We just bought a new Shuffle for my oldest son; it doesn't have a touch screen but DOES have the ability to organize by playlist (so you could name each Audio Book as a playlist) and have it play that playlist in order. There's a switch on top that tells it "play in order" or "play/shuffle" -- set it to play in order. Then there's a button you press that will give voice-over of what song title is playing, and what playlist. Press and hold and it will scroll through what playlists you have; I think you then release the button when you reach the playlist (in this case, audio book) you want to listen to. You can also do the same w/in a playlist to get to the song (or chapter of audio book) you want. Much more user friendly than the old versions of the shuffle. Might be an option if you want to stick with Apple products and want something that syncs with iTunes rather than needing to load manually.

Thanks for the directions. Hoping I can now go back and find the links for things I bought a few months ago. I asked back then how to do feedback and never got an answer, so hopefully I can track down those purchases at this point. Off to attempt it now.....

Again, I think this is a gross over-generalization. A few specific other countries, yes. The vast majority? Not so much.

Obviously I cannot answer for the OP's acquaintance, but I have three children, 2 of whom I'm fairly certain are somewhere on the autism spectrum (one a very very high functioning Aspie, one somewhere lower, but not sure where). None have been formally diagnosed, and it's unlikely they ever will be. My reasons for that are -- 1. My dh is VERY reluctant/resistant to the idea of labeling. Very. 2. Our current living situation (we are Americans in Brazil) makes it hard to find testing/services in English, and while we all do speak Portuguese, doing something of this nature in the child's 2nd language would likely seriously skew the results. Now, probably #2 is not an issue for the woman spoken of in the original post, but maybe family tension about the dx or possibility of the dx is. Maybe she has other family members with autism, so she knows what she is looking at w/o needing the cost/expense of a formal dx. Also, someone w/o a formal dx still can provide therapeutic activities at home. Personally, I read a LOT on the subject and do as much as possible with my boys. My (I think) Aspie does MUCH better today than he did 5 years ago; home therapy (done by me) helped a LOT. Prayer, patience, pleading with God, research, and implementing what I found out has made a huge difference. Ditto with the one I suspect is further down the spectrum. He's improved a great deal in the past year or two. Now, I'd much rather do it the "right" way and have outside help with this, but in my case, that just is not going to happen. Maybe the lady in the original post has something preventing her as well, but I'd be willing to bet that if she is aware of the autism, and her dd functions well enough to be perceived as "normal" then it's likely she's working with the dd at home, official dx or not.

I would love to do this, but have no idea how. Can you link me to some directions?

What sorts of tips are you looking for? We did that exact cruise (well, out of Galveston) three years ago. My boys were about-to-be 10; 6.5; 19 months. With your youngest at three, I would think you could skip the stroller, or *maybe* bring an umbrella stroller. We had ours on-board (we had one inside cabin), but didn't use it in port; I used my maya wrap. With a 3 yr old, though, I'd think you'd be fine just letting him (her?) walk. As far as packing - small first aid kit, but I take that any time I travel. Bring small toys that have lots of play value -- maybe some travel games, wipe off boards/markers, whatever small-to-pack things really keep your little ones' attention for a while. Don't over pack, as you can easily make use of the Carnival Kids Program during the day, and even can do the paid babysitting at night if you want (we did some nights). In the ports, do kid-friendly stuff. We just toured the market in Progresso and then sat on the beach at a little restaurant; the kids played in the sand/surf right near our table. In Cozumel we went to some park/beach/thing that had "swim with the dolphins" (dh did this with our oldest two at the time) and then hung out there all day. Restaurant, playground, little cove area for the kids to swim, and then snorkeling (again, dh was able to take the 2 oldest in the water to snorkel at the steps, and he & I took turns hanging with the baby; if you fit the 3 yr old with a life vest you could tow him around while you snorkel, the one of you who is not actually snorkeling at the time). I don't remember the name of the place, but it's very popular; you can likely find it on a google search of Cozumel with kids. Skip the dolphin encounter; our oldest remembers it, but not the middle son who was about the age of your oldest. But go to that place; so nice for kids. Lunch was mildly expensive, but not too bad. the Kids' program is great on Carnival, and the facilities on board are good. you really won't need to pack too much. Maybe whatever "must have" snack food if you have picky eaters, but the meals were plenty kid-pleasing as I recall. Go and have fun! It will be a great time!

