For a long time I have figured that at least a couple of my children will probably be in my house or under my watchful eye for their entire lives. We have two children who are special needs and while I hope they are able to lead productive lives I know they will need my guidance. We are their parents and we will do so willingly. As for the other three I am perfectly fine with them living at home if they are being productive. I left home as soon as I finished high school which was better than being at home but not ideal. I hope that my children will either work or go to college and if they do they are more than welcome to live at home.

He is an adult, he is lucky you are going to give him a tent to sleep in. Ugh! My sympathies to you. I would do the same with my boys when they are older.

Thanks. I guess I should have worded my question better. My concern has been that curriculum I've looked at geared towards his age just doesn't seem challenging enough. He plans on going back to public school for high school and I worry that he won't be prepared for the work. I think what we may do is just create our own course. It may be what's best for him but I would still like to find some activities or something following history. Not sure why I am struggling with this subject. I do know that the local high school has a weird history schedule. They do AP US History in 9th and 10th grade, then AP European History in 11th and AP Government their senior year. The local middle school is study world history right now so I think I will just use the library and create our own course. I really shouldn't doubt myself but of course I do.

:iagree: Very well said.

Sounds like you expect your children to respect property and be well-behaved, no problem with that. But I think the punishment was a bit too harsh with you 15 year old. I always give my kids a few minutes warning when I expect their help. I rarely just say something like "now" unless it's an emergency. But yeah I am lax, if they say one more shot or can I have another minute, I usually say fine. There is this argument of you are the boss and yes I agree but I also want to have a level of mutual respect with my children. I am by no means a push-over parent but I am easy going and I have respectful children. With teenagers being too harsh with punishments can backfire on you but alas you are his parent and in the end it's your rules.

I am at a loss as to what to do with my 12 year old when it comes to teaching social studies. With everything else we have taken a little from here and a little from there but with social studies I would love to find an awesome textbook mostly so I have a good starting point. I am cheap though and many of the actual homeschool courses are out of our budget. The other issue we have is that he is doing work far above grade level. So I am looking at more of a high school level course. If anyone has any suggestions it would be great. I hate being stumped and right now I just feel like I am. Thanks in advance.

I use it to keep in contact with my friends that seem to have spread throughout the world. It helps me feel like they are close. And I am amazed how much I use it to communicate with friends that live in the same city as me. It's crazy but I can't imagine life without facebook...frightening.

I said yes because I love cold meatloaf sandwiches the next day allow I don't necessarily like it fresh out of the oven. My mother also made nasty meatloaf and I hated it when I was young. Until one day I decided to use her recipe and make it myself. I was 13 and I have been in charge of making it ever since. Luckily my kids love my meatloaf.

I was never a doll girl, in fact they terrified me. My mother would buy me a Madame Alexander doll every couple of years, ewww. Too real looking and totally creepy. I never really wanted my dd to be into dolls but it's just who she is. My mother bought her an American Girl doll a couple of years ago and she loves her dearly. She makes clothes for her with my mom. This summer my dh and I went to NYC on a trip and just had to stop in the American Girl doll store to get a matching shirt for dd and her doll. It was a weird store. Even though I don't particularly like dolls I found myself eager to buy everything for my daughter. I think there must be some sort of subliminal messaging going on with their stores and catalogs and possibly even the website. Avoid at all costs. It's like a drug. Seriously though she is now wanting the historical dolls and YES I want to buy them. Maybe for Christmas...:glare:

Most of my kids activities don't start until after 6pm so I try to keep the hours of 3:00 to 5:30 open for whatever they want to do. I have an open door policy at my house. If someone wants to come hang out they are more than welcome too. My kids usually see their friends at least 2-3 days a week on weekdays, and Saturdays are always filled with extra kids. My ds, 12, walks up to the middle school everyday to walk home with his friends, they don't always do something after that but they have that 30 minutes just to chat. I have found it gets easier as my kids get older, they need less structure to seeing their friends, they are able to just call them up. I am so glad I very rarely schedule "playdates" now.

I buy cereal quite a bit, mostly because there are always coupons and it's always on sale. But a box here will be lucky to last two days. Boys, especially teenage ones, seem to eat far more than is humanly possible.

I don't have issues with my boys clothing. As long as they are covered, clean and their clothing doesn't have anything inappropriate on it it's not on my list of concerns. Boys are easy though, t-shirts or polos and jeans. It's another story with my dd. She hates clothes shopping. She hates the styles and I have to agree with her. We do a lot of shopping at thrift stores because of this. But we have found a solution over the past few years. She wears plain tops and leggings with skirts over them nearly every day. I am strict with her though because I think girls need more limits based on how skimpy some of the clothes are. It's okay though because even she hates skimpy clothes, I sure hope it stays that way.

My only shower was for baby #4, we moved a lot too and only then were we settled into a community with true friends. I would not be offended if I got invited to a baby shower for a later baby. With the way baby things change and are recalled there is nothing wrong with having a shower. And imho anyone who would judge you for having a shower probably shouldn't be on the guest list anyhow.

So not cool. We often have more than one device going, I really should cancel them and find a better alternative but I doubt I will.

My dd 13 cries at school and at home over his schoolwork. He just gets frustrated. He is special needs so he just goes to the resource room and gets it out of his system. He is the only one of my kids that has cried over work. I only have one child who is homeschooled and he doesn't cry, he shuts down but never cries.

My daughter is 10. She has been wearing a sports type bra for the past couple years. She is also very sensitive to clothing, she hates anything tight so the sports bras or camisoles are perfect for her sensitive skin.

I have been lurking around here for a bit and this post caught my interest. All five of my children play piano. My husband is a piano technician and a classically trained pianist so it was a no-brainer. They all started piano lessons when they were 5. My oldest son loves the piano and has also been a cellist for the past 6 years. My ds 13 also plays the french horn, trombone and guitar. He prefers the guitar above all else. He has been playing for three years now. My middle son also plays drums but still goes first to the piano. My dd started viola lessons last year. My youngest has added another instrument yet but I give him another year or so. The have all used the piano as a starting point for their musical training. If your kids are up for it I would start with piano to at least give them some background training. If they won't budge or you can't afford the upfront cost of a piano then I would find a qualified guitar teacher and go that route. As far as keyboards, you can go with a cheap one but you really need one with 88 keys and those are not cheap and it will only be good for starting. A piano has a totally different feel than a keyboard. A cheap starter piano is going to cost you about $1,500 and will need regular upkeep. Good luck to you. Music education is so important, your kids will have something that will stick with them for life.