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Lilymax

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Posts posted by Lilymax

  1. Rest assured that when my oldest son acted as a pall bearer at his best friend's funeral a year and a half ago, the only look my husband gave him was one of compassion. Oddly enough, ds did not and would not cry at the funeral. He cried when we gave him the news, and he cried when he was with their circle of friends, but at the funeral I saw my boy offer a man's comfort to W's mother and sister and other grieving friends. It was so important to him to be able to do that and I really, really, appreciate that he learned at a younger age that there's a time to cry and there's a time to "man up."

     

    I just wanted to say that THAT made me cry...and I am not a crier! I saw my 12 year old "manning up" like that at my grandmother's funeral this summer; offering condolences to others, staying behind at the grave site because he wanted to help shovel the dirt. It just really touches me when boys are brave like your son was.

  2. When I asked the HS mom who does our portfolio review (OH requirement) about it she basically said to just get as much done as you can and know that our children are learning a ton of stuff from having a young sibling and that you're not ruining their future.

     

    LOL! This is pretty much my mantra, too. My little guy is only 1, so I know I have a lot more of craziness ahead of me! But he's toddling and not content to sit still for any length of time. I keep reminding myself that sometimes life IS the lesson, ya know?

  3. We live in metro Atlanta and I spend about $600-$700 a month on groceries, which includes pet food (for a dog, cat and fish), TP, paper towels, cleaning stuff, baby wipes, etc. I only buy one package of disposable diapers a month because we cloth diaper, using the sposies just for overnight and when we're out.

     

    I do use couponing--but only when it's something we'll really need and use, coupled with a BOGO or other type of sale so that it's free or almost free. I also shop at Aldi when I can, and go to our commissary once a month, when I do my bigger shopping (on the 15th of the month).

     

    I cook a lot from scratch, but am not averse to serving Kraft mac-n-cheese, Hamburger Helper or baked goods made from a mix. ;) I add things to make them a bit nicer/healthier (real cheddar and minced broccoli to the mac, an extra cup of brown rice and TVP to extend the Helper, wheat germ and veggie or fruit purees in the muffins).

     

    We drink water with most meals, and go through two gallons of milk a week, which I'm told is not a lot for a family of five.

     

    It works for us. :001_smile:

  4. I think my decision would be based, as you said, on general health, but also on how much time spent around big groups of people.

     

    We're involved in two homeschooling groups, church activities and the kids play with neighborhood kids who go to PS...and both of them play softball. So we're around a lot of potential sources of infection. Plus, we have a baby in the house and I have an autoimmune disorder. So we're all having the shot this year. (Well, the ped said my older two can get the mist instead.)

     

    As far as I know, none of us have been exposed to H1N1 yet, so we might as well get the shot (we didn't last year).

  5. Sounds like the quality of the stores varies greatly from location to location. We're lucky that both our local ones are really nice--always clean, with awesome produce. I went the other day and things I liked are baked potato chips (as good as Lays but half the price), their pumpkin spice coffee creamer, tortillas, salsa, tortilla chips, parmesan/romano cheese, cereals. One of our favorite go-to meals is their cheese ravioli with a jar of their spaghetti sauce (LOVE that sauce!). Enough to feed five with some leftovers, for $4. Not bad!

  6. Wear Once? Oh, no, no, no, no. Ours always went into the dress up bin to be played w/ over and over for years, until they just can't fit at all. And Even then, some can be used for "parts". :D I always loved going out and hitting the after halloween sales, to find more dress-up clothes (aka next year's costumes).

     

    LOL! That's the way it is here, too. My middle son is a huge Star Wars fan and loves it when I buy him costumes that are 90% off a week or two after Halloween! He has quite the dress-up drawer because of it, and I see those costumes, or parts thereof, played with all year long.

     

    I haven't put an upper age on TOT, but my oldest will be 13 soon and wants to stay home to hand out candy. :( My DH is a dud when it comes to TOT--he only wants to walk up and down our street. So this year, I am taking my middle son and my baby out and we are hitting the entire neighborhood and a friend's neighborhood, too, while leaving DS1 and dad at home. (I might leave the baby home after we're finished with ours.) My dad was the best at driving us all over town on Halloween and I want my kids to experience that kind of fun, too.

     

    Our HS group is also having a Halloween party the Friday before, and I can't wait! I just love this time of year!

  7. Hugs. We just went through this with my grandmother. Hers was a long, slow decline and it was honestly the most emotionally, mentally and physically draining thing my family has been through.

