:lol: Ouch!

My son loved The Lion King at age 2. He was recovering from major surgery and it had just come out on dvd and we popped it in the day we came home from the hospital. We also took him to see Finding Nemo in the theater when he was 27 mos old. We had been seeing previews for it on the dvds he watched in the hospital and I told him "We're going to go see that!" I don't know if I would have taken him to the cinema at that age otherwise, but it turned out he loved going to the movies and has been a movie-goer ever since.

Yes, this is what I was going to say re: LotR. For other books that are part of a series, I usually break them up and don't read them all in a row, whether books for myself or ones I read to my son.

In Michigan, Clonlara fought for (and won!) homeschoolers' rights. Michigan is one of the easiest states to homeschool in. I'm sure there are HSLDA members in Michigan--what a waste of money. Even if they support HSLDA's other causes they'd be better off giving to organizations that deal with whatever issue it is exclusively, rather than having it mixed up with homeschooling.

:grouphug: Just want to say that there is nothing embarrassing about your situation. It's difficult, but nothing to be ashamed of. You can have little, but at the same time have a lot. Some people would love to have four kids, but can't.

:hurray: Welcome home to her! I can imagine how happy you are to get her back! :)

I'm glad that you're able to get a break from the hospital and get some rest. Huge :grouphug: to all of you. I am really hoping this dr. will get you some answers.

My son (age 10) works with a reading tutor twice a week. She is OG trained and has a lot of experience working with dyslexic students. I haven't had my son tested, but I let her know the signs of dyslexia that I was seeing (not letter jumbling/reversal, his signs were more subtle).

I thought Common Sense media did review books. eta: I just went there and put "manga" in the search and only four books came up. I don't know if they need more specific search terms or if they don't have that many books reviews. eta2: because I just re-read your OP and see that manga isn't a problem for you, but still, looking around the Common Sense site more (I need some more book ideas for DS anyway!) I'm seeing that they don't seem to have as many book reviews as they do movie/tv reviews. That's really too bad.

Cool, we love board and card games! I just signed up. I made our goal 2000 minutes, I hope that's not too crazy.

I agree with this. She must still be in a relative state of shock right now. I imagine it takes some time before things start to feel normal again. eta: though I also agree with the sentiment of most on this thread who say they wouldn't want to stay with the guy.

:confused: It sounded like the mother did everything she could to protect them. Or do you mean the fact that she is still going to marry the guy, and therefore is condoning what he did?

If he had held onto that baby and fled, I wouldn't have a problem with him, even if he'd driven away. The fact that he put that baby down on the floor is what I find incomprehensible. How do you put your baby down, then run and then drive away? I don't blame him for not making sure everyone in his family got out, even if that would have been more heroic, but I do blame him for abandoning the baby. The mom couldn't even count on him to get the baby he had in his arms out safely. I might not know exactly what I'd do in that situation but I know my instinct would not be to leave my child behind. I remember tripping on the stairs with my son in my arms when he was a baby. My instinct was to shield him and resulted in me getting more banged up than I otherwise would have been. I don't think that's uncommon. eta: I know a shooting situation is very different from tripping up some stairs, but I think the instinct to protect your child first is very strong for most people.

What about: Slow Motion Walter (that fire engine guy)?

I used to love to watch Yo! MTV Raps, hosted by Fab 5 Freddy I remember liking: Bust a Move, Young MC Hey Ladies, Beastie Boys The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground Brooklyn Queens, 3rd Bass eta: and how could I forget I'm Not Havin It by MC Lyte and Postive K...also Kid N Play, did anyone else love House Party 2: The Pajama Jam with Queen Latifah? Remember Rico Suave by Gerardo? That video is hilarious. I listened to a lot of classic rock at the time too, and didn't really have videos to watch for those. Had to watch movies like A Hard Day's Night and Quadrophenia instead, lol.

:lol: I bet you rock the mic like a vandal

My best friend from high school sang it this way: And he's bad, bad Leroy Brown baddest man in the whole **** town badder than the whooping cough meaner than a junkyard dog

Anything Weird Al. (Though I don't try to embarrass my son, it's more me being annoying at home lol) -"You can even cut a tin can with it, but you wouldn't want to!" (the B-52's song mentioned, which I JUST heard last night at the grocery store, reminded me of that one) -"A used, pink bathrobe, a rare mint snowglobe, a Smurf TV tray, that I bought on eBay" -"Meet the new sauce, same as the old sauce" -"I wanna bowl with the gangstas..." Add to this that I make up my own lyrics and my poor son isn't going to know what any songs are. Luckily at the bowling alley we sometimes hear "The Safety Dance" because before that he only knew it as: "We can dance, we can dance, but first you need to put on your pants" (as a way of telling him he needed to get dressed)

I do think it's a good program, especially if your kids will want to read the same book several days in a row. My son liked to hear some books many times, but not for days in a row. I still think he benefited from all those wonderful picture books and since the manuals can be sold for a decent price, I don't think you can go wrong trying FIAR. I love the ideas like looking on a map to locate where the stories are set and vocabulary building while reading and discussing the book. A lot of the math games are really cute too. Here is a list of which Let's Read and Find Out science books go well with which FIAR books.

I bought the manuals and all (or almost all) the books. I only used a few ideas from the manuals and ended up selling them on half.com (for almost as much as I'd paid for them). I LOVED the books (well, most of them anyway) and so did my son. One of his very favorites was Warm as Wool. The cookbook is great, I didn't sell it! I didn't buy the Bible supplement.

That's so cool, I will definitely remember that if we go there.

My son thoroughly enjoyed Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. We did a Children's Life tour (day in the life of a child at the fort back then in pre-revolutionary times), attended a "wedding" and wedding dance and watched musket and cannon firing demonstrations. Mackinaw City is also pretty lively at night, they have a little laser light show in the center. It's cheesy, but fun. Fort Mackinac is on the island, not in Mackinaw City, but that one is good too--we went to both. Mackinac Island is great for small hikes (like to Arch Rock) and you can also bike around the island. I've been to Sault Ste Marie but it was a long time ago now. It was fun though. We visited around and then crossed into Canada and went to Toronto.

Yes, I think it's really harsh too. I think the OP's DH was just telling his dd that she needed to behave better because at that moment he wasn't feeling like taking her that afternoon. I don't think he was actually saying she couldn't go. It's also not up to one parent to issue a punishment that changes the plans of the other one (the OP was worried she'd have to stay home with the child, but that doesn't make sense--a parent doesn't get to do that to another parent). I don't think the OP's DH was going to do that, I think he was just trying to motivate better behavior for the afternoon (I could be wrong, but it seems to be the most likely thing to me).

:lol: He's right. I did say it was cute and cool, but I thought the same thing--this kid isn't going to appreciate that I think it's cute! But it really is. And cool, very very cool. Happy Birthday to your new teenager!

That is really, really cute and fun and cool. Your son looks thrilled! :D