[Vacation spending money for kids debate]

I'd give them some money to take.

[Are California Achievement Tests from Seton considered "Good enough?"]

Depends on why you're doing them, I suppose. Are you hoping for some useful information or are you just doing it to satisfy regulations?

 

Personally, I find the CAT a good test to determine where my kids weaknesses are. I do, however, use the most recently normed test. I've never used Seton, so I'm not sure when it was normed.

[If you were buying a tablet now, what would you buy....]

Check out the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 as an alternative to the iPad. It's coming out in July. DH is planning on getting it.

[Do your children look really different from each other?]

My kids look like siblings, but my brother and I look nothing alike. He looks like Micheal Westen on Burn Notice (really!) and gets super dark in the summer. I look like, well, my avatar. LOL, not really, but I have very fair skin, blond hair, green eyes. My brother looks like my mother and I take more after my father.

 

I will never forget the secretary in grade school asking me if I was adopted. :confused: They knew my brother and my mom would volunteer at the school, so they knew her, but they never saw my dad, so I guess they didn't understand why I looked different. It really freaked me out for a while!

[Summer Reading Program RANT]

I'm thinking about instituting my own Summer Reading program next year that encourages them (especially my eldest) to read longer and more difficult books. (She's the queen of blasting through thin twaddle books and complaining about a book longer than 100 pages...ugh!)

 

I did that this year and I've loved how it has worked out so far. I wanted my kids to do specific "school-ish" things every day. It includes reading, but it also includes, for instance, xtramath for my DD and writing for DS9. They check off every day they do it and at the end of the month, we do something fun together. It's easy for me to implement and I'm getting in the things I want to.

[What would I miss if I bought an iTouch and not an iPhone?]

Thanks for the responses! Is it possible to use the aps without wifi? Does the phone have to be connected to the internet to use the aps? That's probably a silly question, but I truly have no idea. I thought the aps had to downloaded onto the device in which case it seems as though the aps should be available all the time.

 

It depends on the app. For example, Angry Birds does not need wifi, whereas Pandora does.

[Let me tell you about my husband.......]

That was beautiful. I'm sorry you're having to go through this. :grouphug:

[How do I get over it?]

My Dad is like this. My mom got to the point where she buys herself a present, wraps it up and opens it on her birthday. He got her a beautiful Coach bag last year. :001_smile:

[Where would you go?]

I just wanted to update this post. Thank you to those that responded.

 

We decided to push the trip to the fall of 2013 in order to save enough money for travel in Europe. Now our plan is to visit London, France (seaside town and Paris), and Italy (Rome, Pompeii, ?). We are staying 7-10 days in each location. For lodging, we are using homeexchange.com.

 

I am open to any suggestions of things to do in our planned locations! :auto:

 

I didn't see this before I posted. Sounds wonderful! :001_smile:

[Did you discuss the Sandusky trial with your kids?]

My teens thought he is a real creep but we haven't focused on this. I am not sure what the OP thinks we should discuss with our kids? That there are monsters out there who act really nice in the beginning? They know that already.

 

Not the OP, but my kids are younger than yours. They are just realizing that there are people out there that s*xually abuse other people. We had an incident with a man near the playground (just yelled at us) and when I happened to look up on the s*x offender registry a couple weeks later, he was on it. I talked to them about it.

 

So when we saw Sandusky on the news, they asked what he did and I told them and they were like, "Oh, like the bad man down the street?" So it's not like I specifically brought it up, but it was discussed in the course of normal conversation/life.

 

ETA: It also brought on an interesting discussion with my oldest about defense attorneys and everyone's right to a fair trial, etc.

[WWYD? paying repairs?]

I would ask an attorney friend to write a letter briefly explaining what happened, why you are not responsible, denying liability, and informing him that you are a represented party and should be contacted only through the attorney. You probably could get an attorney to do this for you for a small sum. I think he need something "official" telling him not to contact you and not to come back on your property.

 

If you aren't willing to pay an attorney to do this, I would type it up myself, leave out the part about only being contacted through your attorney, but in form him that you deny any liability and that he is not to enter your property again.

 

Yes, I would do this. I would also probably call the police to ask them, as well. And don't pay that guy a dime.

[Where would you go?]

