I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice on something like this, but I'll give it a shot. Just take it with a large grain of salt! We've had guests (inlaws and parents) arrive late, and generally we've been up, but only because we were watching a movie or playing a game. We usually stay up late on Fridays (except during soccer season;)). If I knew that I had to be up early because of commitments, I'd call and explain that we had a busy, stressful week behind us with not much rest, and needed to be functioning early so.....I'm so sorry, but the door is unlocked, snacks/drinks are out, and your bed is all set up. Goodnight. I don't know your mil's temperment. We've arrived at my inlaws really late before, and they've been in bed. We actually were relieved not to have to visit, and to be able to put the kids (and us) right to bed. Maybe she'd be grateful to be able to just collapse. I have to add that I find her behavior just a little rude, though. Arriving late because of work or other commitments is one thing. But just being to set in your ways to leave a couple hours earlier....well, my poor dh would be wearing earplugs about now because of my fuming.

I've got one due to narrow ribs and pregnancy.:glare: I don't know if different types require significantly different treatment, but I'll pass on what I know. I was told to avoid coffee - there's some chemical,even in decaf, that irritates your stomach - and to avoid large meals and carbonated beverages. Basically, you don't want to distend your stomach, because then 1)you are likely to push food and acid up through the hernia and 2) your stomach produces more acid based on how much pressure is in there. Also shouldn't wear clothing that is tight around the waist. Doc told me he'd rather see me eat a chili pepper than drink a big glass of water all at once because of the pressure/acid thing. If his reflux is really bad and he doesn't have any meds yet, you can take two pepcid every day (it's the same as one prescription). I'd also elevate the head of your bed a couple inches and eat a small snack before bed - handful of nuts, couple crackers - to help keep the acid from flowing up the esphogus. The food helps absorb any acid. As far as rides, I might be tempted to avoid anything that is going to leave me hanging upside down, but roller coasters and things I would think would be fine. Hope this helps, and that your dh feels better soon!

Quite honestly, it wasn't something I had ever considered before we took the plunge. I had never even heard of homeschooling until the year before, when a friend of ours from college started because of her kids multiple, severe allergies. Then we moved. My daughter started 3rd grade in the new ps, and was at the top of her class. I didn't realize that it was because she had already learned everything at her old school. Her grades started dropping drastically in 5th, and her classmates were....challenging. Finally, after I asked her what a noun was and she couldn't tell me, we decided something had to be done. After making some calls and realizing that there was no way we could afford private school, we researched homeschooling, took a deep breath, and pulled her 3/4 of the way through the 5th grade year. Much to my surprise, it was doable and enjoyable. And I figure that even on my worst days, they're still learning more that they would otherwise!

Have you checked the laundry room? I often talk on mine while folding laundry, then leave it on top of the dryer:glare:.

There's a reason for the old saying about not discussing politics and religion. I personally just skip the political threads. That doesn't mean I can't understand people wanting to discuss candidates and issues; this just isn't the place. It's a hot topic that is bound to get someone riled up, which gets someone else going..... As another person said, there are political forums. If you have friends on the board that you want to discuss politics with and this is your only way of contacting them, well, that's what pming is for.

Jessica, Julie and Wendy pretty much covered all the bases. As far as what I would pay....to have a fully compatible, all the bells and whistles, offline planner....one where I could take my laptop and do work without internet access....like the playground or pool or car?? Do you accept arms? How about legs? Seriously, for a fully loaded Mac program that is NOT online (although the capability to link to stuff would be fine, I just want to be able to use it without internet) I'd pay up to $100. For one that is just so-so, maybe up to $40. ETA: I forgot to mention Rose. Jessica, Julie, Wendy, and Rose (I like the ear piece and dishwasher features:D)

technically *I* didn't do this but as my son was 2 yrs old, I got the exercise benefits of cleaning it up! Try taking the entire jug of maple syrup under the table, and seeing how long it takes to empty it out on the carpet. The same spot on the same carpet that you had emptied the chocolate milk powder onto a couple days ago. The same spot on the same carpet that you had taken the baking chocolate to eat/smoosh a couple days before that. After that week I no longer went to the bathroom unless another adult was in the house! We finally replaced the carpet last year with laminate, and the pad STILL smelled like syrup:glare:

Not much help here, I'm going through the same thing....I'm just not ready for summer to be over and jump back into the daily grind of no time and too much to do...and we start in 9 days! I finally just started my lesson plans and binder organization, and it is helping to get me excited. I don't know if it will help you or not, but sometimes just starting to prep and get ready gets me psyched up and looking forward to the new year. Anyway, lots of :grouphug:, and hope someone can give you some better help.

I haven't read all the posts, but you say your son says he's not getting enough sleep? His bedtime sounds reasonable...is something waking him at night? My kids get absolutely rotten if they don't get enough sleep or if their blood sugar gets too low. Early bedtimes and lots of snacks here! Anyway, could he have sleep apnea, or be a really light sleeper and need a noise machine, or have low blood sugar? Or, for that matter, have allergies? Sometimes a very subtle problem can cause behavior issues. With my son, I know that if he starts being mean, calling names and hitting, its time for a shower, snack and bed. And if that doesn't work, a close look and maybe some sudafed...although he tends to get even crankier when medication of any kind wears off, so I try to avoid them if I can!:tongue_smilie: Hope this helps! And lots of :grouphug:.

