What do you mean by "normal" scissors? Scissors made for right-handed people are NOT normal for lefties. True left handed scissors have the blade set differently, not just the handles. Ask him to cut on a line. Can he do it? If so, does he have to look over his hand to see the line? If not, do you know why not? It's because of the way the blade is set. Try cutting with a pair of true left handed scissors and see if that's normal for you. Most schools and many churches now have one or two pairs of left handed scissors available. If yours doesn't, maybe you can be the one to educate them. You'd not only be helping your child, but other children too. Sorry, I don't mean to go off on you, but my mother was one who refused to understand what being left-handed means when it comes to using tools designed for right-handed people. She thought I was clumsy and constantly criticized my "adaptations". Did you know that lefties have more accidents with power tools than righties? This is not because they're clumsy, but due to using tools not meant for left handed people. I know there are many lefties who will say they do just fine adapting, but why should you have to? There are many products available for lefties, and if you can afford them, why make things so much more difficult for a left-handed child? Okay, off my soapbox. To try and redeem myself, I'll give you some practical advice. This website has some really good information about scissors and writing. I usually direct righty parents of lefties there. This one is good too, but the first one has more practical advice IMO.

This is my thought too. There are a few houses in our neighborhood where they give out bottles of water or juice boxes. Since this is Florida, the kids are usually hot and sweaty (yes, at the end of October), so the drinks are most appreciated. Kids usually drink them while ToTing. In general though, it's a candy holiday. For the past few years we left a bowl on a bench on our front porch. We fill it with non-choclolate candy so it won't melt, and put a note saying we're out ToTing, so please take some but leave some for others. We've never come home to a totally empty bowl. I must be feeling grumpy too. Why even respond in this thread if it's only to say we don't give out anything? That wasn't the question.

I have no advice, but I'm sorry. I know how irritating it is when people think your kid with ADHD is *choosing* to misbehave, do something impulsive, or not focus, or that you are lacking in parenting skills. BTDT, know the frustration. :grouphug:

A friend on facebook posted this recently. I love it! :lol: She included a warning.

Ds loves Fred Weasley and wanted to be him one year. We bought some spray hair color to make him red-headed (he's dark blonde). Everyone thought he was Ron, especially since the two friends he was with were Harry and Hermoine. He kept telling people, "I'm not Ron, I'm Fred!" :lol: I think we bought his robe and wand at a Spirit Halloween store.

:iagree:I've always taught my son, not a curriculum or philosophy. If something isn't working for him, I find something that does Off topic, but the best administrator I ever had when I was a ps teacher used to say she knew she was talking to a good teacher when the answer to "What do you teach?" was "I teach children ________". Not I teach math or history or exceptional ed, but I teach children math or history or who have special needs. It's the same for us as homeschoolers. We teach our children. Period.

Oh yes, Graham Norton. We discovered him because the show used to come on after Doctor Who.

:lol: Same here!

Kitchen Nightmares, Torchwood, Robin Hood, The Tudors. We liked Primeval when it first started but then it got even weirder (the premise is pretty weird to begin with) and we stopped watching. If you have Amazon Prime and a way to stream, they have a lot of British shows that I haven't seen on BBCA. I've been enjoying MI-5 and Doc Martin. Sherlock is good, but I only found a few episodes. I don't know how many there are. I think some of the British shows are also on Netflix Instant.

I would call them on Monday when the office opens. That happened to my son on a weekend too, and our practice's website addressed it as a non-emergency but something you should take care of on the next business day. Be aware that he might have to have the spacers on a little longer and move the braces appointment to a later date. Luckily this was not the case with ds, so it isn't a given. They should be able to tell you when you go to get another spacer put in.

That was fun to watch. I'm going to share it on facebook.

No, they are not urban legends. HSLDA has subtly changed it's wording over the years. Older membership application forms were quite clear that you needed to use a recognized curriculum. I know because at one time we were going to join and I had the application in hand. I read it. What you call urban legends are based on HSLDA's past. Speaking of their past, anyone who wants to know more about Michael Farris and Greg Harris should read The White Paper by Dr. Raymond Moore. In fact, anyone who uses HSLDA or is thinking about using them, should read it. Farris, Harris, and 2 others, collectively known as The Four Pillars, are really the reason why homeschooling split into Christian and Everyone Else. It's a long paper, but we're Classical Education moms, so that shouldn't matter. This is the history of homeschooling, and HSLDA's part in it.

