We don't like clutter around here, so we frequently cull the herd of toys. I've noticed increasingly over the last month or so that my older son (age 5 1/4) is asking, "What else can I do?" He still plays with his toys, but it seems like it's no longer enough. (We have Duplo blocks, blocks of various sizes, Lincoln logs, Tinker Toys, balls, etc.) He still likes to play outside, but it's too hot most days to be out long. We bought Snap Circuits a month ago and he enjoys them. This weekend I bought Equilibrio, whe he loves, but it's still not enough. We spend about 1 1/2 hours on school and do chores. He has always been one to want "more"...more attention, being read to more, more exercise, more playing with friends. How do I keep him busy? I have a chronic illness and can't drive. His dad takes him to Tae Kwon Do once a week.

There are peanut butter cookies that use pb, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Even my non Gf friends like them. Also, Kellogg's now sells GF Rice Krispies.

I've been using a liquid sublingual melatonin since last summer so I can easily adjust the dose. Each dropper is 1 mg, so it's easy to take small doses. I take 0.75 mg every night, along with 4 Source Naturals NutraSleep tablets. Using both together helps me much better than either one alone. They seem to take about 1-2 hours to kick in.

My boys are 5 and 2. I am so sick of constantly being interrupted by them when speaking or trying to do some work by myself! I'm trying to learn another language, and part of my strategy is to watch The Flintstones dubbed in that language. I need to watch by myself because the 5 year old constantly asks what is happening. Tonight, I made it a whole 12 minutes into the show before the 5 year old finds and interrupts me to show what he and DH had been doing. Then 6 minutes later, he was back and threw a fit when I said he couldn't watch. Right now, as I type this, the 2 year old is whining at me about something. I feel like my sons are making me ADD. I have things I want to do, but I seem to be losing my ability to work on my interests for more than a few minutes at a time. Add in my chronic illness, which prevents me from doing most of my hobbies, and I feel like my life is just wasting away. Please, please, someone tell me it gets better?! This poor old introvert is getting discouraged.

Another question...is doing large amounts of work like this something that bright, but not gifted, kids do? Is it a trait of giftedness? Or is it not enough evidence of either? Or maybe just that he likes cartoons?

Well, he didn't already know all this, but he certainly is picking it up quickly. Right now, we're in a section practicing adding numbers like 54+3 by turning the problem into 50+3+4 = 50+7=57. He still needs some practice because he might explain out loud how he got his answer to one problem and then a few minutes later, can't remember how to solve a similar one. He does pretty well with his math facts but doesn't have them all memorized yet either.

I was thinking about starting the Intensive Practice book after we finish MM 1B, Singapore 1B text/workbook (3rd edition), and CWP 1. At this rate, it may only be another few weeks. I was happy with MM and only bought Singapore because it was cheap at a used curriculum sale I went to in May. I figure I would try it out for $5. He seems to like it much better, but maybe that's because MM1A isn't very exciting. I was avoiding SM because of all the different books needed, but I'm glad I tried it.

I should add that I do most of the writing, since his handwriting isn't advanced.

I let my 5 year old son watch two six minute cartoons after he finishes all his school work each day. He was doing either 1 page of MM or 3-4 pages of Singapore 1B/CWP 1. Last week, he asked if he could watch five cartoons if he did twenty pages of math. I said yes, and he did it three days in a row. Today, I cut him off at 17 because I thought two hours of math at his age was enough for one day. He knows he can stop any time after doing the minimum few pages. Should I be concerned about him burning out? He seems to be retaining what he's learning, otherwise I wouldn't consider going this fast.

Has anyone used Megabus? I'm trying to figure out if we'd regret a long trip with two young kids on a bus.

Is it too late to add a poll?

