I would be thrilled if my kids did something like this, even if I didn't like the colors or they did a messy job. I would feel good about their hearts and that would matter more than material things. My parents wore some ugly clothes, used chenille-wrapped hangers, put ugly decorative items on display, ate some terrible meals, and had a ridiculous looking garden for years because they accepted with love the offerings my brother and I had to give. And when our friends helped us in these endeavors they were happy for them too.

Mystic River. Very sad and haunting, for me at least.

We're TV free here. The kids also don't get any computer screen time at home. When we visit my parents they watch some TV and play some games on the computer, but that's an annual thing. They do get sucked in then, and I think it's a combination of novelty and boredom. I noticed DH got a programming book for kids from the library so I think we're going to have a discussion soon though. :001_huh: ETA: I wonder how much has to do with the ages of the kids. Our kids are only 6 and 2 so no screen time feels more reasonable to me than it would at 10 or 12. I'm sure at certain ages they would be emailing/texting/watching documentaries/writing papers etc. Right now they would just play games. Wondering about the ages of the kids of the other "no screen time" folks...

Yeah, I guess that's the plan. Everyone was complaining about the scanners so much they found something even more egregious and suddenly the scanners are preferable. Ugh.

As a Muslim who is used to seeing many media distortions of my faith, the Catholics certainly have my sympathy. Reading the Pope's comments in context vs. how they are portrayed by the media is eye opening for sure. :grouphug:

I already responded, but now that I've read more responses I'll add a bit more: Why would I give up my time with my male friend any more than with female friends just because I got married? My best friend (other than DH!) and I are very close and have been through a lot together over 17 years, including the sudden death of his mother and the terrible end of an important relationship for me. His wife is always invited to whatever we're doing, but she declines because she doesn't like our 2 big mutual interests (computers and the outdoors). He's an Aspie who suffered child abuse so I think she likes our social connection (he doesn't have other close friends) and also it's a relief for her to have him out of the house as they both work at home, don't drive, and have no kids. So they spend a lot of time together. I have no attraction for him at all. Even if I was tempted to cheat on my DH (which I never have been) it wouldn't be with this friend. It would be like cheating with my brother. My dad calls his his "other son". He's unattractive to me and I know way too much about his foibles to even think about getting entangled into that mess. :D

Sent you a PM with an unconventional suggestion...

I'm not Christian so I can't comment on that part... I do have very good male friends. In fact my best friend (other than DH!) is a married man. I'm also good friends with his wife, but she's more of a homebody and likes to be alone and he likes to go and spend more time with others. We hang out, eat at restaurants, see movies, and talk a lot of technical talk. He's also a photographer so we look at his work. He doesn't drive and so I take him on errands which involve long distances and/or moving heavy stuff. DH has no problem with this. Sometimes the two of them go off and do things together if I'm not interested. I do think it makes a difference (in our marriage) that all of our friends of the opposite gender were made before we met, like 10 years before. I hadn't thought about it before, but I'm now realizing all the friends I've made since we were married were women. Then again I had DS less than 18 months after we were married so I just ended up in mama-land pretty fast. I don't know what it would be like to meet a new male friend now. I think DH would probably be fine with it. It wouldn't bother me if he made new female friends.

Thanks so much! I wish I'd seen this before I ordered on the 6th. I'll get some next time.

My first grader does about 3.5 hours/day between 10:30 and 3:30. The extra 2 hours are spent playing, outside break, lunch, and quiet time while I put the toddler down. We don't do school on Fridays except maybe an hour of extra reading for history topics. ETA: Sorry, somehow I missed this was for a 10th grader!

