Thinking of doing it. My youngest ds, 13, has a terrible addiction to Minecraft. I've tried to regulate electronics, but my kids don't follow the rules i put in place for them. I think I've been really generous and I feel they have taken advantage. I had made the rule of 1 hour a day, but they have to have all their schoolwork done, piano practiced, and their rooms need to be picked up. They disregard the rules and I'm pretty tired of it.

I'm having a hard time parting with a few of their toys, but live in a small house and it's hard to be a pack rat. The kids don't care. I think I envision future grandkids playing with the toys, too. What do you save? I'm holding onto Geo-trax, Legos, and Calico Critters.

I'm thinking of having them come in and clean up/revive my 30 year old kitchen cabinets. Also, I am considering cabinet refacing with them. Does anyone have experience with the tune up or refacing process?

I've been to al-anon. It was for adult children of alcoholics. I grew up in an alcoholic home and, as an adult, realized it had negatively impacted how I functioned day to day. I think it would be helpful for you to suggest a meeting. I always thought that it was the addict with the problem, but realized that being around an addict makes you just as impacted as the person with the disease. The family members make adjustments that are unhealthy in order to function around the addict and you try to control things, be hyper-aware of things, and get exposed to behaviors that are hard to cope with. If she's not open to a meeting, you might look into to some books about co-dependency for her. I've read a lot about co-dependency and it's been eye opening for me and changed a lot of my behaviors over the years.

For sports, music, and general hobbies, etc- I'd love to hear from others about their teens. My kids are 13 1/2, 14 1/2 and 14 1/2. Do you require that your teen is passionate about an hobby/activity in order for your family to spend a good amount of time and money toward the activity? What behaviors indicate to you that your teen is passionate about the activity? Are we being realistic that we would expect our teens of this age to find their "thing" and work toward getting better at it (no nagging, etc)? Do your kids take the initiative to do the activity when they have personal free time (without it being suggested by Mom or Dad)? Would you spend the money and considerable time (attending sporting activities) if you felt your teen was having to be nagged to improve? I'm really trying to gain some perspective and would appreciate hearing others' experiences with teens of this age. I feel like we are heading into the high school years and things are changing (competition for sports is higher, piano pieces are more challenging, etc). I want to see if my expectations are realistic.

It was $400/dog when I got my dogs from the CO prison system. It's been 5 years since we got our dogs, though. They had all their shots, were licensed, were neutered, were housebroken, were leash trained, and knew several commands. That was totally worth it for us. They have another program where people will bring their own dogs to them to train. Also, once you adopt a dog there you are allowed to bring them back for boarding (during vacations). We've never boarded our dogs with them.

Do you have a teenage boy in the house? Hand the phone to him and let him talk with the person on the other end of the line. My sons have a friend who will talk to solicitors. He tells them jokes and sings for them. He's not mean. He just entertains the way only a 14 year old can.

I adopted a dog through a different process- one that's in the "middle" of your two options (regarding the ease of the adoption). We got our 2 dogs through our state prison dog training program. For the same price as a rescue, we got a fully trained dog who needed a home and had been very well socialized. The only real hassle in adopting was having to fill out a form to be able to get onto the prison grounds to interview the dogs we wanted to see. The prisoners had the dogs with them 24/7 and knew so much about the dogs. It helped us pick the right ones for our family. I'd encourage you to google "prison dogs" and the name of your state. My state has a website with pictures of the dogs and details about them.

We should earn what we get. Dh coaches 2 youth teams and we are often amazed at what parents want for their kids and what players expect for themselves. I'm about fed up with people rolling around in all their "special-ness". Work hard, earn it, and we'll talk about what you're entitled to.

I don't have State Farm. I have All State and investigated adding my twins to our policy just last week. I was quoted $166/month for the 2 kids. I have 18 months until they turn 16 and we have to start paying the insurance.

I'm having different contractors in to give me quotes on various projects. How does it work? Do they expect that I will ask for them to take some money off of the quotes?

