I idealize chastity. I "idealize" life (and charity) more, though. I suppose, if one idealizes chastity over all else, they would agree with your sentiment.

Ours is unfinished right now, technically... but DH is actively finishing it. Once finished, we will have about another 1800 square feet of actual space (5 usable rooms), plus another two rooms that will be just storage and not calculated into square footage... so we feel (hope) the investment will be worth it. The largest room is a media room -- DH purchased theatre seating for it, mini fridges, made built-ins for DVDs, a wood drop ceiling, hardwood laminate flooring, a huge movie screen, etc; another room is a music studio, and another a recording studio; on the other side is a room that will be his office, and has plumbing for a bathroom, and there's a large space/room joining one side of the basement to the other that we will probably use as a general play room; then we have two storage areas. Once all is said and done, we anticipate it costing about 20-22K, considering labor from outside sources, etc. DH enjoys working on it, but he doesn't have the time to do it all on his own, so we outsourced some of the heavier stuff (like painting and some drywall) -- . The media room alone, though, will be about half that -- it was DH's big "wish" for the new house. The house actually came with a media room on the second floor, but due to the placement of the windows, it was a poor fit for a media room, so I got it for a school room :) Win! DH really, really hopes that the family will enjoy hanging out downstairs, lol. Obviously :p I'm not entirely sure -- everyone is pretty content with the living room and their bedrooms for television, honestly, but this is something he's been mapping out for YEARS prior to us actually buying this house.

I would have no problem taking my boys (5 and 8) into the women's room -- and I wouldn't bat an eyelash at seeing younger minor boys (even those over the ages of my boys) in the women's bathroom.

You aren't the only one. It isn't just alien to me -- it seems downright irresponsible and cold. And I say this as a conservative, Catholic who obviously doesn't condone premarital TeA, co-hab situations, or anything of that variety. If you aren't able to drive home, you are welcome here. Period. I do not assume that every teenager is that manipulative. And, really, I would feel (even if I didn't express at the time) very disappointed if my mother badgered me to drive home even if the weather was unsafe or I wasn't feel well enough to drive, just because she thought that I had "planned it" that way, without no real reason to believe that. Seriously -- someone who thought so little of me, and so little of my safety, is someone I'm not likely to go out of my way to see as an adult (living on my own).

Not normal here -- and we're firmly in the "no sleepovers in the same room" camp. DD's best friend is male and and lives some distance away. He stays the night on the couch when he comes over, if he's dropped off. I can't see telling any of her friends -- or even boyfriends -- that they can't stay the night on the couch or guest room when they're too tired to drive! And, yes, we have younger children in the house.

We have officially had movement. God bless pedialax and God bless diapers. Now, to convince him that this doesn't mean he can go back to diapers entirely. But I'll worry about that tomorrow or the next day. Right now I'm celebrating The Movement :)

I went by the pharmacy today and spoke with the pharmacist. Right now, tonight, we are trying the following (in this order): 1. Pedialax (apparently more effective than miralax, less harsh than some other stimulants) & a diaper on 2. Epsom salt bath If the above doesn't work, we'll try a suppository. I will definitely try letting him experiment with the toilet -- once he poops. Right now we're just counting our blessings that we got him on a toddler potty for now.

I will buy some tomorrow! Thank you!!! ETA: if he ingests some of the salts, dissolved, it won't hurt him, right? He splashes around in the tub and sometimes licks his fingers in the tub.

I'm good with him pooping in the tub. He's never pooped in the tub before, but I don't care if he does at this point.

Will the bathtub help, do you think? He's not a huge fan of baths, but I can get him in and he calms down once he's in. Does the water have to be very warm?

Oh, I wish. Not even a little. I've tried money, movie theatres, new toys, and the promise of no bedtime the night he poops. Nothing. My other children are so much pliable, lol.

No, he hasn't. I would do it if I thought it would help! I just want this to be easier for him.

Those are great ideas. He has sensory issues related to foods and will not eat prunes or any juice that isn't a specific brand of apples juice. Or yogurt. Soft foods (like yogurts, peanut butters, etc. are all things he won't eat). I've been hiding miralax in ginger ale :p

He's on a training toilet now and that's what he won't poop in :( I don't mind cleaning it up at all. I'd like this to be as little stress as possible for him, because I don't want him to associate pooping with being scared -- lest we end up in the same position as we were in a year ago. His receptive language skills are very limited, so explaining anything to him is touchy.

