Yes, I agree with all of this. I would only add that the daily points target has most likely gone up, in case the OP did not know that. It's only my 5th day but so far so good. I've stayed in my daily points every day, although I decided if I earn activity points I get to use those each day (that day only...I guess there's some confusion about whether you need to use them each day or can let them accumulate all week). This morning I had a minor breakthrough. I was going to have grapes with my breakfast but after I ate my oatmeal, I decided I was full enough and did not need the fruit. On the old plan I would have already counted the grapes and therefore would have had them. This morning though, I put them back. Strangely, allowing me to have free fruit makes it more likely I will think carefully about eating it.

Oh yeah! I have a request for a Baby Alive All Gone. http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Alive-All-Gone-Blonde/dp/B003A6IEJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291831768&sr=8-1

See, I wasn't even into whole grain/real food very much at the time I was doing e-mealz and even I found the menus to be way over-processed. Too much pre-cooked bacon and chicken strips. Not cheap and barely edible! (I am trying to eat more real food these days).

I think you expressed it very well. I am the youngest kid in my family but the first who went away to college. My mother and I were basically co-dependent (hate that word but it seems to fit). The emotions I felt when she dropped me off and drove away were so raw. I felt sad, guilty (she was widowed so I felt like I was abandoning her) and extremely homesick. But I didn't go home until Thanksgiving that year and I survived it. I made new friends...I had to since no one else from my high school went to the same college. And man, was I ever obnoxious at home that first Thanksgiving! If I could I would go back and smack myself for how I behaved. But, I think it was to be expected. So that was definitely my first step toward independence and finding out who I was. I was no longer my brother's sister, I was ME. I started thinking for myself and came up with some startling revelations (not all in college, but leaving home for college started me on that path). And my high school friends would not recognize me today. I was very competitive and driven in high school, I had to be the best. But college completely mellowed me out. I just wanted to succeed (since no one else in my family had gone to college, I didn't know what to expect and was afraid I'd flunk out. That didn't happen, I graduated with honors). I just don't know that I ever would have become who I am if I had not gone through that. I would venture to guess that you do not need to go away to college to experience this (perhaps moving away to work somewhere would be the same, although the nice thing about college is you have a huge group of people who are the same age as you and going through some of the same basic life changes as you, so I think that helps in knowing you can try on some different hats and still be okay). I also realize that my situation was unique in a lot of ways. Some students know exactly who they are at a much younger age, and that's cool.

I followed it for a while last year. I did the Weight Watchers plan since I thought it was so convenient to have a complete meal planning tool that also generated Points values. I think I signed up for the 5 meal-a-week plan, and I ended up cutting out 1-2 meals each week because we had leftovers or whatever. We were trying to avoid giving into the weeknight blahs and going out to eat because we didn't have anything planned. E-mealz helped me to cook more sometimes when I felt compelled to cook what I had in the fridge, but eventually I ended up just getting sick of the whole thing. I felt some of the meals were just strange, and I like to be more flexible with what I eat on any given day. Lately we've just been trying to use more of what we already have in the cupboard/freezer and pick up meat when it is on sale and looks good, and just throw stuff together more than we did.

I read once that after a night terror it's best not to bring it up with the kid because that might scare them way more than necessary. Imagine being asked if you remember walking around shaking last night, and you don't! Just something to keep in mind.

Yeah, and seriously...what do Christians want from atheists? We atheists supposedly get bent out of shape when someone wishes us a Merry Christmas (I don't), but some Christians also get upset if we celebrate Christmas. So...either start to understand that we would pose an objection to telling us Merry Christmas, OR don't have a hissy fit if we celebrate Christmas. Pick one. And to answer the original question...I was raised Catholic and spent many years exploring other religions before coming to the conclusion that I am an atheist. So Christmas was I suppose you would say, a legitimate holiday for me to celebrate. Now I live hundreds of miles away from where I grew up and still like to feel connected to my family, so I continue to share in the traditions and to pass them on to our kids. Last night we put up our Christmas tree. The lights give me a warm feeling even when it is dark and cold out. We put up ornaments we've been putting up forever celebrating major and minor family milestones. Our first house, our first Christmas as a married couple, our first Christmas as parents-to-be. I'm sorry if it offends Christians that I celebrate in this way as an atheist. On second thought, nevermind. I'm not sorry. I have the right to celebrate Christmas however I choose in the privacy of my own home and I honestly do not have to justify it to anyone. This thread here? I can't believe it comes up every year. And I can't believe I answer it every year.

