Personally, I wish more people thought like this! I can't tell you how many well-meaning relatives come up with the "great idea" that I could be a teacher and thus put the kids in school. When I gently say that I don't think managing a classroom and teaching my own children are remotely the same, they don't "get" it. I have zero, ZERO desire to ever teach a traditional school. Gives me hives just thinking about it! But I know that in many states, just a BA/BS, in anything, will allow you to sub and even get hired on full time with the requirement to complete so many hours of ed classes in a specific time period. So, keep looking. Teachers are desperately needed!

I hope they truly are all girls!! ;) Ask me how I know...yep, 2 "female" mice had a whole mess o babies. We had an issue with gerbils and this, too. Moved on to rats, which are much larger and easier to really "check out" in the gender department,so no more surprise babies. Seriously though, they are so cute! Rodents make great pets. Except for hamsters, which are the devil.

'Tis the season, eh? I'm having my own bean-dip week here at the inlaws. I swear, people truly do *not* listen to what comes out of their own mouths sometimes. Its like it is so ingrained to do things a certain way, on a certain schedule, that any deviance is totally unthinkable, no matter what. Crazy. Middle school is universally loathed by pretty much everyone. My experience was pretty good, but only because *I* was a not-so-nice girl. A mean girl, to be honest. I don't see us ever putting the girls in a middle school, barring some major catastrophe. I find talking about my hs'ing decisions, etc to be a dangerous thing to do. On the one hand, I thought involving them (we have educators in the family) was smart, a way to smooth things over. But, it always backfires. I now keep all problems, decisions, etc completely to myself.

:glare: Funny how no one got into any comparisons with my oldest, very bright DD. That would have been bragging. I know, I know, bean dip, bean dip, bean dip. But for the love of Pete, it irks me. I would dearly love to tell a certain person to shut the %^$# up. Dearly. Bean dip, bean dip, bean dip.

I'll differ from the above poster in that I *do* allow hormones as an excuse for melt-downs and outbursts. I mean, to be 100% honest, I am thankful as heck every time I get my period, because for the 3 days leading up to it, I am sure I am going crazy and need to be committed. And at least for my DD, this has been a tough time, hormone-wise (she is 10).

Hey! I'm in Northern Virginia! But we're...you guessed it...getting ready to move! Vent away- military life is tough. Moving in the winter stinks- been there, done that. Ditto movers who lose your stuff. :grouphug:

My oldest is so super confident- I wish I could be that way! She is very outgoing and fearless, it is wonderful to watch. She will bungee jump, put on plays for strangers, and stand up to bullies. My youngest is so athletic, DH is sort of athletic, me not at all. She is graceful and coordinated, flexible and strong. She's a rhythmic gymnast, but so far she's excelled at every sport she ever tried.

For my dysgraphic, cursive was better than print. She couldn't reverse letters using cursive, also it seemed to "trick" her brain. Its still atrocious, but OT helped some. We type, type, type here. Slowly but surely, she is making progress with spelling (she leaves letter out or reverses their order) using Sequential Spelling. We haven't had much experience with outside classes. She did take a spanish class last year, but the writing was minimal, and we typed her flash cards, so no problems there. I am just praying that the SATs will be typed by the time she takes them (she's 10) as she is a phenomenal writer...if you could just read her handwriting!!

We're excited to see this here. My oldest DD has read the book, but none of the rest of us have. We *LOVE* dogs!

Yeah! Congrats to them!!

None for me. I plan to try them all (well, minus the scary ones like heroin or crack) when I turn 70. I don't see me turning into a total druggie then, but feel like I would like to know "why" people do them. You only live once! :blush: I can't believe I'm admitting that! The plan is to go somewhere they are legal, eg Amsterdam or whatever. Not lurk around and buy it in an alley! I don't want to be a 70 year old grandma in jail.

I'm the lone "smoker and proud of it" choice. I am *not* proud of it, at all, but am not making it my New Years resolution, so it was the closest fit. I don't smoke indoors, around the kids, or in the car. It was easy-peasy to quit when pregnant with my oldest, she was surprise (although in retrospect we ought not have been *too* surprised!) but with my youngest I quit well before getting pregnant. And wanted to smoke literally as soon as she came out. It is so,so,so,so hard to quit. I have quit, but always restarted, DH is military and his deployments are my prime stressor. I do my best to negate my other health risks: I am not the least bit overweight, in great shape, eat healthy non processed foods for the msot part. Oddly enough, I am almost never sick. Not since I was in middle school, except for a few stomach upsets. No coughing or bronchitis, which makes me wonder if the crud is just building up, not getting coughed out. (I don't wonder too much, as I try nto think about it of course!) Despite my nasty habit, I am a nice person, kind to animals, and a good mother. Well, the nice person may be an exaggeration. :tongue_smilie:But I am not a monster. None of my mommy-friends (gymnastics, hs'ers, etc) know I smoke. The only ones who do are my long-time, trusted friends, and I value their non-judgemental friendship so, so highly. They will help and support when I *do* quit, and don't look down on me for smoking. I tell my kids that if I can't be a good example, I'll have to be a horrible warning. DON'T EVER START! Its almost impossible to quit, at least for me. Thank goodness I discovered cigarettes and not, say, crack- I have never been tempted to try any drugs due to my addiction to cigarettes. I'd be a crack ho' fo' sho'.

