I just discovered this product a few weeks ago: Scotch Clear Mounting Squares They come in different sizes and are clear in color. They leave no residue on the walls -- I really do mean none. We have eggshell type paint and there is literally nothing there for me to wipe off when I take down a square. Every other sticky product I have tried left at least some small amount of residue. Not this. They peel off the paper without damaging it. I am very careful when peeling, but they have never yet damaged my papers. I post copier type papers on our walls for schedules and checklists. I have not used posters or maps with these squares, but I can only say that I would be astounded if a thicker paper (like a poster) was damaged when copier paper was not. Gee, I hope that made sense. They are REUSABLE !!!!! :hurray: I have a section of the wall where I post papers that change weekly. I leave the squares on the wall and just peel off last week's papers (carefully!) and press on this week's papers. No problem. I used to use Stikki-Clips, which I thought were good (if ugly), but Scotch Clear Mounting Squares are superior to Stikki-Clips. Karen FTC Disclaimer: I learned of Scotch Clear Mounting Squares by accident, have used them in my home, and I am personally thrilled with them. Neither I nor any of my family members are affiliated in any way with 3M or any other company manufacturing office products. I receive no remuneration of any kind for my endorsement of Scotch Clear Mounting Squares.

:iagree: I'm a child of the seventies ... early to mid seventies ... so waist-length hippie hair was still fashionable in my day. But I was no hippie. My hair was so long, I had to pull it out of my waistband when I dressed each morning. But it was gorgeous hair, not hippie hair. Yah, I miss that hair. But I do not miss the maintenance :) I trimmed the split ends quarterly. Religiously. Quarterly. I only took off maybe 1/4 inch at a time, but the key is doing it regularly and frequently. "They" say that hair grows 6 in. a year on average -- so in a quarter, you're growing 1 1/2 in. If you trim off even 1/2 in. a quarter, you're still netting 1 in. growth a quarter -- 4 in. a year. And gorgeous thick healthy 4 in. a year. Pretty sweet. I hate the way long hair looks when it's not trimmed -- it gets thin and stringy, more and moreso the longer it gets. Yuck. I wouldn't even want to touch it, let alone live with it. So I advocate frequent trimming. I'm sure that long hair community has more up to date advice. Best of luck to you :) Karen

:iagree:

FWIW, I read the first book, having been told by someone that it was a wonderful series. It was really smutty. I haven't bothered to read any more. Karen

My mom has chronic diverticulitis. She eats as high a fiber diet as she can get. She eats special fiber wafers for breakafast every day -- I guess it's nutritionally similar to Metamucil or whatnot. She swears by guava juice. She eats salads and rabbit food like crazy. Once you're past the attack, the current medical wisdom says high fiber. Nuts and seeds are no longer banned. Mayo Clinic info: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diverticulitis-diet/MY00736 Prayers for you, Karen

'Bout 4 days ? But the next time, it will sink in quicker :)

:iagree: THis has been my experience, also.

:iagree: Our fairy also pays $5 for each of the two top front teeth. I received $0.25 back in the stone age ... 45 years ago ... so I think inflation definitely justifies a dollar LOL. Karen

No. I have a degree in engineering and worked as such, and as a computer programmer, before I had kids. But that ended 15 years ago, and my skills are entirely outdated. I would probably do better claiming skills as a professional declutterer LOL. Karen

:iagree: And if the conflict cannot be finessed, your child always comes first. IMHO. Karen

My son is taking AP Bio at the local ps. If I had not been able to arrange that, I was prepared to build a self-study course using College Board guidelines, then have him take the test wherever we could get into a test date. I've heard good things about PA AP classes, but the price is just too high for us. Karen

In these situations, I usually choose "executive" or "manager." I am. So are you. :grouphug: Karen

I never clean out the entire frig or freezer at one time. I clean individual shelves as I notice they need it. When they are starting to get bare, I will notice they need a wipedown. I'll take out the few remaining items on that shelf and clean it, wipe off the bottles and replace them. Same with the produce drawers, except I do take those out and rinse them at the sink, then dry and replace. The only exception I can think of is an incident a few weeks ago when I had a thawing piece of meat drip blood all over everything. Then I cleaned a lot more than normal to take care of that nasty mess :)

Just say no. Don't explain. Don't apologize. Well, you can say something like "I'm sorry, it's just not going to work for us right now." But that's not really an apology, iykwim. Just say no. :grouphug:

