Get a cat...they take care of roaches *and* scorpions! I lived in Germany as a kid and we never saw a roach. Then, we moved back to the states and I've been freaked out by them ever since. BTW, Germans hate it when we call them "German roaches" because they swear that we brought them over there! :)

This got me thinking about statistics and maybe some of you gals can help me with the numbers since I'm not great at this. :bigear: Anyway, this quote makes the actual number of child abductions by strangers seem really small. What about the number of potential abductions or attacks that never get recorded? I know it seems silly to think about things that "almost" happened, but the reality is that these sickos are looking for opportunities all the time, and we need to be aware of that fact.

I can't put an age limit on the ability to do this since it depends on the child. My 10 yo is highly distracted and is just now learning to pay attention to what's going on around him when we go for walks/bike rides together. My 6 yo, however, is always conscious of his surroundings.

But, I got a quick taste of reality when I was almost abducted by some creep in his car when I was 21. The police never caught him because of some boundary confusion about who was in charge of that area in Houston. Now, I try to vary my routine, I constantly watch for suspicious people/cars and I try to keep a watchful eye on all of my children. Statistics mean absolutely nothing when it happens to you.

or Eat for Health (latest book) has always worked for me after my pregnancies.

and I considered so many options for schooling my oldest (they were 9, 4, 3 at the time) but in the end I decided to continue homeschooling and it really was for the best. I had a talk with my oldest son and explained to him that I would need his help a lot if he still wanted to go to the park, visit with friends, etc once in a while. I don't think I could have done it without his help! Now he's so proud of the muscles he's developed from carrying a car seat or holding a baby for me. There wasn't a whole lot of choices for the younger 2 boys because of their age, and I spent most of the first year dealing with my defiant 3 year old. :glare: But, now even he has started helping me with the girls and playing with them while I do schoolwork with the older boys. It's definitely doable...I am having more trouble in this stage (semi-toddler) than I did during the sleep-deprived, nursing 24/7 first year. But, it's great to have help around the house. If I need to cook dinner, I tell the boys to "lock down" upstairs and they know that's code for the girls are coming upstairs, shut all bathrooms and rooms with small Legos on the floor! :lol: Good Luck! Lisa

I also have 5 kids ages 10 to 1 and the bickering starts the moment they wake up in the morning! It drives me nuts...I can feel myself getting stressed and I try to escape to my room for a few minutes of quiet, but inevitably someone gets hurt and the noise level goes up even more. Ugh. I grew up in a quiet home with one brother, too, so I am definitely not used to this. I try to stay on top of it - as in, spend quality time with each of them, try to get the older ones to spend quality time with the younger, etc. - but it does get out of hand sometimes. I'm going to try some of the suggestions posted here, but it's definitely nice to know I'm not the only one! Just today I was wondering if it would be better if they were all separated from each other all day. I guess I'd just have to deal with it when they got home and it'd probably be worse since they'd all be tired! :001_huh:

Now he takes the Natural Calm or Cal-Mag (1 tsp. mixed with warm water) every night just before he lays down to sleep. He's been doing it for over a year and it still helps him sleep. I do have to make sure he gets some sunlight and exercise during the day, too.

I don't think I'd personally feel comfortable having a photographer take the pictures, but my husband travels quite a bit for work, and he's asked me to set up the tripod to take a few photos before when he was in France for 7 weeks.:)

since it's always been a huge contentious issue in our marriage (for 14 years plus a few years before that). My family has always been broken - parents divorced the year I got married, dad was in the army & always gone (still is), mom has mental disease, brother a drug addict. Obviously, I can't have my family over for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My mom didn't even fly down to help me when my twins were born 6 months ago to help with my older boys. My husband believes the holidays are about family and we should be spending the big ones with family...not before, not after, but DURING the actual holiday. So, we drive 3 hours each way to his mom's house and I have to endure the IL's for several days and all of their traditions while I've developed none of my own. We're the ONLY ones with kids there, btw. I've always felt like I was being selfish, but on the other hand, I really want to develop my own traditions. I feel like I'm being punished because I have no family and now I have to "make nice" with his family or ruin the holidays altogether. My husband tells me that I will get my own holidays when his mom is too old to have them. Then I'm supposed to carry on her traditions??!! :glare: I usually don't have time to post (I get a lot of inspiration just from reading) but I had to get up early to respond to this one! :) Thanks for listening.