We'll be taking a 600 mile trip this summer. The kids are 5 and 2 and driving is out because we have to stop every 1 1/2 hours, no matter what we do. DH also hates how tiring all the driving is. The kids are active and not known for being the most quiet. Would you: -accept free plane tickets from relatives, even though DH HATES dealing with the TSA - take the $160 (total, for everyone) bus tickets and take Megabus from 1:30am -5:30pm -drive over two days, which would cost $160 in gas plus motel rooms -spend $1300 on train tickets (we did this at Christmas, when the 2 year old was still free) to get a sleeper car Poll to follow

Even worse than hogging the conversation, I think the woman got the impression that I had no opinion about on the subject or had never thought about it! At one point, I contemplated saying, "I feel like you are lecturing me," but I kept my mouth shut. I, too, am an introvert. American culture tends to assume there is something wrong with anybody who isn't very extroverted. One of my favorite proverbs is, "Where words are many, sin is not absent."

We are friends with a couple. The husband is normal and takes turns in a conversation. The wife, however, is very prone to start talking and not stop long enough for anyone to get a word in. A few days ago, she went on a 20 minute rant about a topic. The other guest and I hardly got a word in. Then, she stopped, asked my opinion, and before I could get more than a sentence or two out, interrerupted me and started talking/ranting some more. I felt like I was being lectured. I finally gave up and got up to go get some water (even though I had enough). What do you do with people like this? She doesn't usually rant and lecture, but she always seems to monopolize the conversation and not really listen when I speak. She's my mom's age, so she's had plenty of time to learn how to take turns in a conversation.

I bought an indoor and outdoor mat for each door. They really do cut down on the amount of dirt tracked in. I would highly recommend them. I stopped using the cleaning chemicals though because of the strong scents and worries about health effects from non-natural cleaners.

In college, one quarter I took three graduate statistics courses that met once a week for three hours. It was awful. I definitely agree that there is only so much math you can absorb at one time.

In 6th grade, my middle school was on a regular schedule of having class every day at the same time. Chorus, band, and orchestra were done during the 25 minute home room period. In 7th grade, we switched to a rotating schedule, although I don't remember how it worked. In high school, each day we had 6 one hour blocks for class. The classes rotated time periods, which was nice, because then if you had a certain time of day that your brain didn't work as well, you didn't have it always harming your grade in the same class. Taking tests at 7:30 am after not getting enough sleep wasn't fun, so it was nice to only have, say, calculus first thing once a week instead of every day. There were slots for 8 classes available, although taking 6-7 was more normal. One day per week your science lab would be back-to-back with class, giving a 2 hour block to work on longer labs. I don't know how labs could be squeezed into a 45 minute class at other schools. PE was twice a week, science labs we're twice a week, and everything else was three days per week. I had only 2 study halls per week, from the blocks not needed for PE or labs. Overall, I liked this schedule because it made labs easier, it allowed us to take more classes, and the longer time period made it easier to actually get something done in class (especially if it took 10 minutes for everyone to settle down).

At the time, were you treated poorly for questioning a YEC? Or were others upset for your questions about other topics? I ask because my journey started about 1 1/2 years ago with questions about one area. This led to questions in area after area. The whole age-of-the-earth debate is just the latest one. Two years ago, I never would've thought I'd be questioning a YEC. I know some here have expressed they don't really find the issue very important. But I'm a "math/science" kind of person and I want to know what approach to teach my kids when they are older. I'm personally not content with "we don't really know what happened." I want to decide what I think the evidence points to before we reach that topic in our school work.

I bought a steam mop and I think I'm happy with it. It's hard to tell...it gets food crud up easily but seems to be doing something to the finish on the floor. It's starting to look gray. But, this is the junkiest vinyl floor of all the rentals I've lived in. Even scrubbing with Comet or a Magic Eraser doesn't seem to get it really clean looking or get rid of the yellow hazy streaks that were there when we moved in. I can't tell if the steam mop would damage a decent vinyl floor or just this junky one. I have a textured fiberglass tub - you know, the type that seems impossible to keep clean. I try to limit my chemical cleaner use. I use Bon Ami every few weeks and Comet every few months. Would a steam cleaner get the scum off easily? I tried using my steam mop, but it isn't really the right tool for the job. I'd love to find a less tiring way to keep the tub clean.

