The winner at my kids' elementary school today knew 203 digits. He's 10 or 11. My younger kids didn't try, but my 9 year old memorized 55 digits in about 24 hours.

I'm sorry, this must be so hard for all of you. :grouphug: Have you talked to the choir director about this yet? My daughter's choir sent out an e-mail a few months ago asking if anyone could sponsor two members of the older choir so they can go on tour with the choir this summer.

My wife and I divorced after having four children together, but our marriage was fine until around the time our youngest was born. But, I had a co-worker a few years ago who did exactly what you're talking about. They had three children very close together (about a year between each) and decided they were done having kids. When the kids were in elementary school (I think they were 7, 8 and 9), the marriage wasn't going well, so they decided to have another baby, to "bring themselves closer to each other". :confused: They had two more kids, about a year apart and ended up divorcing when the youngest was 3. It would have been bad enough to go through a divorce with kids who were 12, 13 and 14, but with a 3 and 4 year old it was a nightmare.

I'm not sure about a nice restaurant, I haven't been to NYC without the kids in over 10 years. With the kids, we really like Junior's. It's really close to the theatres, really quick and has great desserts.

We haven't done any yet, but I think Ds will do the spelling bee next year. He's only 9, so I thought he was a bit young this year. I don't think we have any others around here.

Older two were ~4, younger two were 5.

My 6 year old has "buckle" fractured his wrist twice now, and both times the cast came off in 3 weeks. I'm sure it'll heal quickly.

If the money is any issue at all, I'd just stick to baseball. If it wasn't, I'd sign him up for wrestling, but not worry about getting to every practice, with the option to drop it completely if it's not working out.

My 9 year old is responsible for all his own (ice) hockey gear and hasn't forgotten anything all season. He often gets a ride with a friend, so I'm not always around to check his bag when he's leaving. But, he's been playing for 5 years and we've worked up to this. Last season, he'd pack his bag and I'd check it right before I put it in the truck. If I were you, I'd make him responsible for packing the bag, but whoever is driving him should do a final check before getting in the car.

My 8 year old has 3, but they were all gifts from her mother and grandparents. She's not really into dolls.

I only recently started watching the show (I got the first season for Christmas), but I really like it! Unfortunately, now my 9 year old is begging to watch it, which won't be happening any time soon.

Apparently, I had a "girlfriend" in kindergarten named Elizabeth, but I don't remember liking girls until I was in high school, so 14. In junior high, I only had guy friends and we played hockey or street hockey every single day after school, or all day on the weekends. We didn't have school dances, my parents were against dating before 17/18 and we didn't have the internet, so it just wasn't something I thought about.

I voted 4th. My youngest turned 5 in December and is in kindergarten this year. Our cut-off is December 31st, and I wanted to keep him with kids born in the same year as him, for sports and so he doesn't feel older than the other kids in his grade (when he does go to public school).

I have three playing hockey this year, along with one in figure skating and dance, so time conflicts have come up. We're lucky that my oldest son's best friend is on both his teams, so he can usually get a ride with them. Also, my father loves going to watch the boys play, so sometimes I can get him to drive them. Will any of your kids have friends playing? Sometimes, our association will place kids on a team together so they can carpool. Sport goggles would probably be fine, but I've always found them clunky and uncomfortable, so I wear contacts. Get him to give them a try before investing in the sport goggles.

Our favourites are Goal: The Dream Begins The Big Green Home Team The Sandlot (not the sequels) Rookie of the Year Little Big League Angels in the Outfield

My 9 year old has a hotmail account. His e-mails go to his phone and mine, and we haven't had any problems.

I'm a single parent, so I've always made sure that the babysitter's parents can pick her up before I actually "hire" her. I do have a regular babysitter on Tuesdays who I pick up from the high school at 3pm, but her parents pick her up from my house at 11pm.

I've only met a few homeschoolers, but I really don't fit in because: I'm a single father. I only homeschool 2 of my 4 kids. Plus most of what some of you've said about being secular, liberal, working etc.

Generally, I wouldn't give a gift if my kid didn't go to the party for whatever reason. For a best friend, I'd send a gift along the next time they go to the friend's house.

I switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone about a year ago and I'd never go back - I love the touch screen. You can still use two thumbs. :001_smile:

I usually put my 5, 6 and 8 year olds to bed, but they can put themselves to bed if I'm busy or if I'm not home yet. My 9 year old sneaks in an hour later. I kind of can't imagine putting a 14 year old to bed. When I was 14, I often stayed out after my parents were in bed and shared the basement apartment with my brothers.

I'm not really sure this is a homeschooling/ public school thing, I think it's just the parents. Whether your kid learns it in school or not, how could a parent let their kid get to 15 without knowing basic things like that. My 8 year old, public schooled, Canadian daughter knew those.

I still feel awkward about not having a specific reason to homeschool, I'm not sure why. I do have a reason to homeschool my 5 year old: he wasn't ready for public kindergarten (December birthday) and I didn't want to hold him back a year. When I decided to do that, my 9 year old asked if he could be homeschooled too. He didn't mind school, but found it a bit too easy and realized that he could do that amount of work in an hour or two per day. It's worked out great for us, but I still don't really know what to say when people ask "why" he's homeschooled.

I'd seriously consider it at 16/17. Before that? Not a chance.

Paralympic sports, especially wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey.