I have noticed that the price of food has gone up, as well as the price of all utilities. We are having yet another housing boom, and it is now pretty unaffordable for many to buy a home, even on a good income. And, many poeple are starting up their own vegie gardens, who otherwise wouldnt bother. Ultimately, I see it as a good thing. The present economic systems across the world, dominated by the U.S., always were unsustainable in the long run. Propping up an unsustainable system is always going to fail eventually. We are postponing the inevitable. Its going to be a rough ride for many (and easier here in Australia than many other places)...and I hope we come out the other end with a better world for our kids and their kids.

Nothing is fullproof unfortunately. I have heard that they dont recommend kids even have small sips of wine from their parent's glasses anymore because it suppsedly is more likely to lead to alcohol issues later. My family all drank a fair bit- both sides. I passed out drunk at my christening from all the people who let me have a sip as a toddler. All my childhood, I was allowed to have a sip, and as a teenager, a small glass. I never drank more than a couple of times a year as an adult, and I think I have been actually drunk twice in my life (as an adult). My stepdd21 never drank till this year, and she now has an alcoholic boyfriend and gets drunk with him regularly. Whatever the statistics, there will be plenty of exceptions. I know my kids have a wild gene that will give them a tendency towards experimentation. We do a lot of talking. They are both fairly well balanced and healthy too..no apparent underlying psychological issues...hopefully self preservation will step in and keep them on the straight and narrow, or at elast bring them back to it when they stray! I am trying to teach them to treat their bodies like temples. They dont respond well :) and roll their eyes a lot, but at least they are being exposed to taking care of the body rather than it being a means to an end, and therefore the common mindset that its ok to abuse it as long as you can sleep it off.

Lol, I haven't read the Man with the Iron Mask so I cant compare, but Ivanhoe was a surprising hit with my two last year. It is not something I would personally have got through more than a couple of chapters of- it really is archaic and wordy- but I read it aloud to them and they were enthralled- and I enjoyed it because they did! Thank goodness I didnt read anything about it beforehand or I mightnt have even tried it.

I think my job is to bring up my kids to be themselves and express themselves and feel comfortable just not thinking about such things. I think its a terrible thing to put on a child- you should be more this way or that way. My dd was not interested in dresses, covered her body well, until she was 12 or 13, then suddenly, as puberty came, she blossomed into a totally girly girly girly girl! I don't see it as my job to make a child conform to my ideas of what they should be. My job is to give them the tools and the acceptance to be themselves and follow their own paths in life.

I bought one a few months ago- it was on my want list for years. I do use it and love having it. It is an Excalibur- not cheap, but apparently "the best" from my research. We live in a sunny place and I did have dh make me a solar dehydrator first. it worked well, but was probably more like oven temperature at times. It was just a set of bookshelves layed on their back with glass on top and some airholes with mesh over them. You could also just put food on trays out in the sun, and cover them with something to keep the bugs off. I also used to have a small round dehydrator years ago, which was quite inexpensive. It didnt hold much though and I felt that it used a lot of power for drying so little. I think the Excalibur is quite economical that way- you can dry a lot at once. I bought the 9 drawer one too. In retrospect, the 5 drawer woudl have probably been enough, however when I get into the mood to dry stuff, its good to be able to do several lots of things. I can also do sweets (I make dehydrated cookies) and savouries at the same time- the flavour doesnt spread.

Maybe its a U.S. thing...I quite like going to our local bookstore. There is an adult section for classics, and a children's classics section too (where things like Narnia, Pippi Longstocking, etc are). They have staff recommendations stuck along the shelves. The frustrating part for me is that I know that amongst all these new books that are being published, I know there must be some that are actually worth reading...I just dont know which ones! I am very fussy about what I read, especially fiction. I love fantasy/sci fi but if it hasnt been strongly recommended, or I dont get hooked in the first 30 pages...I give up and go back to my stack of non fiction, which I tend to skim read.

I thought the 2nd movie was absolutely hilarious and I really enjoyed it. It was the slow motion scene of Edward looking like a movie star moving across the highschool cafateria that did it for me. That producer had a sense of humour! I agree with the others. Read the books. However, my dh is rather disgusted with me. He finally watched the first movie and was horrified that Bella was being seduced by someone so old! It disturbed his sensibilities.

