We are gearing up for the year but he wanted to do some stuff today so we did spelling words, he drew and did a little math. Last year we were kitchen table homeschoolers which was fine but we decided to make some space and clear out a little room downstairs for him. So, he also made labels for the shelves in his new teeny tiny homeschooling room and he helped put together a bookshelf we got off of Craigslist for his school books.

Nothing new to add. Lots of the socialization crap, er, stuff. Lots of that we can't protect him from bullies (clearly not, but neither could the school and it is not our obligation to feed him to the bullies either). We have also been told that we are depriving the school of our son's excellent test scores and grades. Like my kid exists to drag up their average. Um no. I have a lot of public school teacher friends and the ones below the high school level have indicated that what we are doing is somehow offensive. All of the high school ones are really positive about it though. My brother tried to tell me it was a bad health decision because of the socialization thing. Oddly enough, our flat out amazing pediatrician noticed a difference on his behavior and stress level immediately after we pulled him out of school. So as much as I love my brother, his "medical" opinions mean little to me.

We have the IKEA Hemnes night stands, the tall dresser and the shorter, big long 8-drawer dresser in white in our room. We have had them for 4 years and they are fantastic for us, look like new and for us they have been very sturdy. Some IKEA stuff is terrible, other items are gems. You do have to be careful but this line, Hemnes, has been great for many. One thing to bear in mind is that it is really dependent on putting it together very, very well. We are going to get the boys a blue Hemnes dresser soon.

Frankly, I would see a judge about a protection order before being so sure that he can not get a protection order. I have heard the police many times say nothing can be done and giving totally erroneous legal advice to victims of stalking and harassment but then when the victim went to court to file the order the judges had a totally different interpretation of the law. Personally, I had to get a restraining order against my brother and SIL about 4 years ago and the judge granted it when one of the police officers had told me I could not even ask them, who did not live with us or pay rent, to leave my house. I agree that he can not be alone in public for fear of false accusations and also potential violence.

I don't have an issue buying supplies. But I do have an issue with why ever it is that some schools are now so strapped that the parents are buying copy paper and soap and bandaids. I don't even mind the communal thing in the lower grades but I do wish I could get the things, like scissors and folders that are totally reusable back at the end of the year or at the very least that they would keep them and reuse them. Instead it is common place for them to be thrown out apparently. That is wasteful. You won't get any arguments from me on brands though, I totally understand why the lists specify brands. RoseArt crayons are terrible. ;)

A couple of thoughts: I tend to think I spend less on shoes overall because I spend more per pair. My shoes last and last and last. I have had the same pair of Keens for 7 years and they are still totally wearable. When I was a kid, my parents bought the cheap shoes but they needed to be replaced quickly, often before I outgrew them. So cheap can definitely be expensive. Are you close to a Birkenstock outlet? I got a pair there for $30. Have you looked at Nordstrom Rack or Ross Dress for less? I often see Clarks and Born shoes at each in the under $50 range.

That is cruel, especially since kids may not have any control over if their parents are buying them their stuff or not. I imagine you were not the only teacher buying the supplies to spare the kids a failing grade. But it is not fair for teachers like you to have to pay out of low salaries for supplies either. What a mess.

It is used both to reference people who were raised in a strong faith community and perhaps are still connected to it (family, community, friends) but who have a more secular worldview; and also those who come from a religious community closely tied to a genetic line or community but who are not devout members of the religion and have a more secular worldview. It is often used interchangeably with "cultural Catholic" or "culturally Jewish" I was raised Catholic, born into a family of lifelong cradle to grave, very devout Catholics. My great-great Grandfather was lynched by the KKK for being Catholic. I went to religious classes many days per week, I went to confession, had First Communion, was confirmed etc. I long was assumed by many to be headed for religious life as a nun. But as an adult, I no longer consider my beliefs in line with the Catholic church- I can't be a member of a church that does not allow for female priests, birth control, gay marriage or many other things that I consider very, very important. Neither can my gay brother. But culturally, he and I are very much Catholic because we have the same point of reference, mores, shared experiences etc as so many other Catholics. That does not mean we are Catholic any longer, it just means that when asked to identify our cultural background it is far, far more Catholic than anything else. I am not tossing out my mother's rosary or the Catholic family Bible, these things are a very improtant part of who I am as a person. Does that make sense?

