I was going to say something similar. It is possible to succeed without a college degree but without one, so many doors slam shut. Why start a life with a handicap? However, I would argue that this is just as important for girls. Otherwise, what is she to do while waiting around to get married? Live at home and work at Safeway? Even if she doesn't have major career goals and quits work after children, a decent job provides savings for a home or other goals prior to having a family. If a husband loses a job or becomes disabled or dies, or flakes out and then ups and leaves, it's easier to jump into the job market with little experience and a college degree than with little experience and no degree. Besides, girls should be expected to further their educations for their own enrichment, otherwise you give them the impression they are somehow 'less than' and only good for marrying. On a personal note, my parents never spoke of "when you go to college," it was always "when you grow up and get married." So from 9th grade on I was subconsciously looking for a mate per my parents instruction. They were overall terrific parents, but I think this was an egregious mistake on their part. I tried to go away on my own dime but wound up dropping out to get married and have a family. I will always regret not finishing my education first (or at least concurrently), but I never really felt supported by my family or expected to do that. Barb

Bad, because it further promotes the infantilization of teenagers in this country. As someone posted above, why force a fully grown and resentful 17 or 18yo to occupy a seat if he (or she, but more often he) is dead set against it? A very large proportion of kids have outgrown high school by 16 or 17 anyway...I think it's folly that we have legal adults attending high schools anyway, but that's the way the education system is set up. This will only worsen the situation. Barb

I don't know if you're still around this late since you're on the east coast, but I swear by Pedialyte frozen popsicles. In a pinch, you can give a few grains of salt and a tiny pinch of sugar with each sip of water to help replace the electrolytes, but the Pedialyte is better because it's formulated with the right ratio of sugars to salts. Gatorade and those types of drinks are too heavy for a sick little person. The popsicles are good because they go down slowly. Get some electrolytes in her and she should perk up quickly. I hope she's feeling better tomorrow.

Stacy, this does make me feel hopeful as I've been told in the past that I have fibroids. My grandma, mom and maternal aunt all had hysterectomies in their early 40's due to fibroids. I will be certain to mention this once I go for my first full appointment. Thank you for mentioning it. Barb

Claire, I was just checking in to see whether you had any news. I hate to hear it isn't good. Please post or PM me when you feel up to it. I'm feeling cautiously hopeful. I had a lot of cramping today but no more bleeding. I had an experience like this one about 10 years ago in the 12th week...bleeding, then nothing for 5-6 days, then full out bleeding for 2-3 days. It was obvious when I lost the baby. Then again, my temps haven't really dropped I hope means my progesterone is still high. My husband left a message with the head of radiology at his hospital (he's the CFO, not a doc) to see if he'll order an ultrasound for me and bypass the OB's and ED. I'll share all this with my midwife once I have one, but I'm still in the process of interviewing and choosing. I'll post if there are any developments. Barb

Eliana, I will PM you...thank you Barb

Oh Claire, I'm so sorry...the timing for you is really rotten. It *is* weird, going on with the day like nothing is happening, but wondering. My bleeding stopped last night after I posted, but I still have the dull ache across my back, so I seem to be a few days behind you. Please do let us know when you have closure one way or another. To everyone, thank you for messages. I'm not brave to wait it out, I'm a coward. I'd rather put off knowing as long as possible and I'd just rather keep things private until it's no longer possible, kwim? I will post when I know something for sure. Barb

No, I'm just going to do the watch and wait thing for a few days. If it is a miscarriage, there's nothing to be done and if it's not, it's just a lot of wasted time and energy in the ER. Not to mention germs :::shudder::: I'm really hoping it's just a false alarm, and if that's the case I'd rather not put everyone through the wringer over it. Thanks for the hugs, everyone. It's nice to know you guys are out there. Nite. Barb

I'm bleeding and cramping across my back and my temps have dropped a full degree today. But I'm having my usual pregnancy symptoms like nausea, intense hunger pangs and a 2 hour nap. I've miscarried before at around 11 weeks, but all my symptoms disappeared weeks earlier that time. I'm 12 weeks and 3 days today. You know, if this is a miscarriage, I think I'll be okay. I've been richly blessed with children and these things happen. But I dread telling dh and the kids. They are all so involved this time. I guess that's why I'm on here. Thanks for letting me blab on. Barb

Jill, I was going to say the same thing. At least out here in Phoenix, local produce is quite pricey. Unless you buy it from the back of the truck and then there's a really good chance it's the same stuff as the grocery stores from Mexico and California. I think as local produce catches on, the prices are going higher and higher. Barb

My 13yo daughter officially charges $5-$7 an hour, but is usually paid anywhere from $6-$12 depending on number of kids, whether there was much advance notice, or whether the parents come home considerably later than originally planned. She makes $6 an hour for her regular 12 hr/wk job, but has made double that when she makes herself available on a Friday or Saturday night with a just a couple of hours' notice. It's often a supply and demand thing. Are there more sitters than kids in your neighborhood or more kids than sitters? I think that would likely determine the going rate. Barb *Edited to say, I know that seems high for a 13yo, but she is reliable, excellent with the children (they always beg for her to come back) and leaves the kitchen and play area in better shape than she found it. With 4 younger siblings, she has more experience than most of the older teens around here, so word gets around.