I usually end up with something when I visit my parents. It could be a lot of different things...the stress of travelling knocks out my immune system, the change in environment/allergens, etc. And the sore throat that started last week lingers...

Stacey, have you tried signing up online? I can't imagine you couldn't get the same monthly pass that is available online for all WW members. I just signed up online for mine. It renews automatically each month. I get free access to the eTools and can attend meetings. It is $39.95 a month. Try to look into that if you can.

I don't have this bunk bed set but in my experience, when it comes to furniture at Wal-Mart you get what you pay for. We bought the Nursery in a Box from Wal-Mart. This was the set that was recalled multiple times before they decided to just give complete refunds to anyone who had ever purchased one. The changing table and dresser were falling apart within months and the crib was a complete hazard (I still feel guilty for ever putting a baby in that!).

Congratulations! I am in a 16 after more than a year on Weight Watchers, but that's down from 20W. It's awesome not to have a W after the number on my pants!

Yep, this is the main thing right now. I have friends who took two years between "separating" (still sharing the house but intending to divorce) and making the divorce final a few weeks ago. Two young kids, one with special needs. One parent would occupy the house while the other would stay elsewhere for the night or weekend or whatever. While not ideal, at least for that period of time the kids had some stability. They got to stay in the same home and were not sent from house to house, and finally they were not having to hear the bitter arguments their parents had any longer since they were never home at the same time. I'm actually a little worried about how the kids will do with being shuffled from house to house, and I think they are going to lose the home they've lived in all along. :( I don't know how this relates to families where there is a separation with no actual plans to divorce. At first I thought my friends were crazy for continuing to live in the same space. I think that would drive me insane...if it's over, it's over KWIM? But at least they were starting the process and making progress that whole time.

While it is true that another income comes with its own costs, remember that the cost of those things (such as daycare) is often temporary, and that even not working you will need to pay for food and clothes. If working will help you build a retirement plan, even if you are not taking home much money after childcare, that retirement plan is a good thing to have. And then in a couple years when you are not paying for daycare any more (if that will be the case), you will still have the job you have and not have to worry about getting back on the market. In that time you will have built your resume, and won't it feel like the biggest raise ever to not have to pay childcare any longer? Sure, this will not help your current financial situation much but if you need to work then this is a more positive way to look at it. Is a flex spending account an option? I used this when I used to work. They can take up to $5000 a year pre-tax out of your paycheck, then you get that money back when you submit daycare receipts. Since it is pre-tax (I always estimate that taxes take 30% of pay) that would put approximately $1500 back in your pocket.

I'm not pregnant but we've thought about having another baby and I've given this matter quite a bit of thought. I also planned to try to keep counting Points when pregnant so I do not gain too much weight (just what I should be gaining) so I do not get out of control. There is no official formula for doing it but logically, I think you would take the number of daily points you have, add 5 points per day to account for the 35 weekly points, add at least 4 points daily (this is what they have you do when you start maintenance so you no longer lose weight) then the number of points you need for weight gain. [so if you wanted to gain 20 pounds over the course of your pregnancy you would figure 20*3500 (calories in a pound)/270 (days in pregnancy). This was 259, so you would want to add 259 calories per day to gain 20 pounds over the course of your pregnancy. That works out to about 5 points if you figure each point is about 50 calories.] So basically, if you are currently assigned 25 daily points to lose weight you would aim for 39 daily points while pregnant to gain 20 pounds. Of course, this is all just a thought experiment...I actually thought I was pregnant a few months ago but it turned out I wasn't. :( But in that time I had such extreme food issues...I was either completely starving or else I would be two bites into a meal and suddenly feel stuffed. If that is how it will be when I actually am pregnant again, I can see completely throwing this all out the window. And of course, this was before the new WW program. I don't know how you'd be able to figure something like this out, if what I've heard about the new program is true.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread by talking about the new WW plan but I agree! I've been on WW for over a year and I've lost 35 pounds (have a lot more to go!). Most of that weight loss was in the first 6 months of joining. So I'm hoping this change will give me that "new member" feeling...and progress. And just in time for the holidays. It sure would be nice to LOSE weight this winter!

