I may be speaking through my hat here, especially since I am not in the U.S. and instead live comfortably in a wealthy middle class suburb in a boom state in Australia.....but aren't a lot of the problems due to everyone wanting so much more than is really healthy and sustainable in the long run, for the majority? If everyone feels it is their right and privelege to have a decent family home in the burbs, to have 2.2 kids and all the mod cons of modern life....somewhere surely something has to give? There are so many factors involved in all these issues. I personally feel that its about time people stopped caring so much about being able to get along with mainstream culture, and just did what they feel is the right thing to do. The days of fitting in and being normal are over. It's time to follow your own star and do what needs to be done and not worry that it isnt what everyone else is doing. We homeschool- find other homeschoolers. I am part of spiritual circles that are not mainstream but I live in an area where they are very accepted- by choice- I would not move away unless I had to because they are my community. We rent because thats just what works for us and buying would not be good for our kids. It's true, my non homeschooling friends frequently try to convince me to work, as if homeschooling , whiel obviously worthy, could not possibly be enough. As if being supported by a husband is so ...not normal any more. But who cares? Dh and I have always marched to a different beat, and not always the same one as each other, mind you. While these times are constantly changing and bringing many challenges, to both men and women, I think they are also lending themselves to opportunities for innovation and creative thinking, working in new areas, finding what matters more- money or a career one loves , values....while many may be going in a different direction, there is plenty of evidence that there are other movements afoot that are very positive and life affirming. Perhaps one needs to be willing to stand apart before one can access them, but they are around. Whatever is happening in mainstream culture...and there is plenty there that doesnt look so wonderful, including the culture that puts 6 week old babies into full time daycare until they go to school- there is an equal and opposing non mainstream culture, and we are part of that, being homeschoolers. And so are many other people doing different things, trying to make a difference in their own way. I prefer to focus on that which is wonderfully positive, rather than the vast amount of negative. We are homeschooling. We are creating a culture and setting an example to others in the community, and our children themselves. Some of us live in virtual poverty to do this- others not so. In previous eras we might have been working in factories with our children at home with their grandparents, until they were old enough to also work in factories. Times will change whether we like it or not, both for good and bad, and while womens roles are changing, probably our innate natures are not and things will balance. Men are having to learn to adapt and change and I think thats a good thing. I am personally glad women have the choices they do. I like watching the evolution of culture.

I would soak in boiling water, scrub well, soak in bleach solution, and if it survived all that looking ok, I would proceed to use it. I am not easily grossed out by germs.

I have an amazing computerised machine in my kitchen called a Thermomix (I am not sure if they have been released in the U.S. yet. They have been in Europe for years though, apparently). thermomix.com.au It cooks, grinds,is a very highpowered blender, it weighs, and it is easy to clean. So I can put the cake ingredients into it, weigh them as I go, whizz it for a few seconds, pour it into a tin, then put the cake in the oven. I can make a soup or curry and cook it, including weighing ingredients. I can whip cream in about 15 seconds. I can make butter if I keep it going another few seconds. It grinds wheat into flour, rice into rice flour etc, in about one minute. It grates my parmeson or normal cheese in about 10 seconds. It grates carrots or beetroot in 7 seconds. Cabbage in 5. It is a rice cooker. It has a steamer that sits on top. It is better than a breadmaker (IMO) because I can measure then grind the grain, then add the other ingredients and knead, then take it out, let it rise, then cook it. The measuring/ kneading part takes a couple of minutes. It makes our green smoothies in seconds. The blender is very powerful. It can also make juices by blending fruit and/or vegies with water, then straining. I love technology that helps me to also be more creative. I cook things I would never have tried before. I make my own spelt puff pastry and vegetarian sausage rolls. Cakes, bread, soups, curries. Chocolate. Breakfast porridge. Sorbets from frozen fruit. Sorry, had to brag. Love my thermomix. Cant wait till WTM members start getting them and I can share my glee!