I don't think you can lump all "other countries" in the "cheap junk exporters" category. Brazil, for ex, exports fruit, coffee, and cotton. Hardly cheap junk, and perhaps a reason they are one of the 4 fastest growing economies right now. Also, they protect their economy by taxing (outrageously) imports, which encourages their residents to buy things made in Brazil. I'm sure if the US stopped buying oranges, coffee, cotton, etc. that would impact Brazil, but the "cheap junk" I think is an unfair generalization to most countries that export goods to the US.

We always more or less thought of having 3 or 4 kids. DH said, from the beginning, "three strikes and you're out" -- his cute way of saying 3 boys and we stop, no more trying for a girl. Well, when #1 was premature, and then #2 was not quite so premature, and then #3 was very premature, and they were all boys, we knew that was that. Mainly we stopped because we knew after three NICU babies that another NICU experience was not something we wanted. Yet, with no known or identified reason (and thus no way to avoid it) for me going premature each time, we knew that another pregnancy would, with 99.9999% certainty, lead to another NICU experience. Not something we wanted, at all. We've been lucky/blessed/fortunate so far that none of our boys have significant delays or handicaps due to their prematurity. But, there's no guarantee that a subsequent preemie would be so lucky. Again, not something we wanted to risk. Add to that the fact that I really yearn(ed) for a girl, not just another baby, and of course there's no guarantee on that either....well, we knew/know: I will not be giving birth to any more children. Period. now -- have we completely, totally, 100% ruled out adopting a little girl sometime??? Probably, but not necessarily. I'd still like to; dh, not so much. But, only time will tell on that one. I don't expect it, I consider us done, and I'm happy/content with that most of the time. If dh changes his mind some day, that will be okay too, but for all intents and purposes, we're done. Because three preemies is enough, and I can't guarantee I wouldn't be (initially) disappointed to have another boy.

Where does your Dad live (general here, not specific)? Skype has some decent deals, and he'll only need to pay for having a phone number if he's in the US. They've increased the rates lately, so I don't know what it costs at the moment, but it's reasonable. We have had and used a Skype-In number for 3+ years now (we live in Brazil and maintain a US phone number via Skype In). There ARE handsets available for Skype. They have versions that are wireless (go through a wireless router; these work whether the computer is itself turned on/connected to internet or not, as the Skype program is in the phone) OR ones that are USB connected (work only when the computer itself is turned on/connected to internet). We had Linksys ones. Our USB one broke in a move, and we don't like to use the Wireless because people forget the time difference when calling us. But we were happy with the quality of both Linksys units when we had them. We have "high speed" internet that tests at about 1.8 megs for download and averages about .5 to .8 megs on upload. Skype works fine on that most of the time, so your dad's 3 meg should be perfect. The fees for skype can be paid as a yearly subscription, and it's more economical that way. I believe you pay one rate for the Skype In (having the phone number) and a different subscription if he needs Skype Out (to be able to call out from there); I think, but I could be wrong, that calling from the US to the US is FREE and would not need a subscription. We pay for ours, but that is because we are in Brazil, I think. The unlimited plan DID go up in price (for us) but I think the US plan is still free or very low cost. Again, it can be done as an annual subscription, paid at one time. If you do that, make sure you use your email so you get the annual renewal email. Voicemail is available as well, I think for free. It's pretty easy to use. We've got all our parents on it and they all figured it out, LOL. I don't know much about the other stuff, but we've been happy with Skype. The only thing is -- customer service is all via email, no live person help. So, should you have a problem, it is a little annoying. The emails are quick and all, but it's a pain. Still, other than that we like it and will keep it for however long we're outside the US.

Not yet, but disappointed to hear there are still glitches with it. My sons beta tested the game, found TONS of glitches, etc. We told them no way WE were paying for it once we saw the pricing. They chose to split it and get it anyway (they will pay their own subscription each month from their allowance; they will share one subscription). They bought it thinking that "all the bugs will be out now so it won't be so glitchy anymore...." I hope they aren't disappointed. Luckily they do have 1st month free so we can play that first month and see how it goes before they spend $$ for a subscription. I hope it's worth it. I'm sorry your son is having trouble with it, though; that is a huge bummer. Just from your siggy tag about him, he sounds a LOT like my oldest. (well, my 10 yr old, too, but minus the Aspie part...). I hope your son is able to still have fun with the game, and that the $$ spent doesn't go to waste.

