If she is distorting your position, perhaps you can clarify it?

The question remains the same. What would *you* have done? I find it pretty insulting to be compared to the 'dregs of society' because I have no condemnation for what this father did while protecting his daughter, as I would surely have done everything in my power to do the same (protect my daughter); and no pity in my heart for the man who died. Every fiber in *my* moral being says the father was RIGHT, given the information we have available.

Do you really think this father who witnessed a grown man violating his daughter and tore him off of her, beating him in the head a few times, is now the 'dregs of society'? What would you have down? Stand by politely and let him finish?

I personally wouldn't use epsom salts with a wound. I use plain old canning salt dissolved in nice warm water.

I have an ingrown toenail which tends to get infected. I soak it in warm salt water. I do this if it feels the slightest bit sore to stop it from getting infected. I've also had a few bad infections (complete with red streak) that I knocked out with salt water. I've soaked more open wounds this way too and it didn't hurt so long as there wasn't *too* much salt in the water. Definitely keep a good eye on it, though I'm sure it will be fine. :) With a kiddo, any sign of infection and I would take them to the doctor.

Here's a post about planning/scheduling and one about our space. :)

Nursed and coslept with all three kids. As long as there are no situational risks (drug/alcohol use, unsafe bed set up, etc) I think cosleeping is safe for babies. I was always very aware of every movement/noise with my infants. I did keep a bassinet beside my bed for the first months each time. If I felt way overtired I would put them in the bassinet. :) I don't think it is correct to say cosleeping is dangerous. I can't agree at all. I think all infants can be at risk whether cosleeping or crib sleeping if common sense and safety precautions aren't used. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people put infants to sleep in cribs with thick pillows, toys, and blankets. Honestly it makes me shudder inside. :) I've also heard several stories of people cosleeping while on meds or drugs when they really, really shouldn't. My babies did sleep by only me though, as my dh is a ridiculously heavy sleeper who also likes to have a drink in the evening a lot of the time. I wouldn't have thought it safe for them to sleep by him as he wouldn't have been aware of them at all.

I'd say it takes me all summer. But this is only because I do the planning at my leisure with lots of life thrown in there. I might do some work on it for an hour, then not touch it for a week, or I might work on it for several hours, then not touch it for two weeks. I am planning for three kids. I am eclectic and pull together varying resources. I do sometimes reinvent the wheel. :) I am looking at more time than usual this time because I am planning lots of fun stuff for my PreK 4/5 dd. I do lots of file folder games and other hands on type stuff that requires work for me. I'll be doing prep probably all year for some of it. I'd like to be 'ahead' as possible.

Totally agree with this. Parenting can be very hard and very trying sometimes. It is definitely not easy to discipline. I think if you have him be your shadow you'll probably find significant improvement in a reasonable amount of time. Put him to work as your helper throughout the day. Be calm, be assertive. I remind myself this all the time with varying success! :)

Our schoolroom is our dining room. Here are pics. I do store my youngest dd's toys and workbox stuff in the toy area of our family room and some not currently in use school books on a bookshelf in there too. Everything else school is in our dining room. :)

1/2 c mashed banana, 1/4 c blended prunes, 1/4 c applesauce, or 3 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp water all equal 1 egg. I've tried all the mentioned fruit substitutes with good results. :) Mashed banana is superb with chocolate chip cookies.

Where I live the minimum amount to work is 30 hours a week or earning an amount at least equal to the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours. I guess if you made more than minimum the work requirement would go down. I was curious, so I looked it up. I was figuring the single mom must be working 30 hours to maintain eligibility. Honestly I think a single mom without help from family is doing good to work 30 hours a week, but that is just my opinion. I imagine its a lot to handle raising kids on your own, shuffling them around between school and/or childcare and home, needing to have a job that allows flexibility of schedule so you can be there for your kids when they are ill and needing to be picked up from school or childcare. If she's only getting support for one of the two kids she's probably getting less than $200 a month, maybe quite a bit less.

I really don't get how people could even get away with no one in the house working at all and living off aid these days. Back in the 80's sure, you heard about it and I even saw it a few times. But these days? Barring some mental/physical disabilities or problems I don't get it. In our state there is a time limit to how long an adult can get food stamps if they aren't working or receiving unemployment (and following unemployment rules, which also has time limits). As for the cash, your income needs to be ridiculously low and if you aren't working or on disability you absolutely are not going to get it without participating in a work program. A family of three would have to make less than $773 a month to qualify for cash, a family of five less than $1091. I just looked it up :).