OK, I didn't floss for years, like you Laura, except when I had something stuck in my teeth. So, ocasionally but not regularly. Last dentist visit, he did xrays and I needed 4 fillings. Apparently. I only went to get two amalgums replaced by composite, and it ended up being a huge sum of money. I went home shocked that it was going to cost me so much to get it all done (it was just the check up- nothing done). I decided to skip the fillings, start flossing and brushing twice a day instead of once, and using anti bacterial mouthwash. I am actually using "natural" products with some possibility of rebuilding tooth enamel, which from my reading is a definite possiblity although dentists either don't know or wont tell you. So far, so good. I did have a slight tooth ache in an obvious decay area, which has since gone. I am watching it all carefully. I am hoping to heal the holes and rebuild the enamel. I will give it 6 months or so- none of the holes were deep and two were mere shadows barely noticeable on xray and not noticeable without xray. So thats my story. I have been too easy going about my dental health and when it was going to cost me a lot, I have picked up my act considerably. I think it probably depends a lot on your teeth structure and strength of enamel etc as well. Crowded teeth are harder to keep clean than non crowded ones. I did go back and get the amalgums replaced as well, and just told teh dentist I would come back when I could afford it. I find the cost of dentistry incredibly exhorbitant, so I have had a wake up call about taking better care of my teeth. BTW I never had my kids floss until one year, about 3 years ago now, both needed several fillings and because we wont have mercury put in their mouths, we had to go to a private dentists (rather than the free public system) and it cost us a fortune. I told them they would be paying for their own fillings from then on. Since then, they brush and floss regularly and have not needed a filling! I really am slack about such things but am motivated purely by the amount of money dentistry costs!

Yeah, I am joining the Ester fan club too.

I love sleep but am inclined to insomnia at times, especially pre menstrually. I love my afternoon rest times- I often dont sleep, but the rest makes all the difference. Last night I slept for almost 9 hours and I am happy!

Private fireworks have been banned in Australia for many years. I used to love them as a kid, but there are several great monster public firework shows in my city each year and we usually go to at least one- even if from a distance. Thats good enough for me, since so many people are injured by the privately bought ones.

Yes, absolutely. But I self medicate all the time. I do lots of research and check it out thoroughly. I dont know why you wouldn't tell your doctor? Or for that matter, why you would? The only reason I would tell a doctor is if it worked, and I wanted him to know that it worked. And/or if there was a chance of drug interactions. The truth is, in many cases, you will know more than your doctor because you will be putting in the hours of research and most doctors cant/dont/wont put that much time into researching new medications, let alopne natural treatments. I cant tell you the number of times I have been to the doctor just to get a 2nd opinion, and after waiting for a couple of hours and getting a 5-10 minute appointment, have walked out disappointed that I knew more than the doctor.

Dd16: All dishes every alternate week. Cleans the pool and checks the filter daily as needed. Feed chickens daily and picks up doggy do every alternate week. Does own washing and keeps room tidy (well, no she doesnt, but she does tidy it regularly). Ds14: ALl dishes every alternate week. Empties all bins daily/weekly as needed. Feeds chickens daily and picks up doggy do every alternate week. Does own washing and keeps room tidy. Both vacuum, dust and do weekly general cleaning chores as needed- a max of 30 minutes though.

I put my bid in for ovarian cyst also, but only because I have had them. I have also had appendicitis but it was higher. It was a more acute pain, though- the ovarian cyst was a dull ache. Ovarian cysts can be anything from not painful at all, to extremely painful. They also usually disappear by themselves in a couple of cycles, but a doctor will usually keep watch. I used natural treatments and mine disappeared.

I think we have had a string of zero celcius mornings and this morning was definitely one of them. The coldest June here in ages. And the driest. Winter down here, and its usually mild, but our heaters are struggling to keep up. BTW, I wish you guys would get with the rest of the world and go metric and celsius and all that. It really does my brain in trying to keep up without your systems!

Lol, Rosie, you are humour impaired? You have one of the funniest, driest senses of humour I have come across. You are adorable. OK, so I am not following the conversation closely and perhaps you didnt get a joke, but even just saying you are humour impaired is funny!

I dont come to the highschool board much because I feel inadequate when I do. Dd16 is doing really well, and is very capable, but we dont have to do the things you guys over there have to do. She can get into uni pretty easily. She is doing correspondence courses that take a lot of time and it has meant we have had to back right off on "the basics". Ds14 is plodding along and doing ok. OK is ok. I have had to let of of a lot of what I wanted to cover with dd especially. All in all, the way it is turning out is that my kids are having a great life, a great teen part of their life...they are working part time, doing about 4-5 hours a day of academics, and fitting in a whole lot of other things including a lot of socialising that is more than socialising- being on committees and planning events. It's just what we are doing. Its not really what I planned. But I am not going to take away everything that means so much to them, to fit in a lot more academics, when what they are doing is enough to get them where they want to go. It turned out we homeschool for a lot more reasons that academics. Its a life and a lifestyle, and academics are just a part.

Ds14 is thriving with MUS- I do wish I had used it before, but it didnt line up with our Australian system and I didnt want to do it the MUS way...now, I wish I had, but its ok. He is dong Pre Algebra. I didnt but the manipulatives because he wont use them anyway. He is doing well. He is not an academic kid and he has had a lot of issues with how the maths is presented on the page. MUS seems to be a good balance - not busy, decent sized print, good number of questions.

We used the lesson plans but dd16 felt she had already covered most of it in other programs and it dropped off our list.

