Would you keep having children if your existing children really didn't want you to? My friend, who has a large family, is expecting another baby against the wishes of her kids, all of them but one in particular is quite angry. They are not happy about it and the parents knew that before conceiving again. Would you go ahead anyway based on your own reasons, or take the feelings your children into account?

The other thing is the pressure from being on television. A child who might rebel in a more private family could feel greater pressure to conform if their rebellion would be televised and/or jeopardize the family's income and future.

This reminds me of the Internet in general. One of the reasons DARPA invented it was to have redundancy so that if one network node failed or was attacked, another would be available. It's the idea of having multiple fallbacks and ways to route around failures. The idea of dropping the other nodes and making one strong "super node" is laughable and makes the system weaker and more prone to failure. Families need to be able to re-route around failed nodes, just as data packets need to find the most efficient and functional path to their destination. It's not even necessarily a judgment about the node or the child. It just is.

I don't know what I would do and I don't have advice. :grouphug: But I am questioning the idea that Veruca Salt the roommate just did this to get her own room, although I know that happens. I ask because if she was planning at the most one night in the shared room, would she have had your daughter get the fridge?

Thanks. I'm heading out but I'll read the sample later this afternoon.

Wow, thanks for all this. I had a very one-dimensional view of the situation. We Muslims, when criticized about hijabs, like to point to nuns' habits as examples of females how cover their heads and are respected for it rather than criticized. :D We should make the effort to delve deeper into their situations. I love the story of the Romanian princess. Fascinating.

I was ignorant of this. I thought nuns decided young to never marry men and/or have kids. I had no idea women with children could become nuns. Is it correct that fathers of children don't become priests? Or am I wrong here too? Sorry I didn't know.

This thread reminded me that we used to line up in alphabetical order but the teacher used to change the front to the next letter each week. So week 1 had "a" at the front, week 2 had "b" at the front, etc. Maybe this was to solve the "middle letters" problem.

Thanks. They do listen to audiobooks, mostly in the car and everyday during lunch. I just want to read with them too, and make memories of that as well. Part of the problem is that they're 4 years apart so they want different books --> more reading. I can sometimes find something they both want. Most recently this was The Hobbit, which was a blast. :)

That's abusive IMO.

Thanks, I'm listening now. Although I love reading, I don't really enjoy reading aloud but the benefits keep me slogging along. Listening to something like the podcast helps me keep going. ETA: I realized this sounds so negative. I enjoy the time with my kids, the stories, and the tea, it's just that my throat and vocal cords get tired. :)

Not 8 (I wish!) but she said this program covers skills she sees as necessary for grades 3-5.

Yet you've chosen a username beginning with a "z". Why don't you lie back and tell us about it? (tents fingers)

She can't have it both ways. If she wants the snowflake in 2nd grade, she has to deal with possible situations for which he's not emotionally prepared.

I agree with MCT Grammar. It's so simple and fun and the knowledge stuck with very little effort.

Yep, haters gonna hate. Are these commenters even aware of the amazing accomplishments and productivity of your children? If they are, then they should be doubly ashamed.

I'm sorry. Make sure they understand this and don't take any of their guff. Dole out consequences liberally. It's a lot to take on. Make sure they shoulder their part of the load. And make sure you let them, too. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

The Hive is single-handedly responsible for outing many celebrity aliens. They are among us, my friends. Peace Hill Press has set up online classes. Very cool. :)

Yeah.

I've never used IEW but I didn't want you to feel ignored. I hope you get an answer. :)

We live in the SF Bay area and while I only have two, if I go out with my friend who has a large family, people make comments all. the. time. And not nice ones, either.

We were going to do N1 and N2 this year before heading to WWS 1 next year. We're still doing both of those but adding in TC. We school in the summer too so I think we can get them done by next fall. Fingers crossed. If push comes to shove and we can't finish I'll make a decision about whether to finish them or not. I do want to use WTM Academy for WWS 1 so I feel like we will have a hard start date.

I would say anytime there's a relationship there's a potential for abuse. There can be arranged marriages which lead to an abuse of power. It's also true that people can get into abusive situations because they are blinded by emotions and can't see the other person clearly. This is where having the family involved helps as well. They are more objective and the elders often have more wisdom and insight about others in the family as well, such as the in-laws. So, either way has the potential for abuse.

Having trouble with quotes... It's not true that divorce is not an option in the situations I am talking about. Divorce is possible in my religion and community. Outside of that, my parents have lived in the U.S., without any family input, for the entirety of their marriage. My father was here for years before that. There are divorces in arranged marriages, just at a much lower rate. I'm not saying arranged marriages are perfect (I'm not in one myself) just that there are so many options for finding suitable marriage partners, from arranged marriages to lots of dating around. I was speaking more in response to the "how will anyone find what they really want without dating lots of people?" question. :)

I usually try and stay out of these discussions.... My parents have an arranged marriage. They met once at a dinner and my dad's sister went to school with my mom but my dad never met her before the dinner. Their marriage was arranged and has been a good one, as have most arranged marriages I know. My parents have been married 46 years. All 11 of their siblings have arranged marriages and they have worked out well. No divorces, good kids. There are many ways to find and love a spouse. The truth is if you marry a decent person from a good family and you have similar ideas about religion, children, and money, you can come to love them. Imagine being stuck on an island with a good and decent person. Would you seriously not come to care about them over the years? I know more arranged marriages than not. The seem to have the same number of highs and lows as any other marriage, but with much lower divorce rates. It's nice to marry for love too. But it's not the only way. :leaving: