want to miss anything. Prime example: I set up a holocaust seminar at our local Jewish Community Center and the director was very explicit that this was to be mainly for high schoolers, though mature middle schoolers were also allowed (and boy, oh boy, you wouldn't believe how many parents tried to sign up children much younger than the suggested range and how much of a ruckus they caused when I turned them down). I asked the director if there would be somewhere on site for parents to sit with their younger children during the program so they wouldn't have to make two trips, and she graciously allowed us access to their gym. Child-care was not provided; parents were to supervise the young ones. I had multiple parents simply drop off their toddlers and go watch the program. The parents in the room had no idea who these kids were, nor who their parents were. Then during the lecture, there were two babies who kept squawking and crying and the parents did nothing! One parent finally got up, but she just moved to the back of the room where the crying continued. I had to tell both of them to leave. One parent hovered by the back door with the still-crying baby so the mom could hear, so I again had to tell her to move as the baby could still be heard in the room clear as bell. After a couple of experiences like this, I don't set up field trips anymore unless I absolutely need a minimum number. Whew! Sorry about the rant!

Easy answer first. Yes, you will need an account for each student. I've got a mixed opinion on this program. I do not think it is worth the full price. The discounted price? Maybe. We purchased two subscriptions, one for ds8 (who has little to no programming experience) and another for ds11 (who has done quite a bit of dabbling in other languages with programmer dh). Ds8 claims he is learning a ton about programming, but after talking with him and looking at the kind of mistakes he is making, it appears he is basically just cutting and pasting. Ds11 feels the program encourages cutting and pasting as well, but he has the background to incorporate the instruction into his current body of knowledge, so he is actually learning some new skills. Both find the videos and material entertaining and easy to follow. I wish I had a more glowing review. I really wanted to love it. ETA: And they also really love the things they have been able to create in Minecraft using the program. I just think it allows the kids to program without really understanding why and what they're doing.

Sounds like my kids. Very strong early readers, but wouldn't touch literature with a ten foot pole. Oldest even said he hated reading more than once. I backed off and let them read what they wanted to, mainly nonfiction and graphic novels. We still did read-alouds and books on tape, both of which they enjoyed very much. Finally, around 9yrs old they just decided to pick up a fiction book and devoured it in one day. (For one it was Harry Potter, for another Hunger Games.) After that, there's been no stopping them. So there's hope!

80% of the time, it's some kind of foundation, blush, mascara, lip gloss. 10% it's the full face (for special occasions, or I'm just feeling like it), 10% no makeup at all.

We love our fridge. It's a french door type, with in-door ice/water dispenser and two ice makers- one for the freezer and a smaller one that feeds the ice dispenser. Our last fridge didn't have the water dispenser and I found that we (especially the kids) drink a lot more water when we have one. Two more great features w/the water dispenser - you can fit a pitcher under the nozzle and there is a great water filter. With kids, we love having the door alarm. I have often been on the other side of the house and heard it go off. Saves lots of headaches. We can turn ours off easily if we are cleaning it out so it doesn't beep at us incessantly. The fridge also has two compressors, one for the fridge and one for the freezer, so anything stinky doesn't cross into the other area. No problems with storing any size object. We also have a separate freezer for the bulk of our frozen goods.

I don't have a problem with it. My boys never really wanted to, unless you count creative color combinations and snow boots every day for a month in summer as 'dress-up'. I would have an issue with it if the child wasn't allowed to participate in activities due to how they were dressed (i.e. can't get that fancy dress dirty at the park). Of course, my dd is VERY into dress-up. She wore her Cinderella costume everywhere from Oct 1-Dec 1. Her oldest brother (who is very much entering the tween/teen years of being continuously annoyed at everything) even learned to just shrug it off. Heck, I've been known to go grocery shopping while wearing dd's tiara to humor her. ("Keep it on, Mama! You look so pretty!!" - C'mon who could say no to that? :tongue_smilie: )

Meh. I still say Harry should have been killed in the final battle, so who he ended up marrying is pretty much a moot point over here.

