I have multiple undergraduate degrees as well as a Masters and I didn't work for 16 months prior to our first child being born and have no intention of going back to work when my youngest is out of the house. #1- I think this definitely falls under the category of "not your business". If the husband and wife have agreed to the arrangement, I don't see why anyone else cares? #2- I don't believe that an education is only worth something if you use it for earning an income. It has inherent value, regardless of whether you are using it to earn an income or not. Also, I am just geeky enough to love school the way some women love knitting or dog training, hiking or kick boxing. I dream about going back for my Doctorate someday, just for the fun of it, but I doubt I'd ever return to the work force. #3- As far as the idea that women should "earn" her food, lodging, insurance- there's a BIG difference between having a sense of entitlement that society just "owes" it you vs. you & your husband making a decision together that you are going to stay home and he is going to work to provide those things. In *our* home, my husband really values a well-made & complete meal that is ready every night at 5:30pm. He *really* likes for our home to be neat and tidy at most times. At my previous job, I often worked 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and frequently an additional 4-8 hours on Saturdays. When I was working those hours, we were not able to maintain the level of tidiness & meals he prefers. And I genuinely *like* and *enjoy* homemaking activities. He owns his own business and stays very busy running every aspect of it and did not particularly enjoy handling household affairs. He is more than happy to have me at home taking care of all budgets, bill paying, appointments, filing- basically I do *everything* other than yard work and that suits both of us just fine as I am the more naturally organized of the two. If I went back to work, we'd be hiring out a lot of that work to be done. And, really, I can't imagine why it is somehow okay for me to "earn" a living as an accountant or maid service or personal chef if I'm working for other people but somehow those very same services don't count if I'm performing them for my own family. Furthermore, I've been lucky to witness several older ladies who no longer have children at home and have chosen not to return to work- they do so much for the community around them and I think it's a beautiful thing- they volunteer in numerous ways and the support they've given has been invaluable. Choosing not to return to the work force has enabled them to help others in a way they wouldn't be able to do if they were still working.

That is exactly what we have always done- works for us!

My Dad has always said this- I've been hearing it since I was old enough to remember. I was born in 1975. :)

This is really great advice. This is how we do chores and, unlike most families I know, there is no drama over chores at our house. Zero. Kids are learning how to do things thoroughly b/c I am working alongside them & teaching them how to do jobs correctly. We've now reached the point where kids can do a task completely while I am working on a different task. But the key is that we are all working together at the same time and I am actively supervising and teaching.

I couldn't read it either- which is to bad b/c it looked interesting!

We just did the Monuments by Moonlight trolley tour when we went in September- it was fantastic- well worth the money!

As a fellow lover of Little Bear, I think you might like Little Bill as well. I love that the show focuses on a FAMILY- parents, siblings, grandparents and their neighbors and friends.

My son is 11yo and has 3 sisters- 12yo, 8yo and 5yo. Not everyone can do this, but we are self-employed so my husband started taking our son to work on Saturdays when he was 2yo. When he was 7yo (I think), he started going to work with his Dad every Friday as well as Saturdays. I think its important that he have time with the men, away from an all-girl household. They usually go on at least one or two father-son camping trips each year and he is heavily involved in Trail Life. I have stayed out of TL, and the girls and I rarely attend any events b/c I feel that it's important that he have that time with his Dad.

I messaged you, ajfries! :)

Turkey Tetrazzinni. I have an awesome recipe that our family loves and you are supposed to make it the night before and leave it in the fridge over night. Then it only takes 20 minutes to bake for dinner. It's so good & an easy dinner- I am not into slaving the day away making a huge dinner for just our family. We like to have a quiet, relaxed day just playing with toys, napping, etc.

I wish I had some extra cash to burn because we LOVE Magformers at our house! Kids always get a new set from grandparents, etc. so we have quite a few now- it's so much more fun to build when you have a lot of pieces.

My four kids play with them all the time- we get a new set or two every year to add to our big bin of magformers. We even take them on vacation with us. Someone is always building something with them.

If they like Settlers of Catan, I'd get them Dominion. We love that game!

