I LOVED the Mirena. :) I had it between DS and DD. I had no periods on it or anything. It was awesome. :) I had an ectopic after I got it taken out, though, so I couldn't ever get one again.

Hmm...I guess maybe it was because I had 3 c sections? If it were up to me (and there weren't bad side effects of it, like menopause...) I would have just had a hysterectomy at the time. It sucks having no reason to have a monthly cycle anymore, but still having to have one for another, oh, idk, 20 years???!!! Sigh...

Really? The OB wouldn't do it???? I had mine done at 26, when I had my 3rd c/s. Our decision was that we would TTC from July 2008-February 2009 (youngest DS would be 4 in November of 09, and I didn't want any more if there would be more than 4 years between the last 2). If I was NOT pg by Feb 09, DH would get the surgery. If I WAS, I would get it done when I had the c/s. I found out I was pg Sept 1 of 08. So it was a non-issue. For me, if they would be in there anyway, it made more sense for me to do it. But if that hadn't been the case, we were all for DH doing it. :) ETA: The procedure is a lot less complicated for the man, I've heard. Which is why had it not been for me being in the OR already, I wouldn't have done it myself. Also, we were 100% positive (and still are!) that 3 was it for us. We've always wanted 3, and we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that was it. If you aren't 100% sure, I wouldn't do it either way. (We were going to when I was pg with younger DS, but about halfway through the pregnancy I felt like we should wait. So we did. Thank goodness! DD lights up our world! :D )

Um, it depends I guess??? I don't go into any details. A group of women that I'm a part of (get this...moms Bible study group :lol: ) sometimes teases each other about it but nothing big. Just the usual, kwim? I have gone into more detail about other aspects with a very close friend when she was asking some questions. Still never intimate details of our life though. :)

Hmm... BTDT. Stay out of it. Seriously. :) (And do we have the same sil? :lol: )

:(

We're up! http://togethersolitude.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/wordless-wednesday-10511-serious-soccer/ (some shots of DS5's first soccer game) :)

DH had an old one but we could never get it to work with our Mac. It wasn't an iPod. I have an iPod so obviously, no problems there! I've looked, in the past, at getting a cheap MP3 player for DS7, but everything I've read in reviews and such says that they don't work with Macs. Which is all we have. Anyone know if that is the case??

I found the above very interesting. I had never heard of it from that side - I must admit, some of the people I know had posted things about the CRC and the proposed amendment and the way that everything pro-amendment makes things sound, it seemed completely logical - the UN would have this CRC which would supersede the rights of parents/state laws/etc, so we needed the amendment so that it couldn't do that. So that isn't what it is? :iagree: This is us as well. We're extremely conservative Christians, but nothing made me angrier than hearing of people who homeschool because they were afraid of the big, bad public school, were convinced that ps was a hive of scum and villainy, and who never even LOOKED at ps because they had in their minds that there was NO way it could ever be good enough in a very holier-than-thou way (you know, like all Christians should homeschool - I mean, how could any good Christian do anything but? Well, maybe, if you are willing to pay $5000 a year for the private Christian school, your kids still won't turn out to be criminals. That type of thing.) That attitude still p*sses me off. :glare: Then, of course, I started homeschooling. :lol: My reasons are purely educational - well, maybe a little of other stuff (DS5 learning to flip people off on the bus on the field trip with me in the seat next to him! :lol: But we'd already decided to hs by then), DH's are more the religious reasons (things 'taught' in schools, etc), but overall I don't mind what the reasons are as long as he agrees with me on it. :D I also have to admit that until the last thread on here, I was planning to join HSLDA come spring (when I replenish my hs budget for the year). While I don't mind any of the other things they support at present, I don't see the point in me joining them to support those causes when there really isn't much else to gain from a membership. I'm pretty sure we'd fall under their 'approval' as far as everything else goes - but we follow the law regarding hsing and I just don't see the point. While I don't mind their other 'causes', if I wanted to support them I'd do it elsewhere - not in an organization that is supposed to be for homeschooling. That's where I stand right now, at least.

I went with 'other'. It depends on how well he treats things, and/or if you care what happens to it. ;) Had you been buying it for him outright, I would have voted no, but it being something that you didn't necessarily spend a lot of money on just for him changes things a bit. So maybe. :)

Funny story about that... we were in NYC and a friend of mine bought some of that stuff at the Hershey's store. When they opened it and tried it, they were like, 'What the heck??? This stuff sucks!' It was quite humorous. I was like, what did you think it was going to be??? o.O

I'm honestly asking this, not trying to be snarky or rude... Exactly what do people think they will miss if they get married young? I know a PP mentioned that a friend felt like she had missed things because she got married at 20. I'm just curious as to what would be missed. Honestly asking. For reals. :) Thanks.

