You're a much bigger feminist than I am. I would never snake a toilet.:tongue_smilie:

My dd has an interest in the holocaust. She read Diary of Anne Frank at age 6 - BUT she had also been exposed to the ideas and situations in that book previously and her father and I knew she was able to handle the information. At the same time, I do know many 10 year olds who would do better to wait to read the book. It all depends on your individual child and what she is prepared to handle. As a mom, you are the best person to make that determination.

The idea is not "I need to look more like a man to be taken seriously." Actually, that is the total opposite of what most feminists believe. Women are told by society that our physical looks are more important that anything else. Girls are exposed to these ideals very young- think Disney Princesses. So the feminists who you feel "look like men" are actually making a statement- I don't have to be sexy or super feminine to be a woman. It is not an effort to look like a man, it is an effort to thumb one's nose at the male dominated society we live in. Ahhhh, now I am beginning to understand. It's not the working you have an issue with, it is daycare. That is a totally different issue. I don't know which media you are watching. A vast majority of what I see is modeling to girls that they have to change their breast size, wear makeup, and buy designer clothes (make themsevles attractive to men) to be taken seriously. I did an Early Childhood program at the associates level. I agree with you in that I have seen some bad examples and horrible things in my observations. I did not choose daycare either. Just like public school, I did not feel like it was the best option for us. However, I would never presume to judge what is right for another woman and family. There used to be a family who lived down the street. They had two small children. The mom refused to work, even though they could barely afford to live - they used to ask neighbors for money even. The small children watched TV all day in one room while mom watched TV in another. These children would have been better off in daycare. The family finally just couldn't afford to live in this neighborhood anymore. The couple got divorced and mom can not get custody because she still won't get a job. So now these kids who could have Mommy every day only have her every other weekend. Why don't you think it is appropriate for a woman to take her child to work? How is this any different than working at home? I'm not talking about taking the child to the steel mill or to work in a restaurant. Now, I will say that there are certain occupations where a woman needs to seriously think. My dd has medicine in her list of possibilities. Instead of hearing it from me, I have had her talk to female doctors about how difficult it is to have a family and the special challenges a woman has to face in this profession. But- my daughter could also take over the family accounting business one day. She would be able to bring her baby to the office. She would be able to line up her schedule in order to pick her child up from school, etc. When mom is gardening, washing, cleaning, cooking, doing all the household chores, she is also not watching the kids. I'd love to hear your opinion of dads who work so much they only see their children for just a few hours each week. No kidding! Coffee works too! :D

Please...will you send her to me? We would have so much fun. Heck, I might even pay you. :lol: Absolutely leave her alone with a pile of books. Make sure though that they are various books on the same topic. She needs to be getting various points of view about the same events. Primary source documents- this is key. You can find all you need online. You can also buy books and kits that focus on them if you want to. Activity books- Critical Thinking Company makes some excellent workbooks that focus on critical thinking and history. I usually do not recommend specific history books, but I think these are fantastic. Hands on- Scholastic makes some hands on books like pop up reports that might or might not be too childish for a 4th grade girl. Making dioramas is something many girls like to do for special projects and can be heavily infused with research. What color marker comes closest to the actual red color of the stripe on Titanic? Building models - even paper models- is a good hands on activity. Lapbooking works very well with history too. Don't forget videos. I do not recommend historically based movies unless you are willing to sit down and talk about the historical inaccuracies that appear in them (they are great for this purpose, though). I treat documentaries the same way I treat books- I try to find more than one on the same topic. Field trips- go SEE some of the palces where things happened, or buildings/artifacts from the time period if possible. Encourage your dd to pick people's brains at the places you visit. You want to avoid pretty much anything labeled "Social Studies". This usually means BBB- basic, biased, and boring.

:lol: That one was very creative. I don't ever worry about spam on a board, unless it's one on which I am admin or mod. :tongue_smilie:What a pain in the rear. Thank you moderators for keeping us free from g*n*t*l warts! :D

That's scary, but it could happen on the playground around here and we live on the not shady side of town. We have also seen used needles at the park. Very very dangerous for children.

Oh, the mental picture. :lol: I was oh so happy when dd finally decided Kidsbop was stupid. Now if I can just make that High School Musical disk disappear. :tongue_smilie:

I have a friend who looks a lot like Katie Couric. I do not think she looks like a man. I also have Katie Couric looking pantsuits but these are not in an effort to look like a man. I was thinking more like tennis. The NFL thing is a topic of much debate in my household. There are girls who play on high school teams as kickers. I am very much for this. I'm not sure how I feel about the NFL. I do think there should be a WNFL. And speaking on the topic of sports- what about girls and women who play sports on female teams? Many of them have short haircuts because it is more suited to their sport. Many of them wear very male-ish looking uniforms. They often have healthy builds that can appear masculine. Do you think this is bad? Why should anyone get to pass judgment on another woman for making a personal choice over whether or not to work - especially in today's economy? How is her choice affecting you? How is a woman's choice of what she wears or if she cuts her hair super short affecting you or anyone? I do know women who treat their children like accessories. They are more concerned with what goes on their children's behind than what goes in their brains. They are more concerned with how their husband looks than how he treats his wife. But this has nothing to do with whether the women work or not. Actually, the women I know who are like this are not feminists. They are merely emulating what mass media and corporate advertisers tell them they should be as women. Many feminists are very much against this. So it's okay for mom to work if dad stays at home. What about grandma? Aunt Ida? Are they okay to watch the kids while mom works? What about a woman who takes her child to work with her? Part of the feminist movement is trying to get workplaces to be more in tune with the needs of working mothers. A lot of us WANT moms to have flex time, telecommuting options, the ability for every day to be take your child to work day. How is it different for a mom to do housework all day and watch the kids than it is for her to do work for pay all day and watch the kids? Most feminists I know want to break down gender stereotypes, not live up to them. Cheers! :D

