I have it bad. Growing up, my parents had ZERO interest in travelling. My dad's idea of a vacation was to our cabin in the mountains and my mom's idea was to the beach. Pretty much the only travelling we did was to visit family. I was the 10 year old begging to go to all the historical sites, anywhere new! I would *love* to live somewhere new. I'm thinking of taking a year off after I get my bachelors degree to go somewhere and teach english before coming back to finish my PhD. I have a long list of places I want to visit... mostly places with historical relevance (history major, can't help it!), and mostly European places (again, that's what I study, I just want to see it!).

For me it depends on so many factors. How "involved"? If that means I have to send progress reports to the school, or show what we are doing, than I'd consider it. If the school wanted me to use a specific curriculum, probably not, unless I was using it anyways. If the school wanted me to teach exactly what they were teaching, then definitely not. What extracurriculars are we talking about? Are there other options available outside of the public school system? My DD plays soccer, loves it, and is pretty good for a 4 year old. If she continued playing for the next 10 years, and wanted to play at a college level, than I would definitely consider getting involved with the public school system. There aren't comparable options around here for soccer after you reach high school age. If it was something like dance team, than no, she'd have to continue through her dance school, because it's a GREAT (and expensive.... :glare:) school, and she doesn't need to experience of playing on a team to do well at a higher level. What are the child's reasons for wanting to get involved? Is it just because other kids are doing it, or some new sport/activity on a whim, or something the child has been doing for years and this is the logical progression? What is the local school like? Is it a "bad" school, with alot of problems, or is it a good school? Can I trust my child's judgement when faced with the choices she'll be facing when dealing with all types of different people? All those are questions I'd have to ask myself before answering a question like this for my family. It's definitely not a straight forward yes or no thing.

I'm a daydreamer... always have been. Even now, in college, in honors class with a very high GPA, I'm a daydreamer. Can't help it. Nothing ever helped me when I was younger either. I'm also a doodler. My class notes are covered in doodles, and not very pretty ones at that! Somehow everything that needs to get through does. I also write lengthy stories in my head while I'm doing other things, driving, cooking, sitting still for 2 seconds... I think daydreaming is a sign of a healthy imagination, and I wouldn't do anything to discourage it unless it was seirously interrupting school work. In that case, I'd make sure to do plenty of interactive activities that forced my child to focus on the task at hand.

I'm sure (hoping) that you didn't mean this, but the way your post is worded sounds like you think single parents *aren't* concerned about the education of their children, and that single mothers are the cause of things like this... My daughter is in dance now, and I'm sure most of those girls were NOT coming from low income, single parent homes. Dance is expensive, and requires a time commitment that single, working parents often don't have. Did I mention its expensive?? I'm a single mother. I care very much about my daughter's education, in fact that is why I'm homeschooling her, and I've met plenty of married couples who don't care about their children's education and who aren't teaching their children modesty or respect for themselves. For what it's worth, no way would my daughter participate in this. Her recital costume this year is a leotard and grass skirt, and that was pushing it a little for me. She really *really* wants to do cheerleading, and there is a competitive squad in the area she would probably make if I let her try-out, but I'm hesitant to do so because I know chances are we'll face skimpy costumes and ridiculous dance "routines".

We are actually taking a break now and will start our "new year" June 1st. I'm a college student, so we take our breaks during my busy times (midterms and final exams). We'll do school all summer, take a 1-2 week break the last week of August/first week of September while I get settled in to school.

LOL, I guess I wouldn't call what we do "playing" either! But I was another one who didn't even really play as a child, and much preferred to be inside reading a book. I don't think its crucial to play with your children, because as someone else mentioned, families interact with each other in vastly different ways. With my DD, I can read to her and sing songs... but if she suckers me into playing with her dollhouse I'm looking for my first chance to get away! I think it's important that children learn to occupy themselves. Nothing drives me crazy more than "I'm bored"! Plus, she gets my attention during schooltime, mealtimes, when were bathing and getting ready for the day, at nighttime when we sing and talk and read, other times when she just randomly picks up a book and wants to read it..... Mommy needs time too!

