4 LDS missionaries were seriously injured. Two were 20 yos from Utah, one was 60 yo from Utah ( mission leader I guess) and one was 20 yo French girl they were dropping off to fly out. The 3 guys were in the departure lounge closest to the bomber and the woman had gone through security but was still injured. So the bombers didnt get past security...which is good in its way because it shows security measures are working but they still managed to kill people... thankfully not as many as they could have because apparently they couldnt fit all their bags loaded with bombs into the taxi and had to leave some behind.

A lot of Asian countries don't supply toilet paper. You either bring it yourself or buy it from a dispenser outside the stall.

My youngest is 6 and not quite reading yet and still loves his picture books. He looks at them for hours. My 9&8 yo read picture books all the time as well. My DD especially is very visually orientated. They do read chapter books of course but whatever picture books I've borrowed from the library for my 6 yo they will pick up and read as well. It is probably time to pack away the toddler board books but my youngest won't let me...he still likes the pictures in them especially if they are fire engine or cat related. Everytime I go to pack them up he says "Hey I was just about to ask you to read me that one" lol..so I guess they will stay out a while longer.

I spend about $50 per kid but stuff is really expensive in Australia so you don't get much for that. My kids have been eyeing off the Kinder Suprise chocolate easter eggs the past few years but they are mega expensive so I never get them but this year there was a really great sale on them so they are getting a bunch of those...the regular ones...a large one and a bunny one. They also get some mini eggs and a large chocolate bunny. Easter baskets are mostly chocolate in Australia..not gifts and toys ...but...my kids also get a new pair of winter pjs because the weather is starting to cool and a lego set each because I found some on sale. So yes ...its a lot but we only have three kids and so they get a bit spoilt...they get nothing from relatives so we dont have to worry about overload.

I haven't used Sonlight officially ..only as a booklist to try it out. My kids did not like a lot of the books. We have been using BYL for the past year and we really enjoy it. So far my kids have liked all the chosen books. I did not really like the Kindergarden level nor did my son but Level 1 we all liked. I would not use BYL just for history though...might be a bit dry. The literature is our favourite part.

People seem to get the idea that those who use anti depressants don't feel sad anymore. That is so not the case. Anti depressants bring you back to a point where you can actually start to feel and care and grieve again. When you are depressed you cant feel anything outside your own pain and you dont care about anything. You scream at your kids because even though you know it will hurt them ..you dont care. Your friend dies ..and you don't care...because all you can feel is your own misery. Anti deprresants make you start feeling again...feeling empathy, caring about what happens to other people. It isnt an escape from outside situations...its an escape from being trapped in your own world of sadness so acute you can not feel or care for anything else that goes in your life.

I take anti-depressants. They don't make me feel happy...they make me feel normal. I don't know of any prescription medication that makes you feel happy.. happiness is something you find yourself. Being depressed is not the opposite of being happy. It's a whole other ballgame.

When my youngest turned 5 last year I suddenly noticed I had free time to myself and immediately enrolled in part time University lol. I felt like I was just rattling round the house when my kids outgrew the toddler stage.. I can see getting a job when they start spending considerable time outside the home or finish homeschooling. I'm not one for the domestic arts lol...I hate cooking so staying at home doing that would bore me. Even though I am often busy I do get very bored. Bored with the routine of childcare and housecare day after day. I'm less bored now I have Uni.. I may finish my degree then do a masters then whatever comes next lol My mum always told me I was going to be bored just being a housewife. She told me she was happy and content with it but people " like me" needed more stimulation. I didn't know what she meant by that then but I do now. The kids don't make me crazy but the routine does. I mean right now its lunchtime ...my kids have been happily playing in the bedroom for over an hour without needing something from me once...not even a fight referee or an I'm huuunnngrrryy. I'm sitting on my bed twiddling my thumbs because my housework is done, I cleaned some boxes out of the garage, cleaned out the fridge, all my Uni work is already done for the week and it's only Wednesday lol...maybe I need to take more classes. I hate sitting around waiting for my kids to need me ...I start to pace looking for things to do lol

None of my kids were planned...all three of them were wanted. My mother gave birth to three accidents ( including me). She always said we were the best accidents that ever happenened to her. Plenty of people have accident children..it doesnt mean they aren't wanted. Unwanted children get aborted. Accident children are more like a surprise you didn't know you were going to get but are thrilled with all the same.

