I found this article interesting. It would seem to me, though, that any age would benefit from probiotics and fermented foods. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/31/dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride-on-gaps-nutritional-program.aspx?e_cid=20110731_SNL_Art_1

VideoText Algebra is very strong conceptually. I am going through this w/my dc. I would encourage you, as OhElizabeth did, to remediate your dd if need be. It can be done quickly when children are older. Laying a solid foundation in math is essential for continued learning. When you say you had to walk your dd through all her math, a question I would ask myself is: did I do the work for her AT ALL? If you did, or if she depended on you to arrive at answers, definitely remediate.

I found some really great oil (non-toxic) in the saddle section of a store. It's called LEATHER NEW Deep Conditioner/Restorer. It really does clean and restore!

Prayed for him :grouphug:

Do you have any relief with exercise? I wonder if it could be as simple as lactic acid build up.

Voted for Oscar! Love his life story. He's ahead by 21 votes currently - Go Oscar!

:iagree:because if you don't, you are helping him to see and use loopholes in life. If he isn't forced into change by his parents via as natural of consequences as possible, you are right - he will learn some much harder lessons, like prison and everything that comes with that. If one gets away with small scale crimes, they will naturally believe they can get away with larger scale. It is human nature. You will find his future, even if his course doesn't change, much easier on yourselves if you send him the message NOW. Another pp said send him home by bus - I agree, unless it would give him too much leeway and unsupervised time. In that case, he needs an escort: a parent. Many :grouphug:. I've lived through this with a loved one who went to prison and endured horrific unspeakables there. When I looked back on the years leading up to prison life, I could see where she found every loophole in life and took it. . . until she couldn't any longer. Thankfully something finally cured her, but ohhhh the price she and we all paid. Again, :grouphug:

Hi-ho! For any of you who are familiar with the first ed of WTM, are the differences striking or would I be able to follow along all right? (I had heard that only their recommendations for curricula had really changed in the 2nd ed.) I'd love to join in, but don't have the new edition. Thx.

Since I never knew another girl with my first name, I didn't like it as a kid. I wanted to have the name Lisa, which was very popular and girly - though I was a tomboy. I think it was b/c I had a friend named Lisa who was everything I was not: pretty, doted on by her mom and dad, spoiled w/LOTS (including a white bdrm set and pink canopy!) LOL Nowadays, I don't think about my name. I am glad that dh and I named our kids for reasons other than "we liked the sounds in that name", as my parents did. I love to hear WHY parents chose the names they did for their dc. I find when I hear the stories, I always end up liking the name no matter how bizarre :D

I have often thought about this passage: "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." (Matt 10:32-33) This seems to say He will one day own those who now own Him. If we own Him, he will own us. . . . If we choose Him, He will choose us. Old Testament clearly states, "Choose you this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua, somewhere) Definitely a choice. At the same time, I understand how voices of my past influence me even more than I realize! Over the last decade especially, I have fought to get out from "under" these voices that try to tell me who I am or who God is, etc. In fact, I choose not to go to church because it's "safer" for me now and maybe easier to have a more accurate view of who God is.

Just want to put in a request: If you figure this out (unless you discover you're pg ;)) would you post so I can copycat? I would love to be rid of my love for coffee!

This caught my attention: Basically, this 30 yr old organic farm is abruptly being shut down by the gov't in favor of using the land for more soccer fields (of which they have plenty already!). If you are concerned about things like this, you can sign the petition (even if you don't live in MD) here:

This is good advice. Years ago, I used some VHS tapes and they worked well for me back then. . . but I am going to look at the library and do a trial. Good idea - thanks! Good ideas to get myself motivated. And thanks for the ideas to look at different programs first. Ahh, thanks for the encouragement! Good for you! I wish my dh would do something like this w/me . . . Who knows, maybe he will one day!

prayers & :grouphug:

May I ask you some questions about this program? I had to look at a few sites, each had a little more info. Of course I don't want to buy if I'm not going to use. It's the "it only takes 1 hour per day" that I don't think I could fulfill. Do you use all these DVDs divided over the period of a week? Do you skip some and still see good results? Do you do less than 1 hr/day? Could you please give me an idea of how you use this program and whether you've seen results comparable to the advertisements? Ie: The ads say "1 hr/day" and talk about getting those "6pak abs" "get ripped in 90 days". This program looks to be something I would use, but toned down a bit :D and I really want to know if anyone else uses it this way - and *how* it has worked for you! TIA!

