I think that seems fairly reasonable. She inconvenienced Daddy by being rude and making it harder for him to do his job (get everyone home safely), so it seems very fair to me that she should then do something to benefit him. I have to admit that I see a huge difference between the occasional being difficult vs. an ongoing thing. If it's happening frequently, maybe there's some way to make the transition to going home easier on her, but maybe she's also just the kind of kid who really hates to be done with a fun activity and who will always push for more. I'd deal with that one differently then I would a kid who is usually compliant; for an ongoing thing, yes, I think it might be reasonable to have that child skip an outing. If this is a particular character issue, then I think the "boot camp" idea is reasonable, even if that means one adult has to miss the outing. That's parenting sometimes.

Answers are good! That sounds similar to what the allergist said for my 7yo son. His scratch tests came back with some grasses and molds, mostly, with indefinitive for cats and dogs (meaning they don't consider him to be allergic to them now, but he could develop allergies to them in the future). His allergist prescribed: -Zyrtec once a day -Fluticasone nasal spray, one spray in each nostril, twice a day -Albuterol before running around and as needed I take Zyrtec myself on many spring/summer days but don't take it if I don't need it. If I don't need it, I don't always give it to my son; it just depends on how the day feels. For instance, it rained heavily the last two days, so the air is very clear today; I did not wake up stuffy at all, so I didn't take the Zyrtec. I did give it to DS7, though, because he was going somewhere with Daddy this morning where they'd be outside. So if the Zyrtec makes you feel weird or anything, I think it's reasonable to do some trial and error to see that you're taking it only when you really need it. (If I don't take Zyrtec in the morning and find I need something later, then I take Benadryl, as I'm afraid that the Zyrtec, being non-drowsy, will keep me from sleeping.) The nasal spray really cleared up his post-nasal drip cough in the winter; he's been off it for a while this summer, and the cough hasn't returned; if it does, I'll give start the spray again.

I'm telling DH that the two minutes we spent alone together during DS3's birth when the older kids were outside counts as a date. Yes! :001_smile: Seriously, though, the last time DH and I went somewhere, just the two of us, no children, and not even any other couples, was almost six years and two children ago. It *was* nice. It was quiet and fancy and relaxing and pleasant. It was also extraordinarily expensive (New Year's Eve at a fancy restaurant in downtown historic Gettysburg) and totally not necessary to the care and keeping of our marriage. (We did go out to a movie this past winter, but we took the baby with us.) I don't think date night is necessary to every marriage, but I think it's nice for couples to take time to spend together, and not necessarily just for teA. It's nice to have evenings where you watch a grown-up show/movie or chat or play a game without the kids. I can remember my parents feeding us and putting us to bed a little early on Friday nights, and then they'd have a nice dinner and some time together afterwards, even though nights out were very rare for them. I'm sure that all fell apart when we were teens and I got a boyfriend, but I know when I was a tween, they'd still put the littles to bed, and I'd just hang out in my room by myself for a while (which wasn't a big deal; I was happy to read on my own anyway).

That sounds good to me. My DS2 will be 4 in October, and he BEGS to do schoolwork with me. We have some workbooks from Rainbow Resource that he loves, and I'm thinking about doing 100 Easy Lessons with him. He comes along for the ride with the big kids' history, science, art, etc. too, and co-op will have a class for him too.

I made the paleo sweet omelet yesterday, and it was a nice change from the regular eggs/omelets I've been eating. I toasted a handful of walnuts in a skillet with some butter. Then I removed the walnuts and added more butter. I beat two eggs and added a splash of vanilla, and then I added that mixture to the skillet, just like for a regular omelet. When it was a bit set, I added a couple of dollops of cream cheese, the walnuts, and a sprinkling of cinnamon; then I folded it all over like an omelet. It wasn't super sweet, but it was good. I think I'm making meatloaf for dinner tonight, stuffed with spinach and mozzarella cheese, with some sort of cauliflower dish on the side, and either a salad or coleslaw. I am looking at the various recipes for coconut, chocolate, and sweetener. I want to try some sort of fudge or something. DH has agreed to bring home some shredded coconut and dark chocolate.

