My first was like that, staying latched while trying to look around--yeee. He also used to swing his arm around the whole time, hitting my legs, then swinging it up to hit my face. He just HAD to be moving. (He's still that way. When we homeschool, he's ranging around the room.) I would get a towel and pin his arm down with it. The arm that was supporting him was the one that would be holding the towel in place. And then the legs would start kicking. It was like the Daffy Duck. His arms are still, so the legs move, the legs are still, so the head moves, etc... I'd also suggest trying to go a little longer between feedings...just a little at a time, to see if maybe he'll get down to business and really eat instead of wiggling around. (We had the same problem--he wanted to eat all night long! I was a zombie.) If I could do it over (knowing more now) I'd have made him wait, even if he cried, for a few nights to try to put the feedings farther apart. Oh, and he slept in bed with me. If I'd had to do it again, he'd sleep alone so he wouldn't expect to snack all night.

I can't get past the "Chitlin' Time" song. That was hilarious! We don't have a song. We're SO not mushy. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be mushy, but I'm not sure I could pull it off.

You bet! Right before signing in here I was checking out the showtimes. I'm going tomorrow when DH can watch the kids! I can't wait!

Very funny title!

Oh ok! Sorry for the marital advice! ;) To answer your originally intended question: I personally never liked having Christmas by my birthday and there were no bad experiences about it as a kid. I just mostly didn't like that I didn't have a special day in the middle of the year. Having a birthday near Christmas always made it feel like my birthday was just an after thought, even with the birthday paper and decorations down.

Here's how I finally figured out how to get my mind around homeschooling. This was my basic framework of how to begin: 1. Find out about different styles of homeschooling. Charlotte Mason, Classical Education, Unschooling, etc. Settle (for the most part) your educational philosphy. 2. Figure out exactly what you want to teach her, content wise. I found a book in the library "Homeschooling Year by Year" that lists what is commonly expected for kids to learn in each year of school from K-12. (You can probably find this if you type in Scope and Sequence in google.) This is just a starting point. You're allowed to deviate from this! 3. Once you know exactly what your content will be for the year, and how you'll teach her (your educational philosphy) go subject by subject and read, read, read, online about what is available. This takes a long time. Go to sites like this one: http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/default.aspx On this site, parents review what the curriculum was like. 4. Once you have a list of possible choices, see if there's a way to see any of the curriculum you've chosen. Find out if there's a homeschool group near you, email the group and ask to stop by their houses to look at the materials. If you can't do that, you'll just have to jump in a buy something. Check out return policies, etc. BIG NOTE: Be careful not to overbuy! Only buy the curriculum. There are LOTS of bells and whistles out there. Save your money until you've been in the curriculum for a few weeks to see if you reeeally need all the extras. Most of us don't. Don't forget the library. (Free books.) Keep it as simple as possible at first and add as needed. I'm pretty sure that every homeschooler out there has bought stuff that didn't work or they never used. Don't agonize. If you have to, just get something else midway through the year, and be careful to buy the minimum until you really need it, or you'll have wasted your money. BY THE WAY: if this takes a few weeks to figure out, you can still be learning with her during the day, so you don't feel like you're wasting time. Get books from the library to read, have her write a little about them, get a science experiment book from the library and do them. Get all the books that the library has about different countries and read them. But in the meanwhile, research your final materials. If you're learning something from the library (which is actually how some people do almost ALL their homeschooling) it takes off the pressure to have an official curriculum for a few weeks.

What an interesting question. My kids are Logan and Eric. They might have been Calvin or Elliott as well. Those were what we were considering. Mostly traditional, but with a dash of unique. Meaning, they're not John or Matthew, which are totally, completely traditional. You don't meet a whole lot of Elliotts. Just a few. Of course, when we named him Logan we'd never heard of another Logan, and now every other kid we meet is named Logan. I think it's because Wolverine in X-Men is named Logan and once everyone heard that they all started naming their kids Logan. And Eric is because I always loved Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. Maybe it was just the way Ariel said his name, "Prince Eric..." It seemed dreamy.

Can she type? I HATE to write handwritten, but LOVE to write if I can type. But, I'm a fast typer. Do you think if she could learn to type it would be better? Of course, if she can't, it could take a long time to learn to type quickly. But, maybe, thinking long term, start practicing typing fast.... Also, writing always stinks the first couple of drafts. (That's why typing is nice--can edit so quickly.) I agree with the post of breaking it up over a series of days. (Day 1: Brainstorming...etc.) When I have to write a paper I always take many days to do it. Just a little each day. I've never received less than an A on any paper!