It is an absolutely wonderful book, IMO. My favourite translation (which is not a direct translation but a modern, readable version of a direct translation) which is very readable, is Stephen Mitchell's. amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Translation-Stephen-Mitchell/dp/0609810340 It is a foundational text IMO. It is like a Bible to the Hindus.

I used K12's History Odyssey for Logic Stage Ancients and Medieval, and I preferred the way it broke history down to Early Man, Early Civilisations, Ancient Greeks, Romans etc. I found it a refreshing change after moving so quickly through history with SOTW. However, I also like SOTW. YOu can break SOTW into countries if you like. Do all the Ancient Greek Chapters consecutively if you like. I am nowadays of the opinion that it really doesnt matter so much what you do with the younger kids...mine don't remember much at all! A few pegs here and there is all.

I am using SOTW and Connect the Thoughts for my older kids and we read 3-4 chapters of SOTW a week.

Do you know about Flylady.net? I used her for years to get my life in order- and really, if you only pick up one or two things from her website/emails/book, it would be worth it. I find it all a bit commercial and overwhelming nowadays so I am no longer subscribed (although it is free), but it helped me go from someone always overwhelmed, messy and in chaos, to someone reasonably well organised and ordered and rarely overwhelmed. I have my own version now and it works for me- and I dont like rigid routines. My routines are very fluid and mostly it has just become habit.

It would depend...if it was my dream home and there was a way of fencing in the house very securely...likely yes (if I had toddlers or would in the future). I do love creeks myself and they are wonderful places for older children to explore, so they would factor in. However...if I was still in the baby stage, it would definitely be one factor against. We didn't rent houses with swimming pools until our kids could swim. We were never complacent about our kids near water. But...we rented so could only do so much to prevent accidents. If we bought...it would be different because we would make very secure fencing (and i know nothing is fullproof). I do remember one house we looked at once that had a pool in the atrium- 3 walls of the house looked over the pool, with glass sliding doors. The couple had young children, and they dealt with it by teaching their kids to swim as babies. There are classes- and I took my first child to them- that teach baby survival skills, and the ones I went to were excellent. I am not saying they make a baby drownproof but they really help.

I would say I am with dh because he made and makes me laugh, for sure. He has the whackiest, grossest, wildest sense of humour. He reckons it took me a good few years to learn to laugh at myself though :) and he is glad I finally can. I was pretty serious there in my younger days. He loves it when I reallybelly laugh, and he feels he is really successfull when I do. He calls it my cackle and it really makes him happy when I cackle. Laughter is definitely one of the glues of our marriage. I object to the term "in love" but I think laughter and a sense of humour is definitely one aspect of real love. And, it is definitely a shortcut fastrack path to your heart.

Love storms here. I was just sitting here while the family told me about the storm we had early this morning- I slept through it, which is unusual. However, to the OP, I dont stay on the computer during storms with lightning! Dangerous! I unplug the computers and phones and TVs, and especially the modem.

Dh and I wouldnt rent a house with a swimming pool until youngest was 6 years old and ready to swim. Dh once pulled a drowned toddler from a swimming pool at a party when he was an adult teenager. He takes drowning very, very seriously. Drowning is silent. I recently watched a young kid who couldn't swim slip into the pool- and it really impacted me how easily it can happen- fortunately there were several adults watching in this case. I dont think dh and I would actually allow our kids at anyone's house with a pool, without us, until they could well and truly swim. Even if the pool was well fenced etc. But, we didnt have family to contend with. However, in your case, your dh has a say too, and the situation is borderline- and chances are MIL won't do it again, and chances are she will be more careful about using swimming floats etc. If I were you I would get your non swimmers into swimming lessons TOMORROW and make sure they can swim. Here in Australia most kids swim by school age- we are a swimming nation- and many learn to swim when younger. Since your dh is not as concerned as you are, I suggest you take action and get your kids all learning to swim (even and especially your 4yo). Meanwhile, they are too busy to attend MIL's. It could be a good compromise with your dh too. Then you can bypass the issue and not enter into more family dramas.

I was idealistic about my daughter waiting a year or so after starting before using tampons. It turned out it started on a 10 day camp and her best friend just gave her tampons, so there went that little dream. In the end...no big deal. I buy cotton tampons, I buy organic when I can....but I dont try and control what she uses. She wants to use tampons mostly- she has pads for back up. For an active teen, tampons are incredibly practical, especially during summer and swimming- I wouldnt want to take that away from my dd. Having perids can be hard enough without added restrictions.

