Gosh, I never really thought of daydreaming as a bad thing, unless it prevents you from doing things you need to do, of course. My husband was a daydreamer, and he accomplished more things than almost anyone I have ever known. I think his daydreaming helped his creative juices flow. I even think it is helping him in recovering from his stroke. That being said, if your daughter has lots of creative thoughts running through her head, maybe an outlet like art or writing would be good?

I got this Speedo last year, which holds up really well in the water although it is quite pricey: http://www.zappos.com/product/7739529/color/271330

How about a magazine subscription?

A couple of my daughters really like this one: http://www.amazon.com/10-Minute-Solution-Results-Pilates/dp/B000GEIRAU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1327590388&sr=8-5

I'm passing over the moral teaching, discussions, etc. :) I'd recommend not allowing your kids on the internet, ever, unless it is with you or your husband. Up until a certain age, of course. Whether they do a purposeful search or not, anything and everything is on the internet, and can be found by accident or by clicking on a link from a friend. Another option is to allow them access only to a computer right in the kitchen (or other public room), and only when you or your husband are in the same room. Even now with our high schoolers, we have (two) computers in public rooms only. We certainly trust them, but still -- I think it's just a good habit to get into.

I used to think that all dogs were trainable. We have had several beloved dogs over the years, have trained a lot of dogs, and always had great pets...until about dog #5. From the get-go, he was real jumpy, and at about 4 months he lunged at an elderly lady that we passed while just walking him. We spent hours and hours and hours training him, teaching him to heel, to come when called, to be gentle... And within our family, actually, he was really great. The kids weren't too rough with him (they were a little older), but they could certainly play on the floor with him, and he was always gentle and extremely obedient with us. But with absolutely ANYONE else, he was instantly jumpy and very freaky. Our vet saw it in him very early on (as a very young pup) and warned us about him. It got to the point where we could not have friends over, were afraid to answer the door until we knew exactly where he was, were afraid to walk him for fear we would pass someone on the street and he'd go out of control. We live in a small town, so often during school hours, no one else was on the street. That was the ONLY time we felt we could walk him. Once my daughter was walking him during this time, on a leash with him healing nicely. Suddenly -- two blocks away, a little boy got out of a car, and our dog (then 2, I think?), yanked away from my daughter, ran two blocks and attacked the little boy. He was not hurt badly, but it was an awful thing to go through. In the end, we couldn't keep him. Perhaps if we had hired a "dog whisperer" for hundreds of dollars, he could have gotten to the bottom of it? I don't know. We put a lot of time and energy into him, and have never known a dog quite like him, before or after. I think every now and then a dog's nature is just freaky like that; don't feel badly if you need to find a new home for him. Our dog was a German Shepherd mix; sometimes we wondered if the other part was wolf.

I don't think I would. Our family and time spent with our children is priority, and it goes so fast. One of the main reasons we homeschool is to have more time with them! On the other hand, if the child were an older teen (junior or senior year), very solid, grounded, capable, and the school was amazing and had some opportunity that would really benefit them, I would m a y b e consider it. Afterall, we let one of our daughters graduate from high school at a young age, a year early, and then she went off to school in France for a year after that. I suppose it wouldn't be much different than that... And of course in your friend's situation, I'd consider it much more seriously.

My first reaction would be to pull her out, and then bend over backwards to try and help her interest along in different ways...an online course, a private tutor, etc. Maybe if I knew more of the story I'd do something different, however.

My daughter just finished a round of Mefloquine; she had been taking it for five months (when living in West Africa). She never had any problems with it at all, and it was just one pill, once/week. Most of the students in her program were taking the same thing -- that one seemed to be the most commonly used one. One side effect is that you can have vivid dreams with it, apparently. My daughter never did, but some of her friends did. If you get a lot of headaches or have seizures, a different one (that you take once/day, perhaps?) is usually recommended. My sister (who was living in East Africa) had to take this one since she had epilepsy. No side effects for her. I think when my husband and I lived in the Middle East early in our marriage, we took chloroquine with no side effects. I don't think that one is offered anymore! Perhaps certain ones are recommended depending on the area where you are traveling?

I love the Acorn brand. They are so comfy, and really hug your feet. They come in many different styles.

Thanks so much, ladies! This is really helpful, and gives me much more of an idea of the process involved, too. Thanks for taking the time to explain!

I'm sorry...what a difficult time. I'd just do what you can regarding schooling, and get lots of educational videos -- Magic School Bus, National Geographic, etc. Taking care of those you love takes priority. It is a lesson in itself. Last year when we thought my husband might be dying, and then followed him around the country while he was in various rehab facilities, we put a lot of things on hold for my two high schoolers. Even if it meant adding an extra year at the end, it would have been okay. But, your kids are young enough that they'll be able to catch up easily.