Hi! I'm Kymmie, mostly a lurker but here I am posting... I'm 24, single mommy and full time college student. I'm majoring in history, finishing up my 2nd year now (finals this week and next!! :willy_nilly:) planning on going on for my PhD and hoping to be a college professor. I am on Dean's list every semester, on track to be invited to 1 honor society next year and another the year after, will *most likely* graduate at least Magna Cum Laude, if not Summa Cum Laude, and have just applied to my school's honors program. In addition to all this... I homeschool my daughter, who is 4.5. She is my miracle baby. I have severe endometriosis and wasn't supposed to be able to have children. (I was also on birth control pills at the time and was using protection the one and only time I was with her father!). She plays soccer, does dance, and loves to do school. We are Catholic, she was baptised in 2006 when she was a couple months old and I completed RCIA and was baptised at Easter 2008. We both love to read, and probably spend more time reading than doing anything else. I guess that's enough for now!

My vote is with trying to foster a dog first, and try to see how the allergies work out then. I've rescued too many dogs who have been placed in shelters by families, and I've heard more than once that someone "developed allergies" or that their "allergies flared up". Of course now the dog is attached to the family, the kids are attached to the dog, all around a bad situation. :thumbdown: There are actually cases of dogs starving themselves out of depression from being separated from their families. Very extreme of course. My dogs have separation anxiety. Once I went on vacation for a week and neither dog ate for the whole week! Silly dogs. Anyways. I understand wanting a dog, goodness knows my dogs are as much a part of my family as the people are, I'd just hate to see your kids get attached and it not work out with the allergies. :crying:

I have no suggestions. I couldn't even begin to start a list of only 3-5. lol. We literally have hundreds and hundreds of books. So many that I have had to store them at my parents house until we have more space :tongue_smilie:. But I DID have to scale back and donate SOME. (It was TORTURE, let me tell you!) Good luck!

I think it would depend more on the babysitter's maturity more than the age. I was babysitting at 11. Of course, I grew up in a home where my mom ran a home daycare, so even though I didn't have any siblings, I was surrounded by other children, and most of the children I was babysitting at that point were children I had known forever. Of course... this is coming from someone who has only left my daughter with my parents, her aunt and uncle, my best friend, and one college-age babysitter who was in nursing school. Lol. In THEORY I'm okay with a teenage babysitter if they are mature and responsible.... but in actual practice I have a hard time leaving my daughter with anyone other than close family. :D

Going to a race at the track is a completely separate experience than watching it on TV!! I'll be taking my 4 year old to her first race this season. I was going to put it off a few years, but she has been sitting and watching full races on TV since she was a year old and absolutely adores "race cars". (I'm also taking her to a football game for the first time this year. We're flying out to see the Colts play at home!!) If you're just going for one race, you want the Sprint Cup series. That's the big name race. The Camping World is the trucks, and Nationwide is the "minor leagues". I'd go with reserved seats, and actually you don't want to be right on the track, it's better to be a little higher up so you can see more of the track. My favorite tickets to get are at the exits of turns, because thats when I've seen the biggest wrecks. It's crazy to see a huge wreck happening right in front of your face! Definitely bring earplugs. The race is LOUD. The cars are loud, the yelling fans are loud, it's just loud. At the track there is a place where you can rent the reciever and headphones where you can hear the announcers, those are a nice luxury if you can afford them. We actuallyown a couple sets and it's one of the first things we pack up. Check the track site. Most tracks now will let you bring a soft sided cooler under a certain size, which is nice, because as with most events, drinks are expensive!! Hats and sunglasses are a must, especially for children. I'd say bring some sunscreen also just in case, I've gotten burnt at quite a few races. Binoculars are also helpful. Arrive in plenty of time to walk up to the track early and visit the trailers. All the racers will have trailers set up near the track where you can buy merchandise, and its exciting to walk through. When I was younger, my dad always told me before we even walked up that I had this amount to spend, so I knew ahead of time what to expect and not to ask for more. Oh yeah. Also maybe bring a seat cushion. I've never been to that track, but most of the tracks I have been too are just metal bleachers for seats, not very comfortable for hours. A padded cushion can make a huge difference! NASCAR events are fun, and always have lots of children. Fans are very friendly. The one thing I love about going to a race is the heckling, but it's friendly. Standing in line to get a snack, everyone around you will be talking to you. If someone in line has a reciever, they will share how the race is going. (Ok granted, most of the time it's because everyone has been drinking most of the day, but hey, they are having fun with it. lol) :auto::auto::auto::auto: Have fun!!

I used to be HORRENDOUS about the snooze. I would hit it over, and over, and over, and over again for up to an hour! I am not a morning person. I hate mornings with a passion. And no matter how early I get up in the morning, I am wide awake at night and have a really hard time falling asleep. But anyways. Somehow over the past couple months my body has turned into a human alarm clock, and although I still set the alarm clock (and all three alarms on my phone, because I'm paranoid about not getting up in time for class! lol), I'm usually awake 3-5 minutes before the alarm goes off. Which is weird, because I don't wake up at the same time everyday.

