On NY Day, we meet with two other families we know (and sometimes they invite guests, so it can be quite large) and have a kind of performance play. One person might recite a poem they love, another will play a song they composed, two or three people might put on a skit. Someone might read an essay they wrote or an excerpt from a favorite book. One time, someone brought a special item and told a touching but humorous story surrounding it. Every person is required to perform, and a lot of thought is put into it. Of course, I'm freaking out because I have no idea what I'm going to do this year. I'm teaching myself piano, but I doubt I will be proficient enough to want to play something in front of the group!

Here's JWR's nonfiction book: http://www.amazon.com/How-Survive-End-World-Know/dp/0452295831/ Back to Basics: http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Complete-Traditional-Edition/dp/1602392331/ Mini Farming: http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Farming-Self-Sufficiency-Brett-Markham/dp/1602399840/

Get him a hot dog and hope he's satisfied? I can't convince you because I clean houses part time for extra income. Even the cleanest people with dogs have houses that are dirtier than the messiest people (of the ones I clean for) without pets. There was a time I really wanted a dog—a beautiful husky, to fulfill a childhood dream. Then I cleaned up after other people's dogs and I realized I liked the idea of having a dog more than the reality. The fur. Oh god. The fur. You'll even find it in the fridge somehow. The smell (even groomed dogs smell). The scratches by the door and on furniture. Slobber all over windows and appliances. And that's not even counting accidents in the house, fleas, vet bills, etc. Could your son volunteer at the Humane Society instead? He'll get to play with puppies, take dogs on walks...and find out how unfun cleaning up excrement is.

I'm buying burlap, holly, and fresh rosemary to wrap my presents with: http://www.motherearthliving.com/your-natural-home/holiday-gift-wrapping-ideas.aspx I'm not a Martha Stewart type, so this is pretty radical for me. I'm giving friends genuine Provençal soap from France. It's a luxury I buy for myself once a year. DH and I are using any excuse to drink hot mulled wine in the evenings. Cheapest wine we can find + mulling spices + sugar. We read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol aloud every year. We see The Nutcracker at the local theatre. We're atheists and we don't do Santa, so that just about covers it. We might do some volunteering, but I haven't decided where.

I agree about tomato staking. I would also cut out all electronics, period. Not for a day or a week...make it totally off limits. What does your three year old gain from watching tv? Might it be isolating him or providing poor models of behavior that he might mimic? You and your DH can watch it after they go to bed, but while the kids are awake, I wouldn't do it. TV can sometimes act as a babysitter, but it is a pretty bad one. I know a family with a little boy who acted out, so they inadvertently let him watch more tv, and it just became seemed to make matters worse. Maybe you think cutting all out all tv is extreme and unnecessary...if that's the case, try getting rid of it for six weeks and see if there are any changes in your children's behavior. If you find life was better with them watching tv, you can bring it back. But give it a chance (no cheating) and you might be surprised by what happens. See if you can remove the plug from the back of the tv and put it somewhere out of sight and out of reach. We're also big believers in first time obedience. If you wait to punish bad behavior until its really out of hand, you'll lose your temper and hell learn how to get away with as much as possible. We do standing in the corner time outs, for a span of one minute per year old. So your son would stand facing the corner for either three or four minutes. Quietly. Any whining and the clock starts over. And the time out would happen the minute he showed signs of being disrespectful or disobedient. So it would go like this: "John?" "Yes?" (Full eye contact and an acknowledgement are mandatory to ensure you are heard. A gentle prompt of "Look at me" may be needed.) "Please put your toys in the toy box." "Yes, mommy." He stops what he was doing to comply. That should be the standard. Always. If he ignores you, says he'll do it later, huffs or sighs, has a defiant attitude, talks back, dawdles...immediate repercussions. No second chances. It sounds harsh, but it really isn't. You are simply redefining boundaries and establishing discipline that will keep things from snowballing. Use time outs liberally. Be consistent. It is far better for him to have ten time outs a day than to ignore the behavior or find yourself saying, "John! You know better than that! Bring that here. I'm not going to tell you again. Bring it here. You're going to get a time out if you don't straighten up. Don't run! Put. It. DOWN! JOOOOHN!" It turns you into a crazy person at the end of her rope, and it turns him into a rebel without a cause who is dead set on defying you just because he can. Pretend your new standard of first time obedience is part of the laws of physics. This is just the way it is, an action and reaction. He obeys, you thank him for his deed. He disobeys or disrespects you, he immediately gets a time out. Every single time.

The Worst Jobs in History is awesome. Most of them are on YouTube. Here's the first episode: We also like the Walking with... Series from BBC (Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Monsters, etc.). They're all on Netflix Instant, I believe.

You truly believe that statistically, homeschooled students are not more likely to have a higher ratio? As far as I can tell, public schools effectively teach children that thinking for oneself is a bad thing through their punishments and rewards system. That was my experience, anyway. I don't think for myself because public school in any way encouraged it, but in spite of the strict social conditioning that permeates institutional environments. No one is saying that there are absolutely no students in public school who think for themselves. But let's not equivocate by pretending that homeschooling and public schooling are the same in creating strong individuals with a firm grasp of the Constitution. There will always be exceptions (public school students who goon to be constitutional scholars and homeschooled students who couldn't tell you the difference between the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address), but it is a very reasonable observation when speculating on statistical trends.

