They're responsible for their own space and hygiene, but other than that DH insists on no assigned chores. He comes from such a pitch in and help family that he says it's important for us all to do whatever needs to be done at any time. So far it seems to be working okay, it helps that he often works 12 hours a day and then comes home and does more work. It's a good example for the kids and so far not much whining about it.

To the person that asked, Doomsday Preppers is on the National Geographic Channel if you have cable. I never understood the whole zombie paranoia. I am watching the episode from last night right now though- The people who claim to have a ghost telling them to "become preppers or die" are cracking me up more than any others on this show!

There is no problem at all if all of that is true. I'm sorry, just being a grump today.

I deleted all my cookies and signed back in and now it works fine. Must have been corrupt or something. Thanks.

Why is it that I have 4 or 5 thermometers when everyone is feeling well, but when I'm not feeling well I can't find a single one? If I had more energy I might yell. :-/

All I've managed to do today (besides this chat board & watching tv) is make chicken soup. Planning on adding some dumplings to it for dinner (thanks to gluten free bisquick). Kids are having a very light day - I said they need to do ONE educational project of their choosing, but no assignments. No fever yet but increasingly feel like crap.

Since when is "cool" the goal? You're an adult, and you've made an unconventional lifestyle choice with homeschooling. That IS cool. It seems to me like your friend is so unhappy with who she is that she must get out of the house or she'd have to examine her own life. Being driven to go go go does not come from a peaceful, satisfied place. If you're happiest staying home, stay home. Stop the glorification of busy. Sorry if I'm ranting, but this thing in our society that everything you learn must come from something exterior is a pet peeve of mine. The fanatacism about Eat, Pray, Love a few years back was similar. This woman had made a spiritual covenant to get married, and when she stopped being able to escape from herself within her own life she ran away, and away, and away, and away, and somehow society labeled this the ultimate spiritual experience. This is ridiculous. She could have learned more about God by sitting still and examining herself. She heard Him. She just refused to do the work neccessary to be at peace. Children don't need busyness. They need peace and security and stability and to feel safe. Being driven to go go go is a sign you're not able to give them that because you don't have enough of it yourself. There is always time for kids to grow up and explore the world. Stop rushing and putting pressure on yourself.

The main page has been down for me for the last 24 hours or so, though I can still get to my boards. Is this true for everyone? I'm thinking it might have to do with the Firefox update I did yesterday. Update: I deleted my cookies and signed back in and now it works fine.

Thanks. Hope you feel better again soon too.

Steam, garlic butter. Beware there is a furry thing in the middle called a "choke" that you don't want to eat. The heart that's near the choke can be eaten entirely it's so tender. No need to scrape those leaves.

Didn't get much sleep, and what I did I slept wrong so now I have an annoying kink in my neck and all my muscles seem sore. And I'm freezing. So yeah, fog. Actually it feels a bit more like a hangover, which is odd, because I rarely drink and even when I do I don't get hangovers. Except that once when I was actually coming down with the flu. Oh crap. Do you think a doctor will prescribe Tamiflu before I get the fever?

Thanks everyone. I set my DVR to record the couple different BBC news programs (there's a world news early in the morning, an american edition in the evening). Only having watched the first 20 minutes I'm already thrilled with it - I had no idea about at least three of the stories I've heard so far! I also downloaded the NPR app to my iPhone- I love that it comes with a playlist, so I can select the stories I want to hear and just walk around listening to them when cleaning, etc. The problem with listening to NPR on the radio has always been that they seem to either switch to some obscure music or jazz program every time I feel like listening to the news or be focusing on some fluffy human interest story I have no interest in. We don't have satellite radio anymore (got irritated with adding commercials, as well as not liking some more adult oriented content that a child kept turning to). This phone playlist is great! I downloaded some other apps too (Drugde report, half a dozen others), though I haven't had a chance to try them yet. Thank you so much! I already feel much more informed than yesterday, with much less effort on my part.

Yes. This exactly.

