That reminds me. I love the Persian tradition of saving a watermelon in straw to eat on Yalda (winter solstice). It's a reminder of summer to come on one of the longest, coldest nights of the year. Way cool IMHO.

I don't see any war on Christmas. I see people becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the United States is increasingly multi faith (although it has always been, and Christians are still a vast majority) and that there really might need to be a separation of Church and State…rather than a wink wink nudge nudge one. It's an uncomfortableness with the "browning" of America… even though Jesus himself would be put on a no-fly list today based on appearance. It's quite similar to all the anti-Obama stuff which has nothing to do with his actual policies (which are quite conservative) and everything to do with the color of his skin and his name.

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/597010/-Teddy-s-law---would-battle-child-abuse.html?nav=5021 "The legislation Cafaro is pushing, if passed, would require the background checks and interviews before the children are allowed to become a part of a home school or online program. School and children service officials would be able to access a statewide data base to determine whether there are past or current abuse investigations against anyone in the child's household. In addition, the guardian must submit to an in person with the child's parents or guardians, and they must allow the children to have age appropriate interviews. If there are records of child abuse by anyone in the household or if the interviews elicit negative information, it must be passed on to the local superintendent or educational leader." What do you think?

Have a son in public 3rd grade, and one who was in public 3rd grade last year. They focused on formulas…. last year, they would underline various things in different colors, this year it's something different. Goal is to get them ready for the writing section in 4th grade for the standardized test, the FCAT. Honestly, both my boys did write good multi-paragraph compositions…but I think that's in spite of the formulas, rather than because of them. They've been exposed to lots of literature…and that paid off. I read through a bunch of different compositions on the wall--and the quality varied tremendously. So, just because your DC can't do it now, but perhaps can write one good paragraph… the teachers can work with that. I would start with one good paragraph…and then move to two…three, etc. Here's a sample form to use. I think my son's teacher used something baseball related, as she loved baseball. http://abettermedaybyday.com/2011/04/05/simple-5-paragraph-essay-outline-form-for-kids/ Look for some topics online, and then work on one each week. I'm sure you'll be fine by next year.

Used both…Fitbit is 1000x easier/better IMHO. Even the zip is great. You can tell your steps without having to sync…software is great… worked wonderfully. More comfortable too…can hook it on your bra, waistband, etc. <3 my Zip. Plus, they have great customer service. I lost mine and emailed to see if they had a discount, and they just sent me a new one. Buy a pedometer leash though. :)

Cornstarch or arrowroot.

Here, it's about $100/month which includes lessons 3x/week. You can also take through the YCMA, where it's $55/month…but 2x/week.

I've lived in cities with great public transportation (DC and NYC….and Paris and St. Gallen, Switzerland) and I've lived in cities with horrific public transportation. While I understand that there might be some desire to do this in certain areas to reduce car traffic, I think they need to put good public transportation in place first. It's its own incentive. For example, I could either take the subway when I lived in Brooklyn into the city…or I could drive our car. Driving the car was a pain, major traffic, and involved usually paying for parking…plus having to search for parking when we got back. Not worth the effort. The subway was a few bucks, easy and direct, no problems. Same with DC. Also…we're totally different population-density wise than Europe.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but it's the Core Knowledge Foundation's K-8 list. http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/480/CKFSequence_Rev.pdf (Note: Core Knowledge is not the same as Common Core. Core Knowledge is best known for the "What Your X Grader Needs to Know…" series by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

There's Nothin but Stringz. Also…many moons ago Vanessa Mae was popular.

That is awful. I wonder how he scammed his way in or did whomever was supposed to be there not show up and they said…go out there? Weird. I would assume that you would need some sort of credentialing to be an interpreter. I hope that South African TV has closed captioning or something similar so that the deaf community watching TV was still able to understand the service. I feel sad for all who were in attendance, were counting on translation, and then lost out.

The Ref!!! I totally forgot about that movie! It was hilarious…but definitely not kid friendly. Not letting me multiquote, but I had no idea about the Dyan Cannon remake of "Christmas in Connecticut"…definitely get the original. Lead character is a Martha Stewart-like character, but a total sham. It's great. It has the wonderful S.Z. Sakall in it too. It will make you hungry, though. My kids all love the "Home Alone" movies.

Amazon has Jacques Pepin's Technique in Kindle for like $6.00. Jacques is a great teacher. (OK, now it's $13, guess I got a good deal.) Cook's Illustrated has "The Science of Good Cooking." I'm a fan of any of the Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country, or America's Test Kitchen books. (ATK has a Cooking School book too.) Plus, they're all usually available at libraries.

For a typical 20 year old, I'd say Torrid, but that is casual/trendy clothes. Lane Bryant is good. Avenue typically has more work-related clothes. LB can be hit or miss depending on the season. (Check out their websites.) There's an online mega plus-size store called OneStopPlus that has Avenue, Ulla Popkin, Igigi, etc. so that might be a good choice. SimplyBe is another online catalog that is nice. Dillard's/Kohls (regular department stores) are usually good.