You've gotten a lot of great responses already. . . and I thought about not posting, but then I kept thinking about it :tongue_smilie: I would have an open conversation with your dd. This would help her to see your humanity. If you weren't limited by your health issues, I'm sure you'd be open to doing a lot of other things - for your dd, for yourself, and for others. I am not saying you should dump on her or burden her with your burdens, but just helping her to see a little from your perspective would help her to be a better person - become more compassionate, maybe see a way that she could relieve you of some of your responsibilities and help out more, thus giving you more energy to do more. Also, another PP pointed out that God is in control. It does tend to boil down to a faith thing, which is another perspective your dd could grow in. My last thought is if I were the mother of one of your dd's friends, I would take up the opportunity in an instant to make a playdate happen at my house w/your dd and mine. If you told me of your need, I would make a regular plan (weekly or bi-weekly) of picking up your dd and bringing her home again.

I guess he knows what he's getting into if this wedding debacle hasn't brought out her true colors. I wonder if his folks would just say to him, "We don't care about the 50K we've already spent; we'll cut our losses. We just want you to be happy and we don't think it's possible if you marry her." As far as her parents? They deserve to lose everything for raising such a tyrant! Yuck.

Haven't read the other posts. . . . First, when you said the groom was upset that your dh has to cut his hair, I thought I missed something! I reread to that point, and thought so the bride is asserting this? I definitely think you should say something to him along the lines of what you numerically listed at the bottom of your post and that, in the end, you will support him no matter what his decision is. I would try to open his eyes a little by pointing out that marriage would be like a magnifying glass - no, a microscope! - magnifying the underlying issue here: 1)She sounds very demanding. 2)She cares more about this wedding than she does about her relationships with people: groom, groom's parents, best man. . . (who else!?!). 3)Who is she to kick him out of their apartment?? Anyone who is/has been married knows that if these things are happening NOW, they will continue. The groom needs to put her in her place, respectfully and as gently as possible. We all need this sometimes from our spouses and we need to also do this for our spouses. If he can't/won't do this now, he likely never will. If he marries her, I predict that misery and divorce will be in his future. :sad:

Yes! Thanks for sharing!

Also wanted to say :grouphug: to you. I know, due to other factors, it is hard to be the target of criticism in any arena, but especially parenting or issues having to do w/our own children. We all need less critcism and more people encouraging us in the things we are doing RIGHT. Aw, I shouldn't get started here, LOL. Take care.

I have been excited, lately, about this. Though our family will continue homeschooling, I LOVE seeing all these classical charter schools that are popping up!!! It is encouraging to see that classical education, a proven method of solid education for close to two millennia, is on the rise once again. It gives me such hope for our nation as a whole.

Thank you so much for saying this. It really touches me. When my ds gets together w/her ds, we (my ds and I) forget all about his ASD. It is only w/this latest development (which was really cumulative, but I didn't realize it until the top blew off), that I have stepped back to take as much of an objective look at things as possible. Again, I appreciate your encouragement. I do genuinely care and I am genuinely trying. I so appreciate everyone's input here.

This would be understandable, too, even though she doesn't show it. She is the poster child for GOYBP (ignore the acronym if you aren't familiar) Thanks so much for all that you shared about your brother. Thank you for your input; it's been helpful.

Yes, he has a dx for Aspergers. That's interesting and I appreciate your input that aggression is not necessarily an indicator of ASD. I'm hopeful they/we can work it out. I've just been frustrated with the latest development - and understanding always helps.

Thank you, Albeto. I appreciate your description - very visual and helpful. Will still look for other responses - the more experiences, the better! Thank you.