We got ours sometime last week.

You sort of made my point. And I'll admit that I'm not unbiased, as my DH pays child support. I don't in any way begrudge him supporting his children. Let me say that from the get-go. But the point that I'm trying to make is that just like DH's ex, we also have all the expenses associated with providing a room for DSD, extra electricity (but our electricity goes up regardless during the summer, because we live in TX), extra food while she stays during the summer, transportation costs for getting her back and forth to extracurriculars, etc. And yet, DH still has to pay the full amount of CS. It doesn't change during the summer. I absolutely believe both parents have an obligation to support their children. I believe that the CS system as it is set up now sometimes puts an unfair burden on the non-custodial parent. That being said, I can understand, OP, why you are upset, given that they are making more and buying lots of extras, while you are struggling to just pay bills. We are in kind of the opposite situation. DH's ex just bought a brand-new, 2011 car for $450 a month, while we struggle just to make ends meet and pay CS. I can't imagine spending $450 a month on anything aside from rent (and, of course, CS)! It seems like the whole system is set up to be unfair, one way or the other, KWIM? I really hope I don't get fried for saying that, cause I know child support can be a really touchy subject. But I'm pretty new here, so go easy on me. :D

So, just to play devil's advocate... Does the non-custodial parent not also have to maintain an extra room, electric bills, etc., while the child is not there? Or is said child just to sleep on the couch when she/he comes to visit?

No, child support doesn't change over the summer. The non-custodial parent continues to pay the custodial parent the same amount, no matter how much time the children spend there over the summer.

I have an 8-year-old very wiggly son who also happens to have Sensory Integration Disorder, so we have many of the same problems. Lots of the things others have suggested work for us: running outside or doing jumping jacks, chewing gum (this is a big one - he puts everything in his mouth, and chewing gum seems to calm him), and we use an exercise ball for "seat" work. Tomorrow is his birthday, and we bought him a mini-tramp. I'm positive this will help him too. Some other suggestions: Get a sit n' spin and take the middle handle part out to make it into a spinning board, and spin him every so often during the day. Start out with maybe 5 spins, and don't do it too quickly or he'll get sick. Work up from there, and anytime he's getting too hyper, hanging from the chair, table, or whatever, put him on the spinning board. Some kids love to sit and read while spinning. :ack2: Give him something to fiddle with, like a rope with big beads on it. He can put it in his lap and fiddle with one hand while he does his work. Lots of heavy work. Make him carry stacks of books from one place to another. Do wall or floor pushups, etc. During DS's kindie year in public school, I was a teacher for a program called Ready Bodies Learning Minds. You might take a look at the website, it will probably give you lots of other great ideas for helping him get control so he can concentrate: http://readybodies.com/. We use a positive reinforcement system as well. DS had a bad attitude, was complaining and taking forever to get work done. So I created a sticker system that uses "checkpoints." These are just natural points during our day during which we take a break, and we have 4 of them. So, for example, he does morning work and math, then we have a checkpoint. We come back from break and do handwriting and spelling, then we have a checkpoint at lunch time. If he has focused on his work, done it with a good attitude (i.e., no complaining), done his best work, etc., he gets a sticker on his checkpoint chart at each checkpoint. If, by the end of the day, he gets 3 of 4 checkpoint stickers, he gets to pull a reward out of a tissue box. The rewards are just slips of paper with things he likes, some big, some little. For example, go to McD's for ice cream, play a board game with Mom or Dad, watch an extra tv show or play on computer, get something from the dollar store, play on the slip n' slide, etc. Obviously, you'd have to come up with your own rewards that would be motivating and that you're willing to do. This has been *amazingly* motivating. He can start acting up and all I have to do is remind him of the upcoming checkpoint and he straightens up and focuses.

I'm a bleeding heart liberal Christian in Texas (and not in Austin). So yeah, I don't say that out loud too often. LOL. I would put a "Jesus was a Socialist" bumper sticker on my car, if I thought my tea-partying mother would ever go anywhere with me again. And if I weren't afraid my car would be keyed, or something else terrible would happen to it.

That's my mantra!! It's how I keep myself (somewhat) sane when I still have a toddler running around, wide awake at midnight! And I get what you're saying about going to sleep for a little while, then going and going for hours. My DD can literally go to sleep for 5 minutes in the car, and that is fuel enough to keep her going for an extra 5 or more hours. We've called her The Incredible No Sleeping Baby since she was tiny. I take consolation in the fact that my 7-year-old sleeps wonderfully! Hopefully we'll get DD there, too.

Brand new (although I've lurked for at least 6 months, getting ready for homeschooliing) and still just dipping my toes in, but I'm here!

I really feel your pain. We're dealing with this with my 2 year old. Left alone, she stays up until midnight, sometimes even 1 or 2 am (it cycles later and later), then sleeps until 11 in the morning. Sometimes she takes a nap late afternoon (and is then up until the wee hours of the morning again), sometimes not. If I manage to keep her from taking a nap in the late afternoon so I can get her to bed early, she just wakes up late at night (and the cycle continues). We are really struggling to change this, because DH and I really don't like having her up until midnight or later, and because sleeping till 11 is just not going to work when we start school next week. I'm at a complete loss. Getting her up early in the morning (if I can even wake her) backfires for us like it does for you, because then she takes a "nap" in the evening. We are going to try for a few weeks just taking her to bed at 10 with all the lights out, and if she lays in bed awake in the dark, then so be it. Then we'll get her up at 9 every morning, and just try to "force" the change in her schedule. DH thinks it will work, I don't think it will. We'll see. All that is to say, I don't have any help for you :001_unsure: but I completely understand what you're dealing with. I dealt with it even when I worked and she *had* to get up early, so getting up early at the same time every day doesn't always fix it.

