I had my 2 year olds dice vegetables with a sharp knife. Under supervision. Best way to get them to learn the capabilities and dangers of sharp knives. I am of the camp that feels that even small kids are capable of learning such things, and they never hurt themselves, that I can remember. Nothing major anyway. What is the worst that can happen? They slice a finger. They learn. If you put fear into a child that they might cut themselves, and you hover too much, they most likely will, though. If you presume they are capable, and just guide, they will have confidence. Getting hot, heavy stuff out of the over though- depends on the child. To my mind that involes several steps- getting mitts thick enough rather than trying to use the tea towels, making sure no one else is in the way in the kitchen, and having a space cleared to put down the tray, that is heat proof. Also, being physically capable of carrying the dish. My kids are doing it now but I still watch them or remind them how to do it safely because teh potential is there for a bad burn or to wreck the kitchen surfaces.

Nope, but I almost like it.

DH has a daughter called Jasmin- 5 years older than 'our' oldest. Her 2nd name is Joy. My dd came along and we called her Genevieve, which has the same sound at the beginning. Her second name is Gwendolyn. We weren't committed to calling my 2nd with a "g/J" name but we did anyway- Jared. It has other significance for us, other than just the sound at the beginning. His second name is not related though and doesn't start with a J, because it is dh's first name which is passed through teh generations (And I refused to have it as his first name). If I had another- yes, I would follow the same theme, almost certainly. In fact, I often dream of "g/j" names, even though dh doesnt want another child. I would probably go for the soft "G" like dd's rather than the "J" though. Gemma, Georgia, Geordie, although I love the name Jeremiah too.

I've just been through the flu. I took: MMS (http://www.themiraclemineralsupplement.com/ ) nascent iodine echinacea- high dose of tincture spirulina Weleda cough syrup fermented codliver oil I got sick on Monday, thinking, its not so bad- mainly a sore throat. Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday, I could barely do anything- extreme malaise and aches, hurt to breathe deeply, fever on and off, and lots of mucous, and a cough. I rested a lot- spent all day Thursday in bed, and a fair bit of the other two days as well. Friday- I woke up feeling much, much better and was able to pretty much have a normal day, although I took it easy. Saturday and Sunday- mild residue, feeling pretty good but slight cough and runny nose. Should be good by tomorrow. Another thing I did at night time was Vicks vapour rub on the soles of my feet at night time. I read it online somewhere and it amazingly, really works to stop night time coughing. Each night of three nights I went to bed, started coughing uncontrollably. I got up, took some Weleda (herbal)cough medicine, and put Vicks on the soles of my feet, and loose socks on. All 3 times, I slept through the night, no coughing.

Its Sunday afternoon here- a couple of hours on from the OP's post, its 2.30 pm. Its Fathers Day in Australia, and dh and dd went to visit dh's parents. I coulndt go because I am still alittle sick (and MIL firmly asked dh not to let me come if I am at all sick!). I dont mind. I am sitting here reasearching IPods and Iphones and wondering which way to go.

Oh, make no mistake, it will be everywhere soon and they will likely not bother closing schools or anything within a few weeks. At the beginning of our winter back in June we had school closures and many newspaper articles. Now, nothing. Plenty of flu, but its not news anymore and its too widespread to bother closing schools. They do ask if you have symptoms, to please stay home, but that's it.

School was prison to me. I did well but I absolutely hated the structure of it and the way we were all treated. Ds would feel the same (this kid is so anti authority its not funny). Dd loved school. I dont think the article was meant to be a scholarly essay and it always surprises me that people criticise that kind of article as if they are. It was just a light hearted article making a point that many of us could easily agree with, generally speaking. I like his point and I agree with it- they are always trying to improve the education system but it is fundamentally flawed in the first place and everyone ignores that. If you want to analyse the article to death, of course its not 100% accurate for all people at all times. A friend had a son at Sudbury and he raves about it- he sent me the link years ago. Perhaps the person who visited there turned up on a bad day, but I sure have heard a lot of great things about the place. I asked my friend if he felt his son turned out well (he only saw his son every year or two for a few weeks as they live in different countries) and he was raving about his son, who is now an adult. He felt it gave him a great start in life.

