Absolutely! My dd gets very overwhelmed with sensory input and it exacerbates her symptoms. Also, when you are out and about, a lot of times their food and drink intake is ls than stellar, which affects these kiddos in a big way.

Wait, you people wait to drink until your kids are in bed?!?

Oh, and I knew a few families who stayed in Virginia Beach at the camping cabins.

We've done September homeschool days at Willaimsburg, Jamestown,a nd Yorktown for two years now. Fantastic! We needed 2 days for Williamsburg, one day for Yorktown (and then we spent the afternoon at the beach), and one full day for Jamestown, the glass blowing place, and the real historical Jamestown. So, four days total. Great Wolf Lodge is always too expensive for us, even with the discount. We got a two bedroom condo at Powhatan for $50 a night on hotels.com one year. We went to a time share presentation (which we will never do again) and it paid for our trip the next year at their nicer resort. So it worked perfectly. Don't skip Yorktown! It was so cool. We love Williamsburg. We live three hours away.

We got this off Craigslist, but our town has one main realty website that lists rentals, too. I think the best deals are from signs in the front yard! You might want to take a few drives.

I totally get it, but it bothers me that it's an excuse to ask my daughter questions that are, in my opinion, not appropriate for her age. I am just not a fan of the one size fits all approach to medicine, which is why we left our horrid pediatrician's office and see a small family doctor now. I think 10 years old is not the time to push the parent out. I know, I know, there are all kinds of situations and families and kids who need doctors to bypass parents. I just wish there was a different solution.

That would really upset me and I would probably say something.

Ha. I was way off. The only record player I remember having had Care Bears on it. We were using tapes by the time I was 8 or so. But my old-school ballet teacher still used a record player. She probably still does.

Ooooh, I think I figured it out...

Oh yeah, we did earn interest. Silver lining. ;)

When we lived in a neighborhood, I got tired of the constant "can you play?" Especially from kids I wasn't too fond of. So sue me. If I had any reason to believe a child was behind dishonest or that there was a fishy situation with a family, I would be careful of my child's interactions. While I fully agree that three could be something else going on, I would be more cautious until I knew the whole story. But then, I'm not the mom that lets my kids run the neighborhood (I always know where they are) or even ride bikes in the street. Different strokes. They are your kids and I'd trust your gut, especially of there is a trust issue.

It took us forever to get our refund last year because of our adoption credit. There were checking them closely. My experience was that calling them was the easiest part of it all. Their internal systems are all screwy though. Apparently once you send in all your forms, the numbers get entered into the computer, then all your forms get sent to a "vault." So, if they want to question anything, you have to send in certain information again. It was a huge headache. But, every time I called they were very helpful. Everyone was so smart, articulate, and understanding. I was actually very impressed. Good luck. It took us a good eight months to get our refund.

Trim the end of each leaf so it isn't pokey, cut off the stem. Boil for about 30-45 min or until soft. Serve in a bowl. Peel off a leaf, dip it in mayo or melted butter, and bite down and scrape the pulp off with your teeth. Once all the leaves are gone, rip off the inner gathering of thin leaves, scrape off the hair-like things, and go to town on the heart, my favorite part. Maybe there is a You Tube video for how to get to the heart. ;) it's a little tricky the first time.

Thank you for this post. I needed to read a lot of this today. We actually adopted before trying any fertility treatments. I always thought we would be able to get pregnant with help. We were not. It's been a rough year. Just today I was confronted with the "well you need to focus on your diet and stress" attitude. In could have punched the person! The only advice I would offer is to grieve your infertility before you adopt. They are two different things. (Meaning adoption isn't a cure for grief.) That was the best advice we got in our foster classes. Little did I know I hadn't really grieved...

I agree with Murmer. Consider the worst case and decide if you can handle that. Also, I would consider FAS as one of many, many possibilities. Adoptions are filled with unknowns. I'm glad we said yes to a situation we might have said no to if given too much time to "research." ;) by all means, know your limitations, but also remember that there are always surprises. My girls were not drug or alcohol exposed (yet we still have SN) but we've had lots of FAS kids in the schools I've taught in. Some have had serious behavioral problems, and others just seem like mild ADHD.

Always age appropriate, but always the truth. I've found that they'll ask more questions as they a ready for the answers, because they know I am always willing to talk with them. Making an adoption story book was super helpful when they were 5. They still look through it. I think they like the five year old version of the story best. :) it's not so messy.

I hold onto guilt about things from long ago just like you, so I totally get it. And guess what? Your friend needs to get over it. You were both very young, you chose the wrong words for a situation nobody could ever handle perfectly. You apologized. You meant no ill will. She is choosing to hold onto the anger and there is nothing you can do about it. It's unfortunate. I also think you need to just stop contacting her. You've said your peace, she's obviously forgiven her rapist (???). You can't control how she feels. I honestly don't think you did anything wrong and you've already apologized. Let it go. Move on. You can't fix everyone. I've tried.;)

We tried this in Utah and it was not a good deal. It wasn't local produce, at all, and it was stuff I would never use. I lived blocks from the store, so it didn't make sense.

Always, for everything. If someone goes out of their way to send a gift, a thank you note is the least we can do. If, for some reason we don't send a note, we call. On birthdays and Christmas, we do both.

Always, for everything. If someone goes out of their way to send a gift, a thank you note is the least we can do. If, for some reason we don't send a note, we call. On birthdays and Christmas, we do both.

Ditto. My twins, on the other hand have only not made it to the toilet three times. Two of them were in the middle of the night and one was in the car after her tonsillectomy. I think some people just have an easier time with this than others.

Do you pay her? Do you babysit her kids? Honestly, if you aren't paying someone, you don't have a lot of room to be demanding. (Sorry, didn't mean for that to sound so rude, you aren't demanding, I just mean you aren't in a position to require anything if she is doing it for free. You either accept or decline, unfortunately. ) To answer your question though, no, I would NOT put up with that. I'd hire a babysitter or not go out.

Wow!!! Her comment was not about Ps, it was about being in a big group of peers for several hours-skiing!!! Calm down. As a former teacher, I will tell you that some children behave very differently in larger groups. Many of us who have preteens are watching our kids' friends become increasingly important and after being in a big group of peers, their behavior can intensify in ways that are not pretty. Chill out.

*hand raised* Former Mormons here. We go to a UU church now and keep trying to get into the Episcopal church because we like it better, but we just can't make the leap. My parents could care less and my in-laws have finally stopped pushing. We enjoy lots of homeschoolers. Our favorite playgroup is the Christian one. I haven't found another secular hsing family that likes to go, but I don't know, it works for us. I like the people and I kind of just let a few comments roll off my back. They all know we aren't religious, so they are respectful. I even enjoy the Christian hs conference because it is the biggest he in the area. The only religious curriculum we use is CLE for math. I keep trying to find something secular, but this works best for us. Plus, we love close to where it is published and they are so, so sweet and helpful. I like those Mennonites. When we lived in Utah, this was a bigger deal. We were more of a minority. Now that we are in Virginia, it is easier to take it all in stride and just find people we like.

Yes!!!