Sorry! I do literally hope and pray that it will be better than I assume 😄

Sure, again, I'm pleased you're pleased! Truly! I've felt profoundly unrepresented by both sides for a long, long time. And as a result don't tend to trust any of them to make things much better. My hope was for a hung parliament to slow them down and force more negotiations. Eta - I tend to always vote for a swing against a safe seat. Living in the west, I'm intimately familiar with neither party giving any amounts of sh!ts. Libs don't even bother to campaign. Lab reuses promises that never materialise- eg they've been promising to fix/expand Melton hospital for at least 3 elections now...

Yes exactly. Ideas that sound good in a city office can be hell for rural people. The ausnet towers fiasco is a current one, running straight through the not-quite-but-should-be-heritage property of a guy I know 🤭 Re wind turbines: https://surgeaccelerator.com/do-wind-turbines-leak-oil/ Eta - it also doesn't escape my notice that 23/25 wind farms in Vic are in the west. And before anyone starts on me, we live very low footprint, completely off grid, power through solar etc.

Yeah, I realise his was a normal private catholic school, but most of his team is still the standard elite - like most politicians of all sides. I'm fairly cynical about politicians, so, there's that! 😄

Dh's background (nazarene's) were conscientious objectors too. A grandfather of his sat out ww2 in a prison cell. (Another grandfather was released from a prison cell to be conscripted 😄)

My bold - but, he did go to a private catholic school? Marles' was even fancier ($40,000+ per year nowadays), and Wong was at Scotch college in Adelaide (20 grand+)! I'm sorry, I hope and pray they do a great job, but I'm not at all convinced that this is a departure from standard elite rule. Climate change, or rather, party's policies to deal with it are absolutely political. None of the inner city greens/teals have a zillion bird killing, land clearing, oil leaking, giant windmills in their backyard like I do. I'm glad you're pleased with the result, truly. Can you imagine that some good people, who also want good things, but may have different perspectives/priorities on how to get there, aren't as passionate or pleased?

Yes, it can be a very double edged sword, as they can hyper focus on one pet thing and hold negotiations to ransom. On balance I prefer more party/independents diversity and forced negotiations than less. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

I am unhappy, mixed feelings, but I'm not surprised, very rare for a fed gov to go for 3 terms. I would somewhat disagree with the characterisations of some parties above but it's close enough. Would have liked to see more LibDems and more, um, competence from the big 2, but it is what it is and let's get on with it. And that's about all I'll say about that because, yeah, political.

Peh-ri-doe

I never said don't get an evaluation or that it's okay? I was literally just answering the question - when does delay turn worrisome - from my own experience. Not judging anyone else's. I also have anecdotes, where speech therapy was worse than useless and the kids who barely spoke until 4 are absolutely fine (no language delays, no problem learning to read or write on time etc)

At 3, the youngest with much older siblings, I wouldn't exactly worry but I would be taking notice. I'd want to see other things, is the child showing understanding? Do they talk at all - words, sentences- or just baby babble? Do they talk more when alone with parent? Do they do other things with words (enjoy being read to for example) A 3 year old struggling with comprehension and not able to form basic words at all would be immediately worrying. I have seen more than a few youngest children be very with it but not say much until a lot later than average. So, I'd be watching carefully but need more info before panicking.

What about cardboard boxes? Cheap, non dangerous, he could build/stack, squash, rip, not throw too far etc. I might ask at a local hardware store.

I just googled and still can't find a word that starts with x /ks/! S sheep is pretty inexcusable though. Sun. Snake. Easy peasy.

Looking forward to new baby! But that's still quite a wait.

Russian cheesecake is my absolute favourite. This is pretty close to the recipe I use https://restexpert.com/recipe/cottage-cheese-pudding-russian-cheesecake/

I presumed the stay at home wife would still 'work' doing all the things that ease the husband's ability to work and come home to a comfortable life. Probably would also take care of his parents.

