I have an adopted son and we are in contact with his birth family, although they live in another country so the situation is different from yours. I don't expect him to be in physical contact with him until he is an adult, and then of course it will be up to him as to whether and how he wants to do that. I don't know if you are aware that some birth parents find the term "birthmother" offensive. Some people prefer to be called "first mother". You might ask her how she feels about it and what she would like to be called. You can tell her your preference as well, as the two of you could agree on the terms you will use. This would probably be helpful if you are going to be in regular contact, so that there is consistency and a sense of stability for him. And congratulations on your new son! :001_smile: ElaineJ

:lurk5: My 3 year old has this right now, and they are continuing to spread. Nothing really seems to be helping, so I would love to hear of sonmething that would at least keep him from getting new ones. I did try opening one up and taking the pussy center out to see if that would help, but it didn't seem to do much for it. Hope we find some answers! ElaineJ

I took the survey. Thanks for the opportunity. ElaineJ

Not usre what to tell you about cleanup...sorry! It will be a funny story to tell him the next day, though. My sleep walking boy went into my kitchen one night and peed all over my pots and pans in the kitchen cabinet. That was a pretty disgusting thing to encounter while making breakfast the following morning, let me tell you! :ack2: ElaineJ

I predicted her identity accurately as well, although my dh disagreed with me up to the end. :) I found the rest of the plot to be rather unsatisfactory, however. Without giving too many spoilers, I'll just say that the whole war seemed a bit out of the blue, or at least the collection of players in it seemed unexplained and bizarre. and WHAT is up with the headless monks! :confused: OH well....it was still fun to watch, of course. ElaineJ

I find listening to Bach's music to be restorative. Somehow it communicates to me the great diversity of the world brought into a beautiful, unified harmony. ElaineJ

So sorry to hear this! Praying for you. :grouphug:

My dd7 still can't ride a bike. Last time we tried to teach here she fell off and hurt her arm badly, so I think she is too scared to try again. :sad: Maybe this method will work better for her. Thanks! ElaineJ

Thanks, Laura. That is helpful to hear his response to Frankenstein as well. I am compiling a book list for middle school kids. ElaineJ

Have your kids read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? How old were they when they read it? Were they able to identify with the theme? did they enjoy it? ElaineJ

I don't currently have kids in 4-H, but I was very involved as a child myself and had a wonderful experience. I think it is great for fostering community involvement and developing useful skills. ElaineJ

Welcome back! I remember you well, although I am mostly a lurker (as you can tell from my post count). I always enjoyed hearing (reading) what you had to say. I am so very sorry to hear about your son. :grouphug: I am currently reading Father Elijah by Michael O'Brian, Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers and Signs of Life by Scott Hahn. ElaineJ

I agree with the basic premise that American Christians cannot currently be described as being persecuted, although I do know some American Christians from minority family backgrounds who have been. One woman I know, for instance, had her family throw all her things out on the street and tell her not to come back after she decided to pursue a vocation of Christian ministry. These types of situations are a product of family culture rather than the culture of the overall nation, however. I guess I see and experience something as rude and agressive ("persecuting" in the extremely loose definition of the word) depending on the intention of the person addressing me. If they are saying or doing something I don't like or which offends me but I sense a concern and care for me, I don't feel too attacked by that. If I sense hostility and complete lack of concern for me as a person or any group with which I identify, this feels like an attack. So I think Camping's followers were misguided, but I do not feel anger or contempt for them. Of course they would want to warn me if they really thought the end of the world was coming! that is where I don't really understand the gleeful outpouring of bitterness and scorn for them I have seen in many places the past few days. It seems like people are delighted they were "shown up" and delight in calling them idiots. Elaine

:grouphug: Praying for you and hoping to hear an update with good news. ElaineJ

Thanks for your input, everyone. From your collective experience, it does sound like a migrane. If it happens again I will take her to the doctor to get checked out. Thanks again, ElaineJ

Seizures can manifest as a super bad headache too? How did you end up figuring out the problem? I hope she is doing well new. ElaineJ

I didn't realize before this experience that kids could have migranes too. I feel so bad for her! It sounds like maybe I should take her to the doctor and have her evaluated even though she feels fine now? I'm just hoping we won't need to do a lot of tests because our insurance is not very good. ElaineJ

Yesterday my dd7 and I were walking home from co-op and she seemed fine. When we got home, she suddenly said her head hurt really badly, but only on one side focused on the temple area. she has complained about these one sided headaches before, but this one seemed to get extra bad very quickly. she ended up on the sofa curled up in the fetal position and got nauseous, throwing up three times over the course of the next few hours. then she fell asleep. When I woke her up to check on her a few hours later, she said she felt better. This morning she woke up and seemed perfectly normal. I did some searching online to try to decide if I should visit the doctor and her symptoms sound like some descriptions of migranes. anyone with experience in this with a kid so young? Any suggestions? ElaineJ

I was homeschooled and I am now home educating my own kids. My brother who had the same upbriniging, however, is adamant that his kids must attend a traditional classroom school. I think how our generation feels about homeschooling is influenced by how ok we are with being different. When we were kids, our situation was considered very strange because our parents were the pioneer generation. We were always having to explain ourselves to others. My brother has a longing to be "normal"; I really didn't care as much if I wasn't in the mainstream. this will probably be different for our kids, though, as so many families are homeschooling now. ElaineJ

In my experience, having an agitator makes a big difference in how clean your clothes get and how well they stay in shape. I would definitely buy a new one with an agitator. Just my two cents- ElaineJ

The kids will be in 6th through 8th grade and there will be boys and girls. I hadn't planned on having a theme, but I think it is an interesting idea to consider. I was going to look through lit guide options once I had some recommendations in mind. I don't know if I will necessarily use lit guides, though; I don't want to spend tooooo long on any one book. My goal is to get them used to thinking about and discussing books in a way that will prepare them for IEW's Windows to the World in a year or two. Thanks for your good suggestions! I'd love to hear more. ElaineJ

I am thinking through a "book club"\ gentle lit. analysis class for my son and some kids in our co-op next year, and I wondered what the hive would recommend for classic books appropriate to cover in this kind of setting with middle schoolers. By "classic", I don't mean that it has to be Homer :001_smile:. But I do want to use books that are truly quality literature and which will be enjoyable as well as helpful in their further studies. Any suggestions? Thanks! ElaineJ

The answer key is the one included in the Memoria Press study guide. We often have this situation in which it orders the sentence one way and my son does another. The problem is that I don't know enough Latin to know if it sounds unnatural or not. Thanks for your help, wapiti and Ester Maria! ElaineJ

That was helpful! Yes, I mean from English to Latin. (I can figure out Latin to English without much trouble, as I'm pretty familiar with English grammar.) An example of my problem would be like the exercise from yesterday in which he translated "There was war in Gaul on account of the slaughter of the leading men" as "Erat bellum in Gallia propter caedem principium". the answer key translates this as "Propter caedem principum bellum erat in Gallia". Would his translation be unacceptable? Could it also be Propter caedem principum bellum in Gallia erat"? You know, I think we're reaching the point where we need a class for Henle, but we just can't afford the Memoria Press classes by next fall. Thanks for your input- ElaineJ

I have no Latin background and I am learning along with my kids. Ds is currently doing Henle using the Memoria Press schedule for units 1-2. I grade his work with the answer key provided, and he sometimes puts his words or clauses in a different order from the way they are presented in the sentence. If he has all of the case/gender/number correct, does it matter if the sentence structure doesn't match the answer key? I've heard that there is more variance allowable than there is with English, but I just don't know enough about Latin to know to guide him. Thanks for your help, ElaineJ