Yes, I agree that it's about homeschooling laying the foundation for people who are able to think for themselves. Ron Paul is great friends with many liberals, such as Dennis Kucinich. I don't think he looks down on liberals the way some people seem to be implying. The psychopathic establishment that he condemned in his speech is something everyday Americans on both sides of the spectrum should be concerned about. There are liberals and conservatives, and then there are corrupt statists in Washington who are basically pretending to be liberals and conservatives. I think the most liberal homeschooler respects the Constitution a heck of a lot more than your average liberal public high school student. Ron Paul is guilty of making a generalization, but I contend that as far as generalizations go, it's a pretty good one.

I'd like to see your DH's siblings come over and get your kids ready...then see if it's worth it to them to have you come over! ;) Your DH should take all responsibility for making it immediate family only. It's not you, it's him. He realllly wants a quiet Christmas at home with just the kids. Ayup. I personally wouldn't do Christmas Eve. I'd do the day after Christmas. I definitely honk it's unreasonable to turn Christmas into a family reunion when you're the only one with a big family.

What age would you give one as a gift to a girl? Would four be too young?

Kaku is very popular right now, but my DH is an astrophysist and he absolutely rejects that guy as an authority on the subject. Half the things he says are just plain wrong...though they are usually sensational enough to make news reporters jump for joy. I know the thought of using him as a resource makes DH's teeth set on edge. Just one opinion, but there it is. I'll talk to DH about recommendations and come back later!

Are you sure you know how much a housekeeper would cost? Check Craig's List. I clean houses part time for extra income, and I really and truly think it is an incredible value for my clients. I am giving them more time, essentially, to spend with their families. One option might be to start out having a housekeeper come every other week instead of every week. Twice a month at my rate would be $120. Imagine not having to do ANY deep cleaning...carpets vacuumed, floors mopped, toilets scrubbed, tubs cleaned, windows washed. I think that goes a long way to giving you room to breathe, and honestly, having a clean house produces a huge psychological effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Thanks! Could you recommend a particular trailer? :bigear:

We want something for our long road trips. We usually visit national and state parks. If you could pick either for the sake of convenience and ease, which would you choose? I kinda thought motorhomes were the no-brainier choice (if you could spare the cash), but a friend of mine recently told me that he felt his was nothing but trouble and he was going to sell it for a trailer instead. I'd love to hear from people who have owned one or the other (or both). :)

If the book was written about something else, like science or math, I'd consider it. But a book that is basically his own philosophy on interacting with children? No. Nononono.

I've seen several studies that strongly correlate empathy with intelligence. The higher the intelligence, the more empathy. Regardless of race, gender, economic background. I'll try to dig those up, for anyone who is interested. The exception to this general rule of intelligence=kindness are people who were born with chromosomal abnormalities and various other conditions. These are exceptional cases, and as anyone who has studied intelligence will tell you, a person with, say, Down's Syndrome and an IQ of 60 is not at all the same as a person without it who also has an IQ of 60. Their brains are totally different. I answered the poll as "can't be kind without being smart first" in the assumption that we are talking about the majority of the population.

I was raised in a Christian household (went to church, taught sunday school, etc.) but I never felt that wonderful, transcendent feeling that other people did...so I went seeking for it in other religions as a young adult. I very much liked the idea of faith, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the most I ever felt in any religious ceremony was a mild glow of camaraderie. I secretly thought perhaps there was something wrong with me, that I tried and didn't seem to be able to connect with God (or whatever other name I could it). For a while I just sort of drifted away from religion, in an agnostic kind of way. Then, as I began serious scholarship for the first time in my life--filling in all the gaps of my public school education--I began to be able to put religion into a truly historical context, and I began to understand how the natural world works from a scientific perspective. Before, where I thought, "There is so much we don't understand! There HAS to be a deity to make everything do it's thing!" now I learned just how this big universe works and what principles keep it in place. Studying neuroscience and evolutionary psychology also played a role on my journey. After a long time of fearing the stigma associated with the word, I finally accepted that I was an atheist.

You've been reading up a storm, e.g. lightning bolts for every book?

Also, Amazon makes a Cloud Player app for iPad. So you can use iPad's Music app and Amazon Cloud Player. You can use Homesharing on the iPad, as well. Up to five Macs in your home (this might count for PCs too but I don't own any so I don't know) can share all their videos and music over your wireless network. That way you don't have to worry about music taking up too much space on your iPad.

If it was too warm for the guest, I'd turn it down for her. You can't really make yourself cooler without dressing indecently. But too cold? That's why humans invented clothing.

Watership Down Ender's Game Anthem (it's Ayn Rand's shortest work and her best, in my honest opinion)

I don't think it would work out. George is outta control, and he needs some serious discipline. I'm afraid that urging the Man in the Yellow Hat to spank his monkey would lead to some confusion. Especially if I insisted he spank the monkey in public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_films_and_TV_specials I stumbled upon this while looking for English Civil War films. I'm thinking I'll use this list as a guide for teaching rhetoric history. 1. Learn about the period through textbook and Teaching Company resources. 2. Watch the film. 3. Critique the film. What inaccuracies stood out to you? Conduct investigative research. 4. Compose an essay of your findings. Draw an overall conclusion of the historical merit of the film. 5. Publish your review on Amazon and Netflix.