I will pray for God to bring them safely home.

Those photos you have on your white shelves-- put them on the wall. Then you can fill your shelves with the books that don't fit.

We had an IKEA white plastic and metal one. It was wonderful! It lasted for ever and was easy to clean. We had another IKEA wooden one. Great too. If it doesn't work for you, you will only be out a little bit of money because it's super cheap.

Cream cheese and salmon rollups. Nachos. Just put tortilla chips in pie dishes, put salsa, beans, and cheese on them, and bake for a bit. Cake, of course! Big plate of fruit. Hot dogs with all the fixin's. Burgers with all the fixin's. Fancy pasta with fancy jarred pasta sauce with a salad. Garlic bread. Stouffer frozen thing. Sandwiches with fancy fillings served with chips.

I am not a professional, but this sounds totally normal. Kids goof around a lot. Try doing it too, a little. See if he gets delighted that you are joining into his game or if he is puzzled and not happy. I think it matters if he looks happy and interested when he does it.

We switched from unschooling to WTM because it was clear to me DS wouldn't get into any good universities with our previous method. Do I think a good university is necessary for happiness--no. But that is what DS wants, so WTM is what is necessary. I'm not sure I'm any help. Hm...maybe you could say: "we really love learning about ..." and "we really love studying." But maybe they would get mad because they might think you're implying they don't love it. DS is quite happy by the way. He misses the freedom of unschooling but actually really loves learning all the new stuff!

It sounds good but I've read it has a lot of things that some families would find inappropriate. Plugged In (a family website) gives details on things some families might find inappropriate. http://www.pluggedin.com/ Read it and then decide for yourself. I myself plan to see it because I like Drew Barrymore's acting.

I love having dogs!!! DH takes care of the scooping poop (every morning) and feeding (every morning). We both give water when it runs out. My dogs are the sweetest things and I really love them. They are better than any person. They make my life good. :) (Of course, I love DS more--but he's not always the sweetest thing.) :leaving:

I would love to have your guts!!!

But they are not simply disseminating information to keep kids safe. They are not just giving info on gun safety or trampoline safety. They are asking the OP whether she personally has these items and putting her answers in a database. This is not disseminating information and helping keep her own particular kids safe. Collecting information doesn't keep kids safe. Giving information to all parents would (or might). If everyone got a handout about gun safety, trampoline safety, etc. that is one thing. When they collect information, that is not making any kid safer, and it is something completely different. The big problem the OP had was that she said she declined to answer. And they asked the questions anyway. That is the big problem.

Girl, you are nuts if you stay with these crazy intrusive pediatrician people!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE they think they have the right to probe your personal life like that. This is a time bomb. Who knows what else might happen. You need a pediatrician who HONORS YOUR WISHES. Medical professionals who are on power trips will make your life miserable. Leave. Now. With our current pediatrician there was a huge questionnaire when we joined about "have you ever had oral se&," etc. kind of se&, blah blah blah. DS was young and I knew he had NO IDEA what these kinds of se& were!!! And I wasn't about to have him introduced to them at the doctor's office. I said, "I am not OK with my kid getting asked these questions. Will there be repercussions for me if I don't let him see this" The nurse's answer: "You are the parent. You get to decide." 5 years later, we are still with them.

Wow--this is really interesting. I expected more of me (the hahaha's)--there are tons of people who keep themselves and their house up at all times. It's time for me to step up my game. I see I have to buy black yoga pants--I'm good with black tank tops, but black yoga pants are good to be comfortable, do house chores, and look presentable I guess. Something I should do to make the house more presentable is wipe up spills daily. The downstairs is fine about 50% of the time, but 50% of the time there is something stuck somewhere (not poop!) usually a bit of sandwich or tomato sauce or eggshell. I get those when I notice them. Oh, and under the Keurig machine for some reason is always a mess (on the floor). If I vacuumed daily everything would be so much better. The bathrooms are wiped down in bits--one day the toilet, one day the floor, one day the sink. But I see many people wipe down the whole bathroom each time. I gotta start doing that. I am now getting inspired to put on makeup every day. I like wearing it, but don't do it when I'm just at home and feel it's not worth it to just be home. I see from the responses it's totally normal, so I can indulge and not feel weird. I would like my house to be presentable all the time and myself as well. Thank you for the responses! I am getting so much inspiration from this thread! I am not naturally neat and tidy, and tend to have piles of books all over my room, and tend to neglect the laundry and the entrance--I am definitely not visitor ready (there is nothing that would make anyone call Child Protection--just really messy bedrooms and some spills and an unmopped kitchen floor--but not visitor ready. But if so many women can handle it, there is no reason why I couldn't handle it too. That said, I have a great friend whose house is a pigsty and she's a mess, but I love going there because she is so friendly. :P

It's totally gross. After using the bathroom they are not disinfecting their phone. They are bringing it right back onto the dining table after they've been doing goodness knows what. :ack2:

What a stupid thing to say! As if there are all these "social skills" that school kids all excel at! Yeah, what studies? How come I haven't heard of them?

