I've let my 2 and 3 year old follow Miss Sue around her yard as she was working. Because, you know, I was pregnant and needed a break. And my 3 and 4 year old because I was taking care of the baby. And my 4 and 5 year old because by then they were really attached to Miss Sue. Thankfully, she likes kids in general and mine in particular - at least, that's what she told me.

Accounting, hmm. I would be a horrid accountant, but if I had any aptitude I would do it while homeschooling. I'd just work during tax season - if my kids wanted their long break from February to mid-April:). If you were taking classes, could you work for part-time to pay for school? I'm not sure what the laws are now; my MIL worked for a company doing their taxes about 12 years ago (with no schooling past high school).

:party:So happy for you!

A friend of mine does something with her little that might work for your daughter. She keeps toys in the basement. Each week the kids "shop" for toys. They can take a certain number upstairs. If you have storage space, maybe you could get a few older things and she could choose each week what she would have in her room. She could keep the younger things a little longer then.

I have to say I was angry just reading your post. Not at you, of course. But there is NO WAY I would allow one of my kids to be treated that way. To invite her to play and then do that! My #3 is two years younger than #2. There are times when he gets left out because he is too little to do what the older two are doing. Tonight for example, the older two will go to TKD and he will either go along to watch or stay home with me. But the olders are not allowed to run off and leave him when they are at home. Bottom line, if they can't play nicely with #3, they can't play. I would make them include her in EVERYTHING they do until it is natural and normal to include her nicely. EACH and EVERY time they did something unkind, they would be sitting alone on a bed until they decided they could treat everyone in the family kindly. She is a person worthy of respect and kindness. There is enough nastiness in the world outside the home; she doesn't need to deal with it at home. I'm sorry if I'm coming across too strongly, but I actually felt my blood pressure rise when I read the post. I would work on their attitudes toward their sister every day until it improved - for months or years if it proved necessary. My son was unkind to one of my nephews twice (on consecutive visits) before I caught on to what was happening. He knows if it ever happens again his life will be miserable the entire visit. Since we've had that discussion he has had a ton of fun with this cousin, but if I had let him be mean, I'm pretty sure the pattern would have continued.

:iagree:with the above response. I'm sure your Dh is working hard, but he can help out a few hours a couple times a week. One of my favorite stories about my grandparents is how Grandpop got up at night with the babies. He was a dairy farmer. He got up early and went to bed late and worked all day. She had 8 babies in 10 years. I don't know who was actually the more worn out, but he did that for her. Dh doesn't get up at night with mine, but if I need a break he tries to help in the evenings. With our first two, I didn't sleep through the night 5 times in almost 3 years. It got ugggly:tongue_smilie:. The worst moment of our marriage was when he went GOLFING after work and then went to look at some guy's new boat. He didn't get home until after 9:00. I had two sick kids at home and had slept less than 3 hours in the past 36. Now, studying is different than golfing, but I wouldn't let yourself get that strung out whatever it takes.

Has anyone mentioned teething?

That sounds almost exactly like my Ds5 (who will be 6 in August). He hasn't started long vowels yet. He is almost done with his k'er math and "papers" but due to a move and baby, I haven't done a full year of phonics yet. I imagine he will be the same as your son. I know what you mean about watching his progress - Dd6 zipped through phonics instruction. Ds5, not so much. I think he is just normal.

Maybe some unschooler with an interest in film could do a better segment on unschooling and put it on the internet.

I think it depends a lot on the child. I also think it depends on the situation you are in. My 6 year old is somewhat independent. I try to have her work organized workbox style. I teach her math and grammar most of the time. I try to do a little spelling and history with her. I'll answer specific questions if she has them. I look over her work periodically to make sure she is using complete sentences. Every once in a while she will tell me I ought to read her reading assignment because it is a good story. For her, it is combination of readiness and necessity. I wish I could have worked with her more this year, but it was a crazy year. Hopefully, we will do more together this summer and next year. My 5 year old would sit for an hour waiting for me to give him instructions. He won't be independent any time soon.

If you do give her some books, I'd recommend something that is fun to read out loud. There are some books I read to the kids that I feel I OUGHT to read, but then there is the stack I LOVE to read. I personally like rhyming books. If I am tired or reading to two or more kids, I just don't have to concentrate as hard on Red Fish, Blue Fish. My kids have at various times liked the Frankin, Dora, etc. books. Those bore me. Does she like music? My kids love the Iza Trapani books and Puff the Magic Dragon.