My birthday is December 30th, and DH's is Dec 29th so it's after Christmas. I often take them down on the 26th. I hate having them up on my birthday. However, this isn't so much about what the rest of us think. This man is your life partner. It's about you and him. :) If he has asked you repeatedly not to put up the Christmas decorations until after the Birthdays, then why are you so intent on denying him his request? What if it were on the other shoe, and you had asked repeatedly for something from him and he refused to do what you asked? I'd be pretty hurt if my husband refused to do something that was important to me and then said, "Well, I took a poll and the guys at work think you're being unreasonable." Ouch. Sounds like you two need a compromise. Like: Don't decorate before the birthdays, but he has to help you with it without grousing. (And you don't grouse either, about it being last minute.) Or, he doesn't complain if you turn one room (even the bedroom) into a place where you can pull out all the decorations and sort them before the birthdays, so that right after the birthdays you can put it all out.

I love my reusable bags. I got some at Wal-Mart and I got some at Kennies (a grocery store around here--don't think they're nationwide.) The Kennie's ones are better because they retain a shape. The Wal-Mart ones flop over. But it's not a big deal. Mostly I love that they don't make that annoying crinkly sound, and the handles don't dig into my hands when I'm carrying a heavy bag. And they fit a lot more stuff in them that the plastic ones. I can easily put 2 gallons of milk in one bag. But I still get plastic bags every now and then to use as trash bags for the little trash cans around the house.

R&S Math 2nd grade SOTW 2 with all the stuff (actually, I didn't know they came with cds!!) I PMd you. But I don't really know how to tell if you write back without checking constantly. Will there be a pop-up box or something? I've been waiting to hear back from you for 15 minutes because I'm afraid to sign off because I don't want to miss you, but it's 11:15 and my eyes are burning. I guess whoever is available when you write back will get them! I've gotta get some sleep! Gotta teach the kids in the morning!

Or type " convert 6 kilometers to miles" (or vice versa) in your google search. The answer pops up.

I got one from Wal-Mart that is like the old fashioned manual ones from classrooms when we were kids (I guess they still use them?) It suctions to the desk. It works really well. We've had it for over a year with no problems. It was cheap. WAIT!! Then again, I don't let the kids use it!! I'm the one who sharpens the pencils, because they push too hard and break the suction. So, nevermind if the kids will use it....

I'd start with the keyboard, too. You can easily "see" how the notes go up and down. You can easily understand chords and harmony by playing two notes at the same time. You only have to worry about your fingers, and not also how to blow into the instrument. I'd probably have them both learn the same instrument. Guitar is nice, but really (I mean, almost, and up to bleeding) hurts the fingers when you start. You have to grow calluses. There is no pain involved in playing a piano. Drums are different than other instruments, they could learn those, but won't be able to apply what they learn on drums to other instruments (other than rhythm.)

Unless the degree teaches you a very specific skill for a specific job (like law for a lawyer, medicine for a doctor) I think most degrees are a waste of time. I didn't go to college out of high school, instead went to work. Then when I was 30 I started taking college classes, and almost everything they taught me, I had already learned on the job. It just seems that the time spent getting (and paying for) a degree could be spend working the actual job. Same outcome in my opinion, but in one scenario, you pay for the knowledge, and in the other scenario, they pay YOU to learn the knowledge. Of course, come time to get a new job, they still look for that useless degree on the resume!

I got one, too!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for telling me how!!!!!

Three hours! Ugh! I still haven't figure it all out. Where do I start?

Here's a strange suggestion, and I'm not sure it will work, but I'll tell it to you anyway. I didn't go to college, went straight to work. After a few years, I got promoted to be the trainer. I had to write training manuals on how to do things at an insurance company. The manuals had to be EXACTLY correct and VERY logical so that all the other people in the company could open the book and properly do what they needed to do. THEN, after I had kids and quit work, I took a couple of college classes and you wouldn't BELIEVE how beautifully I could write a college paper! My thoughts were wonderfully organized and easy to follow. Start having him write training manuals for around the house. Have him write step-by-step how to do laundry, or make a bed, or program a VCR. Then you follow his instructions to the letter. It could be fun seeing if he forgot any important steps. This could be a tool to help his mind learn how to organize his writing by following logical steps and building ideas on top of each other. And also, buy a curriculum to support this. My idea is just for fun to help him on the side. Oh, and I also revised my training manuals and college papers a good 5 times before the final version. That's a big part of writing! Let him know his first two versions will probably stink, but after revising they'll get better.

Normally I'd say, don't bother reading it!! But only because there are thousands of excellent books out there, so why get hung up on this particular one. Normally, I'd say, just read the Cliff's notes, so your kids know what all the basic plot is. However, after reading the other posts, maybe try it and see if your kids like it. If they like it, keep reading, if not, get the basic facts about the book down and then pick another one of the gadzillion excellent books out there and read those. Don't forget, a lot of us homeschool just so that we can expose our kids to things we can be passionate about, not just do to things because someone tells us we have to!