Haven't heard of any discounts for us regular folks, but I understand that the military can get in free. I've never been...when the kids were young enough we couldn't afford it, and now that we can they're too old. My sister plans on going soon though (that's how i found out about the free military), and I can pick her brain if you like.

and pizza! I hate to say this, but my first was born on her due date, and my other two were each 2.weeks.late!!!!! I'm sure your children are much more considerate of their mother:001_smile:.

Looks like we're the rare early birds. Kids (including the 14yo) have to be in jammies, teeth brushed, etc between 7 and 7:30, bed between 7:30 and 8. We are much more relaxed in the summer, but even so my kids are rarely up past 9. My 14yo has been known to just get up and go to bed because she's tired, even if the rest of the family is up. My kids and I seem to need a lot of sleep. When my dh is traveling, I 'll go to bed with the kids! And we don't get up until 7!

us too.

My middle dd went through the same phase. All dresses, all the time. She, however, did NOT like tights. Luckily, I was able to find leggings that went under her dresses (it gets cold here in the winter!) Sounds like you have a good solution worked out. Enjoy the phase while it lasts. Now I have to beg to get my dd to wear a dress unless it's Easter or Christmas. She still likes the really fancy ones:001_smile:. I miss the girly princess phase....but the current Harry Potter/Spy girl phase is pretty fun too!

My dd - about 8 or so at the time, loudly announced in the middle of a busy sidewalk "I'm sure glad Gramma quit doing drugs!":eek: Gramma had recently quit smoking.

Why not just have him follow along in RS4K with his brother? We are using RS4K Chem and Physics this year for my 1st and 4th graders.

:iagree: Portion sizes have spiraled out of control. How many times do you go out get given a normal plate of food? It's always supersize, biggie, etc. I've never been able to finish a meal when we go out - and then I feel guilty for wasting! That has bled over into our home lives. So between overeating (because we've been trained to believe larger is better), lack of exercise, and busy schedules that make us rely on packaged junk it's no wonder that we obsess about diet and nutrition. We know that something is wrong, just not what. We need to reset our internal cues, get moving, and eat reasonable amounts of food. I don't necessarily believe any food is "bad" - but there is daily nutritious food, and then there is the occasional treat food.

First of all....:grouphug:. I haven't read all the posts, but it sounds like your baby might be allergic to something in your diet. My ds SCREAMED night and day for the first 3 months of his life. We found out by accident that he had allergies. I cut out milk, and there was a dramatic increase, but still not great. Wound up that he was allergic to milk, soy, oats, wheat and bananas:001_huh:. Poor kid, here i was trying to comfort and nourish him, and i was making him sick! Needless to say, the sleep deprivation kicked in and we switched to special (read expensive) formula. Almost overnight he was a different baby. We had some bad habits to break as far as sleep and attention that had formed out of the chaos of the first few months, but he really settled down and thrived on the formula. It was a little hard on me, because he was my last baby and I wasn't really ready to wean.....but sleep is a precious, precious thing and that radical of a diet change wasn't doable at the time! BTW, he's 6 1/2 now, and is a wonderful, intelligent, sweet boy....so formula really won't screw your baby up for life!:D (and before the flames start, i think bf is best in general, but sometimes circumstances call for something else)

Same here. I've got my stuff ordered - some cool things that I'm excited about too- but haven't even sat down to start planning.....I just can't face it right now.

:lol: :smilielol5:I need to print this out and hang it on our bathroom door! Thanks for the laugh.

Pretty much everything! I'd rather have fewer things of better quality than a bunch of cheap junk that takes up space and breaks the first time I use it. Now if I can just get the grandparents to agree:glare:......

Sure! Not too often - I've found that silence can be a precious, rare thing:D. But every so often.....AND I dance along! (which can backfire - I had the mom of one of my dd's friends come up to me and comment that I seemed to be having fun the other day:blush:)

I'm the first born, and only one to homeschool (the rest of the fam thinks I'm a religious fruitcake:)). The funny thing is, my Mom had 3 kids - girl, girl, boy I have 3 kids - girl, girl, boy My sister has 3 kids - girl, girl, boy Kinda weird, huh?

That's the first thing I did, but there's nothing else that offers elementary and high school classes. I'd volunteer to teach, but really can't afford the extra half day required....we barely get everything done as it is. If only they would let me teach and skip the leaders meeting! But, I understand why they can't.

We usually read the books aloud, and discuss as we go, so I don't really need the discussion questions. That said, I do make her write a short (3-4 sentence) narration on a few points she learned and do the evaluations (open book, I'm a pushover). I used to stress over whether she was learning anything, but have found that the oddest things will pop out in everyday conversation - and it's obvious that she is retaining way more than I thought she would! Can't remember any specific quotes, but my oh my are they funny sometimes!