The Marvelous Flying Marco had a potty incident, well over a year ago, at rest area toilet. He was terrified of the potty after that incident (it involved automatic flushing toilets, aliens, and supposed space ships). Completely regressed and it took us months to get him where he would urinate or have a bowel movement in his DIAPER without panicking -- because he associated urinating (at all) with the toilet flushing under him, since that's what he was doing at the time. Well, then the hand dryer went off outside the stall, and he started screaming about aliens and space ships... fun times. He's 5 now. As of last week, he's in panties only -- no diaper, even overnight. I'm so proud of him! However, he will NOT have a bowel movement in the potty. It's been like 5 days now. He is not in any discomfort. I have tried miralax in small doses (because we have another chronically constipated child who has had to use it occasionally). Nothing. He's scared to poop. He said as much. If I put him back in a diaper, that will be it. He will not go back into panties for a very, very long time. He will only understand that suddenly five year olds CAN wear diapers, and he may not use the toilet again. As it is, he has to be reminded every couple of hours to use the potty -- so he still doesn't have a clear understanding of his body's signals... but he's made such huge progress that I really, really, really do not want to put him back into a diaper. I could take him to the doctor, because he may sincerely be unable to have a bowel movement for some reason -- but this option has to be approached so, so, so cautiously. If I take him to the doctor, and she administers anything... er... uncomfortable... then doctors' appointments will become hell with Marco. More than they already are. As it stands, currently, he wears his headphones into the office, hands over his ears, completely rigid, rocks back and forth, and has to be carried... refuses to speak or look up (eyes remain shut)... because, one time, well over a year ago, they had Daniel Tiger playing in the waiting room (he is absolutely terrified of Daniel Tiger), and this particular child never forgets. He doesn't mind shots or blood draws... but if it goes any other "way," it could be really hard to ever get him back into the doctor. His doctor's office isn't a bad place right now for him (the waiting room terrifies him, but not the exam rooms -- he's cool in the exam rooms) and I don't want to mess that up. I will if I have to, but it isn't preferable. Any ideas at all? If he hasn't had a BM by tomorrow, I'm likely just going to put a diaper on him. I don't want him to be in pain.

We're using PAL this year with my very, very active son (autism, sensory seeking, etc.). He's known his letter sounds for a long, long time -- and PAL incorporates games, which can be done standing up, and seems very easy to add to (kinesthetic activities, etc.). I looked high and low, and he's my third. I have tried it before, but with a child of a completely different temperament. PAL really looked best for this particular kiddo. I'm not sold on the PAL writing yet, though, even though I bought it.

Yeah. He really is worth every second. Especially when he tucks ME in, around 6 a.m., and kisses me, and tells me that I'm his best friend -- before he runs out the bedroom door in search of pop tarts, juice pouches, and drawing paper. I wanted a padded room. In the end we decided to just go with the extra padding under the carpet when it was being put in... and we got them new beds, told Marco that if he jumped on them or used them to "fly," that he would have to go to the hospital and sleep in their bed (not untrue, since he had to when he fractured his skull, although he doesn't remember that one). So far, so good. He DOES jump off the bed (from the sounds of it -- he won't do it in front of me, but I hear the jumps from downstairs), but appears to be jumping to the ground these days, instead of into walls. Progress :D

That was me, lol. It's working out. Pretty much. Despite having a perfectly lovely bedroom upstairs (where all the bedrooms are, but the master, God help us), with matching beds for the brothers, and special carpeting with extra padding under... he sleeps downstairs, on the living room floor, or in our bed. We had a couple incidents involving the upstairs bedroom :P One of which was when he decided to use the attached powder room inappropriately. At 2 or 3 a.m., by climbing into the sink, and playing in the water, with his tablet. He didn't realize the tablet connected the baby monitor, though, so it was a short-lived adventure on his part. Potentially dangerous only because he's teeny tiny and the floor in the bathroom is tile -- and he has a habit of not being able to get down from the things he manages to climb on. And he is perfectly convinced that there are evil aliens upstairs. I'm sure one of his sweet older siblings helped that idea, but it is what it is. If he wakes up alone upstairs he shrieks and screeches like he's being tortured, which I hear over the monitor, which wakes me from a dead sleep -- and I go running, tripping up the stairs, to find him perfectly fine. So, now we just let him sleep on the living room floor outside our master. It's carpeted. Whatever.

He made it to 5! Alive!

DD15 (will turn 16 in August) will be using Apples and Pears (she LOVES this program), IEW for writing across the curriculum, and MCT's Level 4 grammar, vocabulary, and literature.

