My young kids really liked the wiggles at that age. My 2yr old really likes Daniel tiger right now and I have to say I do too. It has really had a positive affect on his behavior. He even sings the little jingles at appropriate times. My kids also liked the Maisy show at that age.

Been a royals fan all my life. I was just 4 when they were last in the playoffs. I hate that they are starting their games at 9:00 our time. My poor boys have to go to bed way before the games are over. Hopefully they don't have to wait 29 years for their next chance.

I would call just to be safe. I know once I had little ds at the doctor because he was sick and his heart was racing. The doctor said fever makes your heart beat faster (but ds was a toddler so I can't say that happens in adults).

My boys are young so for now they are pretty cute with anything "quirky." I do *try* to give them some laid back fashion advice when it is warranted. For instance, DS8 had his shirt tucked in to his athletic pants and I did mention that people didn't usually wear them like that. I felt like growing up I was fashion challenged, so I purposely wore weird stuff. I didn't know how to dress, so I figured I should look like I was trying to look weird instead of just looking weird. Because of that, I am a little more conscious of that with the 8 and up crowd. Before then, almost anything goes.

I *think* I would go ahead and call him K5. I'm not sure how much he is struggling in K, but something about a 19yr old male high school senior doesn't seem like it would be the best idea. If he is almost 6, he is already an older Ker. Good luck with your decision! ETA: my mom is a public school reading teacher and she says (at her school anyway) that they would never retain a child that old-for-grade. They would keep him in his age grade and just give him accommodations and extra help. I'm not saying that is applicable to your situation since you homeschool, just throwing it out there.

I don't think kings island is open during the week right now (but I didn't look it up). My kids like their Halloween/fall stuff this time of year. We have season passes...don't know that I would pay full price for it. We really like the museum center (all 3 museums). I am pretty sure all the museums are included in the ticket.

It would actually be paying a mortgage and a rent so we could live with Dh where he is working. It's only for a year. We likely won't do it, but I am wondering if it is doable. I would love to keep our family together, but I don't want to put us under huge financial stress either.

Well, maybe two: Do you think a family with a household income just slightly above the median income level could rent something for half of their take home pay (rent and utilities) and still have enough left over to cover food, car insurance, gas, and any other necessities? (This would only be for a year) Also, how do you figure out what your after taxes pay will be based in gross pay? Is 80% a decent estimate? Thanks for any help. I'm just trying to figure out how financially feasible our plan for the next year is.

We do have some money in a Roth. Might be enough to cover for a while. Dh employment is fairly stable, but I guess you never know. I'll search around for some no interest credit cards. I think on most of them you pay a really high interest rate once it kicks in

Hopefully less than 10000 to borrow. We need it for about a year. Our credit is good. We should be able to pay it off fairly quickly.

We are in a position where we will likely need to go into debt. We currently have none other than our mortgage. I'm just wondering where to look for a loan..borrow from our retirement, home equity loan, take one out on a vehicle, look around for a low interest credit card? This would be to pay for basic living expenses.

That's really cool. Thanks!

If she were my daughter, I would encourage her to answer with "third grade." I was homeschooled and when I was little it irritated me when I would ask the grade someone was in and I would get a list of all their subjects and what grade level they were in each. It happened all the time!!! I used to complain to my mom about it. I'm not sure why it bugged me so much, but it really did.

Thanks. I will check them out

I am flying by myself in a couple weeks and am pretty nervous. Any tips on getting over it? I don't particularly think the plane will crash...I'm not sure exactly what worries me about it. I have flown about a dozen times in my life, but it has been over 3 yrs since the last time.

I love the Clementine books.

I think the dress up clothes/costumes are a good idea. My boys have also liked the imaginext stuff.

I think there is a wide range of time that is considered normal for learning them. My kids really liked the leapfrog letter factory video. Also, I get out our letter magnets while making dinner and call out a name or sound and let the child take the right one off (start with just one letter and work up to more on the fridge at a time).

Around here you would fill up quickly at $5 for a 2 hr class. My 6 and 8 yr old are in a 1hr class and I pay $75 for 6 weeks. My 6yr old is pretty into art, but I don't know that he would stick with it for 2hrs.

The nurse called me back and said everything is fine and to repeat in a year. I think they probably found a little something because at my appointment she said I didn't need another one for 3 yrs. Thanks for the replies. After I looked into it I wasn't as stressed, it was just unexpected.

Anyone know anything about this? I have had regular paps since I was 18 (am 33 now) and I just called the results line and the recording said the results had been forwarded to my dr. I am assuming, since they have the line, that if everything is ok the records says so. So, of course, I call right before bedtime, expecting it to be normal and now I am freaking out.

I don't know in your particular case, but I do think in general doctors aren't compensated fairly for things like being on the phone, answering emails, consulting with specialists, doing referrels, being on call, etc. I'm not sure we should expect them to do them for free. I don't feel like I am a high maintainence patient/parent in general, but when my first baby had jaundice the ped. told me it was a borderline number for hospitilization but he would let me just keep an eye on him and call if I was worried. Of course I called and he spent a good deal of time on the phone with me (it was a holiday weekend and the office was closed). The other time I called my sons ear was bleeding and it freaked me out. It was Iike 10pm and our urgent care was closed, so if the ped wouldn't have called me back I would have been in the ER with him and it wasn't an emergency. AFAIK, those are the only two times I called after hours, but I don't think the dr was paid for it at all and I definitely received a valuable service.

Call me cynical, but I doubt any of the people in the article actually know what their kids do most of the time. I assume they are usually working and their spouse and or nanny/child care makes most of the rules about screen time. If they did make a rule, someone else is the one actually enforcing it.

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My DS6 seems to not try at anything. He is in tennis, baseball, swim lessons, and art and his teachers/coaches all say the same thing. He is basically a good kid-doesn't distract others, polite, etc, but he doesn't try at all. (He asked to do each of those activities and seems to enjoy them). He does the same thing at home. His reading, handwriting, and math are all coming along very slowly and he appears to put in no effort. Same thing with household chores. I think it is almost a personality thing. He qualified for early intervention for both speech and physical therapy. No underlying issue was ever found. It was like he just didn't want to talk, crawl, pull up, etc. I don't think it is very typical. All my other kids seemed to do things as soon as they were developmentally ready to do it. With him, it's like I have to pull him along to get him to "grow up." Suggestions?