I say yes. My 14yos suddenly wants to do rides like that too and he has such a strong desire for freedom and independence, I dont want to hold him back out of fear or overprotectiveness. We have even bought lights for both our kids' bikes and a couple of times they have ridden locally, together, in the daylight, and ridden home in the dark (on footpaths). They feel very grown up! For me, both my kids have gone through huge maturity hikes at around age 14 and they both craved a lot more freedom. Also, intense physical exercise is good for them. If they get exhausted, they sleep. Its healthy.

I pulled my 2 out mid year 8 years ago next month (thats mid year here in Australia). It was pretty chaotic for quite a while. I definitely spent a LOT of time planning and researching- for a long time. In retrospect..I could have spent less time on the computer, more time taking them for field trips and just using the first curricula I bought! But, its a huge learning curve and you need to cut yourself some slack for the journey you are on now. It's time consuming, but it does get easier. I don't like to say how many years till I felt I knew what I was doing, but it does get easier :) There are ways of planning and setting up that don't involve much nightly preparation. It might be the books you are using or the system. I use a weekly workbox system. workboxsystem.com . I use the basic workbox system, which I have set up in drawers for my kids, and I put a week's worth of work in each drawer- but they are older. Even the daily workbox system can help streamline and keep things ordered. It has made quite a different for us and I didn't start using it till this year when my kids are already teens. Read to your kids a lot, and make sure you are having fun as well as doing the work. Not that it's all fun...but you are setting the tone for their childhood and there should be plenty of warm fuzzy bonding and fun times as well. You will also be dealing with deschooling your kids- getting the school out of them. It takes months. Let everyone unwind as well as set routines.

I have a dream to own some acres in the country- not too far from the city though- and build a farm that is self sufficient/permaculture- lots of fruit trees, vegetable gardens, solar power, etc I want to build the farm with the intention of passing it down to my kids when I am gone, and it being passed down the generations. I would like to write books, teach about health, and play with grandchildren regularly! I would also like to travel more.

Here in Australia, there is no middle school (although some private schools are taking on the concept). We have primary school and highschool. In some states, primary includes year 7, and in some highschool takes year 7. I grew up with highschool being years 7-12, and my kids are growing up in a different state with high school being years 8-12. There are also "senior high schools" here which specialise in years 11 and 12 only.

Probably the Sound of Music. I dont like watching movies more than once usually though.

Mmm, I think I was pretty stressed for quite a while but it might have been more new homeschooler stress than to do with finding the boards. I think my standard went way up for quite a while, but not necessarily our actual reality, and over time I have settled to a more realistic standard for us. As the teen years have come on I feel my kids have needed an even more individualised program. I am glad for the years of grammar and Latin (and one is still doing grammar, and the other is just finishing up Latin) but we never got as far as I would have expected...and its ok, because we did more than we would have otherwise. I have no regrets...I have spent a lot of time on the boards over the years but they have been an immense support to me.

Lol, thankyou so much everyone, that is soooo sweet to be Happy Birthdayed by a bunch of people on the other side of the world. And yes, it was yesterday but I don't mind, I'm still in the groove over here :) I have been away to a workshop overnight and have just come back this evening (which is probably tomorrow to you guys :) ) My family survived with out me...again...and I feel rejuvinated.

I would do the research myself, frankly. I have little faith in doctors. Virtually every time I go for some reason, I feel I wasted my time.

I try not to expect too much but it may be my wounding rather than healthy! I am someone who likes a lot of space and doesnt like friends making too many demands...so I pretty much expect the same from my friends. I dont like to be phoned too often- just enough, though I prefer email!- and I need them to understand that its not easy for me to just go out for coffee whenever. But most of my friends feel the same and are busy and we don't really put too many demands on each other. If we dont see or have any contact for weeks or even months, we still consider ourselves good friends- just good friends busy in our lives doing other things at this time. There are seasons with friends, and it is likely to be intense and social for some seasons (summer), and less intense and less social in others (autumn), and virtually nothing for others (winter). I think a good friend is one whom, even if I havent spoken to them for quite a while, we can just pretty much pick up where we left off last time. Thats how I am and I pretty muc expect the same of my friends..though its not much of an expection, it just seems to happen that way for me.