I have seen others think that to be environmentally friendly = liberal, but I don't agree with it. I'm not like, crazy about it or anything but I try to do what I can. And I'm about as conservative as they come. :D

NIV and yes. I'm ok with most translations, but I can't stand The Message Bible. It's totally inaccurate.

So if your DD decides to get married earlier, you literally won't support her at all? :001_huh: I personally don't care when my kids get married, I think that the point of the thread is more how to be responsible adults, giving them what they need to have a good marriage at any age - from a Christian worldview - aka abstinence til marriage. That is my personal stance - it matters not to me whether my children meet their mate when they are 18 or 80, abstinence is still important until they marry said person, and they need to know how to be good a good spouse at any age. I see no problem in preparing them for that. I agree. I think that most (most - not all) people have no idea what they want to do with their entire life when they get out of high school. Jobs are jobs, and aren't all that important, honestly. And I totally agree that goals and dreams grow together in unison. :) I don't think anyone is saying they want their children to find a 'good little wife' or vice versa (whatever one would say for a husband - 'good providing husband?' :lol: ) This is just about how to have children prepared for adulthood. Marriage is a huge, important part of adulthood. I don't think that finding a spouse who has necessarily had a chance to really 'find herself/himself' is a wonderful thing, I really don't think it matters either way, because people change. I don't think there is a set formula for when people should get married - when they are ready, and meet the right person. :iagree::iagree: I think that is what most here are saying. I haven't seen any (I may have missed some) PP saying that they *want* their kids getting married super young, though its not a bad thing. It just is what it is. I see what age my kids get married as not really my business. Nor is whether or not they choose to go to college, grad school, etc. I would NEVER push my kids to do any of those things. It kind of sickens me when I hear of parents who have big huge plans for their children to do all these amazing things for a living - I couldn't care less what my kids do as a job, I want them to be great, God loving people. Period.

Mine is pretty short this week, but it's up! No pictures, either. Oh, well! http://togethersolitude.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/weekly-report-93011/

I think that allowing them to experience life as it comes to more of an extent than many do - letting them WORK. Hard. Giving them bigger responsibilities than a lot of teenagers have. Model a marriage and what it is - model finances and what they are - same with everything else. Get them a checking account that is their money only when they start working (16, or earlier if necessary) and have them take care of it and don't rescue them. Work with them on how to make a budget (I thoroughly dislike DR stuff, but the budgeting principles we use are similar). Also, it sounds corny, but DH is all about the list of things you want in your future spouse. He has had some teenage girls make it even now at church (in particular, a girl who we know really well who doesn't have a dad so to speak - not just random teenagers! :lol:) And even though it gets made fun of, the list isn't a bad idea. These are all great ones. I knew about budgeting, but Gma was a bit of a perfectionist so I didn't do much housecleaning or meal preparing. I didn't know how to cook til DH and I got married (I was 18) except chocolate chip cookies. That said, I've never found it hard...follow the recipe, easy. :) But I still can't peel potatoes without it taking forever. So I avoid them. :D :iagree: :iagree: Even though this is something that I KNOW, it was hard at first. I grew up in a family of just 3 people (and only 2 of us were home 4 days of the week), and we went out to eat about 3-4 times out of the week. When we needed (use that word loosely in this context lol... think like, 'i need a new black sweater to wear with my dress sunday' type need lol) something, we went and bought it. We didn't waste money - we shopped on clearance racks and I was raised to be a great bargain shopper :lol: - but even knowing that we couldn't live the same way when we first got married, it was hard not to. I didn't feel like cooking, we can just order a pizza, right? I still sometimes fall back into that even now, 10 years later! :) It's a constant thing for some, I think. But if they don't even know to begin with? Yeah, not good.

:) I don't love the book. But I do think teenagers and young adults (in general in our culture) are spoiled. :)

:iagree:

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I just got around to reading the article, and I think it's wonderful!!! That's what I've been trying to say, I think. :) OH, and I thought of the book Do Hard Things - the word teenager has only begun its existence in the last century. Even through the first part of that, children (as the article states) were in training to be adults.