I read a blog from one of the women who appeared in season one of the show who said that even though the show's producers created a specific fear for her family to be more dramatic, in reality they were prepping for anything. Her family knew they were much more likely to face an ice storm or earthquake or hurricane or job layoff than any sort of doomsday scenario for the entire world, but having good common sense is way less entertaining television than creating a bunch of nut jobs, and she thought the discussion would encourage people to rely on themselves more and the government less, so she agreed to appear on it. We typically have 3 months food on hand - If an ice storm disrupted our food supply for three weeks we could easily feed ourselves and some of our less prepared neighbors without worry. I'd like to get to the point that we had a year on hand, but I'm not in a big rush to do so. A few weeks ago at the grocery store DH and I were parked next to a woman who was filling the back of her truck with canned goods. She confided in us that she was thinking of going back for more because her uncle was "high up in the air force and called to tell her to stock up on canned food immediately." She was probably in her 50's. We figured this must either be about inflation or some military action that wasn't public yet. IDK about all that, or about the yen, but I do believe it when economists say that everything we do to pad the economy creates a bubble that will eventually burst. How long that will take I don't know, but I do think several more could pop at any time.

I used to like CNN... but last fall they got rid of their investigative news division entirely (aparently advanced computer graphics and talking heads are cheaper and get higher ratings). I also used to like ABC (since 5 or 6 years ago when I read that they were the most balanced source of news in the USA... they had the least negative things to say about Bush at the time, and even though I wasn't a big fan, I also don't like political agendas). They don't seem to be very balanced anymore though... recently I have heard more about gun control, the personal life of the Obama family, about medical correlations as if they are science, pushing flu shots, etc than I EVER cared to tolerate. And DH comes home from work having heard brief updates on the radio knowing more than I do about what's going on in the world than I do, and I make an effort to watch the news morning and night! I prefer a video source to a newspaper, as I can do stuff like fold laundry or start to cook dinner while it's on. Even the radio might be okay, as long as it's balanced. I don't want hating Obama any more than I want to hear how he's the best thing since sliced bread.

Hopefully it's an age-related phase or a sign she's trying to fit in with a cooler crowd of friends (and has to make snarky comments about others to prove her social status). In the same vein it could be a TV show or book or other media she's been exposed to & has decided is cool. But sometimes sudden snarkiness is because something awful happened, something abusive. I would gently talk to her and see where her sudden condecention and anger is coming from, and explain what is appropriate and what is not. And then, trust your instinct.

I wouldn't worry about it, other than mentioning it might not be okay with PS girls. Heck, I went to PS, and while publicly we stopped playing with Barbies in 4th grade, some of my favorite times with friends were when they confessed they still played with dolls and we would all play Barbies (secretly) for hours afterward. I think some of my friends did this until they were 14! And after that they got to "pretend" to play with girls they were babysitting.

Having a lot of relaives in rural Florida.... it is still one of the WORST job markets in the country, especially in rural areas. It also sounds like they might want him, but they don't want you and the kids. Does he understand this? I guess my thought is... what stage and type of breast cancer are we talking about here? Are we talking about a minor stage one in situ, or are we talking about stage 3 or 4 inflammatory breast cancer? Also, the idea that they will help with kids they have never wanted to help with before when they are in a major crisis is completely absurd. Unless there is a lot more to his side of the story that I'm not understanding here, I'd drag him to a pastor or counselor. He's married. His parents are no longer his first priority, you are. And whether you define that with boundaries or with bible verses, someone besides you needs to define that for him. Honestly if you're a member of a church and there's a pastor or older man who can explain that to him in a way that's more "Hey, be a man, step it up, leave and cleave", rather than coming from a whiny wife things might go over way better.

I'd get the women's Smartwool hikers too, though I've also had the men's hiker's and they are basically the same, maybe a couple of sizes larger. I'd get her temperature rated boots at the lowest temp you can find, erring on the large size. Cabela's has somewhat inexpensive boots that have temperature ratings. They probably have mittens with temperature ratings too. You can order from them online. You can also add hand and boot warmers, which aren't cheap but do help a lot. Definitely DO NOT have her wear the hanes socks under the smartwool, that will make them colder, not warmer. Just handwash them and let them dry when needed. Wool doesn't hold bacteria well so wool can go longer without smelling - even if you have particularly stinky feet. Smartwool pulls the moisture away from your foot anyway so it takes longer for bacteria to grow.