I would say rent a beach house in Maine or Rhode Island or New Hampshire, but I'm not sure you could with such short notice. Some parts of ME and NH and virtually all of RI are close enough to Boston for easy day trips for city life, museums, etc.

[Did you discuss the Sandusky trial with your kids?]

We watch the news together every night as a family. They know who he is and generally what he did.

[Do you get pressured by people in your church? (long & WWYD)]

Yikes. That made me frustrated just reading about it.

 

Is there a way you can *only* go to the main service (sundays or whenever it is) and scoot out of the really quick so you don't have to talk to that one man? Maybe he'll get the hint after a while.

 

The only other thing I can think of is to say as nicely as you can, but firmly: "My family and I will attend the meetings that can; however, due to our circumstances, that will not be every.single.meeting. I am thankful that you are enthusiastic about all this, but we need you to respect our decision about this. If you tell us about it once, you do not have to remind us."

 

:iagree: I would be very firm with him that if you do not sign up for something, that means you do not plan to attend. Period. His calling you repeatedly at home after you've said no is very bizarre. In reality I'd have my DH talk to him, because I am terrible about confrontation, but my DH is great at it. In fact, I'd probably be looking for a different church, but I don't know if that's an option for you.

[How do you know what reading level your child is at?]

How do you know what reading level your child is at and what does it mean to you? If I hear another mom say her 2nd grader is reading at a 5th grade level, am I to assume he/she is gifted, or just likes to read. I don't know. I hear moms say this all the time and I don't get it's significance.

 

If I wanted to know my child's reading level, I'd probably look up the books he/she reads from the library on a site like The Book Wizard from Scholastic.

 

If another parent asks me the reading level of one of my children, I would probably give an example of a book they've read recently. I think that tells the person more than saying "5th grade reading level" or some such.

 

A 2nd grader reading at a 5th grade level is not necessarily gifted, but is, IMO, a good reader.

 

Reading level is significant if you are trying to get some books from the library to supplement your child's learning. You'd want to choose appropriate books. It also would be needed to choose an appropriate curriculum level for LA. I could see another parent asking me what reading level my child is if she had a child the same age that she was concerned about. KWIM?

 

With my youngest who has struggled with reading, it is significant for me to be able to say that he is reading solid 2nd grade material and 3rd grade with a bit of help, because less than a year ago he was tested by the PS to be 1st grade reading level. He has come up 1 grade level + in his ability. With my two older children, I don't think about it as much.

[Shocked & devastated]

I am so sorry. :grouphug:

[Handwriting for 8 year old child? Help!]

I used HWT with my (then) 8yo this past school year. It was recommended by the OT who tested him, but he was not offered services. It helped tremendously. We used the 1st grade level and it was a good fit for him. I will say that the 2-lined paper threw him off a bit and I ended up switching him to regular paper. But he has retained how to form the letters.

[What is your secret weirdness?]

I have many...um...idiosyncrasies. One is that the tag on a blanket has to be face down and at the bottom. Another is that I am extremely uncomfortable if cupboard doors are left open. I also hate top sheets and do not use them, even in hotels. Ok, I'll stop now.:001_huh:

[S/O Squeeeee-wedding band photos]

My engagement ring was my DH's grandmother's. It was designed by DH's grandfather and made by a friend of his that was a jeweler. That would have been about 70 years ago. We found the channel set band to match.

[My school's day yesterday]

That is awesome! Congrats! :hurray:

[Would this make me a selfish mommy or a good mommy?]

Keep it and enjoy it! You are being a good mommy because you are showing your DS that hard work pays off. And, congratulations! :hurray:

[I want a bicycle...How do you know what to buy???]

I got a Giant Sedona last year and I've been super happy with it. It's great for the roads and for light trail riding as well. The suspension and seat make this a comfy ride. I used to rip through trails on my Specialized, but I need something a little more mature nowadays. :D It does that without looking like a granny bike.

 

I do think a visit to a local bike store will be your best bet, though. They will fit you properly and answer your questions.

[What is the story behind your username?]

Mine's not really creative. I've been a Mario fan since the 80s. I just wanted something fun for a username and I wanted to be anonymous on the boards because it's open to the world to read.

[Do you have a 10-12 year old]

Feel free to pm me. :001_smile:

[Adrian is in the hospital and i am visiting a nursing home to tomorrow]

:grouphug: I'm so sorry.