Some major regrets make me wish I could rewind my life. Since that's not possible, I've found counseling and the passage of time to be helpful. I still think about my regrets fairly often, but keeping active through exercise, having a hobby, and trying to bring good into the lives of others helps. Meditation and living with mindfulness is helpful too. I love this teaching of Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh about washing dishes and mindfulness: Anyone can wash the dishes in a hurry, try this for a change: While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance this might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I'm being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves. (pp.3-4, 1976) There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first way is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second way is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes.(p.4) If while we are washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as they were a nuisance, then we are not 'washing the dishes to wash to wash the dishes.' What's more we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes....If we can't washes the dishes, chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. (pp.4-5) Just let your worries go and be in this moment. Wash your dishes to wash the dishes and don't think about anything else. You can't go back, but you can be the person you want to be in this moment and all your future moments. :grouphug:

You are awesome! I had a streak of bright blue in my hair my senior year of college and my parents freaked out because it was job interview time. They calmed down a bit when I showed them it could be concealed if I pulled my hair up. One of my girlfriends recently got peekaboo purple streaks in her hair all over which a few months later she had redone blonde (her hair is black) and it looked pretty rockin'. She just went back to all black. You inspire me. Maybe I'll go break out some polish too :001_smile:

I've never read the book The Trouble with Angels, but the Hayley Mills movie is so hilarious. I just love that movie! :001_smile: This week I finished Eating Animals. My review is here. This book really had a profound effect on me---so much so that we're going to try as a family to convert to veganism. I'm still reading Jane Eyre (will I ever get through this book!??!?) and I started The Tale of Two Cities and Speaking of Faith.

I'm a fan of my Pampered Chef one so I'd probably replace it with that because there are so many other applications for it. I've baked cookies and bread on it too. I am intrigued by the cast iron idea though --- anybody out there who owns one care to comment?

I thought the same thing--- Elle Woods and Edward from Twilight?!?! The trailer gives me hope though...I really enjoyed the book. :001_smile:

One of my girlfriends with 7 children who has homeschooled from the beginning just did this. Her husband is unemployed, but unfortunately not helpful around the house or with the schooling. Her oldest who is 10 has dyslexia and ADHD. She had been considering PS for him only for a while so he could get extra services for his LD. She enrolled him in mid-January. She then also enrolled her next two oldest in PS. She kept the one who is K age at home along with the 4 year old and her 2 year old twins. She's hoping that the break for her from schooling will be helpful to her emotional state and her marriage. She's planning on reevaluating their situation in the fall. You never know what life will throw at you. You have to do what's best for you (and your mental state) and your family at the time, and not worry about what others outside your immediate family think.

We used to have Mr. Lincolns encircling our patio at our last house. The smelled amazing for a hybrid tea! Another favorite of mine is Climbing Dawn. We have two that go over an arbor in our backyard. Absolutely breathtaking in June!

My husband loves working on his car. If I take the kids out for the day so he can work as much as he wants by himself, he is so happy. Now---if I had all the money in the world at my disposal, I'd say say a red brass Ford Model T. I think he would fall over dead.:svengo:

Why not skip the parts you know he knows (I'm sure he already knows at least the first 25 lessons...probably a lot more), start where you think he might have problems, breeze through it fast until you hit something he struggles with, and then go at normal pace? When I started OPGTR with my daughter at age 4, she already knew quite a bit of it so we had to take that approach. Now that we're up to around lesson 190, she's doing about 5 lessons in a sitting because her reading ability has even surpassed where we're at in the book.

I'm working on two quilts at the same time. The top of the airplane one for my son is done. Now I just have to finish up the back (I'm piecing that too) and quilt it. I just started my daughter's fairy tale quilt. It's going to be more free form though. Here's a link to my latest blog entry about it.

:iagree:I do the same with pretty much anything that requires a tip. 20% in general and more if I'm in love. However, if someone does a really substandard job, I may leave more like 15%.

:iagree: Your credit is fantastic and you have a ton of it. Close them if you feel like it.

I don't know how you feel about Waldorf education, but they have a lot to say about "the 9 year change". Here's a link to an article about it that may be helpful.

:grouphug: I'm sorry that things have been so difficult.