My people walk in a row behind me. Everyone has their line place and they are to stay in line unless I call them for help.

4 days. I write the date I opened it on the package with a sharpie, b/c otherwise I would never remember. Also, I have almost no sense of smell. Food poisoning is one of those things I don't mess around with- I've had it three times (all from various restaurants) and so I am careful about it at home. After the fourth day opened, I toss it, even if we haven't finished it. Saving a few cents isn't worth puking my guts out.

We have found that jumping jacks, squat thrusts and burpees work wonders for this type of behavior. And any additional complaint tacks on extra time. In our house, every infraction gets an automatic two minutes of jumping jacks. Each additional comment, protest, etc. results in an additional 30 seconds. If you stop or pause, add another minute. It is amazing the turnaround we've had here. And it counts as calisthenics/PE. :D

I think I'm kind of it in my family, although I'm not a real historian by any means. :) I've collected all the oral family stories we have and written them down. Some of them go back 200+ years. I inherited my grandparents pictures- nearly 1,000 unlabeled black and white pictures, some going back to the 1870's or 1880's. I spent three years tracking down every person even remotely related to us and got them all labeled except about 20 of them. Each family line has it's own album, assembled chronologically, with the pictures, family stories and family trees for each line going back to the 1700's or so for most, although a few lines go back much further. I've also visited as many original homesteads and gravesites as possible. I took pictures of them and put them in the above albums along with addresses or directions (for those places with no actual address b/c they are in the middle of the woods) so that future generations can find them. I've got a huge pile of letters spanning from the 1920's to the 1970's from one side of the family. They've all been carefully indexed and placed chronologically in two albums that are preservation quality. And I've got lots of different family pieces- all carefully noted in a document that lists which each item is, which family member it came from and any special notes about it (i.e. this item was purchased by our grandparents on their honeymoon to Niagra Falls in June, 1942), etc. I've tried to assemble things in such a way that future generations will be able to follow the family tree with clarity.

This sounds like the kind of mistake my dyslexic husband or daughter would make. :(

Ninja. Pinterest has some good ideas for super easy, no sew ninja costumes.

So cool! My kids have been discussing costumes for weeks now... 11yo dd- Gypsy 10yo ds- Ninja 8yo dd- Girl Pirate 5yo dd- Elsa

Do you have an iPad or something similar? You can get Sequential Spelling as an app and it seems much easier to me than the workbook/paper.

Inkheart sounds girly to me and Inkspell sounds like work to me. Not that either one bothers me personally, but it might not be appealing to teens. I like The Inklings.

We just stayed here http://landscreek.com/creekside.html#.VZnj-ULdvUo for the second time. The creekside cabins are the best ones- we've stayed at both the raccoon cabin & the deer cabin. Bryson City is a super fun little town with lots to do- take a ride on the Great Smoky Mountain railroad, the Appalachian Story Telling Center, small Historical Museum, funky little shops, etc. plus all the normal fun mountain things to do- hiking, tubing, kayaking, etc. Cherokee is only 15 minutes away and we really enjoyed it- we went to see Unto These Hills and The Museum of the Cherokee was really well done. My kids spend hours & hours playing in the creek in front of the cabins- building dams and playing on the bridges that cross over it and climbing on all the little small dams & such. It's clear, fast moving & pretty shallow. There is a ping pong table under a covered area and horse shoe pits. We can't wait to go back again.

At our old house we had neighbors who let their dog bark ALL NIGHT LONG. It woke the baby up, made it impossible to go to sleep, it was awful. I started calling them at 1am or 2am every night and I would VERY sweetly say "Mr. So-and-So! I think something must be bothering or attacking your dog! He's been barking for quite a while, so loudly we can hear him in the house. Can you check on him to see if he's okay?" :) After several middle of the night phone calls, they started keeping their dog in at night. Any time they'd try to start leaving him out, barking all night long, I'd start calling again.

How about something like karate or tae kwon do? It'd give him the activity with little physical contact (I am sure the studio would work with you on that)- and it might seem more boyish to him than dance.