Children believe in many things that aren't real. Little girls dream of unicorns. Little boys might imagine being a knight and slaying a dragon. This is all part of the magic and wonder of childhood. Santa is also a part of that magic. I cannot understand why any parent would want to steal that magic away from their child. Childhood is so short as it is. What is wrong with allowing them to experience that wonder and the simple POSSIBLITY that certain things just MIGHT be real? There is plenty of time for the cynical real world when they get older. My children ask me all the time if certain things are real. "Mom, is the Loch Ness monster real?" I don't know do I? Some people think so. I leave that up to them to determine. I ask them "What do you think?" This goes with other things as well, "Mom, are fairies real?" How can I possibly tell them no. I've never seen one but does that mean they're not real. We all know what the ADULT consensus would be. But why not let the kids believe if they so wish? I love the magic that surrounds Santa and the holidays. I love how the kids get excited. Eventually they'll find out the truth and they may experience disappointment but I don't think it will be traumatic. I've never known anyone who resented their parents because of it. When I found out I was crushed but I got over it quickly and was happy to carry on the magic for my little brother. My husband says he just eventually figured it out but played along with it. Most people I talked to about it said the same thing. No one I talked to was angry and all said they were happy for the time they did believe in Santa. I don't see it as a lie at all. I mean isn't it lying to let a toddler believe the Sesame Street muppets are actually real rather than a puppet? I loved Sesame Street when I was a kid. Should I have been traumatized to find out Big Bird wasn't real? And I hate to break it to you but for those worried that their kids might resent them for lying about Santa...what about religion? Just because you raise them Christian doesn't mean they'll stay that way and they might resent you for "lying" about the existance of God. I mean, come on. There are various faiths all over the world. No one can say for sure who is right. So, how do you know you're not lying about Jesus?

Aubrey--there is nothing wrong with that at all. I think that is the point. We should all just do what makes us comfortable. We should be able to like what we like regardless of age. By the way--I listen to all kinds of music but it just really irks me when someone tells me I'm too "old" for certain bands. But I've also gotten shocked looks or comments when I break out "America" or Neil Diamond. I always get the "aren't they a little before your time?" :)

I haven't read through the responses but I don't do a letter. I agree with you on this Heather--anyone who is in my life already knows what is going on and anyone else just really wouldn't care. I find holiday letters rather pretentious. The ones I've received come across more as bragging and showing off. I just don't want to be one of THOSE people.

I really dislike the notion that as one ages there are certain rules dictating how they must dress, act, which music they're allowed to listen to. I am not aware of some magical switch that gets flipped at a specific age that says you can no longer wear the clothes you enjoy wearing and must now switch to polyester pants suits and orthopedic shoes. I'm am 35. Up until my youngest was born (almost 3 years ago) I had 17 piercings. I still wear my hair in wild colors. It is currently black and purple. My favorite clothing is jeans, a hoodie, a tee (usually with a goofy saying) and my converse shoes. I'm quite aware that people think I don't dress my age. But you know what...I don't care. I don't even know what that means. What does it mean to dress your age? I've also had someone make the asinine comment that I'm too old for the music I listen to. What? I'm sorry but I listened to Metallica and Nine Inch Nails in college. Did I miss the memo that stated I'm no longer allowed to listen to them because I'm "old"? Hello...the members of Metallica are older than I am. They're still playin so I can still listen. Right? I am not afraid of 40 at all because I still feel 18. I'm well aware that I'm not 18. I'm married. I'm a mom. I am a responsible adult but being a responsible adult does not equate to having a stick up ones bum. I feel sorry for anyone who changes who they are just to fit some notion of what society feels is "age appropriate". What a useless way to go through life.

