I don't really like drinking from mason jars. They are too thick. I do use mason jars for just about everything else. When I was growing up we had an assortment of jelly jars for drinking. My mom saved money on glasses and they hardly ever broke.

Whites, brights, darks, jeans, towels, sheets.

What? Nobody listed mine as their favorite? So what if I don't have the time to dedicate to it like I used to and I think I might only be incredibly humourous in my own mind. It still hurts. ;) I love this one for exploring my heritage through cooking http://theshiksa.com/

I read the article yesterday and found it interesting. The reality is that I am still greatly affected by some of my high school experiences. Or more accurately, now that I am the parent of a high schooler feelings and issues that I had thought long behind me have resurfaced. I had a terrible time in high school. I was painfully shy, bookish, smart, artsy, picked on, and had few friends. It definitely colors how I view my kis frienships. I find myself questioning motives of some of my kids friends. When a group of girls was insisting my ds go to the high school freshman dance with them I found myself wondering "Do they really want him to go? Is there some mean prank afoot? Are they going to make fun of him for thinking he can hang out with them?" Unlike the person in the article I do not then encourage my child to fit in, I encourage them to have faith in themselves. Always giving them a choice to adapt to conform with a situation or let their true selves shine. My dh who had a very different high school experience then I did views things differently. Girls asked ds to the dance-that is awesome. What are you going to wear. You will have so much fun. He does not question every little thing the way I do. The high school drama certainly exists in the workplace. There are bullies and jocks and druggies and cheerleaders, etc. Some people are able to let their freak flag fly and others struggle to fit in to their perception of the way things should be.

Yes, more shame. That is just what my larger then a waif daughter needs. It is not enough that she can not wear the cute waify clothes that her waify friends wear because she is curvy and at the top of acceptable weight for her height. It is not enough that she swims 3-4 nights a week for an hour and a half just to maintain the weight she is. She doesn't feel bad enough about how she looks? She should feel worse and more self-concious then she already does? Sure, that is not the path to an eating disorder.

I don't disagree with him that their is inequality in the public school system from town to town and state to state. Nor do I disagree that society as a whole should care about the education students in public school receive. However, my children are not fodder for the great experiment of the government raising my children as the goal of equal schooling is rolled out. What does equal schooling even mean? Is it the flat tax that will make all public schools equally funded so one district does not have an advantage over another? As if the PTA wouldn't be doing massive fundraising so their kids could have extras in the well to do towns. Is it equal opportunity to learn the 3R's or to learn more then that? Who is setting the standard? Maybe I don't agree with the chosen standard. As a whole society would have to choose what an education is and what the benchmarks of success are going to be. Test scores? That has been working out so well. Factory/cubicle office workers? What is the purpose of school?

I am so glad you posted this. I am now rethinking what to use next year for chemistry because I was thinking of outsourcing it.

I have a chart that hangs on the fridge with chores they can do to earn extra money. They check off when they did it. For the most part it works.

I don't see anything kookie about learning and practicing skills that will help you get through difficult times but I don't have a bunker. I have a few weeks supply of canned/dry goods and months worth of stored grain but should the EMP happen we are SOL. No one knows how to hunt, I have a black thumb when it comes to growing food, and no one knows how to make their own clothes.

It is still nothing new. When the first Bush was in office the company I worked for gave a choice of remaining with the current health plan with a huge employee contribution increase or switch to an HMO with a smaller employee contribution. Over the decade I spent with the last company I worked with before quitting to homeschool I had to continually make that choice over and over again. Last year dh's company switched to a new healthplan because 97% of the employees were seeing doctors already in the network so they decided to save money by switching to a new plan with the same company with stiff deductibles if you go out of network. I stand by what I originally said. Health insurance has been an issue far longer then the current president. Health inusrance has been an issue since I was a kid. My father ran his own company and he complained about it when I was growing up.

I tend to stick with the marshmallows and banana when I order chocolate fondue.

The cookies used to be better and larger and you got more in the box. Once the box hit $4.00 and shrunk considerably around here I stopped buying. It just became too costly becasue I had to buy 1 box from all my friends kids so I didn't make anyone feel bad. I am all for supporting a worthy organization but I could not justify $4.00 a box for such little return. And now I think they are $4.50 - $5.00 in these parts. I would rather make a donation to the troop so they get all the $$.

I hated those #$% cookies when my dd was a girl scout. After my first year of trying to get people to pay me the money they owed me I started demanding the money when they placed the order. No $$. No cookies. To the original poster, I think a shy girl would do better in a group at the supermarket.

I voted other. It was not allowed as a special treat until 6 or 7. I don't buy soda unless we are having a party so it is not part of our daily lives. They know that at a party they can have a can or glass or two. They also know that it is preferred that they stick to clear soda-sprite, ginger ale, or 8-up because colored cola has been linked to kidney issues and kidney cancer runs on dh's side of the family.

Based on what you have described as his behavior around his family I would not move. I think it is admrable that he wants to be a good son and close by to help his parents but I think the reality is that you will be doing all the heavy lifting. Your husband will most likely be at work when mom goes to the doctor, they need a prescription filled, groceries purchased, meals made. Who will be helping-you. He will get to feel good for moving closer and you will do all the work. If it was me I would end up resentful and ticked off all the time and that would not be healthy for me or our marraige. It is certainly not behavor I would want my kids to be learning.

My thoughts exactly. If I wanted the government involved in the schooling of my children I would send them to public school.

I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office.

I don't have any links. A quick google search for steiner antisemetic will turn up quite few. I started reading up on Waldorf when my ds was a toddler and was researching educational options. I liked the nature inspired way of Waldorf. But then one of my neighbors enrolled her son in a Waldorf school for pre-k and the stuff she told me set off red flags. For example: 1. The contract she had to sign that she would allow no tv/electronics in her home. They got rid of their televisions and all of his battery operated toys in one fell swoop. (I have no issue with people choosing to go tv free or only provide natural toys, I don't like being told to do it by a school). 2. She had to stop nursing him at night or he could not attend. 3. She had to attend a eurythmy class. 4. Teacher home visit to see the child in his environment and confirm no tv in house. 5. No black crayons allowed (whereas I understand you don't want kids outling and filling in-maybe I want to make black hills) and everyone has to draw the same picture. Exactly the same. No individuality allowed. The reading I had done and watching what my neighbor was doing/going through was enough to turn me away from true waldorf.

I use Oak Meadow for high school and no weird Steiner stuff. If it did I wouldn't use it because he was an anti-semite and believed in the superioty of the aryan race. Not someone I want to follow. Since I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater I take what I like about his educational philosophy and incorporate it into what we do (the beauty of homeschooling). Oak Meadow is waldorf inspired it is not true Waldorf.

Well, if your cookies were made from store bought pillsbury dough then they are a processed food. If you made the cookies from scratch they are not.

Different companies have different policies around here. When I worked fulltime I had unlimited sick days-but if you used them too frequently you got a warning (for example I had 23 sick days the first year of ds's life-granted that was a lot but people were written up for less). Where my dh works you get 20 paid days off. This includes vacation/sick/personel days. I have friends who work for companies where they get 9 sick days a year. One case of the flu will wipe them out. If you are a contract worker (which is prevalant where I live) you don't get paid sick time. If you are not working you are not making any money.

The people I know who fear illness/germs usually stems from fear of losing ones job due to too many sick days.

:iagree: This is what I would do. And make some chicken soup with lots of garlic.

No, I don't worry about it at all.

My dd and I have been watching Merlin on netflix. We love it. And Once Upon a Time and (for me) Revenge and Weeds.