Maybe ... sounds kinds like my ds14, who has trouble making transitions. It was a whole lot worse when he was 8 or 9. He needs a fairly structured schedule, though it can be in the form of a checklist of things to be done rather than a clock schedule. He needs to know when the transitions will be coming up -- e.g. give him 15 minutes warning before he needs to log off the computer or whatever. Without these things, he tends to short-circuit. I agree with the other posters about getting the basics in place -- sufficient sleep, exercise, etc. I would also talk with him about what school requires of him, and ask him what kind of routine he would prefer, given those requirements. I don't mean to alter the requirements, but just lay it out for him and let him have a little input in the execution. For instance, it might help to start the day with his favorite subject, or his least favorite subject (to get the dread over with). I would also start talking with him about expressing his feelings/desire with words rather than tantrums, and how to calm oneself before exploding -- this did not come naturally for my ds. I still have to talk about that at times with him, though that's more unusual nowadays. BTW, I mean talking about what behavior is required and what behavior is forbidden -- e.g. shouting is forbidden. When I say "talk about expressing feelings," I do not mean something warm and fuzzy here -- I'm talking about skills development and boundaries. Some kids really do need this laid out for them. Now ... if you really think it's not any developmental/skills issue like the things I've been talking about ... if you think it's just plan cussedness, well, then maybe I would videotape him. But if he really needs help learning skills and interior awareness/control, the video might backfire into humiliation. I would be cautious there. My sympathies, Karen

Depends on where you live. We currently live in Utah, where public schools are required by state law to accept home schoolers for any or all academics -- though not sports, etc. -- and charter schools are excepted as well. Having lived in Ohio for 12 years, I would imagine it will be more difficult for you, though I certainly hope not. My ds14 is taking 2 classes at the public high school and it is going well so far. Our hurdles were minimal -- primarily the bureaucracy's quota of useless paper for registration. He has not been singled out personally by his teachers or classmates. I thank the state law and the funding peculiarities for AP classes for that (DS is taking AP Bio, which is funded separately from regular science classes, so it's to the school's advantage to pack kids into AP classes ... and yes, there are many kids in his class that shouldn't be there, but that's another discussion.) Hoping it's easy for you, too, Karen

I had two living children -- one boy, one girl. I never had acne or pigmentation or anything else with any of my pregnancies.

The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill Why the Greeks Matter, same author Guns, Germs, Steel by Jared Diamond Thomas Sowell's economics books

glass cleaner

C.J. Cherryh

The POTUS is younger than I am ... does that make me officially outdated? ... sigh ...

:iagree: My dd began personal hair around age 9 and is turning 13 in a few days, still a girl, iykwim. I matured at exactly 11.5 years, and my mom at exactly 9.75 years, so go figure.

I think we're pretty strict. We require all schoolwork and chores to be done before any privileges -- in your terms, that would be the phone, facebook, special activities, etc. And, yah, I STILL have to inspect everything to make sure it's done/right. It ain't done 'til the corrections are done. I don't think requiring all Bs is unreasonable AT ALL. My ds is also 9th grade and taking 2 tough courses at public school. The first few weeks, I checked over everything he did every day, looked for papers in his backpack, etc. After the first big exams, it was clear he was doing well, so I backed off and he has been running on his own ever since. But this is a kid who, once he has a system or routine in place, can govern himself within that routine. Also, our ps has an online grade tracker for parents, and I monitor that regularly. If I were to start to see problems there, I would crack down and start the daily checks again. You didn't say how many ps classes your dd is taking ... I wonder if she might be having issues with the change of paradigm combined with the volume of work. I know my ds was astounded at how much busy work there was in his ps classes and it took him awhile to adjust to that, even just with 2 classes ... ??? It's no fun being a cop ... I usually get the bad-cop role in our family ... my sympathies ... :( Karen

Why did you begin home schooling in the first place? Do those reasons still apply? How important are those reasons compared to the importance of the public school model of socializing? Answer those questions and I think you will have your answer. FWIW, my dd was a social butterfly during her 3 years in a school and initially missed that when we began home schooling. But she adapted and is still very social, just not in that institutional hothouse any more. And I agree with the PP that the decision is YOURS for kids of that age. A 10-11 year-old is at that dangerous stage of thinking they know more than they really know .... Karen

I actuallly tried starting with the fat pencils, but my kids didn't like them. They asked for the regular pencils and liked them much better. Karen