My nephew babysits my kids occasionally and I pay him the same as I would any babysitter. Their parents might tell them to refuse payment, but you should at least offer.

Where we live, "blue collar" workers in some industries get paid very, very well. Skilled workers/ tradesmen are in high demand and the pay is very good. Also, people who are willing to travel for work (which many, many men do) get paid very well. These people can easily support a family of four on one income, especially if they live outside the city. But, someone working full-time in retail or another minimum wage type job would struggle.

My parents have a little house in Italy, in a small town near Naples. It's hard to think of a better place than that.

I haven't done any research into this, but my sister teaches Math to 8th and 9th graders and she's told me that, at that age, boys generally "get" math quicker than girls, but that girls work harder, so their average grades end up being about the same. She said that boys regularly score a bit higher on tests, while girls do much better on assignments and homework, because they put more effort in.

We live in a great area with great schools, but I started homeschooling two of my kids this year anyway. I love the school that my other two kids go to, but I'm happy with my decision to homeschool. My youngest son's birthday is in December and he's in kindergarten this year (cut-off is December 31st). He really wasn't ready to start school at 4 years, 9 months - he has severe allergies that he didn't really understand and he's a little immature for his age. I didn't want to hold him back a full year, so homeschooling for kindergarten seemed like the best choice. When I told the kids this decision, my oldest son asked to be homeschooled, and it's worked out really well.

My kids would completely agree with that. They love young dance teachers, camp counselors, swimming instructors etc. It works with dads too. My oldest son's hockey team had two assistant coaches this year who were 18 and 20. He talked all the time about how much more fun it is to have young coaches than just dads. :tongue_smilie:

My kids call adults Mrs/Mr Lastname unless the person asks to be called something else. Some young (20ish) hockey coaches, dance teachers etc. are always known by their first names, so they go with that. I can't stand Mrs/Mr Firstname. It's not common here and is just awkward. I prefer for children I don't know to call me Mr. Lastname. My best friends' kids and my kids' best friends usually call me by a nickname.

I would take him in for another opinion. Last year, my oldest was sent home from the emergency room with a "severe sprain". We went back twice and were told that they can take 6-8 weeks to heal completely. On the fourth visit (after he'd been playing hockey on it for a month :glare: ) they redid the x-rays and found two small fractures.

I have a physical disability, with associated chronic pain. So, although it's very different, it's always nice to know (in a ironically horrible way) that there are other single parents who have their own personal struggles. I also have a brother-in-law with Asperger's and they just adopted an 18 month old boy. I can see how tough the change in routine and priorities is for him, so :grouphug:.

My 9 year old read all three books and my 8 year old just finished the first. They haven't found them too disturbing, so I think most 10 year olds could handle it.

That's a good one! My 18 year old nephew posted a sonogram picture on facebook with the caption "I can't wait to be her dad. Such a proud day." and most of his friends seemed to fall for it. The only prank I pulled today was on my 6 year old clown. We replaced all his clothes with some of DD's old ones, switched out his toybox for a box of barbies and replaced a few other things (toothbrush, bookbag etc.) with pink ones. It was perfect. :lol:

My 6 year old is also a chatterbox. He goes to public school, so I do get a break, but there are still times I need him to just. stop. talking. Last summer, he was really bad for interrupting while I was talking to other adults and trying to tell stories or say the most random things. The only thing that worked (and it only worked for a few weeks) was to make up a code word that meant he had to be quiet, and another code word that meant he was allowed to talk again. We used "Flash" and "Thunder". It was a lot less embarrassing than having to tell your kid to zip it.

In this case, I think a prep school might be your best option. If your daughter is good enough to go away to play, she shouldn't have any problem getting a scholarship to cover all of her expenses. It sounds like a lot for your FIL to take on, and a prep school would ensure that she is supervised, makes friends, eats well and trains well. My kids play hockey too, and my oldest is already standing out from his peers, so I'm pretty sure we'll come across the same issue in 4 or 5 years. Where we live, he'd have to go away at some point and I'd much rather send him to a prep school at 14 or 15 than somewhere to play junior hockey at 16 or 17.

My 5, 6 and 8 year olds go to bed around 8:30, 9 year old around 9:30/10:00.

My kids have the Glee CDs and we saw Glee in Concert, but they don't watch the show. My oldest just doesn't like it, and I think it's inappropriate for my 8 year old.