I'm so sorry your 4 year old is sick. :(

The thing is that as of yesterday she was still having symptoms, so I would say she still is sick (at least as of yesterday). Also, not all of my children are old enough to be able to take precautions like keeping their hands away from their mouths, etc. This would be very different if it was just me and my husband going.

I agree with you if it's just cold and congestion, but it was bad enough for her to stay home from work on Tuesday, go see her dr., and sleep for much of the day. It seems more serious to me than just a simple cold. I guess my thoughts are being colored by the fact that we are finally over something that took 2 1/2 weeks just to get through our family.

I'm so sorry she didn't reschedule! This would really frustrate me.

I agree with you. If it's just a cold where we'd have a minor sore throat and some congestion ... that's no big deal. If it's something like what we had over the winter last year ... no way. I don't know what we caught last year, but it was the most horrible illness I've ever had. Yikes! It wasn't strep, but I have never had a sore throat like that in my whole life (plus coughing, fever, aches, etc.).

I know she's sick with sore throat and congestion. I'm not sure it's viral. I'm assuming that sore throat and congestion symptoms are generally caused by something contagious (unless it allergy congestion). Am I right about that? I guess what I'm really wondering is not so much what you would do in this particular situation, but how you would generally handle a situation like this when someone hosting is sick. I'm wondering if some people would be inclined to automatically just go because their desire to be with family would trump their desire to avoid illness spreading through their family.

Short Question: Is it reasonable to stay home from Thanksgiving dinner if the host is sick with something contagious? More Detail: So we're planning to go to a close family member's house for a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I was originally thinking that we were going to have to stay home because we recently had a pink eye/cold type virus. Everyone's been symptom-free since yesterday, so I was thinking we were okay to go. Then the host came down with something Tuesday that was bad enough that she had to stay home from work to go to the doctor and sleep the rest of the day. She's feeling somewhat better, but is still having congestion and a sore throat. Even if she's feeling better by tomorrow, I'm thinking someone else in her family could be coming down with it (or about to come down with it and be contagious). So what are the chances that my little kids and her little kids won't exchange germs and we'll come home with something that will take 2 or 3 weeks to go through our whole family? Anyway, I would really like to see them, but I really, really don't want to do another virus right now. My tendency is to stay home if I know someone's sick and therefore someone in my family is likely to catch something (like the stomach bug we came home from Thanksgiving dinner with a few years ago!). I'm wondering if you would generally not even take into account the likelihood of catching something, or if you would skip an event if you know someone's actively sick. Thank you!

We don't drink cow's milk here, but I know the almond milk we use won't work for you. :( (We have dealt with lots of allergy issues, too.) One option, though, is what I often have for breakfast: rolled oats (raw) raisins fresh fruit orange juice (in place of milk) LOVE it!

This drives me crazy!

Thanks for your perspective, everyone! :) I checked out the thread from last month, too. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who wants to stay home when my children are sick. It seems like so many people I know come to church when they are very sick. The second Sunday I brought my youngest to church (she was under 2 months), there was a child sitting 2 feet away from me, coughing like crazy. I took my baby out of the service and she didn't end up getting sick, but it was concerning to say the least. We decided to stay home this morning, especially since my daughter had a fever last night. Better safe than sorry! :)

If you or your children have a relatively mild illness, say congestion and a sore throat, do you still go somewhere (like church)? I tend to stay home because I don't want to pass along what I have and I don't want to risk another illness on top of the first one, but I'm wondering if that's extreme. Obviously there are some sicknesses where there's no doubt you should stay home, like stomach bug or high fever/achy kind of sicknesses. So, what do you do when you have a cold? What kind of illnesses keep you home? Do you give much thought to avoiding spreading an illness to others? Thanks! ******* Edited to Add: I often wonder about this issue in general, but am particularly trying to figure out whether or not to go to church this morning. I have a pretty sore throat and mild congestion. One of my children had a 101 fever, congestion, and sore throat last night ... but is feeling totally fine now, with just a tiny bit of congestion. What to do, what to do.... :)

Thank you SO MUCH for all the advice! I didn't think of mentioning that we live in Zone 6 in the North East. I requested Square Foot Gardening and the Garden Primer from my library to read. I hadn't thought of starting to prepare the ground now, but I will talk with my husband about where in the yard we might want to put the garden and see if we can get that started soon. I"m thinking of doing raised bed gardening, so I'll do some research on that too. Thanks again! :)