Favorites of my boys (13 and 10; I won't count the stuff the 5 yr old watches): Mythbusters anything Food Network (Iron Chef America, etc.) Dirty Jobs Deadliest Catch Star Wars Clone Wars (the movie and the TV show/cartoon; there are 2 seasons I think on DVD) Gilligan's Island was a hit (3 seasons) Pokemon (if you want to go that route; I find it annoying, but the boys ALL love it, as do many of their friends) movies are harder because I think we have lax rules, but any of the recent comic book turned movie have been pretty good. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Transformers, Spider Man (1-3), X-Men (all of them), Hulk, etc. I'm sure there are others, but those are some favorites of my older boys. That and Pirates of the Carribean (all 3), Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, and right now they are on a Harry Potter kick. We do a LOT of TV on DVD (series), so.... Oh, they liked the Young Indiana Jones series (Adventures of Young Indy) well enough. Not a favorite, but they watched it. The included documentaries (in the extras) are great for history lessons as well. Also any of the Kratt Bros. Be the Creature (from National Geographic channel) and any other animal documentary. They love Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and Food Network when we are in the US. I think you can't go wrong with any of those shows, whatever plays to your son's interest.

I didn't see any on the boxes/ads in the US when we were just there. But in Brazil, instead of gross graphics of what it can do to your insides, there are pics of a nude man, arms at his side in a "What in the world???" pose/expression on his face, and a giant hand in a thumbs down in front of him. The text (and the very obvious implication of the photo) is that smoking can cause impotence. Honestly, I think I'd prefer the pics of gross innards, blackened lungs, mouth cancers, etc. Gross & graphic, sure, but way easier to explain to teen and preteen boys. (but, apparently, the impotence signs are more effective in this particular culture......)

Not me personally, no, but a lady in our book club has very poor/low vision and she has and loves her Kindle. I do know that the Kindle has more font size choices than the Nook or Sony, so that is the one I would gift someone with if I were gifting someone with poor/low vision.

Oh, (((hugs)))). I understand all too well. My 13 yo boy is in a similar situation, and it is heartbreaking at times. Prayers for your daughter and your momma heart.

That is a neat way to do the tooth fairy w/o actually doing the tooth fairy (hope that makes sense, LOL) I have the teeth in a little box, too, and keep thinking "should I just toss them....???" I also thought, "Oh! We have teeth to dissect!!" when we studied teeth recently as part of a unit on human anatomy. But then one of my boys still believes in the tooth fairy, and I didn't really want him to find out the truth by those means. So, I scrapped that idea. The little box I have takes up virtually no room, can't be used for much of anything else, so I've just kept them and probably will for a while yet. At least until they are all done losing teeth, and then....who knows.

Oh, Congratulations! I know (too well) the feeling of bringing home a little one after a long NICU stay......so very precious and sweet and perfect of you to keep Big Brother for the night and let Momma & Daddy settle in with Chloe. What a tremendous, tremendous gift that is for them.

What always gets me are the "go out and spend hundreds on a new more energy efficient appliance; the savings to your energy bill will be (double digit number) for the year!" Or "make the switch to the CFL bulbs; the energy savings will be (fill in the blank)" -- neglecting of course the up front expense of buying the bulbs, so that in the end, your savings are barely enough (for that first year anyway) to cover the cost of the bulbs. Or not enough to cover the pricier, more efficient appliance. That and "eat at home instead of eating out" or "limit your eating out to once/week." These articles never seem to have ideas that help people who are already trying everything they know to save money, only ideas for people who have never before had to save/watch the bottom line.

No experience with registering as a homeschooler (we were in Texas when we used the ps for speech) but our experience in Texas was a positive one. This was years ago -- my oldest son was 5 at the time (he's 13 now) and just barely diagnosed with speech problems. We did therapy at the public schools for about 6 months if I recall. The therapist was very good also at giving me things to do with him at home; so much so that when my youngest was speech delayed I was able to give him a headstart on things before we started him in therapy (much younger for him) and keep working with him when we moved to Brazil and his therapy ended. Just wanted to share a positive, and also give you a bump so maybe someone with specific info for your region can see this and chime in.

not Pandora, but a radio station in Houston (a Christian Station) plays Christmas music from day after thanksgiving to Christmas weekend. You can listen online at http://www.godlistens.com though you then have to click a link or two to get to the christmas music.