Affidavit of intent, nothing thereafter. Breath of fresh air after PA. There is so much I miss about that state but the nonsense homeschooling law is not part of it. Barb

Cynthia, have him call the college. If his stats are really, really good and he explains his 11th hour change of thinking, they may dig up the full scholarship money after all. University of Oklahoma is one of those schools vying for NMS bragging rights...they may be more flexible than you think. Barb

I usually say something like, "State tests? Oh, those are there to measure schools, not kids. Homeschooling is so great because we don't have to waste weeks or months learning to bubble and regurgitate. Skills-wise, I know where my kids are by looking at grade on the front of the workbook. As for content, we can go deeper and wider because we aren't wasting so much time on test-taking skills. It's pure learning all year; I feel so fortunate!" By that time, the mom in question is shrugging her shoulders and nodding in deep thought. They've all been frustrated at one time or another by the teach-to-the-test mentality. Now she's on my side and secretly wondering where we buy our curriculum ;) Barb

Amy, you know what? I think she knows that, but I'm going to mention it anyway. I honestly can't remember whether I've passed that on or not. Thank you for mentioning it! Barb

Another vote for the Kitchenaid hand mixer. I've had it for years and years and it's still going. Barb

True. LOL, how fitting... a homeschooler busted for passing a laptop cord. Still shaking my head and snickering quietly. Barb

My honors student, oldest, would-rather-die-than-get-in-trouble daughter just came home all wigged out because she got pulled over for suspicious activity. A cop saw her passing a laptop cord to a friend in a parking lot (they met halfway at a local school to save her some drive time), waited until they got finished talking for 15-20 minutes, she got in her car, and drove 3-5 miles down the road. He followed right on her tail until deciding to put his lights on, pulled her over, shined his flashlight all around the van full of carseats and kid paraphernalia, and took her driver's license to run a check on it. Then he called for a backup car, LOL. She thinks they were bored and wanted to stare at her chest. I told her we do have a lot of drugs in Phoenix and he was probably just checking things out. But she wanted to know, why didn't they approach her and her friend while they were standing by the car? She has a point. I just don't know. To add insult to injury, she was cited because the windshield was cracked. Did I mention it's the windshield on my car? I've been procrastinating having it fixed because I also needed tires and something bounced down the freeway and attacked my husband's car a few weeks ago. Ah well. Welcome to the world, baby girl. Barb

Agree with the others. Totally unnecessary to make a long term commitment. For me, the only way I was able to jump in was to give myself permission to reevaluate any time I thought the situation warranted it. We pulled our oldest out in 1st grade and she graduates this year :) I don't think I would have made it had I put all that pressure on myself 11 years ago. Barb

Oh what a shock to hear both of your news! I'm so sorry. Prayers for healing for you both. Barb

I don't know if you mean out of print for the older books, but the solutions manual for 1993 and later editions is readily available here: http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Trigonometry-Structure-Method-Solution/dp/0395677653/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1205120615&sr=11-1 here: http://product.half.ebay.com/Algebra-and-Trigonometry-Structure-and-Method-Book-2_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ2456509 here: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=dolciani&kn=structure+method+solutions&sts=t&x=56&y=16 and possibly here (I've never tried to buy a solutions manual straight from McDougal Littell, so don't know if they will give you a hard time...but it looks like it may be the cheapest way to go): http://www.mcdougallittell.com/store/ProductCatalogController?cmd=ProductDetail&recordReference=212922&nextPage=McDougal%2FProduct.jsp&division=M01&frontOrBack=F&sortEntriesBy=SEQ_NAME&sortProductsBy=SEQ_TITLE&hierarchyID=1005500000030774 I'm pretty sure we tried to use a 1980's solutions manual with the 1999 book and had a really hard time because things weren't matching up. I would go with a later (post 1993) edition, just to be on the safe side. There is nothing wrong with the later editions...in fact, I own both of them and I've posted about them in the past month. I prefer to use the newer edition and keep the older one on hand for clarification, although this isn't strictly necessary. Barb

Gwen, I have an extra copy of the solutions manual for a later edition of Structure and Method 2. Which edition are you looking for? Barb

Allison, I hope you don't mind if I address the above information. After thinking about it, even for an 11yo of average height, 120 pounds seems pretty seriously overweight. He'd have to be well over 5 feet tall...closer to 5-2 or 5-3 to be just a bit overweight. I know this seems unrelated, but you may want to check with his doctor or do some research yourself for health reasons. Here's a link to an article by Dr. Sears that mentions the average height (55 inches) and weight (80lbs) for an 11yo: http://www.parenting.com/Common/article.jsp?articleID=21333774&genID=4&typeID=940 and a place where you can calculate BMI for kids: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/bmicalculator.html As Dawn mentioned above, it could be that eating habits are contributing to the opposition. If the diet isn't great, behavior often follows. When you feel better, it's easier to act better. Good luck! Barb

Matters of health come before matters of preference. People have been dumping their waste in lakes and rivers for eons as well, out of convenience and personal preference, but we no longer do that because of the health hazard. Barb

You could call preschool "playschool" so he thinks of it more as a fun, social time. I can't see this being a problem..especially if you continue to talk about it as a given that he'll stay home to learn next year. Barb