My daughter was on before she was one. There are some games that are basically just hitting a button, any button, and the screen responds with a noise or new picture. I haven't really limited her screen time in the sense that I say 30 minutes a day, or anything like that, but since we have been sharing a computer and I need my laptop to do homework, she's only been able to get on so often. She got her own laptop for her 4th birthday. I still don't plan on setting strict limits on her screen time. We are pretty active people. We go to the library at least once a week, she plays soccer and is in dance, plus goes to my best friends house while I'm in school, so she really doesn't have much of a chance to get on anyways.

I'm in school pursuing a PhD. In a long, long time (8 years or so!) I'll be a history professor. Right now, I schedule my classes either all in the mornings/evenings or all on 2-3 days a week. For example last semester, all of my classes were on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we still had the rest of the week to do schoolwork. This semester I have classes MWF mornings and W night, so we still have quite a bit of time free. By the time I get my PhD and start teaching, she'll be 12. By then I'll be able to reasonably expect her to do some of her school work on her own, and we'll do the rest when I get home. At least... that's my plan. :tongue_smilie:

My 4 year old, 45 lb DD is harnessed in a Britax Frontier. It harnesses until 80 pounds, and she'll stay harnessed until she's outgrows the seat. 5 point harnesses are much safer than regular seat belts, which is why race car drivers wear them. The force of an accident is distributed more evenly than if there is only three points of a seat belt holding a child in, not to even mention the possibility of internal injuries or ejection. Call me crazy. I'm far from a helicopter parent, but this is one thing I do get crazy about.

I've been looking recently at what we've been doing and what we're doing for the rest of the year, with an eye on where we need to be for next year. I know we'll be using OPGTR (and in fact will be starting this week), BOB Books, Singapore 1A, Zaner Bloser handwriting, and I'll be putting together most of our other subjects. I'm at a loss for science. I'm NOT scientifically inclined AT ALL. I do fine with it when given work to do (manage A's in college science courses), but I just don't know enough to figure it out for myself. I'd LIKE to find a boxed curriculum, since I'll be putting together many of our other subjects on my own, but I'm doubtful I'll find one that's what I want. I believe in a mixture of creation and evolution. Is there anything out there even close to this? If you teach both creation and evolution, how do you teach them? Thank you for any suggestions.

I don't think there is a set number of activities that is "right" for an age, rather it depends on each family situation and especially on the child. My 4 year old has dance class and soccer once a week. If I can find the money for it she'll be taking violin lessons once a week soon. This summer she'll have soccer once a week, (hopefully) violin lessons once a week, a week of 1/2 day nature camp, a week of 1/2 day soccer camp, and a week of full day camp. Next fall she'll have soccer twice a week (indoor and outdoor), violin, and dance class. Plus the library at least once a week. We like to be on the go! Of course, since it's just her and I it's alot easier to go than it is for a mother with more children.

While we were watching the Moguls, my DD told me that when she grew up she was going to do that at the Olympics and I could record it and watch her on TV all the time. I asked if I could come and watch her in person and she sighed deeply and said "I guess". :lol: We live on the Eastern Shore of MD, I've never even been skiing in my life!! I sure hope this isn't her real life goal. lol.

College expenses aren't something to laugh at. I'll get my PhD when my daughter is approximately 12. I'll still be paying my own student loans when she goes to college! It's definitely a good idea to start planning early though. This year has put me in significant debt because I made a last minute transfer and missed all the deadlines for scholarships. Don't forget to keep your eyes open now for scholarship opportunities, there are so many different ones out there that she can even start applying for now. Some of them only take an essay and short application to apply for, definitely worth the shot.

I'd say your daughter should talk to the admissions counselor at the university/ies she's interested in transferring to after community college. I started out in community college (1 year), am now in a state university, and should have no problem getting into a fairly prestigious graduate school program (PhD in history though. Before I had my daughter I was planning for medical school, but now it's just too much of a time commitment as a single parent!). Some 4-year universities are tough to get into as transfers, and a select few don't accept transfers. Others won't accept spring transfers or transfer students before they get a 2 year degree. Still others have very specific requirements as far as courses. When I transferred I had gotten 38 credits in a year, but only half of the credits ended up transferring. If I could go back I would contact my university sooner for help in planning my community college courses. If she has an idea of what medical school she'd like to go to, she could even contact an admissions counselor there and put the question by them. She could even contact a couple schools. Usually the admissions counselors can easily be contacted by email. But her *degree* will still come from the 4 year university, so if she goes to community college for 2 years and then transfers to a good 4 year school she shouldn't have a problem.