I guess I'm abnormal then. I'm 35. At age 7 I was taken to the doctor complaining of a pain in my chest. The doc assured my parents it was simply puberty beginning the early stages. By age 8 I had developed breasts. I was not heavy. I was a small, skinny little thing. By age 9 I had started my period. I used to think was weird but over the years I've met many women who've started puberty anywhere from 7 on all the way up to 17!!! I think it is a big myth that this "early onset" thing is new and didn't happen in earlier generations. I'd also like to know what "normal" is. There is an AVERAGE but just because someone falls outside that average doesn't mean it is abnormal.

:iagree:

We were in Japan too. We just had one son at that time. He was a year old and sleeping. We were up late, on our computers. My husband was playing a computer game and I was chatting with a friend of mine who had been working the night shift. He was at work but was getting off work and heading home and said he'd log back on when he got home. A little while later he logs on again and tells me to turn on the news. So, I tell hubby and we go over and turn it on. At that point just the one plane had hit the WTC. As we watched we saw the second one hit. I remember being in complete shock. Once they reported that a plane had also hit the Pentagon, I felt I was going to be sick. It was just all so unreal. I called my brother and my mom. I remember it was difficult getting a line off base that night. It took some time to get through. I then went downstairs to check on my neighbor. Her husband was working the night shift so I was worried about her being home alone. She was prone to panic attacks and I was sure she was probably still up and watching what was going on. I was right. We stayed up until like 3 a.m. watching news coverage.

Those were our favorite too!! I'm still looking! We live in Vegas and there is an area downtown that is all Asian grocers and other stores. I'm going to look down there and see if they carry any. We were at Misawa too! We were there 1998-2007.

The Rockies have four seaons! :001_smile: I love the Rockies. They're home. We're a family of 5. I have three boys and if I had the opportunity to do this, I would do it in a second. You could totally make it work. I think just being in that location would make it all worthwhile. You can be creative with your space and if you cover the porches then it is like giving yourself extra rooms. I envy you. That sounds so wonderful!

I read this and had to laugh because the lady you mention could be me! I'm not a mean person but I am introverted. Too much socializing wears me out and causes me great stress. I have a small group of friends and I'm fine with that. I do not like getting together with large groups of women at all. I'd rather get together with one or two friends at a time. Otherwise I'm completely stressed. I have tried. When my husband deployed I made an effort to get together with the other wives from the sqaudron. There was a program for spouses of the deployed to get together. I went to a couple of outings and while it wasn't a terrible thing, it was just too much for me. I've had a lot of people think I'm a complete snob. I've had people who have gotten to know me say "Wow, I used to think you were so stuck up." This was all because I am introverted and uncomfortable in social settings. I'm not a snob I just don't like social settings. I don't think this woman was trying to be rude or hurt your feelings. It sounds like she is busy and just isn't up to taking on social situations. When she is up to it, she'll try. I don't think it is a good idea to push it on her. As much as I dislike social situations I joined our community theatre guild and had a great time. Since we moved to Vegas I've tried out various homeschool groups, trying to make connections for the kids. But I have to line up everything inside myself before I make those leaps. If someone tries to push it on me I'll just withdraw even more.

I know when the video was made. I guess we're reading from different news outlets then.

From my understanding, the people who are against the speech are worried because of a video that is to be played with it that shows celebrities pledging to do things to make the country better. I've watched the video, and honestly, I don't see the big deal. I don't have a problem with it. But there is one point where someone says they pledge to serve the president and I do think that could have been worded better. We do not serve the president, he serves us. We support the president. I've also heard that one of the questions children were supposed to answer after watching the video is "How can you serve the president?" Apparently they took that question away. I'm not sure if that question even existed--that is just what I've heard. But again, I do have a slight issue with the wording. While I think the video overall is trying to send a good message, I'm tired of our society looking to celebs to tell us how we should feel, think and act. The president should be able to give his speech on his own merit. Why does he need a video full of celebs to back him up? Why not a video of every day people like you and me making pledges to make our country better? Because of Joe Blow down the street says he is going to start recycling to make the world a better place--no one cares. But if Ashton Kutcher says it then suddenly everyone is falling all over themselves to recycle. I find that really, really sad.

