I think if they take the 'Christmas party day' and the 'end-of-school party day' and the 'mid-term movie day' and the 'zoo day' and just did academics with them, they could easily make up 11 days. Not saying that the zoo isn't important, but maybe the school system could let the parents take care of that on a Saturday this year.

Wonderful news! That's some baby!

I had pretty bad language when I was in high school/college, before I was a Christian, to try to overcome the goody-two-shoes image that I had. After I became a Christian my language cleaned up considerably because I didn't feel that language was appropriate (unwholesome speech and all that). In the Christian circles that I run in people rarely uses curse words, but in my extended family, the language can be pretty vulgar. I was at a family reunion last year and couldn't believe how bad my brother's language had gotten. Others were pretty free with their speech, too. I'm not too phased by it, I guess because of my own background, but I'm surprised that they don't tone it down around kids.

So sad. And it just frustrates me to no end that the CEO's of all the big mortgage companies that are going belly up will remain in their multi-million dollar homes while the little guys suffer. Why can't the gov't repo their homes and boats and cars, etc? Basically take everything they have, give them a flat $500k to get started again and leave them to get a real job to support their families.

Just curious why you don't want to use plastic bags - for the sake of reducing waste? or has it now been discovered that freezing food in plastic causes toxic reactions?

How scary! I'm so glad everyone is safe and they didn't get away with too much. Praying for peace for you and your family.

I don't think punishment is necessarily arbitrary or unrelated. I have a friend whose ds punched a hole in his door. As punishment, the dad took the door off the hinges and told him that he would have to live without a door until he could pay to replace it. It was punitive, but certainly not arbitrary. I like your definitiion of discipline, though. :001_smile:

I think that the vast majority of these people just really don't want to homeschool. If they wanted to do it, they would make it work. I know there are some who do want to, but can't, but those aren't the ones giving the excuses you list. When presented with such a person, I usually just give a generic response, "Oh, it's a lot of hard work, and I don't have as much patience as I'd like, but it's worth it."

We're just finishing up TT6 with 12yo ds. We used Singapore in the past and, though he did okay with it the first few years, he really struggled through 5th & 6th grade. Halfway through 6th we switched to TT and he has done superbly. I still have lots of struggles with him and school, but not with math. He really seems to enjoy it (as much as he can anything school related), and has learned the material well. I too had heard that it is not as rigorous as some other programs, but it's working for ds. It may not be the best program out there if your dc wants to pursue a career in a math related field, but for a good basic understanding, I highly recommend it.

That's a great attitude! :001_smile:

At 39yo, I'll be another 'no' vote. Seriously, 33 is really not old. It's a great age. You have the maturity that comes from being out of your 20's and you haven't even reached mid-30's yet! A young, mature person. :001_smile:

Dinner with SWB and lots of boardies and then what sounds like a very interesting lecture. Maybe we could convince SWB to make a world tour! :001_smile:

You're not the only one. I was filling in my absentee ballot the other day, and I had a pit in my stomach.

It really is an amazing experience, isn't it? I was with my cousin and her dh for the birth of their first. I'd never had dc at the time (was pregnant with my first), and it was an incredible thing to be a part of.

Great post, Chrissy. Well said!:thumbup1:

:iagree: My oldest could barely sound out words at the age of 6. Then something suddenly clicked and within a few months he was reading very well. Within a couple of more months he was reading at a 4th grade level. I really like OPGTR now, but I used Alpha Phonics and Alphabet Island Phonics with ds#1 - OPG wasn't available then. 100EZ lessons didn't work for him, either. I'm not familiar with Hooked on Phonics, but if I were you, I would continue a little bit of phonics instructions every day, and read to him A LOT. Eventually it will click.

I'm there already. I so rarely shop for clothes. I needed to pick up a few things on our last trip to the States (clothes are cheaper there, along with everything else), so I went into TJMaxx and had to pull clothes from all different sizes because I had NO idea what size I was. I'd try on one thing in a size 10 and have to go back for a size 8, I'd try on a different item in a size 10 and have to go back for a size 12. I never liked shopping, but I find it really annoying now.

I would give her another chance. I'd explain that the way she's going she will not be continuing past half-term. She needs to make drastic changes (and spell out exactly what changes you expect) or she WILL be returning at the half-term. How much time would that give her to shape up? You might want to write her a very loving, encouraging letter after you talk to her, to just reiterate what your expectations are, so she can't claim that she's forgotten or that you hadn't told her that she was supposed to work for 6 hours each Saturday without complaining (or whatever the requirement is). Good luck with it. I have a 12yo who I can picture acting this way when he gets to that age.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Could you address it something like this, "Honey, I'd really like to be able to come to bed with you at 11, but there's just too much for me to do here. Maybe if we could share the evening work a bit, I could be done early enough to come to bed with you. Right now I have to clean the kitchen and do the laundry. Can you choose one of those things, and I'll do the other?" Then when you're in bed, make him very happy that he helped out. I'm not in your situation, but even still, I'll sometimes let dh know that x and y both need to be done and ask which one he would prefer to do and I'll do the other. Usually it's something simple like, "Would you like to run to the store for bread to go with the soup, or would you like to make the soup?" We both know that he doesn't cook and I'm really asking if he'll please go and buy some bread, but putting it this way seems to get a more positive response from him because first it gives him a choice and makes him the decision maker, and second makes him realize that we are a team and need to work together. The resentment part I can't really help with a whole lot. I will be praying for you on that one. Wish I could offer something really profound. :grouphug:

I voted yes, because, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a hill to die on. So far I've managed to disuade the 12yo and 10yo from getting fau-hauks (I have no idea if I'm spelling that correctly), but if it really came down to it, I wouldn't prohibit it. Dh, on the other hand, would probably not be so easy-going.

I would take a washer and dryer over a dishwasher any day. I've lived without a dryer and without a dishwasher and without question the dryer was the thing I longed for more. And having a yard for the kids to play in would far outweigh the time for yard work, unless it was a very time consuming yard. I would definitely move if I were you. The only thing that would hold me back would be the $100 per month. As long as you think you can swing that, go for it.

I'm in southwest England. The highlights here would be the beautiful countryside with fabulous walking trails, and the beach - great surfing, rocks for climbing around on, and fun tide pools to explore. The only problem would be getting decent weather in which to enjoy this beautiful outdoors. Oh, yeah. And the thing Devon is famous for that you can enjoy even in the rain - a Devon cream tea. Yummmm.

I guess it's just that I'm a complete wimp and can't quite face the prospect of touching a dead mouse. Though most people suggested that I toss the mouse with the trap still attached, I hadn't really wanted to throw away the trap. I was just wondering what other people would do. That's all. Cheers. :001_smile:

That rat zapper looks awesome. I've just e-mailed the company to find out about shipping to England. I was just wondering what I was going to do about the mouse situation. while dh is in South Africa for 10 days. This may be the perfect solution. Thanks.

Well, I'm a real wimp. I went with option 2. There was a prayer meeting here this morning (the church office is in my house) and when they were done praying I asked if anyone would please rid my house of the mouse. My wonderful pastor volunteered. Yea! I can't believe how many of you would actually have disposed of it yourselves. I'm very impressed with you, and feeling like I'm going to have to go through some therapy or something so I, too, can suck it up if I have to face a dead mouse in the future. :001_smile: