What did you think of Mary Pope Osborne's? My 7yo loves Magic Tree House, and I was wondering if this would be a good retelling for him.

Yes, I do. I really like kids. In general, I like them quite a bit more than I like most adults (and I like most adults okay).

But is that because we've seen so many jobs requiring physical labor disappear? My FIL has always done factory work. He was absolutely, completely adamant that my DH go to college. Anything else would not have been acceptable. Why? Because my FIL had several factories he worked at close down and move overseas, and so to him manual labor meant economic insecurity. When he was growing up, having a college degree meant job security and a good salary (which it absolutely doesn't mean any more), and so that's what he wanted for his child. My husband wishes that his father hadn't done that, and often thinks our lives would be less stressful and more economically secure if he'd just followed in his father's footsteps and worked at the factory where he works, where he'd be making more than he's currently making doing research with a doctorate and wouldn't be $60K in debt thanks to student loans. I think the reason parents pass this belief on to their kids is that they want their children to have an easier life, with less struggle. I think that's true no matter what your job is. My husband and I are overeducated people saddled with tons of student loan debt who have dealt with un- or underemployment our entire adult lives, and while we won't actively discourage our children from going to college, we aren't going to push them to do it if it isn't something they either want to do or need to do to prepare for their intended career. Why? Because we want them to have an easier life than we have, and to not be saddled with a ton of debt at a young age and unable to find a job that pays anywhere near enough to make a dent in it.

:iagree: The number of lottery winners who would continue to collect food stamps is infinitesimally small. The number of people who might fall on very hard times while owning a home or newer car is much larger, and changing the law so that they'd have to sell those things in order to get aid seems like a very unwise move.

At least he gets your age right! I'm sure most of the neighborhood thinks I'm either the most haggard teen mom they've ever seen, or looking really good for pushing 50. ;) My DS would just pull numbers out of thin air. But my son was the EXACT same way at 5. He'd go up to everybody, introduce himself and anybody with him, and give as many details as possible. Sometimes he'd hug them. He's just kind of internalized a lot more social norms on his own at this point, and doesn't do that anymore.

I generally don't change the sentences in the lesson part, but I almost always change up the sentences in the exercises. It's way too much writing for my DS right now (he's doing R&S 2), so I type up a worksheet for him based on the exercises in the book, but using sentences that are more fun for him. Instead of having all the sentences be about farm life or the Bible, I'll do ones about his family and friends and things he's interested in.

I expect him to be polite and to be himself. Beyond that, I'm not too picky, honestly. My DS is super-outgoing, so meeting new people has never been an issue for him. The only problem we've had is his introducing me! He loves to tell new people "I'm T___ and I'm [however old he is]," but then he'll sometimes tell people, "And this is my mom, and she's [whatever number he decides to use that day]." He's told people I'm everything from 16 to 44! That we talked about, and now he doesn't introduce me. My DD seems to be a lot naturally shyer. Again, as long as they are polite--and I think there are many ways to be polite when meeting a new person--I'm not too inclined to give them a particular script to use when meeting new people.

I'm glad to hear that. I have the book--I love Howard Zinn and bought the young people's edition when it came out, to have--and have been wondering when it would be appropriate to read to my DS. We'll be doing American history in 4th and 5th grades, and I wasn't sure whether it would be appropriate to use then, or whether it would be better to hold off until he went through American history again, but I was hoping it was something I could use earlier rather than later, because I do think Zinn provides a much-needed alternative perspective that texts for younger children in particular lack.

Is part of the issue, though, that we are too over-scheduled in U.S. culture? I mean, I think somebody could make a valid argument that the issue isn't so much somebody being 15 minutes late but more the other person having so many things scheduled for that day that any delay will throw things off. I'm a very under-scheduled person, so that's probably why tardiness doesn't bother me. The only time it becomes an issue for me is when I have to be somewhere on time, like work. If I had numerous things planned each day that I had to be on time to, then certainly I'd probably be more bothered by tardiness, but I'm just wondering if it's just as "selfish" to have thing after thing planned, so that other people need to be running on your timetable, as it is to show up somewhere 10-15 minutes late. And I'm just musing here, not being accusatory. I'm a punctual person, but I do think it's far more an issue of culture than character.

I think it comes from the idea that sexual orientation is a learned behavior, so if you're surrounded by girls, you'll act like a girl. I guess. Research has indicated, IIRC, that it's actually having more older brothers that increases a male's likelihood of being gay.

It wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me, in that context. If a babysitter who would be watching my children while I was at work was late, that would be, because that would affect my ability to get to work on time. I'd probably ask if we could adjust the start time, though, if it was something that happened more often than not.

I've had to adjust to the fact that, among the moms in my neighborhood, punctuality is not seen as a particularly important virtue. So if somebody says their party is starting at 1, and I show up at 1, I can guarantee that I'll be the first one there by at least 20 minutes. If a friend and I agree to meet at 2, and I show up right at 2, I can pretty much be assured that it's going to take 15 minutes for them to get things ready with their kids and get out the door. At this point, I just find it easier and more practical to adjust my expectations than to hope people to change or to sever relationships over the issue. I still find myself compulsively showing up places on time, but now I go prepared to wait for other people, and do my best not to let it bother me. Plus, we all have our issues. I have a tendency to be caught without a diaper or baby wipes or a bottle or something else because, in my haste to get out the door so I can get somewhere on time, I didn't take everything I needed. If my friends can live with my needing to borrow diapers and sippy cups from them, I can live with their being late.

I'd say it's probably a combination of both. But, punctuality and the social response to it vary so much by culture--even, I think, within the U.S. (my California friends tend to be chronically late and not see it as a big deal)--that I'm not inclined to judge based on it or demand punctuality in social settings.

For me, it would really depend on a few things. I don't expect anybody to be perfect, and there are many things I'd be willing to overlook. But anything that related directly to the job they were doing (like if they'd been dishonest in their business/government practices in the past) or that directly contradicted their platform would bother me. I'm going to judge a candidate running on a "family values" platform a lot more harshly for having had an affair or having divorced a spouse than I would a candidate who did the same thing but didn't make that part of their platform. So I guess it bothers me more when somebody's private actions contradict their public profession of morals.

My DD (14 months) just kind of hangs out, if she's awake; if she's having a two-nap day, we do school during her first nap. We do school in the living room, and she usually just plays with her toys in there while we're at the table. She's a very easygoing baby, and definitely a self-entertainer, so she usually keeps herself busy almost the whole time. If she needs more attention, I'll usually put her in the high chair up at the table with us, and she'll have a small snack or play with crayons or something. Once in a while if she's really having trouble being entertained, I'll put her on a DVD that won't distract DS (something for babies, like Curious Buddies) for her to watch. We do need to keep EVERYTHING out of her reach, or else all of our school books, papers, pencils, and other items will be on the floor and in her mouth in about two seconds. But as long as we remember to do that, things generally go well.

My DD, who was 22 pounds at 4 months (now 28 pounds at 14 months, so her weight gain slowed down a lot), didn't crawl with any regularity until she was maybe 10 months. For a while she'd sit on her bottom and just kind of scoot forward (she probably started with that at 7-8 months), but it took a while until she was up on all fours crawling around. She only did that for a little bit until she started pulling up. It also took a REALLY long time for her to roll over. It was a bit surprising because my DS (who had an absolutely freakishly gigantic head) actually rolled over when he was about 5 days old (due to the weight of said head). I'd say DD was nearing 6 months, maybe even after, when she finally started rolling over with any regularity. I think it's because she was so big. Now, at 14 months, she'll stand on her own for a few minutes at a time, and cruise holding on to things all day, but doesn't seem super-interested in walking on her own. She likes to walk around on her knees, which is funny. Her ped isn't at all concerned.

I think the late/unpredictable ending time would be more of an issue for me than starting 10-20 minutes late. I could deal with people walking in or even starting 10-20 minutes late, but I'd be driven nuts by having the rest of the day be so unpredictable, especially the lunch and ending times. I know that around 2:30 everybody at my house, including me, is ready to wind down and get some rest/fun before we do evening stuff. That extra hour would be rough for us.