We lived in Misawa Japan for 9 years. We LOVED it. We did everything we could to stay as long as possible. All our kids were born there. We bought cars there. Our first two cars we bought from the "Lemon Lot" on base. You can get really good deals because people are always PCSing and trying to get rid of cars. Eventually we ended up getting rid of one car and replacing it was a gorgeous Integra that only cost us $1200!!! Then we found out we were having a third baby so we got rid of our other older car and found a good deal on a van at an off base dealership. It was like new, in great condition and only cost us $3000. When we first moved there we lived in very old housing on base and then we moved to a townhouse. We LOVED our townhouse. We didn't live in the towers because we had cats. Our last year there we ended up off base because they were renovating the on base housing. But moving off base was one of the best things we ever did and I wish we had done it sooner. We loved our off base housing. Having a car off base is not a big deal. You do have to pay a parking fee but that can be taken care off through security forces on base. It is no big deal at all. We homeschooled the entire time, my oldest was ready to start school until 2005 anyway. But I did work in the DoDDS schools. I was also in our community theatre guild with many of the teachers and administrators of the schools. There were some great people working at those schools but my experience within the schools as a substitute is what drove me to decide to homeschool. They have the same problems as regular public schools. I know that some families chose to send their kids to private schools off base. It is expensive and can seem intimidating but every family I knew who did it, loved it. I envy you. I'd go back in a second. Even the kids will suddenly say out of the blue, "I miss Japan." It was home for us.

Where did you live in Japan? We were there 9 years. My favorite was the Georgia coffees and I'd get mine cold---most of the time. Those were so great. I could write pages and pages of what I miss about Japan. I did a quick internet search and checked out Amazon but no luck. I know that Amazon carries the Ito En tea and you can order it by the case. Target also carries it under the brand Tea's Tea. But so far no luck on the coffee.

Here are the ones that spring to mind right away-- *Being yelled at in front of my 1st grade class because I used a piece of white crayon that had been in the chalk tray to draw on the blackboard during a rainy recess. *My 4th grade teacher getting snotty with me whenever I went to her desk to ask for help. I can still remember that glare as I approached her desk. *That same 4th grade teacher telling my parents that I was boy crazy and did nothing but chase boys. My dad was livid and I was actually in trouble. I was a tomboy and spent my recess playing tether ball or pretending to be a storm trooper with all the boys rather than playing jump rope or climbing on the monkey bars. For this I was labeled boy crazy. *My 5th grade teacher, whom I adored, reading to us every day after lunch. She read "The House of Dies Drear", "Summer of the Monkeys" "A Pup Named Kitty" and others. I still love all those books and reading aloud to my kids now is the best part of my day.

:iagree: Wow, I missed that the first time around. That is a rather sweeping judgement. Someone works as a cashier so then they must be an idiot, right? Kind of like the idea that if a mom stays home with her children she must be uneducated and lazy.

I actually enjoy when the cashier wants to chat. I think it is great. We live in Las Vegas and I have found that most cashiers are just rude. They don't even acknowledge I'm there. I was a cashier in college and I would have never ignored my customers the way they do here. We went to our hometown in Nebraska and I was shocked by how friendly everyone was and how the cashiers always wanted to chat. It was soooo refreshing.

I understand where you are coming from. However, my experience is very different. I also have three boys and I feel that video games can be very educational. I cannot think of a single game that is simply "play" and that they aren't benefiting from in some way. In fact, I can think of very little in life that is strictly play. All things come with some lesson or educational value.

Because entertainment and education are not mutually exclusive.