     

    You are so right; it makes you regress into patterns of behavior you haven't seen in years. It did not often bring out the best side of my mom or sister, who provided the majority of her care. I'm still struggling daily to forgive them for some of the hurtful things they said and did during that time. :(

     

    Prayers for grace, yes--you need those. It's so hard.

  8. Prayers from another "Kari"... :)

     

    I understand that feeling of disassociation from the grave itself. I've never felt the need to visit gravesites because I just don't associate the person with that particular place. When my grandmother passed away in August, I was there within an hour, and even as I saw her body there in her bed, all I felt was "This is no longer her." It was the shell that housed her spirit, and when her spirit passed on, my connection to her body was over. And in the oddest way, I felt closer to her than I had in months--I know she is always with me, as your son is always with you now.

     

    Hugs, and prayers!

  9. At least it's not that uber-creepy book, "I'll Love You Forever". (shudder)

     

    Yeeeeeeah, a mother-in-law driving to the home of her GROWN SON AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW....breaking and entering using the ladder she has cleverly brought with her.....in the wee hours of the night.....climbing into his window and rocking him to sleep?

     

    CREEEEEEEEEEEEEPY!!! :eek:

     

    :scared:

     

    PAGING DR. FREUD!!

     

    Bwahahahaha! My thoughts, exactly! Thank the Lord I never bought that book; just read through it at a bookstore back when it was first published and everyone was raving on about it. It made me shudder. Bleh.

     

    Goodnight Moon is sweet, but was never a favorite here, either. Mine preferred DK Publishing's "PB Bear" books. And I can still recite DK's "Teddy Bear ABC" by heart. LOL Oh, and Corduroy...man my oldest just loved that story. It'll be fun to see what my newest son likes as he gets a little older.

  10. BTDT! Try separating her practicing her facts and doing her math. There is NO reason that not knowing basic facts should slow down her advancement/time on her math lesson. For math, allow her to use a chart with the basic facts on it. You can even make a basic grid form that she has to fill in herself before she works each lesson. Then, let her use that chart during her math lesson. (You may need to show her how to use it for basic division facts.) At a separate time, work with flashcards or a program to practice her basic fact skills. You may find that using a chart during math really helps her to learn them. It has her practicing them correctly instead of just guessing at the answers.:001_smile:

     

    :iagree:

    When I pulled DS1 out of school in the middle of third grade, he knew nothing about multiplication. I spent an entire year trying to get him to memorize the facts but it just didn't click with him no matter what I tried (he really enjoyed Timez Attack, though! LOL). So, reluctantly and only after several recommendations from other HS moms, I put up a chart.

     

    He hardly ever refers to it now, and knows most of them from memory. I think it was just a matter of seeing the correct answer over and over again through his math assignments. He's doing TT7 this year and maintaining a 92 average. So I can't complain.

  11.  

    My why-you-need-math story: I was working a new job and after my second paycheck I went to the manager and said, "my check is not adding up to what it should; can you explain the process you use in determining hours worked?" He started explaining and I realized he was adding the minutes and carrying the number into the hours column. I stopped him and said "no, you cannot do it that way!" He said "yes, let me show you!" I said "no, you are doing it the WRONG WAY." I explained that there are only 60 minutes in an hour, but he was adding it in such a way that I had to work 100 minutes in order to get paid for an hour. Ugh!!!! You need basic math skills, people, even if it's to tell when people are cheating you (on accident or purpose).

     

    Oh WOW. :001_huh: I will never, ever say that I suck at math again. LOL

  12. One of my HUGE pet peeves, and I didn't realize how prevalent it was until talking with some teacher friends over the summer.

     

    Around here, you're only "allowed" to fail once, and they prefer that it's in kindergarten or first grade. Beyond that, they're very, very reluctant to hold a kid back a year.

     

    But kids who have been held back already, say in kindergarten, cannot be held back again no matter how dismally they perform in later years.

     

    One of my PS teacher friends taught 2nd grade for years, but this year got switched at the last minute to 4th. She was talking about how she has to mentally organize her class into "groups". She said, "I have the GT kids here, the behavioral issue kids here, the ones who failed last year here..."

     

    When I naively asked why, if they failed, would they be in her classroom, she explained the above policy to me. I felt sick--for the kids who will probably never be able to catch up, for the teachers who have another sub-set of students that will be difficult to manage, for the average-performing kids who lose out because there are so many high-need kids in the class. It's just sad all around.

     

    When people ask why our kids aren't in PS, I want to say, "How long have you got to listen?" LOL

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