We almost always start planting in mid May. We planted last week here, and I'm wondering if it was too early, because we're going through a cold spell.

I've had this happen. I've particularly had this happen with kids who come from no-junk-food homes. (My personal stance is that, if a parent asks me not to feed their child something, I won't. If they don't give me dietary guidelines, the child is free to eat what's in my house.) They'll see I have ice cream and just lose it. My kids eat "junk" in moderation, and so we can have a box of cookies last us a couple of weeks. I find that sometimes kids who don't get "junk food" at home will want to eat the entire bag. There are a few kids I've had to set really strict limits with, because otherwise they'd just come into my kitchen, find something sweet, and eat as much of it as they could. Just serving snacks at snack time, with no seconds, helps. If they're still hungry, they can go home and see if their parents will give them something else. I don't think I'm mean about it. I just say, "I know you'd like more, but snack time's over. It'll be time for lunch/dinner soon," as sympathetically as I can, the way I'd do with my own kids. ;)

I think it depends on what stresses you out. Personally, I get easily stressed out by having to stick to somebody else's schedule, so having DS in school was very stressful for me. Having to plan our days around getting him up on time to get ready in time to be to school on time, and then going to pick him up and get his homework done and get him ready for bed so that he would get enough sleep to get up on time, just stressed DH and I out a lot. Plus, we felt like the times we were together as a whole family--mornings before DH left for work and DS left for school, and evenings after DH came home--were very rushed and hectic. In the morning we'd be rushing around to get everybody out the door, and in the evening we'd be rushing to get dinner eaten, the house cleaned, and a few moments of family time in before we had to get DS to bed. I did have more time to myself during the day (this was before my DD was born), but I'm not sure I used that time particularly productively. Some days I did, other days I'd just kind of fritter the time away. I definitely had more quiet time to myself, I won't deny that! At this point, with DD and a new baby coming in a few months, I doubt I'd have any less stress during the day with DS in school. If anything, I'd probably be more stressed because I wouldn't have him to help me out during the day and I'd have to deal with the little ones when I was taking DS to and from school. But even when he was an only, I still felt more relaxed when he was home and we could set our own schedule, rather than being locked into the school's schedule. Obviously that's going to vary depending on individual personalities.

Unless money is really tight, in the summer I generally do buy enough snacks to feed a few extra kids during the week. I shop at Aldi, so it's not too expensive to do so, and I don't get anything elaborate. I don't let them just run into the kitchen for snacks, but I will offer everybody a snack at snacktime. I used to be really generous and make lunch for anybody who was over, but once DD was born, that got a bit burdensome. DS has a couple of friends who I know don't get regular, healthy meals at home (and I'm not setting high standards here, these kids live on soda and chips), so they are welcome to eat lunch at our house whenever they want. But kids who have a parent who is willing and able to provide them with a real lunch get sent home at lunch time (everybody lives within safe walking distance) and are welcome to come back when they finish up. Usually they come over after lunch anyway, so it's not an issue.

We're in a similar boat. It's depressing.

Ha! A trip that expensive would cost us more than I make in a semester when i'm teaching two classes. No way we could do that.

Generally, whatever loan money needs to be applied to your tuition and fees is automatically applied to tuition and fees (and room and board, if you live at school). Anything that you get above that you can do with what you want. Many students apply the extra to their actual books, since those can run $500+ a semester (I had one semester in grad school where I spent $900 on books). That money can also be used to cover living expenses, since some students can't work enough while in school to cover their basic living expenses. If you want to buy plastic surgery with it, I don't think there's anything stopping you. You still need to pay it back, with interest, so I'm not sure they care.

I can see why they'd reject that. Charter schools ARE hurting the public schools here. I've used one. I don't fault any parent for using one. I think they are providing a needed service. But they are funneling funds from the public schools and the students/families who the public schools most need (the ones who actually care about the education their child receives). So I can understand why the city would be resistant to opening up more of them.