:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

My daughter is doing both CLE math and Teaching Textbooks this year. I tried to switch her over to TT, but she loves the CLE. I told her we would go back to CLE and she said no, she wanted to do both.

Last week I had to have the window replaced in my DH's car. I was sitting in the waiting room with my 8 yr old and after a while an older woman sitting there said "Isn't she supposed to be in school?". The way she said it just rubbed me wrong. Normally I would explain that no, we homeschool but her tone was very condescending. This time all I said was "NO", and left it at that. I know she was waiting for me to explain, but I didn't.

I usually ask their opinion on MY choices. My older daughter was able to decide which electives she wanted. This year was the first year where we scrapped an entire curricula and started over because my 8 yr old, who LOVES school work, was frustrated and not happy AT.ALL. with what I chose for her. I'm happy to say that the last two weeks have been stress-free and she is back to loving doing school work.

Bluedarling: I'm wondering if you ordered the Starline Press yet? I am trying to find something secular for science and history and looked at the Starline Press. I like what I see, but the cost is WAY more than ACE. I'm having a hard time justifying the cost, especially if it is basically ACE without the religious aspect. My daughter loves the ACE paces, so I want to stick with something workbook based.

This year it's swords for my 8 yr old daughter. She learned in karate, and Santa will be bringing her a set of three very nice swords of assorted sizes.

Politely declining to give up my rights is not uncooperative or negative. I have never advocated for anyone to be anything other then polite and knowing your rights. Edited to add: I thought it was this thread but it's the other thread that I explained what happened with my son. He was accused of a crime he did not commit. He was arrested/booked/photographed and their evidence was "him" getting into his car and speeding away. My son has autism and has never been behind the wheel of a car in his entire 21 yrs. It took a year before they caught the real guy and all charges were dropped against my son. My older son used to work in security with a large department store and routinely had to testify in court on the stores behalf regarding store theft. He had first hand experience with the local PD and he could tell you more than one story about the corrupt PD. According to my younger sons police report a "witness" identified him. After the real criminal was caught, we found out that he was identified by a DETECTIVE that said it was him, from seeing him out on walks with his older brother, who used to work for security and knows the officers. I believe we were targeted by the PD from that point on. We have been out for a walk and followed by police officers. This is how I got interested in what my rights are and aren't. Also... My daughter witnessed a death/crime at the young age of SEVEN. The adult involved has stalked her (she is now 18) and I have had to deal with numerous detectives and police officers. I am thoroughly DISGUSTED with what I have seen. I had enough and we moved 600 miles away. I should have clarified that I have lost respect for all the police in the township where I used to live in NJ. When you deal with things like I have, you tend to lose faith that they are there to "protect and serve". My son is TERRIFIED of police now. We were out in a restaurant and police came in the door and he panicked and hid under the table. I do not think he will ever trust anyone in uniform. It is hard for someone with autism to build relationships, it's never going to happen with someone that has broken his trust.

Refusing a search and not answering questions is not confrontational or adversarial. When asked where I was going, my polite response was "why do you ask?". His answer.. "just curious". I have never advocated being confrontational or adversarial. When you know your rights, you do not need to become confrontational. It's actually the opposite. Where I have been and where I am going has nothing to do with my being pulled over and is none of their business. Handing over your license is required in most states but responding to questions is not. Being detained is a lot different then being pulled over, handing your credentials over and then leaving.

We left NJ with no jobs and no prospects of job when we moved to SC. Within 2 weeks my DH had a job with higher pay, doing the same work he did in NJ. Our mortgage went from $2000 a month to under $450 a month. The cost of meats is a little higher, everything else is less or close to it. I have a mixed race family. I am white, two of my kids are Hispanic, one is white and one is Chinese. I have seen/felt racism here from both white and black folks. I experienced it in NJ too, but it's much more in-your-face down here. I have found that a lot of the stereotypes listed in prior posts are true. Even so, I would never move back north. I LOVE living in SC.

I was responding to the post by Lanny who said you are more or less "under arrest" while stopped and must obey the police officer. This is NOT true. You are not under arrest unless the police officer has a reason to arrest you and tells you that you are under arrest. Just being pulled over is not being under arrest.

The officer must have a reason and place you under arrest. Just being pulled over for a traffic stop is not being under arrest.

I think Trick is cute! But that is coming from someone who named a cat Psst.

State and local statutes do not trump the Constitution. It is NOT illegal in any state to video or photograph public servants. Some states have laws regarding AUDIO taping, but VIDEO is allowed. If you are legally allowed there, you are legally allowed to video. https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers

Did this happen in NJ? I have lost all respect in the police in NJ after several dealings with them. I now have my own dashcam (best $45 I ever spent!) in my car and I record EVERYTHING. And... NO, you are absolutely NOT under any type of arrest at a traffic stop. You do NOT have to answer questions like "Where are you coming from?" and "Where are you going?". The only thing you should say at a traffic stop is "Am I being detained?". If you are told no, say "Am I free to go?", then leave. And... NEVER consent to a search of your car or yourself. If the police have reasonable suspicion they won't ask for permission, they will just search. They are asking for permission because they have NO reasonable suspicion. And... saying "if you have nothing to hide" is total BS. It's not a matter of hiding anything, it's your CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to not be searched without a reason. And... it is NOT illegal to video a police officer (or any public servant) while they are on duty. In some states you cannot AUDIO record without permission, but you do not need permission to video.