Well, we have not transferred books we used to own to digital (though we did load CDs into our iTunes library and ditch the hard copies), BUT I buy everything on digital version that I possibly can. We are seriously debating a Kindle for our boys. Probably we'll get one at least in the near future, as I begin using Kindle versions/ebooks for as much school as possible. For us, it's a matter of availability and convenience, though. We live outside the US, so finding books in English at a reasonable price (if at all) is hard. Downloading from Amazon is easy. We pared down our paper book library by huge amounts when we first moved to Brasil, keeping only the best of the best of the best. Still, I don't know if I'd have made the move to digital if it weren't for living outside the US where I can't just grab a $5 paperback at the grocery store check-out, or run to the library to find something, etc. When I started paying $20 US and more for a paperback, and had to budget my book money, that's when I knew it was time to change over.

Yes and yes. The easiest way to see the free content available at Amazon is to go to the Kindle Store page, select Fiction from the list on the left, and then select "sort by price: low to high" which will put all the free stuff first. Here's that link -- Amazon Fiction Titles/Low to High Price Or you could do "sort by: publication date" and go to the end and work your way back (to get to the classics; it sorts, unfortunately, by most recent on the first page). Here's Fiction Classics/Price Low to High Once you are in the Fiction listing, there are several categories you can look through as well to help you narrow your search. I've not used the other free books available (Guttenberg Press, etc.) but I know they can be put on the Kindle. Amazon has enough available, though, that I've not needed to. Now -- for the other uses, not sure how well the Kindle does. someone else will have to chime in on that.

We are using TT4 with my 9 yr old and TT7 with my 13 yr old. The CD content and book content (it is a large spiral bound book, not so much a "workbook" in the sense of a small, easily portable manual...) is identical (though the book does not have the bonus problems). My 9 yr old does his work on the computer exclusively; my 13 yr old watches the lesson on the CD only if he needs to reinforce the written lesson in the textbook; he does his work on paper/in the book. Algebra and up (maybe Pre-Algebra, too) do not have the student enter his answers into the CD/computer, so there is no longer self-grading/self-correcting for those levels. They could still watch the lesson on the CD, do the work on paper, and once mom or student has checked answers can still watch the correct way to work any problem, but the instant feedback of entering the answer and the program telling you "Correct!" or "Try Again" is no longer there at those levels. Also, I've heard too that the upper levels are not as hard/challenging as some, BUT that if you do go all the way through the final level (Trig? Pre-Cal?) it IS a complete program. Can't say that for sure myself, we're only starting Algebra next year, but it's what I've heard and what we'll be doing for math. It was easy for both my boys to go from Singapore to Teaching Textbooks. I'm glad we found it.

I have a 5 yr old who can be like that as well. (((hugs)))) to you as you recover from your bad day. I can't tell if you are asking for advice/suggestions, so I won't offer any just yet, but if you'd like some tips of what works for me with my son, I would be happy to share. Mostly I just wanted to empathize with you. Those days are HARD. My cure? A soak in a hot tub, with a book and a soothing drink (coffee, hot tea, glass of wine, whatever the day calls for....). I hope today is a better day for you and your son. ((((hugs again)))))

Yes, this. I'm not military, but do live outside the US (as an ex-pat) and you are so right about how very wrong this is. To exclude the visiting family.....that's just nuts. I'm sorry the BOG felt they had to do this, and I hope you and your mom are able to find an alternative that will feel just as nice as this would have. Maybe if your friends who are offering to skip the lunch really want to, you could all go to lunch together instead. Then you still get the girlfriend/chat with Americans time too. (though of course I understand why you wouldn't want to ask them to do that). :grouphug:

We've always had a policy in our home that it takes 2 yes and only 1 no. In other words, if I want another and he doesn't, I would ask the Lord to help me come to terms with that decision. If I was already expecting, through failure of whatever birth control means we were using, I cannot imagine submitting to an abortion. Well, my dh would not ask that. But, supposing for some strange reason he did, no way I would back down on that. Though, I can see for some that might become a marriage threatening issue, if the two are really that steadfastly committed each to his/her own stance on the issue. If we'd done IVF and had frozen embryos, I'd hope that we'd have reached agreement on what to do with said embryos before we got to that point. But, if not, and the issue came up that I wanted to use them and he didn't, I would argue for donating them rather than throwing them out. If that was still not acceptable to him......well, I would not be super happy about it, but no way I would insist we use them. Again, 2 yes, 1 no. If he was adamant about tossing them, it would break my heart, but I would toss them. And pray for forgiveness and understanding. But I'd for sure argue for donating first.