My mom was 14, my dad 17, and they wouldn't even meet for about four more years, so there was no me back then. :)

LOL, yes, I do have younger children; my oldest is ten, and I definitely wouldn't trust her to administer the epipen herself. I wouldn't want even a teen or adult to be responsible for self-administering in an emergency, if I could help it. In her situation, I'd probably start with the coaches of her sports, and someone at her church -- those seem like the most likely occasions for food problems. A coach would also need to know if there are restaurants that are safe or not safe for her, if the team stops on the way home from games. I think a medical alert bracelet might also be a good idea for her. I did not opt for one for DD yet because she's young enough that she's rarely away from us (and if she is, she's with people that I have taught to use the epipens). Do contact her high school, though; when I was in public high school, they had a strict policy about students carrying any sort of medication. I had to get special permission to keep my asthma inhaler with me, rather than locked in the nurse's office (which would be a terrible place for epipens, when every second counts), because I was traveling to a local college as well.

She should take the epipens everywhere. We take DD10's epipens everywhere she goes, even if she's not planning to be outside (her allergy is to bee stings), just in case. I would also talk with a few people that you trust -- senior lifeguards, friend, youth group leader, family friend, someone at the college -- whomever is likely to be around a lot, especially at eating functions, and I would train a couple of people to use the epipens.

Thanks for sharing that. Still not sure. I'll have to look into the likelihood of it around here.

I don't think it will be a problem. My DD routinely studies history eras on her own that have no correlation to what we're studying as a family. When we were deep into studying castles and knights in the Middle Ages, she was still obsessed with colonial American history. This year, she's taking a co-op class in Renaissance history, and we're studying ancients at home. I don't think it will be a problem. If you get to American history topics as a family that you studied in co-op, you can do them lightly, or do different projects/read different books.

A couple of questions: if DH and I had the vaccine as children, it sounds like our immunity could be wearing off. So maybe boosters would be in order for us, even if I don't plan to get it for the children. But since I'm nursing our littlest, could that put him at risk for it if I got the booster, even though he's at very low-risk for getting it otherwise? (DH works in a very, very small office, and we are not around very many people; if there was a significant outbreak around here, we absolutely could keep the children home and out of the general public for an extended period of time.) Another slightly silly question: if we (DH and I) don't currently have health insurance, would we have to pay for the vaccine?

It's an act! Really! The guy at my bank at the grocery store says the same thing, and truly, it's an act. I'm very scatterbrained. I routinely lose my sunglasses, keys, and everything. I can't remember anything short-term unless I write it down. Google calendar lets me fake being organized. :)

So glad the news was good -- so sorry about the truck, and I hope he doesn't have any further problems.

Don't worry too much about him yet, mama -- he's still pretty little. My DS1 is sandwiched between a whirlwind of an older sister and a whirlwind little brother, and he's very shy and quiet to boot, whereas the other two are not. He blossomed a ton after he turned six, though, and he's come into his role as the oldest boy/older brother.

I do. I hope I will feel done someday. I would really, really like at least one more in a couple of years. I figure if God sends them, He'll send a way to provide for them too. If I never have another baby, though, and four is God's will for us, I will be okay with that. I will be grateful for the four He gave us, and I will know that I enjoyed those four as much as I could. ETA: I have had easy pregnancies and births and really, really like babies a lot, and I think that probably makes a difference. The hands-on type of parenting that infants needs comes easily to me, so I have fond memories of those days. Part of me says I could be a surrogate for someone because I love being pregnant and giving birth (mostly; there are always a few weeks toward the end when I'm ready to be done, as well as a short time during labor when I'm not so happy), but I'm not sure I could then not be the one to snuggle, feed, and nurture that baby.

Realmilk.com.