I think our country needs to seriously reform patent law. I wouldn't be surprised if you learned that the dispenser wasn't any better than the old one and was just a ploy to jack up prices. Getting drugs and equipment approved by the FDA is also very expensive, and I wonder if addressing the cost is possible. Do donors get paid to donate blood? I know that some chronic health problems can lead to obesity. I also think that some people with obesity could afford to take better care of themselves (eat right, exercise, etc) but don't bother. Some people truly don't seem to care about nutrition and aren't interested in learning. Our culture has so many unhealthy habits. If we just copied another country's universal health care system, would it work as well here? I suspect we walk/exercise less and eat more processed "food" than most countries. Americans eat out very often. Do Europeans eat more home cooked meals? Do their restaurants use better quality food? What about food served in schools? Also, do other Western countries have doctors that are largely trained in how to push drugs? Our doctors don't generally know much about nutrition or the use of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other supplements. Now, not all conditions can be treated this way, but it would be nice if all doctors knew which ones might be helped by these cheaper solutions. I don't see how having universal health care in our country with doctors and patients keeping the same lifestyles and expecting pills to fix everything is going to save money. I think it could only work with a major lifestyle overhaul for many people Was this doctor picking more expensive tests because of the insurance? I use Samaritan Ministries, so I technically don't have health insurance. My previous doctor was willing to prioritize and skip some tests because she knew I would have to pay cash. If I'd had insurance, she would've run more that probably would've been a waste of money. I was grateful for her thoughtfulness. So many doctors are unaware of test prices and select a lot of tests "just in case," as if they are all free to get. We have a lot of pride (the negative type) in this country. So many people think America has to be the best at everything! We're the smartest! We have the best military! Etc! I think we as a nation could use a big dose of humility. Without it, how can we learn from other countries about medical care or any other issue? Another issue I wonder about is how other countries handle care for the elderly. I've heard (never verified it) that something like 50% of the money spent on medical bills in a person's life here is spent during their last week or month. If that is in fact true, then it leads to me to wonder how often hospitals are pushing expensive treatments that only lengthen life by a week or two.

If you're a Christian and used to believe in a literal 7 day young earth creation, and now believe in an old earth, I'd like to hear about your journey. Please, let's try to keep this thread civil and not let it turn into a big debate. Edited to add: I realize my thread title may be confusing. I'm asking about people who are still Christians, that started out believing in a YEC, but now believe in an OEC, or even theistic evolution.

I love spicy food and tend to find most restaurant food or un-modified recipes to be too bland. I love Thai and Indian food and anything with lots of garlic (and I like basil, too). Does anyone have a recipe for me? Criteria: -must be gluten/dairy free -must not be super sweet -ground beef is okay, but I try to avoid sausage and pepperoni because they are filled with additives I try to avoid Thanks for any recipes!

We're currently taking a break from phonics lessons and my son (age 5) is just reading Hooked on Phonics books to me. Last week, I had to change a diaper just as he was about to start reading to me, so I told him to practice on his own until I came back. What a difference it made! His reading was smoother with less guessing than I expected, considering his resistance to slowing down enough to sound out words. What I've done since then is have him spend 10-20 minutes in another room practicing while I do the dishes. Then when he's ready, he comes in and reads to me. I am amazed at the difference. Did this help any of your kids?

Yes, please tell us what you ordered! Was it stuff you were already considering?

So in the Hindu view, is the entire universe destroyed and recreated every cycle? Or is it more like the universe and earth stay, but life is wiped out and recreated? It sounds like Hindus don't believe in time being linear the way most of the western world does? If so, would a Hindu scientist give the earth an age or would the question be silly in his or her view?