We have regular bamboo in our bedrooms and it works fine for a low traffic area. We put strand bamboo (from Lumber Liquidators) in our high-traffic family room and I love it. We installed this floor about 3 years ago after an unfortunate laundry flood. So far we have one ding in the floor. It was DH's fault....he dropped a hammer on it while installing. Our 4 (wild) boys haven't done a thing to it. It's been tremendously durable so far and very easy to clean (vacuum or swiffer and occasional steam mop.) I do have a large bookshelf and a piano sitting on it and nothing has left a mark.

:grouphug: and prayers. Hope he's on the mend soon.

I don't have a lot of experience with my own kids yet, as my oldest is only 11, but I anticipate having a lot of variation with my four boys. DS#1 will be on the taller side of normal, the second will be smaller, 3 and 4 are unknowns at this point. I come from a tall family. At 5'8" I am the absolute shortest person in my family, immediate and extended. I have cousins in the nearly 7 foot range, my brother in 6'5", everyone is tall, tall, tall. My husband, at 5'8", is one of the tallest people in his entire family. They are a tiny group of people. Most of the women come up to my chin. It's going to be interesting to see how the genetics of it all play out with our kids. We're pretty careful about making "tall=good" statements. My side of the family isn't as careful and it bothers me a lot (bothered me as a kid, too, being the "short one.") My small kid has been in the 25th percentile his entire life and will most likely stay there. His cousin (same age) is quite tall and gets a lot of positive attention from it. It's a tough thing to be a small boy.

My oldest is our misheard lyric kid. He recently sang along to Adele's Rumor Has it - "Rutabaga, oooohh, rutabaga, ooohhh...." Then came the Pat Benetar classic "Hit me with your pet shark..." The boy needs a karaoke machine or something.

When my son was younger, we had to buy prescription sunglasses (they didn't make clip-ons small enough for his glasses.) When he got older, we switched to the clip-ons. Now that he mainly wears contacts, he can wear normal sunglasses. We never tried transitions, he hasn't been interested in those. His favorite option pre-contacts was to use prescription sunglasses. The clip-ons were usually lost somewhere...

I have had a Fisher Paykel Aquasmart for the last 3 or 4 years and I love it. It's an HE toploader. There's a button you can push to use the conventional (lots of water) setting, so it's like having the best of both worlds. Gets everything clean, clean, clean. No issues thus far, I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

My brother had his out while he was in college, so an older teen. Spent two nights in the hospital and was a mess for about a week (when he went off of the narcotic pain meds. He felt much better just taking liquid tylenol for pain.) My DH had his out as an 30-something year old adult. His surgery was outpatient. His recovery was a breeze and at five days post-op, he snuck out of the house for a cheeseburger. (Worst patient ever.) He only used the liquid oxycontin they gave him for the first day and at night for days 2-3. Otherwise he just used liquid tylenol.

Fastnacht day is one of my favorite days of the year. I'm glad we moved to this part of the world....between the excellent soft pretzels (pretzel sandwiches!) and the holiday celebrating donuts, I'm set!

I will leave my crockpot on and occasionally my dishwasher. I had a terrible flood from a broken washing machine several years ago....the drum on the front loader cracked and water just kept pouring in....and pouring out. The drainage tray underneath was installed improperly - the tray didn't have a hole cut into it, so nothing could drain into the pipe. (Seriously.) This was a second floor laundry. We came home to water in 3 bedrooms and the upstairs hallway, the family room, and the basement. It was 3 days before Christmas. We ended up having to replace all the flooring and the ceiling in the family room. Never, ever, ever again.

I will leave my crockpot on and occasionally my dishwasher. I had a terrible flood from a broken washing machine several years ago....the drum on the front loader cracked and water just kept pouring in....and pouring out. The drainage tray underneath was installed improperly - the tray didn't have a hole cut into it, so nothing could drain into the pipe. (Seriously.) This was a second floor laundry. We came home to water in 3 bedrooms and the upstairs hallway, the family room, and the basement. It was 3 days before Christmas. We ended up having to replace all the flooring and the ceiling in the family room. Never, ever, ever again.

We were plowed out on Sunday night (yay!) The freezing rain made a mess here this morning but everything is fine now. Schools are cancelled for Wednesday. Our co-op is set to resume this week but I have a feeling it will be cancelled. Fortunately, we never lost power and had no damage. I was snowed in at work this weekend from Friday evening until Monday morning. I work in the logistics department of our local hospital and this was my first major snowstorm in this role. Gotta say, it was fascinating! I was on conference calls every 4 hours with everyone - administration, local EMS, DOT, all hospital departments, etc. - and I really enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes work that goes into surviving a snowstorm. I was impressed with our hospital's disaster response team - everything ran smoothly in spite of having over 700 staff members sleeping over in the hospital. Kind of a cool experience.