My kids got a new pair of pajamas at Christmas. Most of their clothes, though, come from the thrift stores. My boys usually sleep in t-shirts and pajama bottoms. My daughter gets her pajamas at Goodwill. My boys don't care where their clothes come from. My oldest son likes to have input on what he wears, but isn't terribly picky. When my daughter needs some clothes, she looks through the racks at Goodwill or ARC. She's 14 and looks really cute in whatever she picks out. I don't think people can tell she shops at thrift stores. We have a store around here called "Plato's Closet". It's a re-sale shop and she shops there, too. I don't think used clothing has the same stigma it did when I was a kid. Is it a sign of poverty? I don't think so. I think it's smart. It's not unusual to see very nice cars in the thrift store parking lots. Do I shop at thrift stores out of necessity? Yes and no. We could shop for only new things, but my kids would have a much smaller wardrobe and would be walking around with new Target brand sandals instead of wonderful condition used Keens.

NE Colorado Springs in Briargate. We've done a variety of programs that past 6 years- High Country, Cottage School, TRACKS, and College Pathways. My kids will move to full time status at College Pathways next year.

I had my first adjustment this evening and am having to think about moving forward with this treatment plan. It's a lot of money. Has anyone here tried it? What were your results?

My suggestions for food/lodging- If you want an unusual place to stay, the Cliff House is great. Also, Mona Lisa's for fondue (even if you just do dessert) is fun. I love Old Colorado City and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

I worked for a flower shop at one time. For Teleflora and FTD orders, my boss would take the order for the $50 arrangement and reduce it to a $40 arrangement in order to pay the fees she had to pay to those companies. These days, I always call a florist directly to place and order. I agree with the idea of calling the funeral home directly or looking at reviews online.

Are you taking any medications that interfere with b12 absorption? Do you have problems with food allergies or sensitivities? I have to take injections. My original level was 151. I believe nexium and metformin affected my ability to absorb b12. If you ingest too much b12, it's excreted in your urine. Vitacost sells b12 sublingual drops. Those might be a better way to get your levels up quicker. I'll refer you to the book "Could It Be B12". It helped me a lot.

No. It's not playing around. My kids play competitive basketball and a basketball hit to the head can cause serious injury. Just a side note...a coach at our neighborhood high school was recently fired for throwing basketballs at kids.

I'm needing to send something to one of our basketball team families. A grandma passed away and I typically collect money from other families and send something. Last time one of our families had to attend a funeral, I sent a meal gift card and an edible arrangement to their home. This time, it's a little trickier, since the location is remote. It's going to need to go by mail. I could send flowers to the service, but I'd rather send something that goes to where the family is staying. Any ideas?

I had a hospital stay in December. I had to call the charge nurse my first night. I complained about having to wait over an hour for my pain medication. I got out of that hospital as soon as I could. I worked in healthcare for over 20 years and still hold a Registered Nurse license. Healthcare is going to crap. If you don't want a man to help you get up to the bathroom, you should have the option to have a female help you. You aren't picky at all. Once you feel up to it, call the patient advocate at the hospital. You complaining could save other patients from the same experience. I hope you feel better soon.

I've got a month to month plan with Sprint. They plans range from $35-55/month. I purchased the phone at Best Buy- it's nothing fancy. It's been a nice phone and I have felt that the plan is affordable.

When our kids were little we printed out the fake Chore Camp brochure. They believed us. It was pretty funny.

It's like talking to a public school teacher who is against homeschooling due to the fact that homeschoolers show up in his/her classes not being able to read. They see the failures- not the successes.

I'd elevate the matter then. I'm sure the ICU doctor knew what had happened and that there was a screw-up, but he's not going to throw another doctor under the bus. Everyone who came in contact with your Dad is responsible for what happened and at the very least the details of what happened need to be investigated and taken very seriously. At his age, fluid overload is so dangerous and someone should have caught what was happening at some point. I'm upset for you. There are so many signs that could have been caught and one wonders why he wasn't being monitored for signs of fluid overload. I worked in hospitals for many years as a nurse. This is nursing 101.

Did the hospital and doctor own up to what they did? Was their an acknowledgement of their mess up? That would mean a lot for me. My Mom was made very sick when I was a kid. A doctor was treating her for a condition with the wrong medication due to a lab result that was mis-interpreted. How did the doctor handle it? He called her to explain and immediately got her on the correct medication. He owned up to what had happened and my Mom could have sued, but didn't.