There is a difference between "regret" and doing things differently if I had the chance over again. I did the best I could and all is well. I would not curriculum hop anywhere near as much if I were to do it again. But that's because I have experience under my belt, and am familiar with a lot of currciulum. If I were to start from the beginning, I might try to be a bit more child led, if I had the right sort of child. Because mine came already jaded from the school system, I never felt comfortable being an unschooler with them, but perhaps with the right child, I would be. I have standards though and if they werent passionate about learning, I would still make sure they got a decent education. Overall, no regrets, but hindsight is a good teacher and i would have more fun with them when they were younger and worry a little less about the academics, but still cover things like grammar and Latin and spelling and handwriting. The sense of perspective you get over time is very valuable. Maybe I will be of some use to my grandkids!

Way, way more than I would feel comfortable admitting, over the years. But I enjoyed it. The good news is I don't spend any time doing it any more- the time for it passed.

Dh is around a lot...sometimes I envy women whose dhs are out at work all day, or even work long hours! We handle the frequent proximity by just doing our own thing, and flow back and forth- but without expectations that the other be "available" at any given time. Over time, we spend time together, time apart, and it all balances. I agree that letting go of expectations is helpful.

I have tried various composters over the years, including just piles, and my current system is 3 bins very similar to the one you linked to. I find them neat, effective and convenient. I dont dig my compost. I layer it and i have bacteria added to my kitchen compost bucket so teh compost bins have a booster. SO far, so good. My ideal is either a compost tumbler, or a nice home made wooden 3 sided heap, with 3 sections. But for the convenience factor, I am happy with our 3 black plastic bins.

Rudeness is rudeness, callousness is callousness, no matter where it comes from. Even if she believed the comment, how useful was it to say it to you? That sort of thing is often said in my circles (as a possibility) and its not generally meant unkindly, but people shoudl be careful of throwing around concepts they know little about but which provide pat answers to complex life situations. I completely agree that many people use the concept of karma to be less than kind to their fellow man. It is commonly done in my circles- for example, when someone gets an illness or even cancer, a less than compassionate person might say " that's their karma" in a way that is suggests that that person is less than conscious, because they wouldnt have got sick if they were truly enlightened or aware. This can be said in such as way that removes the sayer from being just plain helpful or kind- it is patronising. I know of cases people have done this to people who have got sick. But in eastern countries, in my understanding, that isnt done so much in that way....because it is good karma to help someone who is sick, even if it is their bad karma to get sick in the first place! There is not that sickly spiritual superiority complex I see so often, that distances oneself from those with bad karma. I was pretty shocked after Michael Jackson died though, to hear some Christian friends gloat and the mother and teen son exchange glances and smile at each other knowingly, and make the comment- well, we know where he went (meaning he went to hell). It felt really sick to me. Its not that different from karma in some ways, but extremely different in others- with karma, one always has a chance to redeem oneself, to improve ones situation. Always. There is never a time in all eternity when there is no possibility to improve one's karma, no matter how low one has sunk. In Christianity, there is this concept of hell and eternal ****ation....I find karma a much, much more compassionate concept.

Exactly.

In my understanding, the world of form is made of polarities, so anything manifest- whether it is a thought, a feeling, a quality or a chair- can only be relatively true, never absolutely true. Hot is hot only in relative to cold. Anger is only anger relative to peace. Even a chair is only a chair because thats what we have decided to call it- otherwise its not really anything. My understanding is that God (or GUS) is the only thing that is absolute, and everything else exists within and is part of GUS- comes from it and returns to it. So to me...GUS is the absolute, and everything else is relative. I dont think we can conceive absolute truth with our human minds, only relative truth. But philosophy and religion are all about getting as close as we can.

Lol, we can be a bit blunt...and so what if you are dense or spoiled, we will still treat you nicely- in fact I have had Americans call all Australians dense because of some of our movies that made it overseas, and I think we consider ourselves spoiled just living here :) We will probably tease you a bit though...

Sometimes kids tend to say what needs to be said, that adults wont say because they are being too nice, trying to be politically correct! (Of course, I dont know how bad he is, but is he being truly offensive to others to their face, or just making politically incorrect comments that shock you, in the privacy of the family home? My kids do the latter frequently and I wouldnt want them to feel they couldn't.). My kids became quite anti- Christian for a while there but eventually it became a non issue for them. Ds's best friend is from a strong Christian family so suddenly it wasnt so cool to dis them .

Thanks Jenny, those are some good thoughts. I am thinking more and more that I need business skills. However...I am not sure if I am built to be a counsellor. I like the idea. I dont know if I would like the reality. I will look into personal coaching- is that the same as life coaching?