The I would say, okay honey, can you help me come up with a different solution for (specific stressful item) because it is really making things difficult for me? My husband sounds similar in many ways to yours saraha and Elizabeth's. Except I do all the banking haha. Some things I've learned - speak up plainly and early. Ask his opinion on solutions. Don't try to play games/manipulate/ultimatum - it just doesn't work. Remember that he really does love us more than anything, he's not trying to make my life harder/miserable, he's an ethical guy trying his best and failing often like I do. Re the diy or not at all - dh is like that too and it's an important value to him. Wrongly or rightly it's tied in to his identity as a husband/father/man and I try to respect that about him. Nagging/undermining will be received as an attack on the core of who he is. That's why I would just sidestep this shed issue and come up with other solutions. I'm sorry this is a tough time, some of those qualities I first loved and respected in dh are real double edged swords in day to day married life!

Awwww congratulations Melissa, he is so beautiful! Hope your daughter is recovering well 💜

It's not exactly a 1 to 1 analogy quite like that. More big picture, themes of redemption, sacrifice etc. I suppose you could argue the analogy, she does say "every traitor belongs to me..." that sounds like a thesis to explore in an essay - I'm sure someone has done it if you google 😄 Honestly, you'll enjoy them more if you don't over analyse them. Lewis is wonderful IMO. I am rereading through the series with my youngers at the moment they're still great!

Noooooooo I really don't know if our budget can handle that... that will cost me $130 ish a tank!

You already know that there's no way to squeeze out of this without 'punishment' aka her probably having some sort of sulk/tantrum, unless you perform exactly how she wants you to. I suspect that a pre visit confrontation will... not go well. I suspect that she's already built it up to her friend and a cancellation will be a wound her ego will not abide. And she'll probably still just show up anyway, with glee knowing she's hurting you. Unless you're willing to go all out, no contact, nuclear at the moment, I would go to the trusty grey rock method. Sure, let her come over but just be barely polite. Keep going about your regular duties, she can make her own tea (put supplies on the table?) Short, one word answers. I wouldn't provoke her by calling her out in front of her friend, I just wouldn't invest energy in the whole charade. I might be so petty as to get the kids a brand new toy/game & treats for that day so they are guaranteed distracted and busy. Does she usually stay very long? I'm sorry, it's really really hard.

We use mct spaced out too. My 9th & 11th graders are using magic lens now. I actually love the voyage level and essay voyage is one of my favourites of the whole series. It has choices of assignments at the end of each chapter plus teaching resources at the end of the teacher book. I'm a big fan of MCT, using grammar island for the 4th time with my 3rd grader at the moment and it's still lovely. I tend to use a meandering mix of MCT, WWE and writing across the curriculum (wtm style) I just had a look at a WOL sample. It looks fine, a bit too textbooky for little kids for me. Would possibly be good to use a get-it-done review. But - as with all curriculum decisions - if you like it, trust your gut!

It is creepy, and women are in the greatest danger when leaving men like this. Please, take it seriously, don't underestimate this creep, this is exactly the situation where women end up dead.

Definitely not way off, I have an 8 year old in wwe2 right now (I use it a grade behind, he's my 4th kid) who will fill his summaries with all the little details that he personally liked best 😄 As long as I steer him to also include most of the main points, I call it good!

1. I find some of the questions in wwe confusing, lots and lots of questions about details (how many x, what colour was y etc) it's not surprising that they then put too many details in their summaries. 2. Have you listened to SWB'S talks on writing in the elementary grades? Very very helpful and reassuring. 3. At 8 or 9, they're still just picking out the things that stood out to them. Not necessarily the most important parts. 4. I'd definitely go with shorter/simpler passages and try to lead her to the idea that there is one important idea that, if it were missing, the rest wouldn't make sense. I would to it yourself and model out loud the thought process: "well, this whole paragraph was about a girl named x. Hmm, what is she doing in this passage? Well, she talked to y and picked a flower and crossed the bridge... oh, she did all of those things while on her journey to A! Those things wouldn't have happened if she didn't go on this journey! So the main idea is a girl named x left on her journey to A." Then, you help her through this thought process until she can do it without prompting. That's what wwe is trying to do but it's hard to script for every family!