Mine may look a bit different :) DD is going into 10th and is dyslexic, so some of her curriculum choices reflect the need for "slow and steady" right now. Algebra II: No clue what we're using for this. She really likes CLE and is using it for Algebra I. There is nothing like it for Algebra II -- and she hates online / dvd-based programs for math. Very visual learner. Art History: CHC's Ever Ancient, Ever New (also likely continuing outsourced art classes) Writing across the curriculum: a la IEW's TWSS Literature: I'm going through Teaching the Classics this summer. We're also using MCT's Level 4 books and guide for literature. Grammar: I'm going through MCT's Level 4 vocabulary right now... but she would like to go back to First Language Lessons (probably level 4 or the new level?) Spelling: Apples and Pears C and D Vocabulary: MCT's Level 4 "Vocabulary of Literature" American History: Homeschool Connections, Phillip Campbell Physics: Homeschool Connections Latin: Getting Started with Latin

Pajama Time

I can only answer for me, and it's only somewhat applicable to the conversation. I grew up poor until about age 12. When my parent divorced and my father married my stepmother, and I stayed with my father and stepmother, my life became upper middle class. Most of the time (they weren't great at managing money). However, the education of my father and stepmother was no different than that of my mother and father -- my stepmother had an inheritance coming in, and my father opened his own business, but it was still a blue collar business (heavy equipment mechanics). My parents were all intelligent in their own way (my father, especially, was gifted mechanically and with numbers, but also had an undiagnosed learning disability)... but none had attended college and didn't really seem to put much thought into our education. When I dropped out of college, it was shrugged about. I was never encouraged to attend, really. I mean, when I said I wanted to they were supportive and paid, but there was never really any discussion about it. When I struggled in high school not much of anything was done to fix the situation (my father was a high school drop out who obtained a GED and job training through the military). My stepsister, on the other hand, had an extended family on her mother's side that I didn't have access to -- an educated side. They were vocal about encouraging her education and she eventually moved to be closer to that encouragement. They were very specific about what they were and weren't willing to help with, financially, but they were very involved in helping her have access to a college education and helping her to obtain what she needed to attend. She completed her Master's. I'm very proud of her. She actually struggled in elementary and middle school the most of all our siblings... but (to me) the big difference is that she had people invested in seeing her through it and people invested in making sure she was college-bound. I didn't, until well into adulthood, realize that there were books available to help me through the process. Not once was I told that there were resources -- not by my high school counselors or my parents. I think folks put a bit too much stock in assuming a person's innate "knowledge." I wasn't really taken to libraries often as a child, so to assume I would realize there were books on these subjects, in libraries, is assuming I must have had some innate understanding of a very tangible thing -- even though I never really experienced that thing myself, until much later in life. People really only know what they were taught (or at least exposed to) in life.

Our boys attend a studio that is owned and run by a lovely woman who is loudly Christian (prays prior to recital, etc.) and caters to her Bible belt area. However, even in her studio, hip hop and jazz are noticeably "saucier" than the tap, ballet, modern, etc. Less "saucy" than at some other studios, but still saucy. But, if costumes bother you, even the tap costumes for the older groups were, what I would peg as, saucy -- tight, sparkly, and themed. But so were the modern and contemporary costumes once we're talking advanced enough to be performing as part of the company. I don't personally have a problem with it -- and I like saucy. It's fun for us :) I think, to go more modest, you may have to find a studio that is more purely ballet. We have studios in our area that are ballet studios "with sides" -- but all kids start in ballet and ballet is the main focus; tap, contemporary, etc. seem to only be offered to help the children in their ballet classes.

I have one child (DS8) with growth delays -- but he has other medical issues. At age 8, he is about the size of an average 4 year old. I can tell you that it's been my experience that they will want to rule out any other possible issues, and there is testing your DD would have to undergo, before they would even begin to suggest growth hormones. At least around here. My son isn't considered eligible (or, rather, not a good candidate) for other reasons, but it was discussed. If you move forward with the concerns, it is likely they will want blood work ups, bone age scans, possibly other scans, and they may want her to see other specialists. GH is considered pretty serious stuff -- at least my son's endo seems to treat it that way, lol. DS8 continues to see an endocrinologist. I would say that if you're concerned, ask your pediatrician for the name of a good ped's endocrinologist. Genetic short stature really IS a thing, though, so if that's the only concern with her health, I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. I'm 5'1", DH is 5'3" and we have a history of both very short women and very short men... so if DS had just presented as very small, with no other physical differences or other medical issues, I don't think we would have been concerned, given the family history.