My son doesn't play WOW but he plays other games and is active on Lord of the Rings Online. I agree with what the others have stated. He has learned strategy, problem solving, team work. In the game he has had to earn and save money for items he wants and has had to learn to prioritize. He has also had to learn to deal with disappointment. My husband and I also play Lord of the Rings online so we know first hand what it is he is doing when he plays. I read an article--I think it was in TIME--that said WOW is a model for the future of the work place. It has something to do with the fact that future workers will need to be skilled at collaborative decision-making involving people that are all over the world. Apparently, WOW offers the perfect model for that. I don't remember all the details of the article. If I find it, I will post it. Very interesting.

I'm thinking about all the men I've known throughout my life and out of all of them I can only think of two who MIGHT fit this description and they both had extreme jealousy/insecurity issues. I asked my husband (although I already knew the answer) and he just shook his head. He says he never feels that way and thinks this man may have some kind of testosterone imbalance. I have to question how this man has any good male friends if he wants to strike out at every man he meets?

I want them to learn how to make smart choices and to never just be happy with the status quo. To do that means they must know how to think for themselves. If they hear something they don't take it at face value. They research from every resource they can get their hands on and form their own conclusions. Never just accept something because "it was on the news" or because "Oprah said it so it must be true." I want them to be free thinkers. I also want them to have good character and integrity. There is a lot of crap in the world but it is important to focus on the good. As soon as you start to let the negative take over then you are just adding to that negative. Mostly I just want them to love to learn and know that they can seriously do anything. It seems in recent years there is a cynical movement that wants to take the dreaming and wonder away from kids. It is now wrong to tell your child they can do anything because you're setting them up for disappointment. I don't believe that. I believe they really can do anything they really want to do. It just takes drive and determination. I grew up in a house where all my ideas were laughed at and shot down. I wasn't being "practical" or "realistic". I won't do that to my kids. Right now my oldest wants to be a scientist, guitarist and someone who tests new video games. I take each one seriously and guide him as best as I can. If he should change his mind then we'll switch gears. But for now that is what he is striving for. I don't want him ever to be taught that his dreams aren't "practical".

Okay, this might look weird to some people but this is how we do it. (My boys are 9, 6 & 2) We do one core subject a day. So our week looks like this: Monday--Art and Art History Tuesday--Creative Writing/History Wednesday--Health/Cooking Thursday--Science Friday--Music lessons and library (and our catch-up day) (Math lessons are done on Sunday afternoons) Our daily schedule looks like this: (Opener=question of the day) 8:30-9:30 Core subject 9:30-10--Math practice 10-10:30--snack and read aloud (We eat snack while I read from whichever book we're in the middle of. Right now we're in the middle of two plus Where the Sidewalk Ends) 10:30-11--Game of the day (this is an educational board game and we try to do one that goes along with the core subject that day) 11-11:30--Word puzzles/creative writing practice 11:30-12--exploration of the day Question of the day is a question they will find in their "Question of the Day" folder. The answer is somewhere in the school room and it is up to them to figure out which resources would help them find the answer. They earn a sticker when they get the correct answer and the stickers add up to be exchanged for a prize. Math practice, word puzzles and exploration of the day are also all in their folders and ready to go. They just open their folders and find what they are supposed to do. Word puzzles and creative writing practices are usually fun exercises. Although on Thursday we use that spot to study latin and greek words from their biology lessons. The exploration of the day is usually some kind of activity to spark their interest in a topic.Sometimes it is an easy science experiement that they can conduct on their own. Right now we've been using that spot to study and make our own mummies. We are done at noon, no matter what. If they have work to finish they have the option of finishing it or letting it carry over to Friday.

My second child taught himself to read at 3. He is now 6 and is an excellent reader. He figures out large words with no problems. He can figure out larger words before his older brother can. He is also a terrific speller. I have never offered him formal instruction. He just knew how to read and I've let him do his own thing.

I'm the mother of three boys. They are 9, 6 & 2. My 2 year old makes me feel like I've never parented before. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing half the time. My oldest was a breeze. My next one was a bit tougher but not by much, but the youngest? Yikes! I used to laugh at the families on Super Nanny. I'm not laughin anymore.