I don't make my son eat food he definitely doesn't like, but I do make him try it a few times to establish that. I am willing to try new foods as well, and I even revisit things that I didn't really like before. Nobody is forced to eat anything that they absolutely cannot stomach, but in our small family we have very different food preferences, so there has to be compromise sometimes.

No. Nothing like that. It was a vent about people who aren't willing to work/look for work, and not so much about them having children :)

I get judgy when it comes not wanting to work and support the kids -- don't care so much about the number of children being supported. I think work ethic is important, and something that should be modeled to children. Kind of hard if you are playing video games instead of out looking for a job. I realize that in this economy, there are many people who have a work ethic and no job. (Some people with jobs and no work ethic). I'm just saying that, when I encounter this sort of attitude, I have a hard time keeping my thoughts to myself. Usually the confounded look on my face speaks for itself. SIL: "Well, we're just both going to quit our jobs and the four of us will go to college and live on the loans and grants. They give you a lot of money." Me: "You know you have to pay the loans back, right?" SIL: "Yeah, but that's a long way out." Me: Eyebrow raises. SIL: "A really long way out." Me: Eyebrow raises higher. SIL: *actively motioning with arms to indicate just how far away the repayment date is* "WAY OUT!" We had this conversation while they were living with us temporarily after being evicted. Let's get evicted and then quit our jobs?? While living off of a family who is paycheck to paycheck. WHAT? So the attitude is out there and I think people who have a negative view of having kids while on assistance have probably been jaded by it.

That poor woman.

I would add that they started to get to know each other first online, through playing Call of Duty etc and then our families started to interact.

We've made relationships solely based on the fact that there were blood ties. People we never would have known. It's been good for us, though, since we're not that social, lol. It's given my lonely little 6yo many cousins his own age to play with, and I like to think I've been a friend to my SILs. My husband's family is dysfunctional in terms of adoption/birth parenting etc, but not toxic. At first I found it weird, but now I understand why my husband took the steps to work on these relationships.

I use cookbook recipes to make things from scratch... if I want a CheezWiz recipe I'll look on the back of the can/jar. It would be different if it was sponsored by Kraft or something like that. And even then, they don't tend to use processed foods, it's more like "2 cups of Gold Medal Flour, and 1 cup of Dominoes sugar"

What are your most beloved storybooks for your babies? :)

Love these ideas!Especially the headbands and the crayon stubs. While we can afford to buy a present for my 6yo (the baby will not be getting much lol), he has so many little friends and I can't afford to buy all of them new toys. I'd love to do some family projects. I think I am going to do moonsand, as long as I can figure out how to color it :)

First grade. That's the grade for all the other kids his age. Most of our materials are listed as second grade, but I don't think most people need that explanation. In fact, the only time I mention it, is when I am trying to explaining how his autism diagnosis affects him - he has difficulty with certain social situations, but is doing above-grade-level in math. (When people wonder why the local public school was not a good fit, when at one point it said he'd need to be in a special ed classroom, and at another point stated he needed no educational supports whatsoever.)

I order them from my library (ILL through the online catalog) as I plan lessons. I wouldn't want to buy all of them - even if I had the money, we probably wouldn't read them all. At least not with a first grader. There are some books that I've picked up from the library, flipped through, and stuck right back in the returns box. I plan to read them when we go through the cycle again. Anyway, now that I have my little system set up, I find it's working pretty well. There are a few books that I buy, mostly books of stories or myths.

We moved away from our church and continue to commute. We travel and we're involved, so I guess that's a yes to your question. However, if I was in your situation I would at least visit a new church. We're also lucky to host a small group, so once a week church comes to us. Kind of a big deal when you spend $10 roundtrip and you don't really have $10 to spare :blush5:

I found out my 6 yo didn't understand how magnets work. He was doing an art project with the library and asked the instructor whether they were going to use tape or glue, and she, being a little perturbed as his interruption just said "no" and kept explaining. So he looks at the two pieces of construction paper dubiously and says..."Soooo, magnets?" Ended up being glue.

I cant answer the "what to do with a 2 Yo" question, but for my son who needs a lot of sensory stuff, I keep a board on Pinterest full of ideas and have ingredients on hand. I'm not very go with the flow or creative wih educational stuff, but its a nice compromise I think. I just pull up my pins, look at what I have on hand, how much time and mess is involved etc.

Shoes, eyeglasses, vacuums, and carseats are the only things I could think of where we buy quality over price (and some electronics). I do prefer to buy quality clothing secondhand versus buying cheap clothing at Walmart. I have no idea what that says about me!

I birthed at a hospital 60 miles from home so, yeah, *I* would... but I like the idea of chilling with my feet up while the ILs bring me food :) I'm less easy going postpartum, though; all the women in my church are the type to show up for worship immediately after a C-section, and I was still sitting at home two weeks after my far-less-eventful birth, because that's what felt right for me :)

I've made this one many times and it's always a big hit. The crust especially, with the ground-up pecans. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bourbon-Pumpkin-Cheesecake-108770

It's going well. I changed the way I do planning - which is a big deal, as my husband does 80% of the teaching. I believe it's more organized and easier for him. I am still struggling with making school more hands-on and less pencil-and-paper. My son's learning style is CLEARLY not sit-and-listen, so it's in everyone's best interests to work on incorporating more of that :) However, despite that, he's doing well in everything except history. I think he's finding SOTW 2 a little dry. We're going to stick it out, but I might get the Jim Weiss recordings from the library and see if that helps. He loves stories on CD.

I say "he's a baby... don't take it personally." Although I think that people with lots of baby experience tend to be better with them. They have the spot on your hip where babies fit, and they fall right into that baby-bouncing rhythm :tongue_smilie:

Our boy would've been Maria Claudette if he was a girl.

It's either passive-aggressive, or this woman is in a pit of misery and unable to ask for help in a more socially acceptable way.

I think it's just something people say. Our marriage doesn't take work, per se, it takes compromise and sometimes requires long boring talks about feelings. It does sometimes feel like a job to hold my tongue when I want to make some clever (but nasty) remark, but it gets easier with practice :tongue_smilie:

I've had several friends develop shingles in their early thirties and they had CP as children and were never vaccinated. I'm curious about that.

We have oil heat and a pellet stove. The pellet stove is cheaper to run than oil, but it costs more upfront to buy a pellet stove than a regular wood stove. However, it's pretty easy to install. My husband did it himself and he's not handy (he did have to borrow tools to bore through the side of the house.) I don't notice a smell, and my clothes don't seem to have the burnt, woodsy aroma ;) However, I do like woodsmoke so maybe I wouldn't notice it so much.

My induction turned c-section baby was, surprise, a Tuesday! The rest of us were born on weekend days.