How about a dose of alieve and pool walking or something like water aerobics or water yoga? Gentle non-strenuous movements but it could still work the antsys out with minimal pain or further injury.

I suggest trying the book Perfect Health Diet - which is moderate carb and low in allergens and toxins. It's a new book to me and I'm only a little more than halfway through, but the science behind it is astounding, and it seems to fix problems with low carb diets.

Yes. But more coming from the perspective of moving recently, and we all seem to be fighting off our second colds in a couple of months so I'm paranoid it might turn into flu if everyone doesn't get enough rest and chicken soup.

Before I read about the note I thought this was normal hormonal behavior; it's quite typical for an 8-10 year old to be more responsible than a 12-14 year old; I once read a story about a neuroscientist who put his 11 year old in charge of his 14 year old when they were left alone because whatever part of your brain that processes impulse control gets shrunk during puberty and only returns to normal in the early to mid twenties! Having said that, labeling himself anything so negative worries me A LOT. It might be something physical, it might be something like undiagnosed ADHD (easy to miss until puberty if a kid is smart and doesn't have the hyperactive type), it might have been a bump on the head you're not aware of (not tracking thoughts is a symptom of concussion), it could even be atypical migraines that are showing the auras but not the pain yet. I'd be more worried it's psychological (depression) or distraction (a crush, something else he thinks you won't fully approve of). I'd take him to a doctor for an evaluation first, and I would go in the exam room at first and explain what you've seen to the doctor. Then I'd leave for the exam (in case there was some sexual issue he wouldn't want me there for), and if everything was fine medically I'd ask for a refferral to someone else for a psych exam, etc... Of course, you should probably start by just having a low-pressure conversation with him about how concerned you are. If it is something like ADHD, I suggest alternative treatments first - for example, DH started drinking coffee to handle his and he likes it better than medications (less side effects). Since then I've heard that a lot of kids with ADHD have better results from coffee than from medications.

Thanks Audrey!

No, I hadn't worked out or watched youtube since the week before Christmas so I didn't find out about them until today! I really like the changes in her since she left bodyrock - much more professional camera angles, etc. I guess the book from Tracy wasn't that bad actually, I got so excited about it I ordered that 90 day program of hers and THAT is what I just can't bring myself to do. I'd rather eat real food and look more like Zuzana than a model anyway. I read somewhere (a gossip site?) that Tracy is such a junk food - sugar junkie that some of her friends got together and held some sort of intervention - apparently she eats a ton of junk, gains a few pounds and goes on a cleanse, back and forth nonstop. Not much real nutrition ever, and borderline disordered if that's true. Something about Tracy's videos bugs me, it's hard to put my finger on. Maybe it's the sad way I feel when I'm doing her workout, and sad afterward, especially for the matt portion. It seems endless and defeating, and I'm not happy during or after the way I am with Zuzka. I can always talk myself into doing just 8 minutes, and when I'm done I feel so much happier I can often talk myself into doing it twice a day. Tracy's just not the same, even if you can see results with Tracy in just 3 days, it's too hard. Like dragging your feet in the mud. Maybe I should go back & do the 30 day program again. Edited to add: I just figured it out- Tracy's workout program is like doing that thing you don't want to do but know you must do - teaching the whiny child math, or cleaning the hair out of the shower drain. It has it's own rewards but the process is unpleasant. Zuzka (Zuzanna was an old Americanized stage name, for those who never worked out with her when she was at Bodyrock) is more like playing tag with laughing, happy children. Exhausting but fun and oh so worth it on many levels. I think I'm too busy to add the extra drudgery of an un-fun workout to my life right now, even if the drudgery is effective. Life's too short.