I was listening to Here and Now on NPR this afternoon while running errands. I didn't hear the beginning, but a writer was reading his journal from 9/11 and the following days (he and his then-girlfriend, now-wife lived in NYC at the time). He kept having to stop reading because he got choked up over the memories. I was getting choked up while listening. DO NOT listen to that kind of thing while driving. It was just so sad.

I agree with eternalknot's reply. Living at home doesn't mean Mommy takes care of you. Dss pulled his weight and was treated like an adult. A roommate who didn't pull his weight would not remain a roommate for long. While an adult child is not the same as a roommate, the expectations were the same. That was not a rule with dss. He was an adult and we treated him like one, so whether or not he chose to have a woman sleep over was up to him, not us. We only asked for a heads up so we wouldn't wander around in our pj's in the morning. When I was single and had roommates, we all gave each other that same consideration.

It takes ds about 4 hours and he's an 8th grader this year. Some days are shorter, some are longer (especially science experiment days). We follow a college style schedule and don't do every subject every day. Part of what I like about homeschooling is that the typical school distractions aren't there, so you can get done faster. I do know people whose children do school all day, and that's fine for them. I've never been one to compare our homeschool with others though. I know I'm unusual in that I truly don't care about what others are doing. If you feel they are meeting the goals you set, I wouldn't worry about how long it takes to meet them - just be sure they are being met. *I should also point out that I only have one child. I can't compare our school day to that of a friend who has 4 school age children. Every family is different and every homeschool is different. :confused: But if that is followed a senior in high school would be doing school for 12 hours a day.

I love facebook. I don't play any of the games, so I don't have that distraction. I love keeping up with family and friends. Even with local friends, I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to, so keeping up with them on facebook is nice. And I like looking at the pictures they post. The only high school friends I have on facebook are ones I've kept in touch with anyway. I'm not interested in connecting with people I haven't seen for nearly 40 years and who weren't good friends to begin with. I do have friends I've never met IRL, but they're people I've known online for some time and I know we are alike in many ways. I don't have drama on my facebook page. Most of the people I know who do are either fb friends with people they don't really know, became friends with old classmates and then found out they're not the same as they were in high school, or are drama queens or kings themselves. Yes. Being old doesn't automatically make one a techno-phobe. I know a lot of grandparents and great-grandparents who embrace new technology, including smart phones and social media. I think much of it is personality related rather than age related.

Keep the driver happy. A happy driver is a safe driver is what my mother always said. I think it was just her way of insuring she didn't have to listen to my music when I was a teen. ;) If it's just ds and me in the car, he will sometimes ask me to put on a station he likes, but he's been taught to always ask. I usually comply, but I want him to ask. We mostly like the same music though, so he only rarely wants a different station. As for temperature, our van has different adjustments for driver, passenger, and back. I can't stand a fan blowing directly on me, so I adjust my vents along with my temperature.

This is how we did it with my stepson, and how we'll handle it with ds 14 when he turns 18. When dss wasn't working or in school we expected more of him around the house. While he was in fire school, we expected an amount of work that was reasonable from someone attending school all day plus having homework. When he was working, we expected him to contribute money as well as time, just like any working adult. We did not have rules beyond make sure we know who you're bringing over (we have the right to know who's in our house), let us know if you'll be here for dinner, let us know if you won't be coming home at all tonight, etc. It worked out well with dss and he moved out when he was ready. I'm counting on it someday working out with ds too.

Nay. Nay. Nay. For all of the reasons already mentioned.

:iagree:That's why the mods are asking people to "Think before you post".

*like*

College. Tallahassee - Florida State University. Late 70's. A bunch of us in the dorm singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our lungs. Thanks for the memories, Freddie. I still miss you.

Yes. Vacuum sealed meat lasts about 3 years. By "lasts" that means still tastes good. It wouldn't have gone bad if it was frozen the entire time, but it just might not taste as good as fresh. I'm not one to take chances on food that even *might* be spoiled, but there's no reason to think that meat, frozen and stored the way it was, is bad.

That pretty much covers it here. As he got older I had to add no texting during school time, and if he's on the computer doing school work, no sneaking off to gaming sites or youtube.

I thought that too, then though maybe she's just not listing the sides. Otherwise it looks good. I've never been good at themed nights, but it really can help when you have to be out and don't want to always be coming up with something new or different.