I have a friend who taught at the American School Foundation in Mexico City. Her husband is now in charge of the LDS schools in the Polynesian islands and they live in New Zealand. She has five girls and they've moved a lot and gone to lots of international schools. I think two are in college now and I know at least one went to the Y. Let me know if it would helpful to email her. (They've never homeschooled.)

We did this two ears ago from Utah to VA and we are getting ready to do it again. Take a hard, plastic, thin case and pack all that apply: Birth certificates Health insurance information Car insurance information Extra prescriptions from your dr if needed House papers Homeschooling letter from district Pet records It took us a few days to get the pod delivered and unloaded and there were things like the above we wished we had access to sooner. For us it was our adoption decree and an extra prescription from our Utah doctor for dd. 4 days is not a lot of time and we found that we really didn't have a lot of time to swim by the time we got into hotels, but that is was so badly needed, we ended up letting the girls stay up. When you stop for lunch, stop near a playground and play. DVDs make our girls more restless. They played with wiki sticks and did Color Wonder while listening to audio books. I also made them coloring/worksheet/info packets for each state we drove through, but they like that kind of thing.

Yes, my girls had a play performance Friday night and another one this afternoon. Soccer game and potluck yesterday..l

Thank you, that's a great reminder. We are dealing with special needs, too, which adds an extra layer of guilt.

I think I'm being emotional about it because we are considering adopting one more. I'd do things differently this time. I'd be a better mom. Our lives are different now and some of the stressors are removed. I guess it makes me feel a little guilty that I'd somehow be better for a new child than I was for my girls. I don't know. Just reflecting...

Thanks to both of you! I guess I just needed a little reassurance this morning.

I've changed a lot, as a parent, over the last six years- mostly for the better, I hope. Sometimes I worry about all the mistakes I made. We had a less than perfect start. Our girls came to us at 4, so it's not like they were babies. They are going to have memories of the mistakes we made! ;) Sigh. I just worry that I've already screwed them up. (ETA: They are absolutely great kids. I worry more about our relationship as time goes on. What will they hate me for later?) Would any of you seasoned parents like to chime in? How did your parenting approaches change over time? Did your kids suffer terribly from your lack of know-how in the beginning? I guess I'm just looking for a little perspective.

Uh, considering that's what time I used to have to be at school when I taught, yes, I'm very confident we could do it. It would definitely need to be something very important though because now I'm totally spoiled.

I voted two days only because that's how many days a week we have speech. I don't make my kids go to church. If they didn't want to go, we wouldn't go. I don't sign them up for things they don't want to do (like activities). However, if they do commit to something, like soccer, I make them finish the season, unless there is a compelling reason to quit. But, with all the activities they choose to do, we are out of the house 3-4 days per week.

We are fizzling out here as we get ready for our big trip and move. We'll continue to a little here and there for the rest of the month, but then we are traveling until September!

No Kool Aid allowed here, EXCEPT.... if you stir it into a batch of homemade playdough, it smells heavenly! It also dyes the playdough.

I would definitely say something. It's a public space. They should know if certain patrons are unable to use it because of something they could presumably fix. Just be kind. :)

Well, I went to "jr high" and that was 7th and 8th but most middle schools are 6th, 7th, and 8th.

A 10 and 12 year old are old enough to hear, "When you are in our yard without permission, it is trespassing. Don't do it again."

Sometimes I wonder that, but then I remind myself of how much worse I was when we were all in school. :) I'd just trade problems for new problems- homework, friends, teachers, etc. But, I don't think homeschooling is for everyone and school works for a lot of families.

All of them. Really. If I ever go back to work, a maid is the first person I'm calling. I don't feel like I can justify it right now, plus I'm kind of weird about people in my business.

My husband travels too. Find a friend you can call in the middle of the night. That helped me tremendously even though I never had to use it. I sleep with the phone in the bed. ;)

Yes, I always send my step mom a card, even more so now because she's just as much a grandma to my kids as my mom. Our grandma Mother's Day gifts are usually from the girls anyway. I think it's just one way of showing you appreciate her. Mother's Day doesn't have to be exclusive.

Nope, but more for chemical reasons than anything else. I'm not into my young girls being exposed to more toxic chemicals than necessary. We also don't do a lot of nail polish, no make up, etc for similar reasons. If I found an alternative that washed out, maybe.

We are moving along with academics, so there is no problem there and I wouldn't officially hold them back. I'm just concerned with outside activities and the 5th grade cap that seems to be placed on a lot of them. The fifth grade only environment wasn't their favorite, BUT it was a small group of girls who all go to school together, so I realize there were other issues at play. They naturally gravitate toward younger kids.

Thank you! This is what I was getting at and needed the reminder that there is a lot of difference between kids at this age. This made me feel better. I think I will keep looking for activities that include a wide range of ages.

I haven't followed all your posts, so ignore me if this has been covered. Does he qualify for day treatment? They usually have a great home component. Is that something you could ask about? My friend has been dealing with similar issues with a daughter a bit younger than your son. Their ER experience ended with finally being taken seriously and her daughter getting the treatment she needed. It took a breaking point to get that help.

Oh, I will add that we do hope to take a year and live abroad when they are in 8th or 9th grade and that might end up being our year off. Then we'd start high school a year late, or not. Anyhow, I do like having the option of taking a gap year somewhere without it making them much older than their peers.

My twin girls have an end of August birthday and super immature developmentally because of their past. When we were trying to decide what to do after our horrible 2nd grade year in school, we considered holding them back, but I got flack from the school. We needed up homeschooling. If we had adopted sooner, I would have just delayed starting them in school by one year. Alas, here we are. They are in fifth grade. They both do well academically and are the sweetest kids. They love to play in the woods, play make believe, and their favorite days of the week are our playgroups with kids ages 5-9. They are usually the oldest ones in that group. This year they did Girl Scouts and the differences really stood out. These other girls are at a very different level, plus they are exposed to a lot more, so that adds to the gap. Next year they will technically be in middle school. It doesn't matter for homeschool and I get that. What I'm concerned about is outside activities. A lot of things end with 5th grade. They are all of a sudden in this new category of kids, 11 and up. I don't like that! It's not where they are, plus I don't always wasn't them with only older kids. What do you do when your kids are technically in a higher grade than their maturity? They just aren't ready for the outside "middle school" environment. At all! Has anyone else faced this issue when it comes to this age group? I don't know what I'm looking for...your experiences, thoughts, ideas, reassurances?

And thanks for all your advice Lanny! We got nervous about a job and visas and couldn't quite make it all work. Low and behold, my husband is now self employed and we are moving to Florida. We are at least going to Bucaramanga for a few months sometime in the next year or so. Maybe that will give us the confidence we need to pull the trigger next time!