My son was finally freed from his father at age 14.5 when he was able to speak to a therapist who testified in court. Dinner twice a month maybe would have been ok, but it's been a year with no contact and DS has never been healthier.

At 16 I firmly believe kids should be able to decide with whom they want to live and when/how often to visit the other parent.

"Kid's" sizing is actually men's sizing, so a Kid's 6 is the same as a Men's 6. For women it's a variation of about 1.5 sizes - so a kid's 6 is about a women's 7.5.

If you already made an agreement based upon him winning, I can't see asking him for anything else.

I think including good shoes for each person roughly 2-3 times a year, we probably spend $1000 per person per year so $5000 for our family.

I don't think that letting teenagers fail is necessarily the answer, but in this case both mom and teacher have spoken to her and she has chosen not to do the work. That's a choice, regardless of what else is going on. I've seen what happens when parents come to the rescue and never let their kids take responsibility for their actions. It's pretty devastating.

I guess I feel like this would fall into the category of not allowing kids to fail and I don't think that helps them in the long run at all. She earned an F. Asking the teacher for more time, etc. shows her not to take responsibility for herself. I would not do this.

Hello! I am wondering if anyone has any experience with using the "Our Whole Lives" curriculum for sex education/body changes as a curriculum at home. I am looking for something that is sex and body positive. Any comments or reviews are welcome!

Well, we are on par with each other so...yes ? (and our style seems to also be the same lol)

This. Exactly.

I don't censor my kids reading, especially not my teens.

Reading this thread has be seriously rethinking what we "budget" for food. We spend an exorbitant amount of money on food for 5 people. Some of it is because we buy only organic, some of it is because of food restrictions and special diets, but a lot of it is because I struggle so much with ADHD that I can't/don't plan ahead and when I decided to make something special it requires several trips to the store (every day) because I don't have what I need. We spend far more than anyone else has listed on this thread. Eek. I need to get this under control.

I was told it was 4th degree but really wasn't sure what it meant until later. It took a very long time for things to heal up. I also had a catheter for 48 hours after delivery because things were so messed up. I was a wreck.

I never want anyone to call - I would always prefer a text!

Native works great and smells nice. It is expensive and because we are vegan we stopped using it because it contains beeswax. Schmidt's works equally well and is cheaper and available at Target. Also, no beeswax.

I'm completely in love with Schmidt's Deodorant and they sell it at Target for less than $5. We all use it and it smells so good (and so do we!)

I wrote something a few posts up that was very similar. We have one child with RAD; the rest of us have been diagnosed with PTSD. It's a living nightmare.

No. I was a pretty perfect mom (lol) to my son at age 24 when I had him. I was confident and loving, attachment focused and joyous as his mother. 6 years later we adopted from foster care a 10 year old child who ended up having multiple mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. We knew none of this when we adopted him and it changed everything. We also adopted our DD from foster care the same year at age 1. I struggle as a mom now. I have regrets. I am still doing the best I can, but that "best" is nothing like what I had hoped, and nothing like what I planned.

For my one adopted DD (adopted at age 2.5 from foster care) no, not at all. She's always been very mature and advanced and is PG. For my oldest son (adopted at age 10 from foster care) definitely yes. He functions at perhaps an 8 year old level and is now 18. His IQ is 65, he has severe mental illnesses and he will need lifelong care.

My ex no longer has any custody or visitation with our 15 year old son. He texts our son occasionally, who reluctantly replies even less frequently. He has never known our son's doctors or teachers and knows what school he goes to only because that was the plan last time I spoke to him in July. We could have moved out of state by now and he wouldn't even know. My point is - at least your ex cares enough to ask.

Has there been any more blood since the initial? I think that might be the best indication of if it's menarche or just a small injury.

I think I wouldn't say anything. I am someone who doesn't like to talk when I feel upset. Explaining to her why you keep asking her if she's ok will just irritate her further. Hang in there. Buy more chocolate. You will both get through it!

I know several girls who started at age 10. 2 of them were quite tiny and had few other symptoms.

Driver's Ed is $670 here, so either way you are getting a screaming deal!

Yes. So much this. I did learn very early to back off, and let their true interests shine. But there were some really hard learning moments before that happened.