My elderly MIL lives behind us (but on our property, one acre away) and the ambulance response time has been averaging 50 mins. The first time it was over an hour. She has a life alert button and that company has explicit directions to our house, yet they still can't find me and get here in less than 40 mins for a medical emergency. When my daughter was bit by a dog, it took 1.5 hr for the police to come and make a report. In a true emergency I'd hope it would be sooner, but I'm not chancing it. I know it's not very popular or PC, but an unloaded gun is just a paperweight. A locked up gun that you cannot access is useless. Get a gun safe that can be opened quickly and have it accessible to where you sleep. A few seconds delay might mean the difference between life and death.

I'm very rural and you can't see my house from the road. I have a LONG driveway and have a game-cam set up that will snap pics of cars coming down my driveway. Like I said, I'm very rural... on a dead end dirt road several miles outside of a little town, but you would be surprised to know the number of times I have caught a car in pictures coming down my wooded driveway and had no clue they were even there. This is why I put up a driveway alarm. It sets off chimes when someone/something comes past it. Regarding barring the doors, there is a little, inexpensive gadget called a door stop with an alarm. I used this when we lived in our old suburban home. When someone would come to the door I would put that about 6 inches from the door. That way I could open it, but if someone were to forcibly push the door at me it would stop them dead in their tracks. http://www.cheatersspyshop.com/super-door-stop-alarm.html?utm_source=super-door-stop-alarm&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=googleproducts&gclid=CLOa6JTA5LoCFa1QOgody3EATw At this point, I don't open the door to anyone except my neighbor, and she will call first.

This happened about 4 months ago in an upscale neighborhood in Maryland. This is a friend of a friend, both who are very anti-gun. Obviously, I am very pro-gun. My friend has called me paranoid for always being armed and I know one thing, if someone had walked through my door while I was relaxing on the couch, I would have had my firearm right there and it may have lessened the chance of being raped. No one will ever know for sure, I'd bet it might have changed the outcome if she had immediate access to a firearm.

I don't want to sound like the voice of doom but MANY home invasions are not targeted. Every day I read about someone high on drugs that finds the easiest mark. An unlocked door is a very common way to get robbed. A friend of a friend was in her livingroom, reading a book in the middle of the day and a drugged out crazy man walked right through the front door, dragged down and raped her. I don't think in this day and age it's irrational to think something can happen. Chances are it won't, but why let your guard down? Someone else mentioned outdoor lights on a sensor and this is an awesome deterrent. Someone that IS targeting your house does not want to be seen or heard. I have one of these little boxes that you plug in and from the outside it looks like a tv is turned on. It REALLY does look like it. I bought it for $25 on ebay. http://www.faketv.com/

I don't think that is how it would go down in my house. I would hope it was the intruder that would cry and cower after I threatened to blow him to bits. Then, I would call the police so they could either take him to jail or draw a chalk line depending on the actions the intruder would decide to take. I have unique circumstances where my 18 yr old has a stalker, so this is a very real fear in my house. I also have other security measures outside of my house such as a driveway alarm and security cameras.

My dogs serve as an early warning signal. No one gets close to my house without them hearing and alerting. I train with firearms and keep one in the bedroom by the bed.

This is my dog Porky with the cat Kitters on top of her.

I have a friend that started homeschooling because her daughter is a competition ice skater and spends a lot of time at the rink. My daughter is in karate competition training approx 9 hrs a week. I don't know how she would be able to keep up if she were in school. It works for us.

My daughter is 8 and she does not play with anything that is girlie. There is not a single barbie or baby doll in our house. She loves legos, any kind of small hard plastic animals, crafty stuff like stamps and stickers, stuffed animals (they all have boys names) and the following are top things on her Christmas list: Furby... She asked for this last year and I didn't get it for her. It's back on her list again this year so I did get it. Swords ... She studies martial arts and loves the weapons class. I bought her a 3 pc set of UNSHARPENED real swords. One is almost the same height as her, the other is half her size and the third one is a small sword about a foot long. They have Chinese dragons engraved on them which has some meaning as she is Chinese. Nunchucks with chains. Her current nunchucks have a rope in between, she want's "real" ones with the chains. Bidet. LOL.. yes, a bidet. I have a bidet attachment in my bathroom and she loves it. She wants one for our second bathroom which is next to her bedroom.

I have a 2005 Kia Sedona and I love it. We bought it new and it has a little over 100,000 miles on it right now. The only thing that I have had to replace have been tires. My only complaint is the paint job, it is flaking off on the front fender and side mirrors.

I had a Boston Terrier that would always be under blankets. She would paw at the afghan on the sofa, pull it down and then curl up under it. She would also find her way under the blankets on our bed, and my cat would sit on top of her. She was under the blanket, the cat was on top of it. I thought it was just a coincidence at first, but then I would find the cat on top of her all the time. I guess it was part of her kitty world domination plot.