My poor parents are VERY socially challenged. They're very bad in social situations. They're anxious, nervous, and generally end up saying the wrong thing. Therefore, my childhood was TOUGH at school. I had no clue about how to make friends, or even make normal small talk with anyone. I didn't learn all that until in my 20s. I am doing my best to show my kids how to behave around other people: the correct responses to normal small talk, the way to be kind to others who might be shy and awkward, etc.

Maybe there's something in the air today! My kids are being difficult, too! Everything I say is met with moans and groans and (worse) they're ignoring everything I ask them to do. That really pushes my buttons! I actually just sent them to bed for 10 minutes so we can start the day over. Seems like they forgot I'M the mom and they're the kids. The 10 minutes is up. Time to re-do today.

We've been blessed with a LOT of free wood, so I'm using the fireplace to heat the house. Right now I only use it if the outside temperature is under 50 degrees. I let the regular heat come on if it's over 50. (Saving the wood for when the temp is in the teen and the heater would be on all day to keep up.) I'm going to let our memberships expire all these places: The Science Center, The Aquarium, The Train Museum, The Zoo. Already buy most clothes at Good Will or consignment shops. Would do ALL the shopping there, except maybe work clothes for hubby, if absolutely couldn't find something good for work at Good Will. (But usually can.) I make sure that each week I have more cheap dinners than expensive. We eat very very little meat. Here's to spaghetti and grilled cheese nights. Future cutbacks: We have three cars now. Two that we use and one old one as a back up when the other two are in the shop. (The newest car is a 2000.) We would probably completely get rid of the third car. I'd start shopping only once a month so save on gas (since the stores are about 10 miles away.) Gifts would be much slimmer for everyone. That would be tough. In Laws expect nice gifts. Not sure what to do about that one, but would try to come up with something. Cable would go, but my husband would kick and scream. And, honestly, he mostly watches educational stuff (since he teaches at a college part time.) Cable would go last, just because he really uses the stuff he watches on there in his class. That's just off the top of my head.

Thanks for the responses. I just wondered where the rest of the world went. I go to Wal-Mart for everything. I only feel guilty because my parents worked at Wal-Mart for years and they really are pretty mean to their employees. Also, it depends on where you live whether or not Wal-Mart has rude customers. When I lived in the Baltimore area the customers were awful. My mother (who worked there, remember) used to get pushed around all the time. One time she got pushed by a customer so hard she got a huge black bruise on her arm. But now that we live in a semi-rural area (Gettysburg is 7 miles up the road) I found a Wal-Mart that's almost empty all the time. It's lovely! I can just stand there in an aisle and comparison shop with no other customers around me. Lovely! We're very frugal and, honestly, Wal-Mart is about all I can afford. We shop for clothes at Good Will type of frugal. I did all my shopping for the week at Wal-Mart once, then AFTER it was rung up realized I didn't have my wallet. So, I went home, got the wallet and went to the local grocery store (Wal-Mart is 25 mins from the house). I got the exact same items and the bill was $30 more. Wal-Mart is just cheaper.

Wow! What differences of opinions. Some people seem to love the hands on approach and others think it's a waste of time, let's write an essay instead. If the kids love the diorama and it brings the subject to life, why not let them? Do the diorama and then do the essay. If the kids don't want to do the diorama and it doesn't bring the subject to life, then move on.

I have no clue what I'm talking about, but I read in a homeschool book (and squirreled this away for when my kids are older) about apprenticeship. (I wish I could remember the book.) It was about how at this age (of your son) that they are starting to break away from being a child and looking forward to being an adult. They start to "put aside childish things." They start to realize that what they do now will affect their future. They start to want the things they do to be meaningful and purpose. And sometimes with this, it means they start to rebel against what they've been doing all along and need things to change. The author recommended letting them close a chapter on things they feel are childish. I think his example was a child who had studied piano for years and years and wanted to stop. He told the mother to let the boy stop. In fact, he said, to let the boy play a last concert for his family and then set it aside for as long as he wanted. This segues into apprenticeship. He's at an age where he needs other adults in his life that he can look up to. You don't have to completely stop teaching, but you may want to find something your son is interested in, then find an adult also interested in that (or working in a field he's interested in) and see if they can work together. I have a friend with a 12 year old son who loves to see how things work. She convinced the caretaker of the church she attends to let her son help him around the church, changing lightbulbs, changing the furnace filter, etc. Wish I could remember the author! He's famous in HS circles, but I can't remember....