Anybody else get freezing rain this morning? Our neighborhood was plowed on Sunday night and we were able to run to the store yesterday, but now everything is iced over and my DH said his morning commute (of 3 or so miles) was terrible. Accidents everywhere and much spinning. I was snowed in at work all weekend - finally made it home Monday morning after spending over 60 hours at the hospital. It was LONG and uncomfortable. I feel justified in whining! Our hospital courtyard has no wind (so no drifting) and we measured 36" of snow. On the bright side, I missed out on shoveling. My darling, darling husband and two older kids did it all (though we do have a snowblower, so it wasn't that bad.) 3 of the 4 kids are sick today - two have a fever and just feel crummy, one has croup. We are hunkering down and staying in today.

We made an out-of-state move to get away from long commutes and it's one of the the smartest things we've done. I had a 12 mile commute that took, at a minimum, 75 minutes each way. Factor in bad weather or an accident and it was a two hour trip. Horrible, stressful driving. I'd never willingly do it again.

Not too early to whine, I've been whining all week. Under normal circumstances, I'd be pleased as punch to be snowed in. Unfortunately, I have to work this weekend (as I do every weekend) and since I'm considered "essential personnel" will likely spend the entire weekend at work. I thoroughly dislike sleeping at the hospital and would much rather be stuck at home. On the bright side, I'll camp out in my boss's office, which is at least quiet and private, though far from any sort of restroom. I'm bringing snacks and books and a movie or two in case I can't sleep. It'll be okay. Maybe next time it'll snow on a Tuesday or something and I can enjoy it a little more.

My oldest has been riding for the past 4 years, my second oldest for about 3 years. We were lucky enough to find a fantastic instructor with reasonable expectations. Lessons are $35/hr once a week. Other than helmets and a rare pair of boots, everything we have purchased has been secondhand. The boys have ridden in several schooling or fun shows, usually on Saturdays in our area, each show costing about $75 per kid when all is said and done. We do not own horses and do not plan on that in the future; our instructor is generous and has provided horses for the boys to use in shows and in pony club (we do pay her for this.) My oldest is in his second year of pony club and is learning a ton and having a great time. I do worry that they are getting to the point where they won't be able to progress without owning a horse, but that just isn't something that we can afford. Thankfully, they are still enjoying themselves and learning. Good luck, it sounds like your daughter will love riding!

Prayers for your dh and your family and all involved in his care!

Ditto the Sawyer! Works well and is really simple to use.

I agree with the OP - their behavior was not appropriate for the situation. As an aside, we recently attended a matinee Christmas concert put on by our local symphony and choir. The woman (old enough to know better) that I sat next to sang along with every song. I was ready to stuff a sock in her by the time the performance was over. I appreciate that she was feeling festive, but seriously....she was really obnoxious.

Our co-op classes meet 7 times per semester, so finding ideas that work for a fairly condensed class has been challenging. I'm glad to see that someone successfully used the Disney Imagineering videos for a class, that's my idea for next fall. I taught a handbell class for 2nd-6th graders using these handbells and covering basic music theory. We performed a handful of songs at our end-of-semester parent night. I had a lot of kids in the class that had no prior musical experience and this class was a great intro. Last semester I taught a survival skills class for 4th-8th graders. We covered topics such as building/finding shelter, firestarting, water purification, rescue, first aid, etc. We had a great time! I tried to have a hands-on activity and a short lecture, usually a power point presentation. I'm doing the same class next semester for the kids on the waiting list for fall. My kids favorite classes so far have been photography, cooking, gym, legos, and web design.

I'm so sorry to hear about your FIL. Prayers for your family.

We've had 4 iphones and an ipad, so far only one phone has had cracked glass (and it was completely my fault. Took it out of the lifeproof case and dropped it on the floor.)

We have years when we acquire more illnesses than our average, typically a year that a kid is starting preschool. (This happens to be a starting-preschool year. Woohoo!) However, it usually only affects the preschooler. Otherwise, everyone usually gets maybe a cold or two during the winter months. Usually nothing pediatrician-worthy. The year I started working in an ER I was sick ALL.THE.TIME. However, after that first really horrid year, I never really caught anything.

Totally agree with this! I couldn't explain why it works (or why Dancing Bears works for reading, for that matter) but they DO. And they work WELL. It's been an amazing year for my kiddo - his reading and spelling have improved dramatically.

Magformers are great, we did those last year and the kids (all of 'em) still play with them. My nearly six year old is getting Lego Minecraft sets, a spirograph, a cash register, a few artsy craftsy painting kits, books, PJs, and a board game. He was pretty specific this year.

Most of my shopping is done already (all online), but I did get a new car seat for the youngest today on an Amazon lightning deal. Our TV had an unfortunate accident a few months ago and we've waited to replace it. I was hoping for a good deal on a TV but haven't found any remarkably good deals (other than those lightning deals that sell out way too fast.)