ITA. This is exactly what I believe, and I've never understood why, for some people, they are in fact seen as being mutually exclusive.

This is confusing to me, as well. The only thing I can think is that there's the Old Earth camp and the New Earth camp, with Old Earthers coming a step closer to believing evolution certainly than the NE Camp would. Perhaps being in the OE Camp allows for the belief in evolution as God's mechanism?? *shrugs* Hopefully someone else will explain better.

This blog isn't specifically about evolution, but it seems to be a recurring topic for him. He's a theology student who I guess I would call a progressive Christian. http://www.arnizachariassen.com/ithinkibelieve/ Also, this is not exactly what you asked for, but I've been following a very interesting discussion on Amazon about whether/how to teach evolution if you homeschool. http://tinyurl.com/39uplga Also, someone else mentioned Hugh Ross. He's fabulous. I am a pretty liberal, progressive Christian in Texas, where there really are no other liberal, progressive Christians (or they're all in hiding! lol) so I tend to seek these things/people out online.

You can put chicken breasts in without browning them first! I cook chicken breasts (from frozen, even) in the crockpot more than just about anything else. Some favorite, very easy crockpot ideas: Put chicken breasts in, then cover with a packet of taco seasoning and a small jar of your fav salsa. Cook on low all day, then shred the meat and make tacos. (I make my own taco seasoning, because I don't like all the additives in the packets.) This always makes enough meat for us that I save the leftovers, wrap it up in tortillas and cover with green salsa and cheese to make enchiladas. Chicken breasts covered with some barbecue sauce (we *love* the Target brand BBQ sauces), add a little brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce to the BBQ sauce, cook all day on low, then shred or chop finely. This makes great BBQ chicken sandwiches and is also great on top of baked potatoes. You can make great potato soup in the crockpot. Cube potatoes and cook in chicken broth all day (season to taste). When the potatoes are soft, add a flour/water mixture and enough milk to make it creamy, then let it cook for another 30 minutes to an hour. After it thickens, you can add cheese if you wish (or even *gasp* cheese whiz). I serve this with a salad and/or chunky bread, and it makes a great winter meal. ETA: Target has really, really good simmer sauces in all different flavors (Asian, Italian, Southwestern, etc.) You can just throw those in with whatever meat you want, cook all day, and serve with rice or noodles and a salad. It's so simple, and so good!

I've been to Ireland 3 times and lived there for a summer. Things I wouldn't miss, especially if I were taking my kids over there: The National Museum in Dublin was one of the most memorable places I went while I was there. They have relics that are thousands of years old, things that are believed the have belonged to St. Patrick, and even things that have been dug up out of the bogs, including a preserved skeleton. It was amazing, and would be very intriguing to kids, I would think. Grafton Street, Bewley's Cafe, and the library at Trinity College. Then, I would get out of Dublin and head to the west coast, which is BEAUTIFUL. When you see gorgeous pics of Ireland with unbelievably green rolling hills, it's probably the west of Ireland that you're seeing. I wouldn't miss Galway. It's a small but very trendy, artsy town on the west coast. There are a lot of historical things to see and do there, and then there are lots of art shops and galleries, as well as great traditional Irish music in the pubs. Also near there is the Cliffs of Moher. You can stay in Galway or Shannon (Galway is much nicer) and use that as a base for striking out to different places in the west. The drive around the Ring of Kerry in the southwest was gorgeous, but I drove it myself in a rental car, and would never, never, never do it again. Never. It was frightening. Next time, I'll take a tour bus, which you can catch around the ring for a day trip. I think the town that it leaves from is called Tralee, IIRC. The Blarney Castle is neat, but I didn't and wouldn't kiss the Blarney stone. Also, the Rock of Cashel is really neat historically speaking. I went to England for a short trip while I was there. In London, try to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham and the Tower. Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square were neat too, and IIRC, there's an area near Trafalgar that has lots of old book shops that I loved. The highlight of my trip to England was going to Stratford-upon-Avon and seeing Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. You can also go to Shakespeare's birthplace and the church where he is buried. I love Shakespeare, so that was my fav part of my entire summer over there. Hope that helps some! There's so much to do in Ireland, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few things. But these are the things I would not miss. ETA: Two other things I forgot about in London -- Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. And the double-decker tour was great. Ok, I'm gonna stop now, really. :D

I'm a homeschooling mom who's been lurking for months on this forum, and I felt strongly enough about hamsters that I finally registered and came out of the woodwork. LOL. In my personal experience, hamsters make terrible pets. But that's just my experience with one hamster. We had a hamster that we bought at the pet store, and it was adorably cute, but you couldn't touch the thing. I think it was an adult when we bought it, and it would just bite if you tried to hold it. If you can get past the stigma, rats make much, much better pets for children. We have 2 pet rats now, and they are very clean (as long as you change the cage weekly). They are very intelligent and friendly, and they can be handled and loved on. Good luck! ETA: Rats are very, very social, and you'll need to get two of them so they can keep each other company. Hamsters are generally the opposite of social, and it is recommended that you only keep one in a cage.