Considering all the evidence that countries who have shorter school days are leading the pack in academic accomplishments I would say a big NO to extra hours. If it where to be accepted it would be for babysitting purposes...not because it was better for the kids. I do not want my kids being under a teacher and peer influence for the major part of the day. Also... how would this affect homeschooled students in terms of extra curricular activities. If they are all being run at schools then what will happen to the community clubs. My kids do extra curriculurs with school kids ...if they are in school till 6 pm will all the outside classes be cancelled? Who will homeschooled kids play with at the park or in the street if there are no kids around?

It sounds like they are trying to introduce project/inquiry based learning. It could work fantastically IF the teacher is properly trained in how to manage a classroom with this type of instruction but it will really fail if the teacher thinks all they have to do is tell the kids the topic and then let them "go at it on their own". The few teachers I have read about who have succeeded in this environment where 100% invested in theory of how this works and they worked HARD to plan and set up the classroom for its success. It might seem like the kids have all the control but in actual fact they are bounding off structures the teacher has put into place behind the scenes. I'm trying to use this method at home and it is tough. There is a lot of preplanning by the teacher that goes into "not teaching the kids" lol. If this is a government initiative that the teachers think is "just another thing to try" and they are not invested in it they won't succeed. They need lots of training about how and why this method works. If a teacher is not supportive of teaching this way or doesn't understand the theory behind it then it very well may be a disaster with the kids doing nothing all day while the teacher refuses to interfere because that's what they think they are supposed to be doing. My kids wouldn't succeed in that environment. My DD9 would have a shot at it and then quickly become discouraged and overwhelmed.. She has dyslexia and although she can read well she has trouble staying focused on an assignment. Even at home she can look like she is paying attention to her math lesson and yet 3 hours later she is still working on it... and getting nowhere. My DS8 who is gifted but a perfectionist would sit frozen in inaction in case he got something wrong. He likes guidelines and rules and concrete answers. He could definitely do the project well...IF you can get him to start because of fear of not doing the right thing. My DS6 .. well that's a laugh. He is totally self directed if it involves Lego LOL He would walk around the class saying he wasn't going to work on it because it was boring and wastes time that could have been spent building Lego. If the kids in the class have never done anything like that before they need instruction and guidelines on how it is to be done. The teacher has to teach them what collaborative/inquiry based learning is and how you do it. There needs to be rules for them to work within or the kids will get overwhelmed. I hope the teacher has received proper training or they will be in for a stressful year.

I sent my kids to kindy when they were 4. One time at morning drop off I was lingering and some of the kids were painting. One teacher went beserk and yelled mean things at a kid because he mixed the watercolours together...not purposely mind you..4yos are not great at washing their brushes well when changing colours but it ended with the teacher banning the kid from painting ...I mean WTF. Another time this same teacher had to changer a diaper for a 3yo special needs child who was allowed to enrol early for extra socialisation and support. The teacher went beserk again yelling at the child the whole time she was changing him and telling him he was dirty and too old for this and that he stunk and was disgusting, The kid was autistic and she knew he had special needs. I quizzed my kids pretty hard but they both denied having ever been yelled at and seemed happy to go ... otherwise I would have pulled them out. To OP... I saw that video earlier this week. It seemed to me she was picking on the kid and had something against her because before she even made the mistake she was being harsh with her. The girl probably made the mistake in the first place because she was terrified of the teacher. I have a perfectionist child who cries at every mistake he makes on his own...he would be to petrified to do anything in this class if he had a teacher like that. I'm surprised the parents of the child were not more concerned...I would never allow my kid to be punished for an innocent mistake like that. They would be unenrolled the second I found out about it.

