The second week of October? I'd say rent a cabin in the mountains! It will be gorgeous in VA at that time. DC would be awesome as well. Great time of year to do a walking city. I wouldn't drive all the way to the beach in Ocrober, but that's just me. ***oops, didn't realize you were that close to FL! In that case, yes!

The title just has to be signed. At least, that has been our experience. You should probably just call your local DMV (or go in) and ask.

My kids have always been 11-12 hour sleepers and they are very aware of how grumpy they are if they don't get good sleep! They are completely different children! Good for your son for recognizing it!

That's funny. People from Virginia and Utah said they see them and I never saw them in Utah and I've never seen them here in Virginia. I saw them for the first time in Austin, Texas- ALL over.

Stay! We gave that up and will likely never have it again!

That's not to say there isn't something hiding under the accent, but...they all sound like that.

Nope. It's an accent.

This is a state issue, FYI. CA has grandparent rights, Utah does not. I know because of what we went through in court with our girls when we were foster parents. If you are just concerned about when you die, get a good estate planning attorney and have a solid will. This is what we did. It's an entire binder. Don't just print something off the Internet. Then you'll be fine.

Also, at 10 and 7, I think it's perfectly fine for you to tell him that you need a weekly break. Those are super easy ages to entertain. Sometimes it's easier to get what you want when you are direct. Don't say once a week, say every Saturday morning or something like that. I've found that my husband is very accommodating- he's just not a mind reader. Good luck!

He travels about every other week for work. The day after he gets home, I usually get out and about by myself. He takes the girls out every weekend for bagels and I get to sleep in. He took them to the water park a few weeks ago because I just didn't want to go. He takes them to the pool in the evenings sometimes. We are always working on it, but we have a good balance. He knows it's even more important to have time with them since he travels a lot. He also reads to them every night, even by FaceTime from his hotel rooms. :) It took me a few years to...get him here. ;)

I'm not sure why sleeping in the same bed would ever be an option in the first place. I would hate that. My 10 year old girls now opt to have one sleep on the floor. They don't sleep well in the same bed. Flip a coin. Tell them to suck it up. Or get a room with a pull out couch or a roll away. IMO, the bedwetting shouldn't even be factor.

I don't leave my girls home alone and they are 10. It's just not worth the worry. If we were still in our very close knit neighborhood, I could leave one of the twins home for an hour, maybe two, if a neighbor knew. They other twin? I'll be lucky if she can stay home alone at 16. :) One of my friends used to leave her 1st grader home with two younger siblings while she ran to the store. I thought she was completely nuts.

Hmm. What to do, what to do. I want to be able to do the Freedom Trail and a Duck tour, so maybe that puts us into May? My husband is saying we could just wait, forget the timeshare, and start Pricelining hotels now to stay right in the city for a few nights.

It would be way out at the very tip of the cape in Provincetown. Wait. Now I am second guessing the weather. We have to use this timeshare exchange by the end of March, but I don't want to be miserable in cold weather. Maybe we should wait and just pay for a shorter trip at the end of April or beginning of May??? We are 11-12 hours from Boston, FYI.

Wonderful! Thank you so much! I didn't realize there was anything to see in Newport, so that's good to know. We'll probably only drive into Boston for two days and spend one at Plymouth. Wow, and Amtrak is only $11 each way from Providence. Maybe we'll do that instead of driving into the city.

We are trying to swap a timeshare for late March, but there is nothing right in Boston. We can stay in Newport, RI, Falmouth, MA, or on Cape Cod. What are my options as far as traveling into the city from each of those locations? It says the drive from Newport is only 80 minutes. How accurate is that? What about trains or ferries from the other locations? Any advice? Thanks!

I could never give my dd one pediasure, or anything remotely like it, and expect her to have a good day. I am shocked your doctor didn't see this coming. We medicated for a while a now we control things with food and routines. When she has junk, like at a birthday party, or if she stays up one second past 8:30, I have to keep the day very low key. It has to be quiet, predictable, calm, and she needs lots of alone time. If not, we have a full day of meltdowns and tantrums. I mean this is the nicest way, but if you can't get the food thing figured out for him, you might want to just try meds, for his benefit. Being angry and out of control every day isn't good for anyone, but especially for him. We medicated for about 18 months and while I'm glad we are off, it helped her do much when we were in crisis mode. She was so grateful and she was able to learn appropriate behaviors and how to self-regulate. (And, fwiw, it took me years to figure out that punishments do.not.work. for this kid! They don't connect consequences to behavior the way neirotypical kids do and that's hard for other parents to grasp. Our kids rely much heavier on routines and consistency and explicit directions.) Good luck. I hope you get some answers from the testing. That sounds intense.

Personally, I despise Vegas. BUT, I would go to the Bellaggio!!! I'd spend the whole vacation eating!!! They have the most amazing buffet! YUM. You could do some family friendly shows. There will be stuff to do, especially if you are fine with just hanging around the hotel and not staying out late at night. Yes, there is Vegas "stuff" everywhere once you walk outside, but it is what it is and there are still things to do. Ride the roller coasters, go to the M&M store. Personally, I'd head to the outlet mall. :) But then again, we always drove. It will be too cold to swim outside, unless you are really brave. Just staying in a hotel is fun for my kids. You'll have a blast!

Bonuses and extra paychecks go into savings. Housing: 26% Groceries: 14% Utilities: 6% Cell Phone: 4% Car payment and insurance: 12% Gas: 6%, varies Student Loan: 3% Debt: about 8% depending on how much we have to pay toward our mortgage minus our rent check (it varies because our management company pays sporadic HOA fees, repairs, etc)

I would get her out now if you can. Sorry, but I left my dd in a situation like the above for the whole year before we started homeschooling. It did severe damage and I am still paying for it. Let her grow and mature a little at home, if you can. The classroom is just so not conducive to these kinds of kids. Can you imagine what it does to a child to be in severe meltdown mode every single day? The thought makes me so sad because this is what my dd went through for a year. I am the ultimate suck-it-up mom, but not in this situation, if you can at all avoid it. BTDT. Never again.

Leysin, Switzerland for six weeks. It's paradise.

FLL is such a sweet, on your lap, short and to the point program. It would be my first choice for first grade. It's a gentle introduction. IMO (and as a former first grade teacher), your time would be better spent reading aloud than doing another grammar program. They are still acquiring so much language at that age. It's hard to start to analyze it. :)

Awesome! Yes, I agree. I'd like them to learn more of the science behind why things work, and I don't always know! :001_huh:

Wow! We had the Jr. set given to my girls as a gift and they LOVE it! What sets should I be looking at next? Do any of you have the educational kits? Where do I go from here? These are amazing!

I would also not worry about his feelings, but focus in correcting the behavior and modeling the apporpriate behavior. Maybe focus on how it makes the other person feel when he yells.