Yeah (this is all based on the ProPoints I've heard about...the speculation is that in America they will be called PointsPlus so this is NOT the gospel here...) more Points per day and most fruits and veggies will be free (reasonable amounts, no starchy veggies). OTOH, a lot of other things will be higher in Points. Calories will no longer be a part of the Points equation, rather the components of the foods (Protein, carbs, fat, fiber I believe). So a 100-Calorie pack of cookies will definitely be more Points than it was because it is devoid of any real nutritional value. You can still choose to have treats like this of course, but you might think twice about it before you do. It really sounds to me like WW is coming around to the "clean eating" way of thinking.

I am a WWer and I am working on this issue as well. I read a lot of weight loss books, memoirs, etc. I'm just interested in anything that will give me a new perspective. I am really intrigued by the concept of allowing yourself to eat what you want to take away the "forbidden" aspect of it, which is what leads a lot of people to binge. So...you want a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup? NO! That's forbidden! (Eat one anyway...eat another because you blew it...eat half the bag). Versus-- You want a peanut butter cup? Really, do you? OK, if you insist, and you really want it and not just good old basic comfort, that's fine. Have some, allow yourself a PB cup. Then move on because you had a taste of what you wanted. One PB cup will not derail your progress. (And as a WWer, you can have it and count the points for accountability reasons). A recent minor crisis in my life took away my desire to eat much. In the month since, I've found it a lot easier to just stop eating. If I had food on my plate, even if it started as a reasonable portion, I just didn't feel the same need I once did to eat it all. I was not counting Points when this was going on and by eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (but actually listening to my gut when it said No More! We're full!), I managed to maintain my weight loss. Not bad when usually I would have gained when I gave myself permission not to count. Some of the better books I've read on this topic are Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and believe it or not, Skinny Girl by Bethenny Frankel. (I read Intuitive Eating after quitting WW the first time...gained a lot of weight. Since you are continuing to struggle with this concept I would recommend just reading these books and trying to absorb the big picture while still following WW.) And I would say that just following WW for a good chunk of time does help you internalize the concept of intuitive eating so that you can get to the point where you are not eating to rebel against rules just because you decided to eat off the program for a day. You actually start hearing that rational voice in the back of your head saying "Um, really? Will a second piece of cake really make you feel better?" Did you know that WW is about to change in a big way in America (in meetings the week after Thanksgiving)? From what I've read it will emphasize a completely new way of counting Points (like ProPoints in Europe). I am wondering the extent to which this program change will minimize people's desire to stop overeating. It will be interesting.

See, I don't think salaries and benefits are TOO generous around here, but I get sick of hearing teachers complain (letters to the editor, local message boards) about how they are not getting raises this year, as if they are being singled out. No, very few people are getting raises around here and they are most definitely seeing an increase in their workload (even within the school district, like janitors. A janitor leaves the district and the position is not filled to save money without having to lay off people, so the remaining janitors have to take over cleaning more of the building every night...no raise for them either). We do not have teacher shortages around here, don't know how that would affect the attitude. And I do realize the complainers are most likely a vocal minority (and I really do believe most teachers are very hard workers), but I think they should maybe learn to keep their mouths shut. They sound very ignorant of the larger context.

Thank you. I am not diagnosed bipolar but I have depression and it is genetic In addition, my mom is bipolar and I do see some tendencies in myself at times. I've been through counseling (10 years ago) and that counselor was great but told me there was really no need to keep going through counseling, it took me as far as I could get. I learned all the tools you need to learn to help cope with depression. I've been on and off antidepressants for 10 years too (mostly on). Most recently, I went off my Paxil in August because I was going to the gym regularly and feeling good and well, there were a million reasons why. But that blew up in my face. I was extremely moody for the two months I was off and cried a lot and just barely held it together from day to day. It all culminated in a complete meltdown a few weeks ago where I had to call my husband to come help me with the kids because I just could not cope. There were no traumatic events to set this off, it just kept building until one day I started crying and just couldn't stop. Got back on antidepressants that day and I've been a million times better. If I ever need a reminder about why I pop those pills every day, that day was what I'll think about. The way I see it is most people would not tell a cancer patient to just "pray the cancer away," so they should not tell someone with a biochemical imbalance to pray that away. It trivializes the very real danger posed by mental illness.

