OT, but hello. :) Fancy meeting you here. :D It's not that I don't trust my sons... but I don't like a one-on-one thing happening unchaperoned, especially at the mall. At our mall there's not much to do beyond window shopping--not something I'm a fan of anyway--or eating out, which is expensive. They can hang out at our house, watch a movie, help with the puzzle we have going, play games, whatever... for free.

I finally found a trap that actually works. I caught dozens of them last year this way: Put some apple cider vinegar in a cereal bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Poke a small hole in the plastic wrap. They crawl into the hole because they are attracted to the vinegar, but they are too dumb to figure out how to get out. :D Once they are inside, they either drown or you can squish them.

I wouldn't allow it even if they were in a group. In a group at my house or the house of another of the friends, assuming a parent would be home and paying attention, would be alright with me. Malls are notoriously bad places for kids to hang out. Unless they are actually shopping for something, I wouldn't want them there.

There's a good argument for more competition between utility companies if I ever heard one. :glare:

I'm obviously in the minority, but this is how we have approached piano. It's just another subject. None of my boys would have chosen to learn to play, but they are all very good at it. My 3rd son never chooses to do anything new without some forcing, so if I left it up to him he would learn very little in life. It really is ok to push people sometimes. I hope someday they thank us for forcing them to learn to play. :tongue_smilie: I'm not saying that's the correct approach for your daughter, but it has worked for us.

How is it their right? It might be their equipment, but isn't it your property? Or does the contract with them give them unlimited access? :glare: I would be inclined to call customer service back and tell them what you wrote here... that even though they might have the RIGHT to do it (assuming they do), that it's not a responsible way to treat their workers because someone might think they were intruders and treat them accordingly.

I agree with you 90%. I was going to say 100%, but I can't stand Chevy Chase or The Blues Brothers. :lol: DH insists on owning a few of them, but he has to watch them by himself. :tongue_smilie: I can't stand slapstick/stupid humor at all. Ditto to all the adultery comments. I cried while watching Titanic, but mostly during the scene where the mom put her kids to bed knowing they would never woke up. That was heart-wrenching. I had to search youtube and find the Avatar/Pocohontas comparisons.... very weird. :tongue_smilie:

Stay in Seattle. ;) There are lots of black widows in eastern WA where I grew up. Ick.

I'm not sure how a Baby Bjorn would help. They aren't comfy for that long, and if she's using the wrap to carry baby upright then baby would be in the same position as they would be in the Bjorn more or less. Hopefully he'll grow up. Honestly... as submissive as I tend to be... I would do what I wanted when he wasn't around. Baby will be fine and what hubby won't know, won't hurt him.

We haven't lost a child after knowing them for 2 years, but we have dealt with two late term still births. I agree with the others.... call anyway. Do things for them... don't ask first. They won't be able to process the question. Don't say, "Let me know if I can do anything"... they won't. They won't be able to figure out how to call.... calling will take too much energy and thinking. Just take them a meal... call them to say hi like usual... be willing to just sit with her and listen. "I love you and I'm sorry" can go a long way.

I would simply tell him, "I'm sorry, but we don't have room at our house for overnight guests at the moment. Would you like to make hotel reservations yourself, or would you like us to take care of that for you?" I personally would not tell my kids about his past, but I would have a general conversation about "good and bad touches" before his visit. Then I would make sure he was NEVER alone while he was in my house.

Here's my plan: My Father's World 1850 to Modern (Bible, history, science) Sequential Spelling 3, then 4 (would love to drop spelling, but alas...) Abeka Grammar/Composition I Wordsmith Progeny Press study guides for literature BJU math 7th BJU science, finish 6th and go onto 7th Fallacy Detective, then Thinking Toolbox 4th year of piano lessons

BJU English didn't have enough review for us, but I loved the look of it. And I really like how the writing instruction is done.

Thank you! :D

Any thoughts at all?

:iagree: My oldest is going to start BJU 7th soon and so far it's been going great. He's done BJU 3rd through most of 6th. I love how it teaches concepts... the WHYs, not just "how to solve it".

I've been having all my guys do BJU's review books along with the regular math. Does 7th grade have enough review by itself, or should I get the student activity book for extra practice?

We just kept going into BJU 5th. It's a great program... too great to give up that easily. :) My oldest transitioned very well to having to write out the problems. Many programs use textbooks at that age. :) If BJU is working for you, I would keep going. And for those who need more review, I highly recommend the review books they offer.

I disagree as well, and we've had the same experience as the quoted poster with all of our boys. They all sat through church (60-75 min.) from about 2yrs old. It takes work and practice, but they really can do it unless they have some physiological reason that is beyond the norm. We found that the less stuff we gave them to do, the better. A simple piece of paper and a writing utensil can last for 30 min. ;) Toys made noise, got dropped, and generally made the process harder.

None of my 5 boys have done it that much. :tongue_smilie: If they did, it was usually a sign they needed the bathroom. I agree with everyone else, but I would also take a look and make sure there's nothing swollen or red. It's possible that he has an infection going though it's unlikely.

ds#1 ~ 7.5yrs ds#2 ~ 8 yrs ds#3 ~ he's 8.5yrs and I'm still waiting for him to be fluent, though he sounds things out very well

This won't help you right now, but one of the best things we ever did was set up a separate checking account for education purchases. We have an automatic monthly transfer from our regular account to the education account. Then when it comes time to order curriculum, I have the money waiting for me. I hope you can find something that works for you. An option would be to get math, phonics, handwriting, and use the library for everything else. Even handwriting is optional. You can have her copy something you write. And I've used a highlighter to write something and had my boys trace it.

Maybe you did this already since you sound familiar with DR's materials, but I would do the math and make sure you can pay off both cars within 2 yrs. If you can't, I believe his advice is to sell one or both. Yes, he wants you to pay the cars off, but not if the pay off will take too long. Often people own cars that are just too expensive. I don't know enough about your situation to know if that's true for you or not. :) Assuming you can pay them both off in two years, then I agree with your decision to pay off the cheaper one first. :001_smile: And DR wants you to have $1000 in the bank so you can stop using credit cards for emergencies. If you have zero savings and only work on paying off credit cards, you will never get totally out of credit card debt because your credit card will get refilled with every new emergency.

The Well-Trained Mind Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks.... Educating the Whole-Hearted Child Pocketful of Pinecones

Ah, I see... that makes sense, thank you. :)