We don't go downtown very often, but when we do we don't give money or food to people on street corners. It's rare that traffic allows us to have the opportunity when we do see people. My dh has been approached at gas stations by people asking for gas - he gave them a couple of gallons and paid for it himself. No money exchanged hands.

College admissions officers and prospective employers would have a hard time finding my Facebook - for a while I had it set so that only friends of friends could search for me. I could also make it so that my profile just doesn't show up in search. Even if they did find me, all they would see is my profile picture and cover picture - and the limited amount they can glean from that would be things they would probably already know... I am the mean adult who would seriously consider reporting an under-13-year-old's Facebook account to Facebook. If I knew their parents didn't want them having an account, I would tell on them. The only teens I am friends with are my younger siblings who are 13 and older. I think Facebook can be used quite safely (barring hackers), but proper use needs to be taught - so supervised Facebook use sounds fine to me. I'm years away from being a mom of a teen, and not so far away from being a teen myself - and I'm glad my parents didn't look over my shoulder on everything...but each situation is different. :)

I thought that only worked for reproductive issues - birth control and abortions. HPV could fall under that, but the other three vaccines wouldn't.

Since you said that the other aides have always paid their own way and never tried to make it otherwise, I think the main aide's behavior seems even more fishy. I would try and find out the official policies on this topic and go from there - either with your letter, or just switching your dd to the two non-problematic aides.

Have there been any issues of this sort with the other aide? Has the other aide said anything about less money to cover outings, etc?

Wait..they invited you to a party and never once mentioned that the people who came would have to pay for themselves?! That seems rather odd. I have paid my own way for friends' parties - in high school and college years, when the parties were arranged by the teens/young adults whose birthday it was. These also were not traditional "parties" - they were "let's go somewhere in honor of x's birthday" parties. Plus, *everyone* knew beforehand what the deal was. I don't have a problem with that. I would have a pretty big problem with the situation described in the OP.

Everything goes in the dishwasher, including pots and pans. The only exceptions are items which are not dishwasher safe, like the ice cream scoop and the knives.

This article has a bit more info - they interviewed the mother. http://www.nccivitas.org/2012/state-inspectors-searching-childrens-lunch-boxes-this-isnt-china-is-it/

There's a sign in this area which says "Hidden drive-way's ahead". I kid you not. I'm still not sure HOW they managed to eff that one up so spectacularly.

Netflix (Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, some other show...) and chocolate ice cream when my daughter is finally asleep.

We make tilapia with a spice rub and paprika-cilantro butter. It's amazing. I can post the recipe if you like. The actual cooking happens on the stove - spray the tilapia with non-stick oil spray, cook on each side for about 3 minutes or until the fish flakes. I'm sure you could use something else besides non-stick oil spray if you wanted.

I switched from a phone with a full keyboard to an iPhone. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I love it. It requires less effort, and the autocorrect can be pretty awesome. My husband uses Swype, but you don't have to use it. It's completely optional. I think I have fewer errors using the iPhone keyboard than he does with Swype, though he loves it.

I'm really enjoying the expository preaching that our current pastor has been doing. I think it lends itself to talking about more things, as they come up in the text. Topical preaching is somewhat limited by the imagination of the pastor, and can fall victim to prooftexting and taking verses out of context.

I use Skype like a phone call, and I enjoy the video capability. You can also use Skype *without* the video as well, and then it *IS* the same as a phone call. I don't think Skyping with video is any more intrusive than a phone call. I would feel this way even more if the Skyping was happening over iPads or smartphones instead of over computers, as you see less of what's around the other person. :grouphug: I hope this works out for you.

Mums were big at my high school in TX not too long ago. I never had one, though - but one of my sisters had 2 her senior year.

BAHAHAHAHA :lol: :lol: :lol:

...I have no idea.. Maybe lolcats. This is the sound I make when I "eat" baby's toes. This may have been the sound my parents made when they "ate" my siblings' toes. I don't remember. (Baby brain.)

:grouphug: That's awful!

:iagree: I loved that quote so much that as soon as I heard it, I stopped the show, got on Facebook, and shared the quote in my status. :D

I bought my MacBook in July 2010 - the most basic model. I upgraded to Lion a couple of months ago - so, a little over a year after getting the computer. It slowed my computer down to a crawl for a while. I'd never had issues with freezing, but oh did I have issues!! :glare: Then I figured out that Time Machine was trying to back up. I don't HAVE a Time Machine drive connected. Once I fixed that, the freezing stopped, though it still runs slower than before.

Me too!! :D I smile every time Harriet Jones comes on screen..even though she isn't Harriet Jones. ;)

The Dowager Countess is amazing. I love her character even more after seeing episode 4. It's fascinating to see the relationships between the family and the staff. There's a lot of genuine care there.

My alma mater was one of the Catholic colleges that wrote a letter to the government, arguing against this new birth control rule. I'm 99% sure that the doctor at my alma mater's health clinic would prescribe birth control for someone with PCOS. Doing so is completely within official Catholic doctrine as described in Humanae Vitae. The doctor who refused to do so was mishandling the case. That being said...I agree with pretty much everyone else on this thread. It's a Catholic college. If you go to a Catholic college and expect them to cover birth control on their student insurance, you are misinformed and rightly so. Similarly, they probably aren't going to have a GSA, and they may make you take theology classes no matter what your religion happens to be. That's what you're signing up for! Also, having sex whenever you want with no consequences is not a right. Actually, thinking that you can have sex without consequences is fallacious. Even sex *with* birth control can end in pregnancy, and even sex *with* condoms can lead to STDs. It's no one's fault but your (the couple) own if you are willingly engaging in unprotected sex and get pregnant.

UHC has various plans available. I am on my parents' plan, which has excellent coverage - but I don't really have experience with it, since thankfully I haven't had to use it. I had a roommate who was on her parents' UHC plan, and it did not have the coverage she needed (in this case, maternity coverage for dependents, which my parents' plan covers). Same company, two different plans. I think a lot of possible issues will depend on the plan you have. I hope your insurance works out well!

This is rather OT from your actual question, but pertains to the case. This article says that the student was *asked* to write the column - it was a for/against column, and this student wrote the against side. It was only after parents complained that the student got in trouble. If what the linked article says is accurate, I think the school's actions towards the student in question were despicable. To answer your actual question - I think that newspapers have the right to choose to print or not print any individual's opinion. So, if this school newspaper had chosen *not* to print this article in the first place, I would have been okay with that. I do not think it is okay for a newspaper to say the article is okay, print it, and then scold the writer for daring to think that, as if the writer snuck the offending article in and the newspaper had nothing to do with it. School newspapers may or may not be restricted by the administration. My college newspaper was, I believe, independent. My high school newspaper was mostly independent, but we all knew we shouldn't go too far. However, if there was a question about the suitability of an article, the answer would have been acquired *BEFORE* the article was printed!! High schools often restrict students' civil rights. It was one of the more frustrating things I experienced in going from homeschool to public school. I understand some of it - they want to keep things from going crazy, after all. But schools can also go too far. I think the case you mentioned is an example of a school going too far.