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LMD

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Everything posted by LMD

  1. I'm 38, but it feels like a lifetime from my first baby at 21!
  2. Yes that's so true, every pregnancy is different! Mine were all relatively straightforward in my 20s - or maybe my memory is nostalgia tinted 😄 - but I feel my age this time around. It was a gigantic surprise for us, I was heading into perimenopause so... whoops! Part of the hormones was just whiplash 😂 Hoping you get a smooth, uncomplicated vbac this time around!
  3. See I think that's lovely! Old enough to be helpful-ish, young enough to be a sibling 'unit' 💜
  4. 😆 Yeah it's something lol I think it will be nice in many ways, my 9 & 12 year old are really looking forward to it and are very sweet. The older 2 are trying to be grown up and semi independent. It's a very surreal stage I'm finding myself in... We've had similar conversations about a close in age sibling but I'm like, I'm nearly 40, I'm just trying to get through this one! Pregnancy in late 30s is very different to 20s!
  5. How old are your other kiddos Elizabeth? I forget!
  6. Hiram could grow on me I think... I can't judge, dh had some out there ideas and some grew on me 😄 My older slavic named boy is Igor and I still love it, though dh worked on me about that name for years.
  7. Okay, yeah, I vote you get to pick the names 😆
  8. Thanks 💜 We've always had a weird thing with names, like the right name just settles and we know who's coming. Thankful to have one less bit of angst during pregnancy 😄 If you're all dying of curiosity 😉, this little one is named Konstantin.
  9. 😄 @Elizabeth86 that song is an Aussie classic, every man, woman and child shouts that line! Still, Alice is not an uncommon name here and they don't get shouted at 😂 See, I think it's weirder to use the month name that a child is born in! August is a great name. What are your husband's suggestions?
  10. We've had the name settled for a while 🙂, before we knew the sex. We like unusual & meaningful names, this time with a slavic bent (dh's heritage, one of my older boys also has a very slavic name).
  11. Thanks! Yes, I'm too tired to post much these days 😅 We're having another boy! 💙 That makes one girl (17) and 4 boys (15, 12, 9, almost here)! 😄 I totally relate to the emotions, I've been all over the place this pregnancy. Hope you continue to feel well and the ICP holds off!
  12. Lovely! Hope your ultrasound goes beautifully! The cooler weather must be such a relief! I've just passed 33 weeks with our baby #5. Counting down the weeks now, pregnancy is a wild ride...
  13. We want our kids to have choices, I wanted homeschooling to expand their lives, not curtail them. We want them to have the skills/education to be able to forge their own lives, not get stuck in a low wage employee rut (very easy in our experience) which isn't so much about money but more about being stuck putting up with crappy job situations. So, what that boils down to practically is that we do expect them to pursue some sort of further skills training. Not necessarily university or official training, if they want to self train and be an entrepreneur that's totally fine too - as long as they are actually working and motivated. We expected that our kids, like us as youngins, would be champing at the bit to start their 'real' lives asap so we look for options a bit earlier. So far - dd17 was encouraged to start uni subjects at 16 (she's passed 3 so far) and train as an accountant. Not something she was passionate about but she wasn't passionate about anything and this really fit her natural aptitudes & future goals, & she mostly enjoyed it once she got going. She especially really enjoyed her econ subject so we changed course to a Bachelor of econ (accounting major). We're having some serious troubles at the moment so I really don't know where she'll end up... Ds15 wants to do a lucrative trade 😄 he has his sights set on Electrical fitter at the moment, and wrangled himself some work experience next month. I've tried to gently tell him that most Electrical apprenticeships around here prefer 17+ year olds, because they want year 11 maths & ability to drive asap, but he seems to think he might be able to start at 16 if he networks through this work experience & other people. Which means our focus for his possible last year (😭) is getting as far as he can in math. He's a smart and diligent kid, curious and thoughtful, he'll be fine no matter what he ends up doing. He'll probably be a lifelong learner & reader - like his dad. My next two are still young and have very different personalities to their older siblings so we'll see! Then we get to start all over again with this new baby 😂
  14. Okay, you have 5th, 4th, 2nd, K? Firstly, yeah that's busy! You're not crazy, it is a lot! Some tweaks and pre planning and letting go will help, but yeah it's hard work. Secondly, do you combine them for anything? For example, my 6th & 3rd do the same content subjects, just with adjusted outputs (one will just narrate history, while the older does an outline, for example). Latin could be done all together in 10 mins, for example, with Getting Started With Latin. The math, I'd look at it. I'd stop at a certain point, they just won't be learning much anyway after pushing for an hour. Maybe you can look at the weekly lesson plans and adjust to alternate so each kid only has one 'big teaching' day a week. As in, Monday you work on the big idea intensely with the 5th grader, then he just requires a 10 min reminder & mostly independent practice on Tuesday/Wednesday, then another bigger lesson review on Thursday or Friday. On Monday the 4th grader could do a lighter review lesson or facts game, big intense teaching with mom on Tuesday etc. Fourthly, are you doing things in your homeschool day that YOU love? That refresh your homeschooling parent spirit? What inspires you, that you would like to share with your kids? For example, my homeschool always feels harder when we give up on art. I love doing art projects with my kids. Even just incorporating 10 mins of drawing in the morning helps me remember the joy of why I'm doing what I'm doing. Is it read alouds? Is it walking in the woods? Is it bike riding, or lap books, or debating, or practical life (cooking, chores) or Latin, or coding, or or or... this is your family, your kids, your homeschool. You are living it, may as well truly make it yours.