Thanks everybody. I've been worried about both, but I posted mainly about my DD because I found it more shocking that she searched on it, rather than my 8 year old 3rd grader. I kind of assumed that he may have prompted her, because I remember an instance in 3rd grade with my eldest last year…discussions in the boys' locker room on sex…and they were so disturbing to him that he told me about them. (Also completely inaccurate. :P) So, that's part of the reason we're homeschooling him. Sadly (in this case), she's an excellent speller and reader. All of my kids so far seem to be great spellers. Not sure where that comes from as both DH and I are not. I was thinking about switching them both to HSing starting in January…but have wavered back and forth. (Before this even happened.) I do believe that there are some kids at their school who have been exposed to things that I would never expose my young kids to through elder siblings or what not…and thus share that info…and that worries me. Thanks everybody for all of your support. I'm trying not to do anything that will be viewed as punishment for this (like taking away the iPads and e-devices forever), as I don't think they did anything wrong. It was me forgetting to fix the settings after the IOS update. I thought I had spoke enough to her about the whole "sexy" thing, but I guess I didn't.

I emailed them to ask if this course was OK for an absolute beginner or whether or not they had a suggested sequence of courses or what not. This was the reply (quick too): "...We actually cater all of our level 1 courses to beginners, so wherever your child would like to start would be appropriate. We walk every student through the basics of programming and design in each level 1 class. So if Mod Design is what he's passionate about, then absolutely that is the class for him. He'll create his own Mod, and in the process learn Java."

They don't have it on Netflix right now, but look for "Christmas in Connecticut" on TMC or elsewhere. (If you like classic films.) I also love "The Bishop's WIfe'…both the Cary Grant version and the one with Whitney Houston. "The Shop Around the Corner" "Miracle on 34th " "Elf" The Tim Allen "Santa Clause" movie "Love Actually" and "Bridget Jones" because of the Christmas sweaters…although I haven't watched them in awhile, so not sure if they will hold up.

I never expected to deal with this with my daughter at 6…but... today she was using my iPad…and apparently searched on sexy….and a really really raunchy hardcore video came up….and she watched it and didn't say anything. Then when I opened up Safari, I saw that was the last thing anybody has seen…so found out the deal. I had all these parental controls on the iPad, but when they updated my IOS, they must've gotten erased. I put most back, but forgot about website content ratings. Ugh. I think this has to do with earlier in the year, a few boys in her class told her she was sexy…and I asked her what that meant…and she said pretty. So, I think she was looking for sexy thinking it would be about being beautiful/fashion/etc. I basically talked with her about porn…and how it's not generally appropriate for somebody her age…and asked her if there was anything she saw that she had question on…or wanted to ask. She didn't say much except she's sorry. Other than adding back in the controls, WWYD? Oh, her 8 year old brother watched with her (I spoke with him as well), but both say that she is the one that searched and clicked on the video. Would you do anything else?

I can relate… had an MBA, great job… been SAHM for 10 years. About a year ago, I started working PT doing social media for a small nonprofit. It pays horribly… but it's allowed me to start putting things back on my resume. I've had some short-term consulting gigs as well. I couldn't do my former job even if I wanted to, because of the travel. The consulting gigs did pay well, but honestly, it was only because I priced myself that way. I remembered what we used to pay consultants, so I knew if I was too low, I wouldn't be taken seriously. I've actually had the best luck with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Indeed.com… as well as just targeting companies themselves. If you see a job you like, there's no reason why you can't email them and make a proposal. If you're not up to date with LinkedIn, start there. Add your old classmates, former colleagues, etc. Also put it out there that you're looking for PT or whatever work. You might be surprised.

I think Cadbury tastes better than Hershey's chocolate, although I still buy Hershey bars w/Almonds, because my Dad loved them.

Being a SAHM is 100x harder than my job in marketing at a Fortune 50 company. It never ends. I never am "off". I never get a break. Part of the problem is cultural differences with my husband. In his culture, babysitters who are not family are extremely rare, so we've never had a babysitter. My parents have watched my kids a few times in the past 10 years for a few hours, but we don't' live near them, so it's rare. My ideal would be to work PT out of the home, and SAHM PT…but I've basically torpedoed my career by choosing this life for the past 10 years. No going back. I do very limited PT social media work…but it's at home. While that works great for me logistically, I miss interacting with IRL people. I feel blessed to be at home, but there are definitely things I miss about my life before. Having said all that, having four kids, I don't see being able to work outside of the home at these ages. It just wouldn't have worked. Daycare costs or a nanny to be at home with them would have killed a good portion of my salary. My job involved a lot of travel. Great when you're single, difficult to coordinate with small kids and a husband with a demanding career.

Cilantro is a vile weed…but strangely, I like coriander. Please, please do not sprinkle it all over my food. Ask first. Respect the "no". I never had a Barbie. My Mom hated them. I had a Bionic Woman doll…complete with the Bionic Woman beauty center. You could charge her bionics and do her hair. My friend Janet had all the Barbies and I was so very jealous. I've bought my DD Barbies, but I see why my Mom hated them. :P

Just got back from Costco…and had to share these finds... Complete Magic Schoolbus DVD set for $27 and change. Roald Dahl boxed set….around $25. Ramona boxed set…around $25. Neat peel and stick world and US map set for $20.

She can listen to French radio or watch French TV online. So much is out there for free. Even if it's just 15 minutes, it will help with comprehension. She can also find TV shows that she likes that are dubbed, which might make it easier for her to understand. Can also watch movies she likes with the French language option turned on. Another option would be to see if she can get a language pal to Skype with…somebody her own age who is perhaps learning English.

We got a $1 Latin/Greek roots download from the Scholastic Teacher Express store during one of their sales. It was called "Vocabulary Packets: Latin and Greek Roots." Because it was only $1, it was a low cost trial into seeing if a roots program would hold my son's interest. (It did.)