I'm an introvert and fairly anti social myself. However, I do have lots of friends. I just don't see them very often. Mainly because I don't want to go out in the evening (I am an early morning person- late nights really throw me, as well as the fact that by evening I just want to be quiet and get into my pajamas), and during the day I homeschool. Obviously we are all different. However....I have learned that if it gets too extreme, its not too healthy for me. Its better if I maintain a small and discriminating social life. It nourishes me. I also think its better to be stretched a little. I organised a weekly yoga class with a girlfriend a couple of months ago...otherwise, I just wouldnt make the effort. But that class is good for me, good for my bad back, and great for catching up with a friend afterwards. Its not a shallow friendship. A good girlfriend is worth her weight in gold. Someone to share your deepest feelings with. Not someone to avoid your own company with, or chat about superficial things just because you like to chat for no reason. Its a deep connection. So while I really do like my own company a lot, and will happily turn down many social engagements that just dont interest me, I dont like to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and I do value good friendships. Here is something that landed in my inbox yesterday: UCLA STUDY ON FRIENDSHIP AMONG WOMEN By Gale Berkowitz A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis. A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research most of it on men upside down. "Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible," explains Laura Cousino Klein, Ph.D., now an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University and one of the study's authors. "It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers. Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just "fight or flight." "In fact," says Dr. Klein, "it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the "fight or flight" response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men", says Dr. Klein, "because testosterone which men produce in high levels when they're under stress seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen", she adds, "seems to enhance it." The discovery that women respond to stress differently than men was made in a classic "aha!" moment shared by two women scientists who were talking one day in a lab at UCLA. "There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded", says Dr. Klein." When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. I commented one day to fellow researcher Shelley Taylor that nearly 90% of the stress research is on males. I showed her the data from my lab, and the two of us knew instantly that we were onto something." The women cleared their schedules and started meeting with one scientist after another from various research specialties. Very quickly, Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research, scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health. It may take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin encourages us to care for children and hang out with other women, but the "tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. "There's no doubt," says Dr. Klein, "that friends are helping us live." In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a 6-month period. In another study, those who had the most friends over a 9-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60%. Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidantes was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight! And that's not all! When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had a close friend confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends were not always so fortunate. Yet if friends counter the stress that seems to swallow up so much of our life these days, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them? That's a question that also troubles researcher Ruthellen Josselson, Ph.D., co-author ofBest Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls and Women's Friendships (Three Rivers Press, 1998). "Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women," explains Dr. Josselson. "We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience." ------------------------------------------------------- Taylor, S. E., Klein, L.C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. Female Responses to Stress: Tend and Befriend, Not Fight or Flight http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/gender/tendfend.html

I pick up 100% quality cotton sheets when they go on sale, or even 2nd hand (unused, unwanted gifts, usually). I feel they are worth it but it took many years before I got to the point of appreciating things like that. I only have two sets of sheets per bed in the house, and I only replaced poorer quality ones with good quality ones over a few years.

My two favourite boys names this week are Jethro and Jeremiah.

:lol::lol::lol:

I dont consider myself an educator until you ask me, and then, well, I guess I am, but its all just part of being a mother to me.

Different kids....dd, firstborn, put herself to sleep well before 2, because ds was only 17 months behind and she had to learn to, even though I tandem breastfed. But ds...he moved from my bed to dd's at age 2.5. At 2 I think I stopped breastfeeding at night time! I used to bf him off to sleep for a long time. In retrospect...it is quite possible to train a baby/toddler to go to sleep by themselves by age 2, or well before. It may take leaving them to cry a few times, but once they accept it, and know you wont back down, yet still love them, it becomes peaceful. Different kids handle it differently though. For some it may feel traumatic- but I think thats probably reflecting an underlying deeper insecurity. Others just need to be given a boundary- time to go to sleep by yourself- and after a short rebel they will accept it because they are really ready. And...I am glad I just let it go on till about that age..in retrospect, it was such a short time in my life yet set a strong foundaiton for my kids. However if a parent is resenting doing it any more...thats not good for either of them so its time to change the pattern.

I am pretty blunt with my dh, and he with me. In a situation like that, I would just tell him straight 'please dont talk to me" or "shut up, please". He would get the point (and probably continue just to tease me, until I said it again a couple of times! :) ) I did have to train dh recently. I am a morning person and I get up at 6am for meditation and quiet time. The rest of the family normally gets up around 7am, including dh. However, sometimes, he just wakes up early and comes out to make a cuppa. He walks straight in on me in my quiet space and starts talking. I accepted it a few times. Then I thought, no, he can learn to leave me be till 7am. I had to tell him straight, with some emotion and force (hes not your most super sensitive guy, doensnt get subtleties very well)- just dont talk to me till I come out of my space. Once he got it...he was fine.

I had a mild cold at this time last year (southern hemishpere, opposite seasons to you), and this week I have come down with my first illness since then. I suspect it was the swine flu- much worse than a normal cold and supposedly the swine flu is the common flu around. However, I had the luxury of taking my herbs, keeping my diet good (vegetable soup, toast, fruit), lots of fluids (more than normal) and RESTING, and this is Day 5 and I am 80% better. For 3 days, I was pretty sick and hardly did anything but the essentials. I do think there are benefits to getting a cold now and then. It helps your immune system. But I dont get sick often and when I do, I just take good care. If I had had to go to work or do something strenuous in the last 3 days...well, I could have got more seriously sick. It hurt to breathe, I wondered if you could get pneumonia so quickly. But today, after REST, I only have a residue, a mild cough.

I want my kids to follow their own paths, to thrive and follow their own passions, and not live a life anyone else thinks they should. I want them to have the courage to do what they want, whether its career oriented or not, and the intelligence and education to enable them to do what they want. I see them as being of benefit to others only if they are following their heart and passions and doing what they really want to do. I see my job as enabling them to fly when they are ready, by giving them a strong foundation- in academics, in social competence, in knowledge of the world, in how to take care of themselves (health, housekeeping,cooking, finances), in their own worth and value. I am feeling more and more like a guide and advisor as they get older and the parenting role is really changing. I fel much less like "making" them do things they dont want to do, and more like I need to honour their own feelings (and I am wondering if I should have been doing that more earlier, too). But its tricky...stepping back, stepping forward...one minute they are wise and mature and the next they are childish and needing a boundary. Teens!