Well if you figure it out, let me know! My 16-year old has been exhausted for two years. She has been tested for everything we can think of: thyroid, mono, celiac, food absorption problems... Everything was always normal. She gets tons of sleep, averaging 10 hours/night. She has mild allergies, and is on Claritin for that. We did recently put her on a high protein diet, and she actually seems a little better. Not sure if that's coincidence, or what. If your daughter has dark circles under her eyes, that's definitely a sign of allergies, so I'd investigate that more. For my daughter, I'm thinking migraines are a possibility. We have a very, very strong migraine gene in our family, and though this daughter only gets a migraine headache occasionally, I have read that there are migraines that only show up as fatigue.

It's weird in a sweet way! Or would that be sweet in a weird way??

My daughter spent this past semester in Senegal, W. Africa, which she loved. She bought fabric while there, designed various skirts and tops for her sisters, and hired someone to sew them there for Christmas presents (which cost total about $2.00 per item). She brought home all of the leftover fabric, and we were talking about how special it would be to have a quilt made out of it. I thought if we could get started on this now, it could perhaps be done for her 21st birthday next fall. However, neither I or my daughter want to actually take on this project ourselves! I have a friend who sews quilts (she does the squares and then would sew them together); she then would give it someone else who would sew the backing on, etc. We would not be looking for anything very fancy or very detailed, and of course we'd supply all the fabric. We would want just a twin size. Does anyone have any idea how much this would cost us? I'm quite clueless about it. Am I going to get in way over my head with this idea??

I vote for getting a third, "family" car, and letting your child at community college have priority to use it since he'll need it to get to school. How do the other kids get to PS? On the bus? For special PS events they could use another family car, or use the third car with better mileage in the evenings and on weekends.

Foyle's War and the new Little Dorrit series -- two of our all-time favorites!

I don't think I know of any diet that pushes high carbs, so perhaps that's something you could eliminate off the bat... Proteins and veggies would be at the top of my list for any diet.

I'm sure I'd love the melody, but probably wouldn't sing the lyrics once I really thought about it. (Unless I sang them in Hebrew and my child didn't understand!). I know other children's songs also have strange/sad meanings, such as Ring Around the Rosie. Perhaps when they were older I would sing it -- if it really were beautiful and we could talk about it, but not when they were young.

Shin splints are awful; I used to get them when I ran. It did help to run on softer surfaces and with good shoes. My daughter is now getting shin splints. She got some good running shoes for Christmas by ASICS, which advertise helping with shin splints. So far her legs feel better, although she hasn't had a chance to use them too much lately.

I don't think it's unusual for ps english classes at ANY grade to require only 2-4 novels during a year. Even when I was in high school, I don't remember being required to read more than that. It is surprising, and often I don't like the books they choose. But, I guess they have a lot of things to concentrate on during that 50-minute period, and many kids are not fast readers, and requiring too many books would lose too many kids... My own kids read about a novel each week at that grade, some required for homeschool, and many not. However, as they got older and more involved in other activities, that number diminished, although they still loved/love to read.

I believe cursive is going away. In public schools, it's taught in 3rd and 4th grades, and then never required again. Even papers written during 3rd and 4th grades don't require it. Most kids I know can sign their names in cursive, but print everything else. Cursive is faster, but typing is fastest, so typing onto a computer is taking the place of cursive. Personally, I'll miss it. I far prefer to write in cursive than to print. It's faster.

At our church, members are allowed to vote on various church decisions, whereas non-members are not. However, all are expected to be an active part of the church as long as they are regular attendees, and that includes volunteering and giving financially, if they are able. (Members are not expected to give more, btw.)

Gosh, as long as hot weather still exists, I think fans will too -- whether people have AC or not! And ceiling fans certainly seem classier and more practical than stand-up fans.

I like hot milk with a tablespoon of plain old malt powder in it: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=malt+powder&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1294&bih=543&tbm=isch&tbnid=GiU0t3BRSxkU2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/08/triple-malt-chocolate-cake/&docid=VfKfUuleVGt2lM&imgurl=http://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/malted-milk-car.jpg&w=500&h=500&ei=RZAcT8-gHc_ciQKvrNzJCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=421&vpy=221&dur=470&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=130&ty=115&sig=111377293144475674155&page=1&tbnh=109&tbnw=109&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0 Add a little brown sugar to sweeten it, and mix it so that it's frothy on top!