I feel better now. I have, once or twice, paid $60 to clear fines, but that was for a couple of cards. These days, $12 would be a lot; usually if there's anything, it's fifteen cents or so. I use three library systems, with several cards for each system, so easily 9 cards to keep track of. Thankfully, they do email reminders, and one county's system will take books from their system or one of the other systems. I also have google calendar (lovely invention!) set up to email me reminders. One day a week, it reminds me to check the books for one system (because we're near that system on that day of the week), and a different day, it reminds me to check the books for a different system (because DH is near there on that day). Setting up google calendar has *really* cut down on my late fines and has made things SO much easier for me! (Also, living kind of far from the libraries actually helps, because I know we routinely check books out and return them on a specific day of the week. Fewer random "oh, shoot, I forgot books were due a different day" moment.)

My DH eats: -breakfast -- several eggs, fried in butter; black coffee. Bacon or sausage or omelets (mushrooms, cheese, onions -- he makes amazing omelets) on the weekends. -lunch -- usually leftovers from the night before. He eats almost all protein, usually meat, with some green veggies on the side if we have any (either leftover cooked veggies or cucumbers and dip). Occasionally he'll take leftover salad. He might take some fruit if we have some really good local seasonal fruit; otherwise, he really doesn't eat much fruit. -snacks -- he doesn't snack too much, but if he's really hungry (he leaves for work at 5:30 am, so he eats lunch at about 11), he'll eat a handful of nuts (mixed, walnuts, almonds at home, peanuts usually if he needs to stop for something) or some cheese or leftover salad. -dinner -- meat, salad often, and a non-starchy veg or two. He doesn't like our water's taste, so he drinks homemade iced tea, sweetened with Splenda. (I know, I know, and so does he. He doesn't like the aftertaste of any type of Stevia at all, and if I don't buy Splenda, he won't make the tea or take water; he'll stop and buy diet sodas, which are way worse, IMO, for multiple reasons.) If I keep carby sweet foods in the house, we both will eat them. Oh, and DH drinks milk sometimes with dinner, or as a snack, raw when we can get it. Plain milk doesn't seem to be a problem for him in an otherwise low-carb diet.

Nope, no sitters here. Just family occasionally.

We started it when DD was in 3rd grade, and it was perfect for her.

We took a break from the latter part of May to the end of June. We started back up last week.

It does sound fairly harmless (though I'd snark about needing a proofreader too), but I'd probably ignore it, simply on principle. I feel that home educators should be as separate from the school district as possible.

Fries?!? Yikes! (I have no problem with the occasional fries, but I'm not pretending they're healthy; they're an occasional junk food treat, and I'm okay with that. But from the dentist???) Our dental office (pediatric-only office) gives each child a goodie bag -- it has floss, toothpaste, a toothbrush cover, and a new toothbrush (nice ones, characters for the little kids and nice Oral B or something for the older ones). Each kid also gets to pick two stickers. I am completely happy with that arrangement -- they get a little something fun, and I don't have to deal with junky toys or junky food. Otoh, I like our doctor's deal even better -- they don't give anything out, not even stickers. She's a family doc, though, rather than a pediatrician, which I like, but there's a lot less of the "make it fun" general attitude there than the dentist's office has.

Probably some genetic predisposition, but *for me,* it's because I have a huge sweet tooth, and sugar is cheap and easy and addicting.

Unrelated to any specific post, just *how* easy is it for someone to sit back and do nothing, but still collect? I mean those who are not volunteering, not working, not enrolled in an educational program, not applying for jobs, not caring for young children/homeschooling older kids. In my state, that's not easy; if your kids are over the age of 5, you have to be showing that you're doing *something* (school, applying for jobs, etc.). How many people really are out there doing absolutely nothing? There are always going to be some people who take and don't ever give/intend to give, but I really have a hard time imagining that it is so widespread. We also need to make it possible to give yourself a hand up if you can get one. People right on the edge get food stamps and healthcare -- but if they get even the smallest raise, they actually lose, because those benefits disappear, and the after-tax raise isn't enough to cover the loss of benefits. If you manage to save a small amount, or sell something, you can't save for a better living situation or for an emergency medical expense that isn't covered (because not all states have low-income medical care for non-pregnant, non-disabled adults) or for a vehicle repair so that you can get to your job, because they'll assume you can buy food and take away your food stamps. Where's the incentive to try harder (if that's even possible -- I believe that a lot of people right now ARE trying as hard as they can)?