That is pretty much the way my relationship is. I would also throw in there that not only do I honor my husband, but he honors me as well. Both of us were very clear that the word "obey" was not to be used in our vows. I am unclear of the meaning of "I let him be a man w/o condemning him," though.

As long as they are not serving alcohol to the kids, what's wrong with it? Plenty of people rent out clubs and such for parties and weddings where kids are invited. We bring our child into breweries, pubs, and restaurants that have bars. We often go with one or two other families with kids, and the kids sit at their own table and do the kid thing while we adults do the same. Of course there is no drinking and driving or adults getting drunk. We do drink though. It would depend on what kind of place it was, what part of town, and what the regular clientele was like for me to make a decision whether *I* personally would go to this particular event. I don't see what's wrong with a bunch of kids and parents having good clean fun wherever they choose to have it, though.

Are you saying that women shouldn't be CEOs or otherwise compete with men for top positions? Are you saying that a female athlete should not be able to compete in a sport that is traditionally male dominated or otherwise compete with men athletically? What about in the classroom, should women be competing with men in math and science classes? What exactly is "putting on the traits of men" ??? I'm wearing a Carolina Tarheels T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts right now (just got home into my comfy clothes lol), is this what you mean? Or is it women who physically look like men because of their facial features, build, or hairstyle? Or is it women who choose to have careers and have their husbands be stay at home dads (shout out to all the SAHDs out there- you rock)?

My dd is just about 8. She was on the college board website last week looking up which colleges offered certain majors and what the requirements are, the percentage of applicants accepted, that sort of thing. She did this on her own accord - I got out of the shower to find her talking to me about her list of possible colleges. My dd gets homeschool questions ALL the time. One thing that might help your children with some of the neighbor stuff is for your child to ask the other kids to come over and do homework together. Or when they ask about the schoolwork, invite them to come see what they are doing. Kids who tell dd they want to be homeschooled figuring it would be easy take one look at my dd's schoolwork and run away shrieking in horror. I also try to get dd to see that dd she should be very gracious about how she answers people. Sure, it is annoying when you are asked the same question 100 times, but I remind her how many questions she can ask people when she is curious about something. Now, if the kids were using homeschool as a way to bully or make fun, my dd won't tolerate that. I pity the fool who tries to make a joke about my dd's education. Kids have tried- adults have even tried- and all have been put in their place quickly.

I think you have a good point. It's kind of like how homeschoolers are featured on shows like Wife Swap. A fellow homeschooler called me up one day and told me to watch an episode. I was horrified. I am racking my brain to try to think of a show where there seems to be an equal balance between husband and wife or men and women. I'm not into TV much - or at least sitcoms and series much. I'll have to see if one pops into my head. I'm sure some of the more media savvy folks here might have an idea.

The very first time I ever went to my husband's church was on Easter, at which time the pastor made a comment from the pulpit about how Unitarians and others were not able to appreciate the beauty of Easter. I never set foot back in that church until they got a new minister, who I asked about his feelings on other forms of religion before I would agree to attend again.

Oh no! Not one of those super long days! I hate those! You need a quadrupel!

Misguided, how? Christianity consists of different groups of people who study and practice principles that differ from group to group. Some of these groups have an agenda beyond this, some do not. So does Feminism. Actually, from my understanding of Jesus, he was very much a feminist of his time.

The situation that perplexes me most is soccer games. The children play and parents provide snacks and drinks after the game. Then everybody goes out to eat. :001_huh:

The leaders I follow do not make statements like that either. I am not going to stop being a feminist just as you aren't going to stop being a Christian. It's not a bait and switch. Feminism is much like Christianity. There are many various women's groups, many of which do not all hold the same goals and values.

So leaders in a movement you participate in say nasty things. But they are not the leaders you follow, so it's not the movement that is the problem in your case. Is this what you are saying?

Certainly not by arguing over semantics.

Oh...my! There are two new big Christian bookstores in my town. I am going to have to go in there to look. I naively thought that the mainstream stores like this would reflect a more mainstream type of Christianity.

:ohmy::blink: Was this a chain store?

I bought the hard copy and with it I got the CD and access to the DL.

I'm thinking BEER! :D

You have the opportunity to go and learn about psychology just like anyone else. If you are genuinely interested in learning about ways to help gifted children who are struggling, I would be glad to share those with you. I am far from stupid and do not appreciate being addressed as such. Good day.