When does he turn 5? I seriously wouldn't fret about it too much. I tried pushing doing reading, writing, and math when my daughter was 4 and she pushed back HARD. She just wasn't ready to focus like that. Once she turned 5, we started doing The Ordinary Parent's Guide to teaching reading a couple of times a week and played some Rightstart card games. All told we probably spent 30 minutes a week. I am glad that I backed off. She's much more willing to cooperate now at nearly age 6. Her school does not have much homework for K. There's an occasional writing practice worksheet that comes home, but that's it. I'm expecting a little more in 1st, but still under 30 minutes. If he's enjoying the reading instruction, keep at it. If he's agreeable to doing 10-15 minutes of math a few days a week, do it. But if at any time he doesn't want to do it, I advise just waiting a few weeks (or even months) before trying again. The last thing you want to do is make it a chore at such a young age. Be sure to play and have fun a lot too! These years are so short...

I don't know how much it would "ding" you score wise, but there is a good reason to keep them open. Even if you don't use them, having them open boosts the amount of credit you have available in proportion to the credit you have used. This is one of the factors they use when calculating your score. For example, let's say you have $15K of available credit (including your limits on the cards you want to close). You have used $5 K of it. Let's say the limits on the cards you want to close equal $3K. If you close those cards, your available credit just went from $15K to $12K, thus your proportion of credit card debt to available credit goes from 30% to 41%. This makes you look like more of a credit risk. None of this really matters though unless you're planning on trying to get a loan or a mortgage in the next year.

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone has a lot of great vegan recipes in it (including some yummy desserts). Also do some reading about macrobiotics. Eating macrobiotically isn't completely vegan, but reading about it will help you figure out how to balance things so you're really eating nutritiously and not just pasta and soy hot dogs. ;) In the Kind Diet, there's a section about eating like a "superhero". She references eating using macrobiotics extensively in that section.

Thanks for the insight, Bill. How much time per day do you spend afterschooling math (not including school homework)?

Welcome to the dark side. ;)

I'm loving this thread because we're planning a WDW vacation for October 2012. Thanks for the confirmation that it's a good month to go! So far I'm hearing that Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Port Orleans Riverside are the #1 on park choices? Any other on park hotel suggestions? Also, has anyone ever gone for the Halloween trick or treating in the park? I was thinking that might be a fun thing to do.

What a great idea! I'm filing that away for the fall! :001_smile:

Not to beat it to death (because I think everyone on the boards know how much I love it) --- but I adore The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading for phonics. It's can be done quickly (10-15 minutes tops for each lesson), it's scripted so there's no prep for you, and it's inexpensive. My daughter is 5 and reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level (she's on lesson 182 out of 231). She is breezing through Magic Treehouse books! I couldn't be happier with the outcome and the book. We have also really liked the Rightstart card games a lot. Not to hijack the thread here, but I have an afterschooling Singapore vs. Rightstart question to direct at Bill since I know he's the man in the know. I have RS A & B with all the manipulatives and games. We do some of the card games, but haven't really been doing the lessons. I'm going to need something time efficient here because my daughter is going to full day 1st grade in the fall too. Because of time constraints, would I be better off ditching the RS in favor of Singapore? Or since I already have it, should I stick with the RS and just break it up into shorter lessons? What do you think would be more effective in the long run? Please PM me if it's easier. Thanks...

Is there time to do it quickly before school in the morning? How about some Rightstart card games to make it fun?

I voted other. If there was a way to fit in a slightly larger than standard size tub with the jets, I would pick that. I'm tall and love baths, but a bath in a standard size tub just isn't comfortable for me. We had a clawfoot tub (no jets) at our last house and I still miss it. Only a standard size tub here...and it's in the kids' bathroom. :(

We had my son's iron monitored FOREVER because it was low. His was in the upper 9s or low 10s consistently for about a year. Our pediatrician was convinced that he was a carrier of thalassemia trait. He ended up testing negative for the one type (there's alpha and beta) and the hematologist ultimately decided not to test for the other type (I think the test was really expensive). He was on liquid iron supplements for a year before we were advised to let him take a break and see what happened. His levels came up on their own. They now think it may have been a growth spurt that caused the low iron. We eat very little processed food and a lot of the iron kids get these days are from foods that are fortified. My son doesn't drink much milk either. FYI --- sometimes if kids are fighting an illness that can cause low iron too. Our doc didn't get worried until it was a trend --- i.e. low levels at 3 visits (not iron related) over a six month period. At this point, I wouldn't worry. Just keep doing what you're doing. If it comes up low again at a later visit, then start doing more investigation with your doctor.