[=tigersgrowl1093;2196506]Some other homeschooling forums I went on (I won't name names) they told me I shouldn't be on there because I wasn't a homeschooling parent. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still homeschooling, it's just that I'm homeschooling myself and not a child. Wow, that's crazy. :confused:

At one time I would have simply answered that I appreciated the amount of information regarding different programs the most. Now, what I've come to like the most is the exposure to a more conservative way of thinking. Not that I've become more conservative, but I am quite liberal and am surrounded by people who are as well, plus I live in the most liberal area of the country. When I have attempted to educate myself about more conservative views in the past on other message boards it has always been a negative experience. Here, maybe because it's gently woven into homeschool-ish topics we have in common, or because people are just more reasonable and logical, I've really come to see where more conservative folks are coming from. And I appreciate that a lot. But I'm not changing my mind! :tongue_smilie: (just kidding)

I can't seem to find these on the site. Can you point me to them? For some reason the RFWP site and I don't have a meeting of the minds. I can never find anything on there. TIA...

Yes, Islamic school on Sundays is DS's main exposure to non-HS kids. And he doesn't like to go because of the way they behave. It's sad because he likes the content (which is the point, right?) but then to have him turned off...

Ex-web developer here... Whether this is too much money really depends on the functionality you're getting. Web sites are more work than people think. They see the front-end but not the code behind it. I would not be surprised if a large portion of the $ is for adding the ability to purchase membership. Not that the functionality has to be expensive (there are plenty of good free ways to take money over the web) but because they take time to implement and you're paying by the hour. I think you could save money by having a web site that doesn't have payment ability but linking to a Paypal account for payments. Or if you want to have payments on the site you should look into Google checkout and the ability to create web forms that update a spreadsheet in Google docs. Those are more turnkey solutions which should take somewhat less time to implement.

I'm not using MCT LA (kids are too young) but I just ordered other items from RFWP on Nov 6 and they arrived Nov 16. I'm on the West coast and it shipped from Unionville, NY. HTH. I lurk on all the MCT threads and think of life 2-3 years from now. :tongue_smilie:

Maybe you should charge a small fee for the list and give a jump start to newer members like myself. :tongue_smilie:

:lol: Googling "denim hijab" now....

Wait for me, we can go shopping together. I need to find some "non-Muslim" clothes and turn in my Quran for a Bible. Changing my leftist ways will be harder, I suppose, but I'll do what I have to so I can stay in the hive mind. :tongue_smilie:

Here we are!

I can see both sides so I'm not sure where I stand on this. But... Now that we've talked about --the rights of corporations to market their products --the responsibility of the parents to raise their kids to follow family values and to teach them awareness about consumerism --that marketing to children has been happening for several generations (not sure how that relates to this discussion) I have an honest question. Do children have the right to not be marketed to?

A traditional remedy for this situation is to give the baby raw eggs yolks. You can give them slowly from a small spoon or try some cup feeding. Obviously you want to get eggs from a source you trust. Some of this info may help as well: http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health.html These articles and our local chapter helped me move my son from failure to thrive to a toddler in the 40th percentile in a few months.

Not about funeral protests, but SF's answer to Westboro: http://laughingsquid.com/san-franciscos-answer-to-westboro-baptist-church/ My fave is the unicorn with the sign that says, "God hates ponies".

You take a skin brush like the ones you can find with long wooden handles and natural bristles. You brush your skin while it's dry. You always brush in the direction of the heart and brush lightly. After skin brushing you can just rinse off if you have time. It helps move lymph and keeps the skin nice and clear. Since I've done it I have much smoother skin with a glow, and I no longer get the ingrown hairs I would sometimes get, nor the dry skin. Basically the skin is an organ of elimination and keeping the pores clear makes it more efficient. You can google "dry skin brushing" for more info and typical patterns of brushing on the body. It feels really good too, if you don't rub too hard. :)

Yes, when I'm doing it. I usually check my email and surf the web while I do it. My dad (who's saved his loose tooth with oil pulling) likes to walk around and get some exercise. My mom sits on the couch and reads. I tend to fall away from it for a couple of months and then get back on it. I do that with a couple of others things as well, like exercise and dry skin brushing as well. :)