I'm not a huge fan of the 'purity movement' in and of itself. By choosing to abstain until marriage, DH and I weren't a part of a 'movement' - we had made a commitment to God. That's what is important, not all the big hoopla about it. So I definitely do see where that is odd. While I don't have a problem with patriarchy to an extent (it is what is outlined for us, Biblically), I don't see where the purity of a person relates to it. As for the three choices, I don't think any of them are right. I don't think every person needs to get married at a young age. I don't think every person should wait to get married until they have settled financially (gone through college, etc). I definitely don't think they should explore their sexuality - of the 3, that is the worst to me. I think people should remain abstinent until marriage, whenever that may be. Whether they meet the right person at 18 or 80 makes no difference to me, only that they are with the person they plan to spend the rest of their life with and make a marriage commitment to them. Everything else - college, finances, etc - is gravy. None of it matters anyway. :) ETA: I also believe, as I stated before, that we are hindering young adults by not helping them to mature faster - not by dressing little girls in slutty clothes mature, but by actual work ethic, realization of how the world works type mature. I think that by extending childhoods so far into teenage/young adult years by paving the way for them, so to speak, we are creating a selfish generation who, even if they did enter into marriage at a young age, would not do a good job of it. The attitude of 'needing to accomplish x, y, z for myself first' is baloney to me. We aren't here just to make ourselves important. We have a purpose and we should fulfill that - but no one can do so by being coddled and remaining immature until they are 25.

I don't use Amazon either. I had my price list all made up, buying from Amazon (last winter), and then DH and I decided we didn't want to support them. Yes, we ended up paying a little more. We don't mind. I bought mostly from Rainbow Resource. I don't know what kind of materials you usually buy, but I did get some from christianbook.com, too. (Saxon math, spelling workout)

:iagree: The red part, especially. If people aren't prepared for everything that could come as a result of s*x - stds, pregnancy, etc - they shouldn't be having it. And the maturity to make such a decision should equal the maturity to decide to get married. I don't understand the draw of intercourse with more than one person. It just doesn't make a bit of sense to me...why, when you aren't married to the person, therefore there is no long term commitment? I just don't understand. And I don't think it's a patriarchal thing at all, either.

This, by far, was one of the most ridiculous things I've EVER seen!!! :lol: :iagree: I see the point of this one, too. The bolded is one thing that has always made me lean toward the dinosaurs being gone before the flood. Why would there be two of everything else but dinosaurs? It puzzles me a little - idk, the dinosaur thing is such a weird thing for me, I really don't know where I stand on it sometimes! :) This, to an extent. Well, the bolded part. But I'm YE, so some of it not so much. But again, this is where the whole dinosaur/dragon thing gets fuzzy for me... And then this, too. Overall, the dino/dragon thing is a great big mess for me! :lol: Nah, I really don't think about it. But it's fun to puzzle over it once in awhile... :lol: Jesus on that dinosaur thing... :lol:

I am one of the people that a PP mentioned in that, to me, four partners sounds like a lot. I can't even imagine it. I'm 100% for abstinence until marriage. I don't believe that people should try things out ahead of time for any reason, but that it is an important part of ourselves that we need not be sharing with just anyone with whom the passion may arise. I'm not opposed to young marriages (when DH and I married, we were 21 and 18, respectively), though I do believe that it is possible to remain pure until marriage at whatever age. I don't believe it is easy. I don't think that current culture makes correct assumptions at all when they say that teenagers and young adults literally can't not have s*x. I think that's baloney. Nothing is impossible. As far as getting married younger in Biblical times, that is true. At the same time, we aren't really doing our children/teenagers in America any favors by letting them remain children until they are 22, either - paying their way for everything under the sun until they graduate college, etc. I'm not saying the two things are related. But it is interesting to consider that this one thing - age - is something that some people will try to fall back on as 'why' teenagers and young adults can't live up to expectations on purity until marriage. Well, in Bible times, they got married earlier, so the temptation wasn't there for as long, etc. But they were also adults at that time. When a girl got married, she became the woman of the house. Things were a lot different in a LOT of ways, so I doubt there is much comparison to be made between a 14 year old girl in Bible times and today, regarding maturity in all aspects, most likely. (NOT saying 14 year olds need to get married. 18 is quite young enough, thank you! :lol: ) One thing that I'm also questioning is the group of 'young adults' that they surveyed for this article... have all of them been Christians for a long time? Or are they new converts? Was their s*xual experience(s) before or after coming to Christ? I'm not saying anything bad either way, but it is something to consider, imo. I do believe that someone who makes a mistake and loses their virginity before marriage can STILL be pure when they have asked God's forgiveness. Then, the only forgiveness they have left to wrestle with is their own. But I'm not one of those who looks at girls who have been m*l*sted, etc, and consider them impure. Not at all. It breaks my heart when they say they feel like they are ruined. :( Anyway, that's my opinion...