My MIL amd FIL are this. They are in their 70's and had to sell their home to pay bills and now live in a campervan...in Canada! The sad thing is they were headed to be millionaires from a company they owned but a partner totally hosed them and took everything. So they couldn't retire because they had no money and were left with a ton of business debt. The good news is after many bad years FIL was able to build things up again from scratch and is looking good financially again finally... but his health is failing... he gets sick a lot and still has to travel overseas and to the USA to keep his business going. I pray everyday they don't just drop dead in the harness..it is so unfair.

We had a young boy at our church who had CF. Then a new family moved in who's daughter had CF and the family of the boy joined another ward. Apparently the girl was a carrier of the bacteria that is dangerous to others with CF. In any case they couldn't be together. Nobody saw it as discrimination..it was just what had to be done to keep the boy healthy. The girl is only 12 and has just been given a terminal diagnoses ... they just can't do anything to help her anymore. CF is awful. The OP's case is odd though...especially if he doesnt actually have the disease. I wonder if maybe he tested positive to being a carrier of that strain of bacteria.

We are going for a more interest led approach this year. However it took us forever to find a math program that worked for us (CLE) and I am not about to mess that up so we will still be doing that. We will also continue with CLE LA. My kids HATE workbooks...with capitals.... but they do not protest at doing the CLE math and LA ones. Anything else and the tears start. I don't think just the two workbooks for those is too much and the first grades are relatively short lessons as well. If it's working...keep it going till it's not.

I gave up when I realised that after 3 years of forced handwriting practice my DD's handwriting was still as crap as when we started. I figured it was because she was left handed and has disgraphia that that was the way it was going to be and I wasn't going to bother with it anymore. 3 months later after I gave up worrying or caring about it I was looking at her work and suddenly realised how lovely her handwriting had become. I mentioned her improvement to her and she shrugged and said " Yeah I just decided I didn't like messy writing anymore so now I try to write neat" Little snot LOL... but it made me a firm believer it's no use forcing them...they will only improve when they want to or see the purpose in it themselves.

"If the person is unconscious..they don't want tea" LOL.

My kids LOVE science.. A friend gave us CLE science to try and my kids HATED it...its so boring and dry and seems very below grade level. We already use CLE Math and Language Arts and love it. The science is awful. Do anything else but that...even if it is just handing them a bunch of science books to read and letting them play in the garden.

Can't you just go buy some more gifts to even things up if you feel so bad? Two of my kids got Shopkins stuffies that they have been really wanting. I didnt bother with third kid because he didnt indicate he wanted one. When the other two were playing together with theirs and third kid joined in and was using an old stuffy I went out and bought him one at the boxing day sales...no harm done. My kids know mum doesnt always get it right but does try to make up for my failings lol. I am not sure why Christmas has to be magical. The extent of the magic in my house is kid decorated tree ..check...presents they asked for under the tree..check... Food for DH and I becuase my kids never eat Christmas food or any food at all as they are too excited ...check... thats it.... Everything else is just gravy if we get to it. We didnt even get to make cookies this year.. so we are going to make some this week now that we have time. My kids seem just as content and happy with a mum that tries then with one that is perfect. But then I never pretended to be perfect.. I knew from the start I never would be so I let my kids in on the not perfect but trying mum pretty early LOL.

Everything was a hit here..but I usually only buy my kids things I already know they love and play with. Lego, Shopkins, Playmobil, Skylander game and figures....never any misses with the tried and true lol

Maybe it's a compliment...he thinks you are really skinny lol. My DH bought be a shirt in a size 16. I'm a size 8. Apparently my DH thinks I am way larger then I am LOL.

Nothing for me this year...but if I was getting something I would like some new bookshelves and a Nutra Ninja blender

The 13 storey treehouse series is well loved here.

The 13 storey treehouse series is well loved here.

The only thing my 6yo can write is his name. He can make up original stories but he dictates them to me to write for him. If your DD can write her own stories herself she is doing fine...seriously.