I would like to start vegetable gardening next year. We've grown some tomatoes and cucumbers in pots in the past, with mixed results, but I'd really like to go for it and start a "real" vegetable garden! I've heard of different methods (such as square foot gardening and lasagna gardening), but I really don't know what's involved and how to get started. We have a large, sunny yard, so there's plenty of space, but nothing is dug up yet. I would really like for my children to be heavily involved in the endeavor, and I bet my oldest two (12 and 9) could really do a lot on their own. Are there any books that you would recommend that would lay out a simple plan for us to get started? I'd like for my older two children to read up on this too, so a book that's not too daunting might be nice. If you have any tips or advice for us, I'd love to hear them! I know it's only November, but if I want something to actually happen next year I've got to start thinking about it now! Blessings, Heart_Mom :) ~~~~~~~~~ ETA: What are your top recommendations for veggies that are good to start with?

Thank you so much! Very helpful AND saved me a trip to the store! :)

I need this for a homeschool project and would like to order from Amazon, but I have no idea if $15.00 is a good price for 250 sheets of colored cardstock. Is it worth the trip to go get this from a craft store, or is this a pretty good price? http://www.amazon.com/Wausau-Astrobrights-Cardstock-Assortment-21003/dp/B000ETXY5K Incidentally, where is your favorite online resource for craft and paper supplies? Thanks!

I think it depends on the child. I have one child who spells practically everything she's ever read perfectly. I'm using Spelling Wisdom with her, which takes only 5-10 minutes twice per week. Perfect fit. I have another child who, wow, spelling is just so difficult. I'm using All About Spelling with him, which takes 15 minutes of one on one instruction per day. But he needs it and it works well for him. If your children are increasing in their spelling skills each year without you doing much, maybe you could just do prepared dictation (as in Spelling Wisdom) with them instead. I love the freedom of homeschooling; I love choosing just what each child needs for their interests/skills/abilities!

Prairie Skirt (black background, vertical rainbow stripes) & turquoise shirt. I never wear shoes unless I leave the house or it's really cold. :)

What does "B&M" stand for? :)

LOL! I'm with you! I've been better the past few days with this. When it's not right, I unemotionally tell him it's got to be redone. It's usually not even something that takes him very long to do. I'm happy to be seeing some improvement. I'm seeking to teach him the truth of Proverbs 15:19: The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. So if I have to be the thorn-maker for now, so be it. Life will not be good to him if he does shoddy work.

This is all so helpful. I think that I might not be 100% consistent in what I'm requiring. I think making the requirements, CRYSTAL clear might help lots to. I think I also need to not feel badly for asking him to re-do it more than once. Time for some titanium in my spine! :)

It depends on the day. Sometimes it's just a sloppiness issue, sometimes sloppy AND below standard.

My oldest (12 year old boy) is rushing through his lessons as quickly as possible. (I'm sure this is not surprising to some of you!) I require that his writing is neat enough that I can read it, that he uses proper capitalization and punctuation, and that spelling is correct if he has the word in front of him or it's a word he already knows how to spell from AAS. I'm thinking specifically about things like timeline entries or IEW keyword outlines or compositions. I have no issue when he is doing his best and not able to get something, but he is generally able to do well when he slows down and puts in a little effort. I typically have him re-do any sloppy work, but this seems to not be motivating enough to do a good job the first time. What do you require in a situation like this? Anything more than a do-over? (I'm assuming that most of you would think that my requirements are reasonable, but please let me know if you think I'm being too hard on him.) Thanks!

My children stumbled across Roy Rogers a couple of years ago, and have become very fond of his old TV shows, etc. Did you know that he spent a good part of his childhood living on a flat boat on the Mississippi River? Anyway, my 12 year old son is wondering how many of children know about him. Thank you!

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions! :) For some reason I just could not think of anything when my husband asked for a new book last night. Now I've got lots of books to put on our "To Be Read' list. Thank you! :)

My husband's finishing up reading Robin Hood to us and would like to something light and fun. Our children range from age 12 down to 11 months. Any recommendations?