I know this is an older post but one possibility is to trade childcare with another homeschooling family where the parent works pt on a different day/time or needs regular breaks. Or trade childcare for music lessons, since you are a music teacher.

My husband and I both work out of the home. I work full-time (usually M-F), and he works 3 days a week (usually Th-Sa) We have adjusted the weekly schedule a bit. I am home all day alone with the boys on Saturday (my husband works at a hospital so open 24-7) and work with our older son on some subjects, then we might do a little on Sunday and then my husband works with him on some subjects when he is home on Monday and I am at work. On Tuesday he goes to piano and art class and then on Weds, we review for the week and then Th and Fri my dad is usually with the boys and T has his free days from schoolwork. We tried to assign stuff in the mornings before work sometimes but it was not working because he was kinda young and my dad is not a great schoolwork helper (steps in and tries to do it for him or change the way he is doing it). So it is certainly possible to work and homeschool, IME if you have some flexibility and you have good childcare arrangements.

We opened them as they arrived, most came before the wedding and a bunch after. Your mother was way over the line. That is insane.

Cleaning that much square footage would do me in. But the library, complete with window seat is amazing. Needs a desk and comfy chairs though!

The otterbox defender case is not attractive or hip for 9 year old girls (only comes in black) but it is IMO the best case for kids and family use. I would get her this case for it. We bought an iPad for homeschooling and family use and it has been great. But all the same rules apply to it that apply to the computer- especially not having access to the Internet unsupervised. Our son is 8, so close in age to your daughter. He is very responsible but I still think the thick case has spared us some breakage.

How long were they in the freezer? It is possible they were in the freezer too long even if they did not look freezer burned. I don't think they are going to stew tender from what you describe. Might be time for an alternate dinner.

Me for the most part. My husband does the bread baking though. :001_smile: Our older son cooks dinner 1 night a week (he is eight).

When my son was in kindergarten we easily spent $150-200 on supplies and fees that were all pooled and used for everyone. The quanities were insane but I realized why when I was volunteering at the school- most of the kids came to school with nothing. I realized what was going on was that they were distributing lists with a lot on it hoping to get enough for all the students. Now, I do not mind contributing towards the supplies needed by students unable to afford them at all but it was a tad disappointing to not even be able to get my kid a pencil case and a folder in a favorite color for him to keep. Also, I get Kleenex but we were also buying soap, hand sanitizer, copy paper, film, cleaning supplies, trash bags and hand lotion. It called in to question how the school budet was being cut and allocated. Schools should be able to buy soap. In first grade, at a better off school socioeconomically, the list was similarly long and but even more pricey and included stuff like a yoga mat and huge multipacks of healthy snack foods. Homeschooling, at least initially, was cheaper. It still is thus far but I am looking at adding more curriculum packs as he gets older (headed into 3rd grade now).

I am looking for something like this now. We use an iPad for homeschool stuff and have an iMac running Lion.

My son moved from a 5pt to a hb booster all the time at 7, almost 8. He was in a hb booster some of the time from about 5 on, but mostly in a 5 pt seat.

I plan to homeschool until my home schooled son wants to go to school or he is ready to start college. I have a toddler who I am not sure if we will homeschool or send to school. We will have to wait and see what he needs.

Because our academically gifted son was not being challenged enough in the gifted program at school and because he was being bullied very badly, which was severely worsening his anxiety and making him less social. So we did a very low key approach for when he was in the 2nd grade and now that we have decided to continue for the 3rd grade, we are doing a more structured curriculum plan. We have found that he gets more social interaction with homeschooling than he did in school because in school he was shutting down to isolate himself from the bullying. We love the schedule freedom and being able to make the curriculum academically challenging for him.

I think that it is a class privilege to think that these things don't cost money or that $10 is not much. I am pretty comfortable now, but I grew up poor. Government cheese poor. When you make a low wage, even a little is a lot. For many $30-40 for haircut and makeup and a trip to goodwill is out of reach, period. It is the equivalent of me now spending $500 at a spa- sure it happens but not all that often. I do not wear make-up. It looks preposterous on me. I do have great skin and skin tone but even if I did not, I would not start wearing make-up. I don't think vanity is a horrible thing, but it can be a luxury.

Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Not unless he wanted me to divorce him or something.