I guess it might also depend on the girl. My DD is into Harry Potter, so all our legos are HP sets, or just regular blocks to build. We have some dragons, too, and a star wars set. My DDs do build houses and stables and "girly" things with them, but they just use the regular blocks.

I have discoloration from my braces, waaayyy back when. I have whitened my teeth, but if anything, it makes it more noticeable. Mine is on my back teeth the worst- where the bands were. And on the front canines, those had bands, too. The only sure-fire way to get rid of it was drilling it out like a cavity and filling it with white fillings. I had that done on the canines, but I am a heavy tea and coffee drinker and within a year the fillings were yellow. I am certainly *not* shelling out for veneers or a cosmetic crown (need enough of them for non-cosmetic reasons already!), so stained teeth are staying forever, I guess! It totally stinks to have nice, straight teeth...with stains!

:confused: Since when is bullying "pop culture"?? It shouldn't happen at any age, and we all know it does. My elementary school days were horrid due to this stuff, it actually got much better in jr high. (For the wrong reasons, namely, I learned to be the Queen Bee.) I think it looks like a good movie, with a good message. No one here is the least bit into dolls though.

MY mom addresses things to me with the wrong last name. Every once in a while, I send stuff back marked "Return to Sender, addressee unknown" to be a smartarse. :D She knows my blankety-blank last name, its the same as hers for Pete's sake! She just thinks I should have DHs. Moms: can't live with 'em, and they aren't yet old enough to stick in a home. (Glad to hear you all have a good attitude about it!)

I don't blindly support *all* unions, across the board, and their leadership and political manuevering. But in general, to boil it down, yes, I support unions. I will drive far out of my way in order to not cross a picket line if there is a strike at a grocery store.

I have the cutest card tree, made from spray painted and glittered twigs in a pot, to hang the cards on. Only, the only cards we've got are from the financial guy and the vets office.:crying: SO my cute card tree is useless. Empty. Abandoned. Even my bestest childhood friend, who like me makes crafty homemade thought-out cards, is NOT sending them this year! I am just crushed. I want some cards, darnit!

I think you did the right thing, myself. Though I would not be letting either of my children (the girl or boy) spend a lot of time over there in the future- bring the girl to your house.

Oh, I don't know. I mean, she's really, really been through the wringer these past few years, so from that perspective, I find the song kind of funny. Not funny like "here, 7 year old DD, listen to this!" but funny in a I'll-turn-it-up-and-sing-along-when-alone-in-the-car type way. And if you take the meaning of the vulgarity to be more like "F---ed over" than the sexual meaning, well, she's got a point. Heck, her own mother has screwed her over and messed her up, to say nothing of her ex, Disney, the media...I mean, that poor girl never had a chance. I would like to think the song means she's got her head on straight now and is no longer vulnerable to those types of people. (Who knew I knew so much about Brittany Spears!? I think this is the first time I've admitted publically that I *like* her, and her music. So there!)

You, and the so many others going through tough times right now, are in my prayers! :grouphug:

My neighbor girl got her period at 8. She is not a year older than my youngest, and in the third grade. That is why they have the machines in elementary school bathrooms. Please talk to your DD sooner rather than later. Another neighbor has 3 DDs, 10, 8 and 7. They are my DDs best friends. But, their mother is extremely uncomfortable with any sort of bodily function. Like, extremely!!She wouldn't tell the kids where there cat went when he got nuetered, or what he had done. A CAT! Anyway, the misinformation coming from those girls is unbelievable. I was in the laundry room, and overheard the older girl say to my youngest "Zoey101 got pregnant because she kissed a boy for more than 30 seconds." Now, my girls both know that is not how you get pregnant, but also know that's a sensitive topic. My youngest told her she was pretty sure that wasn't true, and the girl got very snotty and told ElastiGirl she was too little to know. Well, that made ElastiGirl a little upset, and she piped up "That is NOT how a girl gets pregnant! What happens is..." and I literally broke the time-space barrier getting in there to stop that conversation!! My point is, a kid is going to think all sorts of crazy things, and believe everything another 10 year old tells them, unless YOU talk to YOUR child yourself. Whether they are around other children or not, they will think something crazy- heck I was sure reproduction took place through the belly button, what else would it be for?! Not talking about totally natural parts of life (reproduction, puberty, heck pee and poo!) only makes those subjects more uncomfortable. And those are the subjects that in later years, you will want your child to be open with you about. Build the groundwork for that now, at the early ages.

Am I the only one overwhelmed with curiosity as to what, exactly, they were doing??? Maybe its better we don't know! Middle school is rough these days.

Mmmmm...Utilikilt-clad men....:drool: I wish DH would wear one!! I miss the PNW.

The dining hall in Korea when I was in the army raised rabbits and would serve it once a week or so. Its not very good, IMO. I wouldn't want to eat a lot of it! But, I have had pet rabbits, and the wire floor cages are not so good for them. They need a place to get off the wire or their feet will get injured. They are also quite easy to box train to keep inside as house pets, though if you are going to be raising them for meat, that might not be a good idea!