I would priotise sleep. Some people can function on little, but chronic lack of sleep can lead to depression al on its own. I was having trouble sleeping lately and I went off all caffeine, even though I was only have tea in the mornings and no caffeine after lunch. It helped a lot. Organising my day around getting an afternoon rest, which I started a couple of years ago, helped me considerably, too. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in order to feel the inspiration to do something to go back up again. Eating badly is one of those downward cycles. You could chop up celery, carrot and bell pepper into strips and keep them in a damp tea towel in the fridge. I buy salad in packets- the kids absoutely adore caesar salad. It doesn't take much extra stress for me to cave in on healthy food, so I have learned to make do. Packet salads are great. I just bought a half a cooked chicken and a caesar salad packet for the kids, and added carrot/celery/bellpepper. I am sick and it was either that or junk food. You mentioned Flylady. I fall on and off the Flylady wagon and it doesn't just help me keep my home in order, it helps me to take care of myself. For exercise, sometimes I just lose all incentive- but literally, a 15 minute walk around the block always reminds me how much I actually enjoy walking. A little bit of exercise is better than none and can be an incentive to do more. I have left my kids alone since they were quite small to just have a short walk. But I dont know if you can do that. Perhaps early in the morning? How about a gratitude or appreciation diary? Write down all the good things that are in your life, to take your mind off the negatives. Not to deny them, but to help lift you out of the focus on the negatives.

Lol, I stole a bra last week. I took dd15 into a bra shop and we both got properly fitted and tried on a dozen bras each. I strung some over my shoulder after I had chosen and she was busy doing hers and passing some to me to hold. We bought a bra each, thanked the woman for all her help, and as we walked out, the beeper went off, suggesting we had something on us. We went through everything and couldnt find it and the lady was most friendly and apologetic for the trouble and blamed her machine. A few minutes later I suddenly realised that I had a bra slung over my shoulder and I had just pulled my winter jacket over the top. I quickly turned around and went back. The saleswoman actually thought it was very funny, fortunately.

My son picked up sticks to shoot with before he could even walk. I was against toy guns but dh just bought them anyway. Not a big deal- well, not a big deal unless I stood between ds and the plastic toy gun he wanted- once he got it, it got played with a couple of times then never again. Still, at 13, he now makes pretty violent animations on pivot. My SIL was just telling me her oldest plans to join the airforce despite the fact she tried to ban guns and violent play when he was little. Your friend is off the mark, but perhaps he is an only child? Most parents seem to go through this one...we are idealistic at first, then surrender to the nature of boys and just love 'em as they are. Perhaps she doesn't have experience with other boys to get perspective.

Yes, thats my feelings too. Actually, I also just dont even like putting to death people who committed even horrendous crimes. An eye for an eye just makes everyone blind. I am so glad we dont have the death penalty in Australia.

Dd15 dropped hers in the pool a few weeks ago, just after she had signed a 2 year plan. She took the battery out and put it in a bag of rice, and we also found as many of those little silica sachets that you get in various foods and vitamin packets to absorb moisture, and put them in there too. And we placed the whole thing near the heater. In the end, she got it working, but the screen wasnt right. We have a comprehensive house insurance that actually covered it and bought dd a new phone. Good lesson though.

I just don't think we are all going to get on like a house on fire, with everyone we meet. If you have some people in your life who appreciate you exactly as you are, you are lucky and theres no problem. Not everyone is going to appreciate you though, and it doesn't mean there is something wrong with you. On the other hand, we all have personality traits that don't work so well for us at times, and it helps to be ruthlessly honest with oneself, and be willing to do a bit of healing and feeling work, to see why we always attract something we would rather not attract. Of course we shouldnt change ourselves just to suit others. We are here to be ourselves, we are all unique withour own gifts. But if something hurts, rather than blaming someone else, it helps to see what we are doing as well. Brushing it aside can be a way of avoiding.

I printed out quite a few articles I found online about the benefits of homeschooling, and left them on the kitchen table for him, as well as reading some aloud to him. Dh eventually gave me a 6 month trial. After a couple of weeks of having just ds home, since that was the deal (and dd wanted to be at school), dh became my strongest support and demanded we bring dd home as well. FOr us, ds became soft and sweet and innocent again, wandering around the garden playing with insects and happy in his own company. The defences he had put up to cope with school dropped away. Dh initially doubted my ability to teach my kids because of his conditioning, but it didnt take long for him to see teh benefits.

Ill go for the weekly massage as well. Thats my idea of bliss. I'd prefer that to the housekeeper, the yardsman, the handyman, combined...well, unless they would do massage too :)

No, I just have iphone envy. My brother came to stay for a couple of days. Both he and his wife have iphones. I dont even like mobile phones and I only have mine for emergency use, but I now have this desire for an iphone. So cool! Enjoy!