I smelled my first ear infection about a year ago. I never had ear infections growing up but DD needed to sleep with us and I just noticed a strange smell. I made her brush her teeth again, thinking it was her breath. The next day she was screaming in pain because her ear hurt so much. :( So now I know what that smell is if I ever smell it again. I did have a lot of strep throat growing up so I may be able to smell that. The smell of tonsil stones is just terrible.

Do you have, or have you considered getting, a nightguard? I got one a few months ago and couldn't WAIT once the dentist said teeth grinding can cause the headaches I woke up with sometimes. Seriously, I would wake up because of the terribly intense pain and not be able to go back to sleep. Nothing could touch the pain for the first few hours I was awake but eventually the pain would settle down. I thought for the longest time I had allergies that caused the headaches, but once the dentist suggested teeth grinding it all made sense. And I don't think I've had one of those headaches since!

No, IDKWYM. Someone else asked about this comment and I'm still waiting for an answer...this makes no sense to me. Anyway, I am a fan of giving kids the benefit of the doubt. If this is the first offense there is a very good chance she really had no idea it was plagiarism. I've taught upper level kids (college), DH teaches college courses now, and there are a lot of students who just have no clue what constitutes plagiarism. Should they by that point? Of course. But we both found great results from simply calling kids on it. When this happened the first time for a student, we have shared that we found the original source and asked if they knew they were plagiarizing. They usually had the decency to say they did not know. They were offered the chance to rewrite the paper with proper citation. This shows them how they can still USE a source, just that they need to learn the difference between referencing and stealing. A good exercise if you ask me, a possible source for them in the future. What happens the second time they plagiarize? We don't know, it's never happened (in classes with multiple paper assignments, of course we cannot speak for other classes they took). They seem to learn the lesson. Most kids want to do a good job and want to please their instructors. Or failing that, they want to outsmart them. Simply letting them know you caught them and will not tolerate plagiarism is usually enough. Kids hate to redo things, so having them resubmit the paper is usually enough to teach them the lesson you want them to learn, which is that plagiarism is wrong.

It seems to me that if you've been trying for 2.5 years, you want a kid for reasons in addition to providing a companion for your existing kid. Even if that is truly your one and only reason for wanting another kid, then I hardly think a 5 year age gap is going to prevent your kids from having a relationship. My sister is 7 years older than me and my brother is 5 years older. (Yes, I was a surprise). It is true that in a lot of (good) ways I was an only child. I never felt competitive with my siblings. I felt they supported me unconditionally when I succeeded in something. I think a large part of that is the age difference. It may not have been so easy for them to be happy for me (and me for them) if we attended the same school at the same time. Yet they paved the way for me. Teachers knew my older siblings and my siblings helped me cope with whatever teacher I had because they knew all the tricks. Growing up, my sister and I shared a bedroom. We fought a lot! But we also had some great midnight conversations. We were bridesmaids for each other. We love each other's children and stay close on Facebook (we live states apart now). I don't remember everything we bonded over growing up, but now we bond over how crazy our mom is. I'd say I'm closer to her than my brother but I think that would be true even if we were only one year apart. In the grand scheme of things, 5 years is nothing.

No, I do not feel judged (why would I?), but I feel like broad statements like this based on one child (or even one family) are detrimental to our relationships with all kinds of mothers who are, deep down, facing all the same struggles despite making different parenting choices. And I still need more evidence than the fact that more than one kid in this family has had reading difficulties. Perhaps there is a genetic basis for reading problems. Have you asked all these children what kinds of books their mother reads to them? Have you (nicely) asked their mother what books she loves to read to her kids, songs she likes to sing to them? Maybe you did, but you have not shared that information with us so this all seems to me like you're making assumptions.

I don't get it, what is the problem? Is it that kids "today" just aren't learning what used to be considered the most essential nursery rhymes? Is it the assumption that only homeschooling mothers care enough about their kids to sing to them and read to them before they even enter school? (Not true...again this whole thread was started based on the observations of one child). Is it that even the kids who do know some songs and stories could have only possibly learned them by watching what some people consider trashy television (of course, this complaint only applies to the kids who know these things but go to PS, never applies to homeschooled kids)? Threads like this just bug me, it seems like yet another battle in the mommy wars and it's just based on one child (the child of someone the OP considers a friend. Personally, I like to give my friends the benefit of the doubt). It is just not true that only homeschoolers care enough about their kids' education to nurture a love of learning before school age. Even homeschooling parents have trouble nurturing that in their kids sometimes, and not just before school age. Look around these message boards, it's everywhere.