I agree that the summer Olympic sports seem to offer more opportunity for those who aren't quite as well off. Not all of them of course, but things like swimming, track and field, football(soccer!)... don't involve quite as much in the way of expensive equipment and access to venues which may cost money to get practice, such as a ski run or ice rink. It's amazing the sacrifices the Olympians and their families have made. In some of these sports they begin training at 4 and 5 years old and stay dedicated to their sport.

Rehabilitating a biter is TOUGH. I have a 120 pound lab who has bitten. She bit a little girl riding a scooter down the street (a visitor to my house accidently let her out the front door), my uncle twice, and my adult cousin (Although, she had never shown aggression towards my cousin until he kicked her, and she bit him a few days later.) None serious enough for stitches, and barely even stratched the skin. She has also shown aggression towards children and men. We LOVE our dog. The thought of putting her down devestated us. So we just stopped having visitors, and when we absolutely HAD to have people over she was locked up, and we took very special care to MAKE SURE she couldn't get out. This worked for awhile. Then I found out I was pregnant. Obviously with a child around the house we needed something else. So I basically had to retrain her. I needed to make sure she knew that I was the pack leader, not her. Not easy to stare down 120 lbs of big brown dog! :tongue_smilie:I would take away her food, toys, stare her down, taught her some new tricks, made her walk right by my side at all times... basically doggie lockdown. Obviously this would only work if the owner was absolutely *sure* the dog in question wouldn't bite them. I also started to resocialize her with people, but always when I was in control of the situation. After my daughter was born, her and I spent a lot of time on the floor with the dog. I have so many pictures of the two of them together. When Jenna started getting older, I pet the dogs head while Jenna pet her body and used her as a balance to learn to walk. Now, I'd consider the dog rehabilitated. We still lock her up when strangers come in the house, but more just to be safe. She has NEVER shown aggression towards my daughter. My DD can take steak right out of her mouth and the dog will walk away. They sleep together every night. We can have friends over again without locking her up. Well, that was a long story to say.... Yes, a dog that bites CAN be rehabilitated, but it is a LONG process and very tough.

Important to note::: Being that my daughter IS only 4, all this is subject to change! :D While my daughter is younger, under 14 or so, I'll allow group dating. I believe that completely forbidding something only creates problems later, much the same as completely denying a child sweets leads to overindulging later in life. As she grows up and begins to prove her maturity and responsibility, I'll allow her solo dates. As for her choice of mates.... well, that is her decision. Obviously anyone who is downright bad, drugs, alcohol, arrest record, will not be allowed around my daughter, but I can't pick who my daughter spends her life with. I'd rather develop a relationship with her so that she feels she can trust me and talk to me and come to me for advice. I *hope* that she chooses a man who is of the same faith and race as we are... but only because it will make her life easier. Society doesn't like people who go against the grain. As long as she is happy, loved, respected, and taken care of, Mommy is happy, even if that is with someone of a different faith, race, or even another female. I guess I feel like, at 18 I lose all power over the situation anyways. I'd rather spend her teenage years building a strong relationship with my daughter than fighting a power struggle over dating.

Although... I'd move practically anywhere in a heartbeat. I have a bit of wonderlust.... a strong desire to travel, but it's an itch I've yet to scratch. Growing up my parents idea of vacation was going to the beach for the week, meanwhile I was buried in books about far off places the entire time! Then I got pregnant at 19, before I had time to go off on my own. Now I'm just waiting for my daughter to grow up enough to make travel together possible!! :D Actually just the other day started to consider planning a trip to Europe for the summer of 2011.... renting a flat, getting rail passes and just travelling whereever we think to go... sounds amazing! Oh right, but New Zealand. I would in a heartbeat. It doesn't have to be permanant, but if you pass on it now you may never get the chance again!

My vote would be for a lab mix. :001_smile: They are awesome dogs. We have a purebred Chocolate lab and a chocolate lab mix, both of which are wonderful with my daughter. They have enough energy to play with her, and are very strong "pack" dogs. They aren't happy unless they are with us. Right now I have one dog under my elbow and one under my feet. :tongue_smilie: I only say lab mix because mixed breeds are generally speaking healthier than purebred dogs, and also tend to have less incidences of behavior problems. I can't imagine not having my dogs. We will always have labs.