  15. Some of our favourite kids classics: Swallows and Amazons What Katy Did The Saturdays Narnia (of course!) Rascal 21 Balloons Princess and the Goblin My side of the mountain
  16. I think that good classic literature is super important actually. Not every single book listed as a classic will be a favourite, but generally, a lot of classics that are still widely loved are loved for a good reason. They speak to a universal human experience, or longing, and in turn help us be more human - imo. Now, that said, developing the stamina and the vocabulary is 'work' and kids (and adults!) will naturally balk at that. I'd start small, even just one or two pages, or a short <10 mins on audio book, with a nice treat. Leave them wanting more, not exhausted and bored! I don't know if your older children are homeschooling, but if so I'd require good literature and take a similar slow reading with lots of discussion tactic. They might never appreciate it or be 'readers' but at least they can access and understand it. 🙂
  17. Raised with no religion. Became a Christian. Dh became a Christian as a child, with his family. Not currently attending a church for a variety of reasons. Our faith is very important to us. We tend towards independent baptist types, but we'll go where there's good teaching and honest people. I haven't participated in the teens thread, but we try to live our faith and expect our children to come to their own decisions.
  18. My dd is 17 and, being homeschooled, has friends that span a wide age range. She has just been picked up by a 21 year old friend. Some of her friends are more safe drivers than others, one just broke her collarbone in an accident about 2 months ago. I would let my dd go with that driver now, but she has learned a difficult lesson! I've let my nearly 15 year old go with some of the group drivers too, but I will say I was a bit nervous about it. I would have to think about it more with my younger kids - it would depend on the driver and where they are going. Rural roads for a long trip vs short lift on good, well lit roads etc. It's kind of difficult to police as they get older. I'm sorry your ds was in an accident, glad he's okay! Frightening! And I'm sorry you're bearing the brunt of the fallout. 😔
  19. Just like she wants to feel loved and accepted, she's going to have to accept and make peace within herself about who her brother actually is - he's not the image she has in her head, for better or worse. She's not wrong for expressing her feelings or setting a boundary, but it's not going to magic away 31 years of personality. I'd probably not say much, maybe something small to ds that recognises & thanks him for his efforts and encourages him that she'll come around (without trashing her). I might say something brief to the effect of the first paragraph to dd. I'd let go of expectations of 'fixing' anything - especially with pressure of a time limit, just let them decompress. Fwiw - dh had an argument and hung up on his sister (both in 40s) a few days ago. They see each other every few months, mostly enjoy each other's company, and are both not the easiest people to get along with 😄 They would absolutely move heaven and earth for each other.
  20. Oh fun! She looks great! My son plays that game.
  21. Thank you! Yes, gigantic surprise 😄 new baby boy due in Nov.
  22. Mine got much easier around age 11, I think he finally realised that I wouldn't back down, and a touch more maturity helped. We implemented a daily list and he got much more independent so he could see and plan when he'd be done for the day. And we had lots and lots of talks about why I required what I did, that I knew it was difficult but I needed him to do x to develop y skill because he would need it for z when he was an adult. Plus, plenty of free time, especially outside time. He sounds like a really sweet kid with heaps of potential! I have such a soft spot for kids like this because mine was an absolute terror for so so long.
  23. I'll get to try both at once in a few months (young adult + new infant). Pray for me y'all At present - ya/teenage girls are the hardest. At least mine. It's not even close. 🤐
  24. It's totally reasonable to say to BK1 that you're glad that they feel so comfortable and trust you with a friend in need, but each extra person requires things of you. You're not a provider and counsellor for every struggling kid that may cross your path - that's not a failing! It's very easy for the younger ones to not realise how much it costs you (not just financially) so of course it's easy for them to offer more of you to others. No one is the bad guy here (probably) but they are young and likely need to have these things kindly but explicitly spelled out. Hugs Melissa, it is a credit to you that these kids are so comfortable in your home. But it is your home and you are valuable and deserve comfort in it too.
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