I use this, Thai Crystal Mist. It's a mineral salt deodorant in a spray. It really does work and it really is amazing. I've tried several other natural things, like Tom's and baking soda. Now, baking soda works ok. It definitely absorbs odor away if you are already a bit smelly and are looking for a quick fix. But it is inconvenient and doesn't last very long as a deodorant, imo. Tom's just isn't good at all. Thai's is great. However, it does work best when sprayed on directly after showering. As in you can't just go and spray it on mid day after you're sweaty and it to take the smell away. Best to shower in the morning and apply. Then you should be able to count on it doing its job for the day. I don't live in TX though, so I can't be sure! Also it is not an antiperspirant. You will still sweat if you are going to sweat. It just won't smell bad because the salts keep the bacteria down. :)

I use Kiss My Face foaming hand cleanser. Yep. My fav is the grapefruit & bergamot, I also like the lemon & ginger. My face is hard to take care of. I can't think of any other soap I've used that doesn't dry it out, resulting in extra oily skin. I do not have that problem with Kiss My Face at all. I know it is supposed to be a hand cleanser, but because of that it is extra gentle. I use just one squirt and wash twice a day, morning and night. Another product that has made a big difference in my face is Thayer's Rose Petal Witch Hazel. I tried drug store variety witch hazel in the past, but that stuff was not good for my skin at all. Thayer's is a wonder. I use it after my night wash. I wet a cotton round with it and swipe my face. Love it. Tightens up my pores and keep the pimples away while providing a very light moisture. :) I usually by both of these from either vitacost or amazon.

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but maybe it might work, idk?

I do agree condition matters. I personally don't mind paying up to 70% + media mail shipping for something new and unused or like new. Most things though I won't even consider buying unless they are about 50% + cost of media mail shipping. It is how I sell, so it is how I'd buy. :)

I have to agree with everyone else in that the time and effort put into doing that wouldn't be something *I* would want to do. If it is a money saving thing maybe try one of Lial's textbooks used on Amazon. I have this one. You can get it used for $5 with shipping paid. In the format options box click on the used paperbook edition and scroll through to find one in good condition without writing on the pages. If there are other reasons, such as you prefer to piece things together so that it is covered a certain way, I say go for it and why not?

I went ahead and wrote up a blog post with pics to show how I'm planning. I added a link to my planning pages on google docs too just in case someone else finds them useful. :)

I *think* I've gotten better at the planning aspect over the years, but it gets more challenging each year anyway. My two older kids have always been on the same level in almost everything, which made it easy to combine them. Now with my little coming up on PK 4/5 and my oldest going into 7th (when did that happen?) it feels overwhelming, lol. Like a previous poster I've finally come to the conclusion that making my own planner pages is the way to go. I've dabbled with it before, but I'm making my own customized everything for planning this year. Yesterday I made myself a yearly school calendar with color coded blocks for holiday, birthdays, start date, end date. This made it easy to count out our school days and figure out how many random days off we can take and still complete all my plans. We'll have 20 random days we can take off without needing to extend our school year. Then I made a planning web, which I printed double sided, to visualize which subjects are assigned independently and which require class time, each bubble has two smaller bubbles to write in how many days a week that subject is done, then how many total lessons for the year. Now I know how many lessons I have to cram each subject into. I made personalized weekly schedule pages for all three kids, the eldest two will have their independent work written out each week (we do this already and it works well), the younger I will use the page myself to plan out what we'll do for PreK 4/5 each week. Then there is a class weekly schedule page that goes in teacher's guide which has all work for the week that requires class time. Phew! I haven't started filling anythng in yet, but will today. I've planned by quarter, by week, and by the year at different times in the past. I think I really need to do the whole year this time. I feel it will be the only way to be sure the little isn't neglected. I had an old SL binder, the large three ring with 36 tabs, and I've switched out all the SL materials to a different binder. I'm using it to store each weeks planning pages and printables. Then these will each week be loaded into my teacher guide and my two olders main binders. I think this should work out rather well. I don't need to be afraid of falling behind because I just won't load the next week until we finish the one we're on. Likely there will be periods where the days may not match up, but we'll play catch up at that point and get back where we need to be. I'm not averse to assigning homework when necessary. :) I left a blank for the actual dates on the weekly schedules. I'm feeling pretty good about the setup, now I need to get done to the nitty gritty!

So....I'm fairly certain I have all the curricula we'll be using next year. :) I'm beginning to plan our schedule and curriculum plans for next school year. (gulp!) Anyone else taking the plunge yet? I'll be planning for PreK 4/5, 5th, and 7th, and WOW I think this is going to be difficult, lol. I could use some bolstering! I've been homeschooling for 8 years now and I swear it never gets less challenging, like I think it will. :)

For days of the week, reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar and playing with paper versions of the foods in the story with days of the week word wall cards. You'll find an amazing number of printables for this story if you google 'very hungry caterpillar printables'. Also copywork. For months, reciting this poem and using it for copywork.

http://pinterest.com/tatej/

I see nothing wrong with her wanting to read the Junie B. books. :) I say let her keep at them. My dd started out like this and now at 12 she loves to read and reads a wide variety of books. One thing I did to encourage more reading alone was extend bedtime if and only if they were in their bed reading quietly. At first it was a half hour, then an hour. Now I don't check on them at all. They do well with getting enough sleep on their own and if they are reading quietly in their room at night I let them.

I bought my laminator for laminating paper puppets for my youngest dd to use with her feltboard. Print, cut, laminate, add a velcro dot on back, easy, peasy, ready to go. The only other things I've used it for so far were laminating some cards and an addition mat.