I think if you call yourself "homeschooler" people would assume you were home taking care of the house and kids full-time. I know this isn't universally true, but to me it covers all the immediate bases.

We're one of these rude families that no longer open the gifts at parties. (we did when the kids were very young) Maybe it's because I have boys, but the kids all seem far more interested in the activities and playing, than being stopped for Gift Opening. It's that way at pretty much every party they attend, too, so maybe that's just how it is where I live. When they were younger and I attended the parties with them, a few DID open the gifts, always at the end and the kids were antsy and "sugared up," and I remember thinking, "ugh, here's another 30 minutes of my life I won't get back." Baby showers are one thing -- kids' parties? Eh, I don't want to see the gifts. Nor hear about how he/she "already has one" of whatever it is.

He kicked the cat? Sounds like he has more issues than being unable to apologize. But, yes, I apologize all the time, just because I think when you're in the wrong it's a great way to put yourself back in the right. Why wouldn't you want to apologize? I also think it models healthy behavior for the kids. He kicked. The. Cat? Dude has issues. I don't even see why a parent WOULD have trouble apologizing. It's a most basic skill. You can't really teach it without knowing how to do it.

My kids 9 and 11, don't have them. A lot of their friends do. If/when they get them, it will be for practical reasons (for us) not because they want them. There will be no data plan -- don't want to have to worry about people sending inappropriate images on phones! Or surfing etc.

Where I lived it was more of a visibility issue than snow. I remember times they actually closed for excessive "cold" -- it was THAT cold, and they didn't want kids freezing at the bus stops.

And the TP might start disappearing, too!

What is OAW again? I couldn't find it on the abbreviations page.

We own Settlers of Cataan but haven't played it yet. Anyone care to share what they didn't like about it? I thought it was supposed to be similar to the other strategy type civilization building games mentioned.

We got Wits and Wagers for Christmas and the whole family loves playing it. Sounds like you need adult knowledge, but you really don't. It'll ask questions like, how long (in feet) would a slinky be if you stretched it out? Everyone makes a guess on their pad. Then everyone gets to make two guesses as to whose answer will be closest. You get points for both guessing, and having made the closest answer. Did you know a slinky is 89 feet? I didn't! (and the percentages of kids who own cell phones, or who go trick or treating, etc.) There are also funky questions, like how many eyes a scallop has. The kids LOVE out-guessing us parents on these. (40 eyes, BTW)

Life? Goodness. I'd settle for a great math curriculum.

I think the 3 year old DOES need some time on your lap, and you should make sure he gets it every day! Even if DH has to take care of Jealous Younger Sister. JMO.

Hitting the ground WILL cause blunt force trauma! But, what caused the birds to fall?

For the sake of your kids (and your own peace of mind) I'd keep a VERY great distance from dear old dad.

Lightning Lit selections were not dull for us at all. With the exception of Helen Keller, although we still found the material covered in that chapter worthwhile. I consider it a 1-semester course. We will be finishing soon, and will hold off on LL8 until fall of next year.

My son is strong in language arts, so we are doing Lightning Lit for 6th grade. We both find it very interesting, so I'd call it virtually a perfect fit for where he is now. We started in August and will be finishing up this month, so to me it seems to be a one-semester course. I realized I'm probably not following "the schedule" -- I have him start reading, and then we do a page or two of the lesson each day, and also one or two items out of the worksheets. This doesn't seem taxing. I don't see any particular reason to have the reading completed before starting --doing it simultaneously works fine for us as long as he's read far enough for the particular exercise we're doing that day. (I skip around if need be) Our pace does not feel fast, so I guess the recommended pace might seem slow if we tried that. Even though I have never been a particular fan of poetry, we both found those two chapters VERY interesting. The only selection my son didn't enjoy was Helen Keller -- he had read the Annie Sullivan story the year before and didn't want to cover the same material again, so I allowed him to do the exercises and not read the whole autobiography. Everything else was a winner. I was not tempted to slow down our pace, it seemed comfortable. (we didn't do every suggested writing exercise -- I usually had him pick which one he wanted to do) We'll be doing lit guides for the spring, and pick up Lightning Lit 8 for the Fall semester.

What if they abort the wrong twin? :confused:

Kinda surprised that mom of Girl A (next door) didn't instruct her daughter to go to Chloe's party as she said she would, OR to invite her to the party if she thought that party was no longer on. Mom was clearly aware of the situation -- i can't imagine I would've let it evolve the way it did. (if I were the mom)

Congrats! Now I'm going to have to look up what Calvinism is, because I learned so long ago I forgot.

I think the economy crashes this year. In a bigger way than 2008, I mean.

I decided Latin was overkill for what I wanted from it, which was basically that they learn the roots. So we're doing roots, not Latin. And some Latin phrases that everyone should know. That's it.

"Well if you're any example of the socialization we're missing out on, I think we'll pass..."

My son declared grammar boring halfway through the semester, and moaned through every assignment. I finally decided to order MCT last month. Rather than wait until January to start him, I started him right away. He just LIT UP over it. He loves it. I love it. He make it the last subject of the day so he can enjoy it. He enjoys discussing it, and even making references to grammar lessons at other times of the day. He remembers it. I hope it continues in this fashion for the second semester!

How do you kill all your tasks if you don't have it? What problems does it cause?

Jowls.

Well we use the internal filter (that comes with the DSI) which means they can't get ON the internet unless I give them the code. Or, you're saying you want them to surf safely without paying attention to what they're doing? Can't say I've figured that out. I always watch if they do something internet related on the DSI.