My dh was a community college dropout. He failed his first semester courses, his dad said no--I'm not paying for this, and dh joined the army, married me, and is now a professional with an MA. A better, more responsible man you will never find. There is hope! :grouphug:

Is there a reason the name of the other forum is going unsaid? :lurk5:

Ew. I wouldn't like that at all.

The Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite books and overall they did a great job with the movies, but my goodness those orcs are so polite as they patiently wait in line for their turn to be decapitated by Aragorn. :rolleyes: In real life orcs are NEVER that well-behaved! :tongue_smilie:

No advice, I'm not there yet, but I just started reading Slouching Toward Adulthood and your post sounds like it could have come straight from the book. :grouphug:

Your friend is lucky to have you. Stepping outside of your comfort zone to support her is wicked and hypocritical? I wish I had more wicked and hypocritical friends. :grouphug:

Yep, this.

Ramping up the prayers. :grouphug:

Do you have an advice nurse or an on-call doc you can contact? Your description sounds like something I'd want to check on.

There it goes!

Baby isn't just "not up," it's not moving at all now. :(

I wish it would move a little more. Hope it's okay.

:lol: What? No, not at all...:lol:

Autumn, don't leave us hanging! For those who are interested (and can't wait), here's a video of different giraffe giving birth.

So cool, you can see the contractions!

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That's a huge first step. :grouphug: Praying for your boy. :grouphug:

Take heart! A youth size 6 is a men's size 8, so only one size in 3 months. By this time next year he might be a 12 instead of a 21. :lol:

Are you anti-ADD meds? I know some people are, but I'll share our experience just in case. We saw such an amazing change after starting my 10yo on meds six months ago, that we decided to treat my 13yodd's mild ADD with medication. It's been about three months, and she is doing better in every area of life--school, socially, dance, at home. She's told me several times when she takes her pill in the morning that her medicine has made things so much easier for her. We let our 10yo drink coffee. My brother has ADHD, and my parents used to give him No Doz to help him calm down. The ADD brain really does function differently!

We make lunches to hand out to homeless people. The kids decorate the brown bags and we put a hand drawn picture and a note inside (something like, "God loves you," or "God bless you" or "We are praying for you today.") We don't give them to the people with signs, we just go to the areas we know the homeless congregate.

Nope, no opposite gender friends, outside of work. No contact lists or female friends on fb that aren't a relative or a mutual friend/neighbor. And since we've been married I haven't had any male friends that weren't mutual friends for both of us. Wasn't planned, but seems natural. Actually, upon further consideration, I think it would be weird if he socialized with other women. I wouldn't like it.

What is the secret to small zucchini? I don't like the big ones either, and I've never been able to grow one that ripened before it weighed 20 pounds. :tongue_smilie:

Frank496, your posts are all odd and posted in very quick succession. This one is a direct quote of someone above but without the quotes. I'm reporting you as a suspected troll.

I don't know if that's true. It sounds like she has tried the nuclear options before without success. TM, I have a very difficult child who does not respond to traditional methods of discipline. It's hard when many of the suggestions are ones that you know aren't going to work because you've been there, done that (not talking about you in particular, Northwest Mom). From your posts here I've noticed that you are always very, um, certain about your pov. :tongue_smilie: Do you think some of their stubbornness is the apple falling not far from the tree? Are there things that your parents did with you that might work with them? I agree with those who say it's time for professional help. It's not normal or healthy to believe (or even say) that it would have been better if you had died when you were sick. And not only is this killing your spirit, but you don't want them treating their spouses and children the way they are treating you. It needs to change for for the sake of all of you. :grouphug:

I'd just type your state's name plus charter school homeschooling into google and see what pops up. California has a ton, but I know some states don't have any. Each charter school is independent, so if you have options you need to look at what different schools offer. Do you want outside classes? Do you just need help paying for extracurriculars? How much oversight do they require? I'll just add in that while your kids are pretty young now, there will come a time when they need that outside interaction. I think you are wise for looking ahead. :grouphug: Also, Chris's list is awesome, and I might pull some ideas from there myself! You could add Chess Club to it, my boys are on the chess team at a local elementary school. They practice after school once a week and have monthly tournaments. It's pretty amazing! I have five children I'm homeschooling this year, and we can afford to do and buy things that we never could otherwise. I'd have to say that charter school opportunities are among the very few things California does well. There are four great options for homeschool charter schools just where I live, and it's a fairly small city.