We all used Bonine on our recent cruise. We started the night before we boarded and took it for the first day or two and the day the sea was a little choppy. It definitely helped as we were all quite green by dinner the first night. The adults also had to take it when we got off the ship - something I wasn't expecting. Getting my land legs back took a day or so.

I've been a member of four groups and all required members to have children of mandatory reporting age (basically 6yrs old) and be actively homeschooling. All have allowed those with children younger than that and those just thinking about homeschooling to attend the more informal events, such as park days or support groups. One group even went as far as to start a 'future' homeschooler support group, so they could plan park days and the kids could get to know one another.

Well, we just disagree on that. I find officers threatening to take children away as, well, threatening. The fact that they didn't is of little consequence.

The examples in my world often include police officers, not necessarily CPS, though both could be lumped together as legal entities. Fear of legal involvement wouldn't have been on my radar either until I started hearing more and more instances like these from people in our very safe, suburban neighborhoods. Instance #1: Two siblings, ages 10 and 12, are playing together at a neighborhood park (about 5 blocks away from home) in the afternoon on a non-school day. Police officers from neighboring suburb (boundary is the other side of the neighborhood) stop and approach the children. Tell them they shouldn't be out unsupervised and tell them to get in the car and they'd take them home. Kids have been taught not to get into anyone's vehicle, tell the police officers where they live and that the officers can go talk to their mother. When officers arrive, mother informs officers her children have permission to be at the park. Police officers start to argue with her, but by this time the kids have come home of their own accord and officers decide to leave. Instance #2: Mother takes her 2yr old twins to the fenced school track. Deposits the toddlers with their toys in the sandy area (for the long jump located in the middle of the track), and proceeds to jog around the track. Again, police officers driving by stop. As the police officers approach the twins, the mother jogs over to meet them. Police officers berate mother for being neglectful and that they should take the children away from her right then and there. Mother is so scared she has declared she will not have kids out of her eyesight until they are 18. Stories like this scare me. I don't like that it has impacted the way we parent, but I know without a doubt that I want absolutely no involvement with the legal system.

This question reminded me of something from my own childhood. When I was not quite 12, we were getting ready for one of our many moves (military family) and my job was to keep my 2yr old sister out of the house every morning for one week while we had the carpets cleaned, painters in, etc. I'd take the stroller up to the neighborhood park and play there for an hour or two. Next we'd walk to the strip mall that backed up to our neighborhood (several blocks away, I did have to cross one road that had a stoplight and crosswalk). We did a little window shopping, stopped to eat an ice cream cone, then purchased a couple of items my mom had requested from the grocery store before walking back home. This was in the mid-80s in a typical suburban neighborhood in Colorado Springs. We did that every day for a week and I don't remember anything saying negative me. (Trust me, I'd remember if I had. I think I've internalized every slightly negative thing that has ever happened to me.) I did receive several compliments and was quite proud of myself for being so responsible and able to help out in that way. My oldest is that age. I think he is completely capable of taking care of his 3yr old sister in the same way, but I'd never have him do those things out of fear of someone calling CPS on us. I try to give him as many similar experiences as I can in 'secret' but it's hard when society insists that parents must helicopter or else be considered negligent.

We really love our backyard, and with multiple little ones, I don't know if I could stand to be without one for long. Yes, we could go to the park or whatnot, but it just makes life so much easier to say 'go outside' and not to have to wait for the baby to wake up, or for everyone to agree on when/where/how to go to the park, or to drag the kids back inside because you have to prep something for dinner, or haul everyone to bathroom when nature calls, etc. I vote the back yard makes things easy, but is not essential, especially if it is a very temporary situation.

Every other winter or so one of the museums around here put up a little display to commemorate the event. A January day got off to a glorious start - highs up into the 60s or so - and many people were out and about taking advantage of the nice weather to do neglected outdoor chores or traveling. When the weather suddenly (like in an hour or less) turned to blizzard conditions, people were caught unprepared - including the many children who were dismissed from school in the middle of the blizzard. Hence the nickname for the storm. The author does a great job of providing background for a number of immigrant families and kind of turns the story into a mystery (who will survive?), as well as describing what passed for the weather service back then.