Don't apologize on my account. WE make fun of Dad. I'm the one who bought the certificate for him. It came from Las Vegas.:tongue_smilie: I think it is fine as long as people know what they are getting. My dad knows his Bible and the folks needed a preacher. They had no money to pay one. In my heritage, the preachers were all farmers that took turns or were called to preach for a certain amount of time (until my generation or so). So for us, it wasn't weird for him to preach. Nobody considers him ordained (this is very different from 6 years of study; I'd consider the other poster's Dh ordained), it was just to make it legal for him to marry those couples.

I've never lived there, but I have some family in Lancaster - more in Bucks. Just wanted to mention I love the Shady Maple.

I didn't mean any offense. It's a lot shorter to say than twins born less than a year apart. I guess I never thought having children close together was considered a bad thing. Tiring, yes. Not a great thing in my case (if I am pg), because Dh only wanted 4 children and we already have four.

Thanks for all the replies. I think.:tongue_smilie: I really expected everyone to say, "No. That's not very likely." After my others were born, I didn't resume menstruation until 5 mos., 7 mos., and 8 mos. I rather thought I would follow that pattern. Baby girl, born in Jan., didn't gain weight the first three weeks. The hospital asked me to pump and give her a bottle after nursing several times a day. That got her weight up, but it put us on a very irregular schedule. Due to a couple other indicators, I'm thinking that might not have been a good idea. I'm not going to panic but taking prenatals can't hurt. I ought to take them while nursing anyhow.

Has anyone heard of someone getting pregnant in the first few months while exclusively breastfeeding? My grammy had two sets of Irish twins, but she bottle fed. I always thought this was nearly impossible, but I'm feeling a little curious about this this week.

I think it depends on the "culture" of the neighborhood. At our last home, it was common among the high school set. We lived in a nice part of town with lots of big, old trees and big yards. At certain times of the year, there was a tree tp'd almost every week. The family next door had a teenage daughter who was part of the crowd. Their house was tp'd a couple of times in the three years we lived there. One time our tree got some, too. The dad helped my husband clean it up. They chatted while they did it and then my Dh helped him clean some of his up. Another time it happed to my neighbors, the kids dropped their car keys while they were doing it. They rang my neighbor's doorbell in the middle of the night to borrow a flashlight.:001_rolleyes: It just wasn't a big deal because it was friends and homes belonging to their "set". They all did it and had it done to them. I think it would be very different if it was a group of kids being malicious or randomly tp'ing homes. So to answer your question, at most I would just go out and shoo them away if I knew the kids and it was "all in good fun". If it wasn't someone I knew, I don't know... I'm not a confrontational person. It would have to happen more than once for me to call the police.

Meriwether HS Our first three children were born along the Lewis and Clark trail. Meriwether sounded more interesting than Clark. Our mascot - The Explorers. My husband and I chose this together.

I don't know what is considered normal, but both my boys (5 and 3) are circ'd and there are days when the only phrase I say more often than "Don't touch your peepee" is "Get your hands out of your pants".

I really like my white board and comfortable place to read. I have an old kitchen countertop mounted at barstool height for a media area - tv with dvd player, computer, cd player. I wish I had more bookshelves. Have fun designing! Edited to add: My kids each work at their own table - not a desk. As the little ones get older they will eventually have to share, but I really like having space to spread out. It is also easier to keep them on task when they are not right next to each other.

My oldest cried off and on the first day after she was born. She would be content for 5-10 minutes and then start wailing. The crying would stop as abruptly as it started. It was odd - so content and then a very distressed cry over and over. She has a really big head, though. I pushed for 3 hours and then the doctor pulled her with forceps. I always thought she had a headache that first day.

At least 4,000, but books are hard for me to count. Do you count two-in-ones as one or two? Teacher's manuels? Scrap books? Do you count books on your kindle? I'm sure I have at least 4,000 volumes of actual books, but I don't think I could ever get an exact number.

:lol::lol::lol::lol: I'm printing this.

I chose monthly because "I Never Leave the House Alone" was just too depressing. The last time I went somewhere alone it was a prenatal appointment and Dh took off work. The boys (5 and 3) cried because I was leaving them behind. They thought they would miss me soooo much they would rather sit in a doctor's office than play with Daddy. I even took my kids when I went Christmas shopping. I had no one to leave them with so I blindfolded them while we were in the stores. My mom was horrified when I told her - but she didn't offer to drive the seven hours to my house to babysit.