Read Dracula, DS read Frankenstein. Does that count? Anyway, Dracula has X-rated stuff in it. Beware! (the scary is the least of it!) Frankenstein is a super sad book.

Just ordered a book from amazon marketplace (so not directly amazon--one of the sellers). It said "like new" and it is hideous! Dinged up, scuffs, spine wobbly, binding wobbly--it is not even "fair." :(

Clarification: I don't stink! :) I do take a shower every day. But on a stay at home all day day, I throw on short shorts and a tank top. I put my hair in a hairclip and put on deodorant!! I do have breakfast in my pjs most days--and so does the rest of the family. Just to be clear... :)

OK, so another thread made me think of this. It was in the context of unannounced visitors. In my disorganized life, I have one house for visitors (things picked up, bathrooms wiped, laundry done, floors vacuumed) and one self for visitors (jeans/top, etc) and another set for just be at home by ourselves all day (mess, mess, shorts & tank top, pyjamas, clutter, unopened mail, piles of clothes, etc.) Do normal people keep their houses and themselves presentable (ie. ready for visitors) all the time? How else do people do these freerange neighborhoods where kids (and possibly their parents looking for them) come in and out all day unannounced?

I personally only ever did play dates or playgroup at our house, planned in advance. We never did "go to each others' houses" unplanned. I would hate that. I need to know when my house is open to visitors or not. First, I wear completely different clothes when I have people over and when I am home for the day without visitors (which means clean pjs after a shower or shorts and tank top)--if visitors are coming I'll throw on jeans and a regular top with sleeves. Second, there are things around the house which, if there were visitors, cannot be left, like the pile of laundry or the tomato on the wall or the squished bits of sandwich the dogs couldn't reach (anything guests could see is washed and put away). I would be so embarrassed if the neighborhood could see my mess. Beds are made and floors are vacuumed and surfaces wiped before anyone comes into my house--even kids. Toilet handles and seats are cleaned and checked. Bathroom floors get at least a squirt of cleaner and a wipe (with TP if I'm in a hurry). If parents are coming over, clutter is removed, etc. I have to be not in my pjs and at least have my hair brushed! I realize this wasn't the question originally. but in my life the subject would be moot as I don't let people in my house unannounced. There are areas of my house which are for no one's eyes--the bedrooms and two bathrooms, for instance. They aren't dirty, but the clutter is astounding! I think I let DS go to people's houses not announced once when we were having a playgroup at someone's house where the whole neighborhood was free range. I followed and kept checking on him. It's not really our style but maybe if I had lived in a neighborhood like that I might have kept my house (and myself) more presentable through the years, to accommodate for daily unannounced visitors. ????Maybe normal people always keep their houses and themselves presentable???? Maybe I'm the only one that has visitors-house and at-home-all-day-house??? OK, that is a new thought for me! :huh: Maybe I need to figure this out. Off to post...

DH did ours with porch paint (white). It was indoor/outdoor paint and has mildewcide in it which I really don't like because we go barefoot in the house and I worry about mildewcide on our skin (and it might get absorbed). He didn't sand after we removed the carpet because they were pretty smooth. He did use low VOC paint. A few patches came off so he has to do it again--but this time he will use indoor floor paint, not indoor/outdoor, so that we get less mildewcide (he will make sure). The stairs look pretty! Much better than the old ugly dark carpet.

They use them to train dogs for dogfighting. A fighting dog has to be trained to kill. So dishonest people like this horrible woman get free animals and train their fight dogs. It's terrible. OP, I am so sorry!!! You never meant to give the kitten to the bad woman. You know what probably happened. But don't tell your daughter right now, because it's too horrid, and there is nothing you can do now. You are a good person which is why you gave this person the benefit of the doubt. Continue to do that for your daughter although you know the most likely outcome. About your original question, I am terrible at saying no. I am terrible at saying anything that causes conflict until it's really bad. I tend to do something like: Oh my goodness I am so sorry it turns out my husband is calling me (looks at phone) and we have to go--he is waiting for us. Or something like that. And then I would leave my house. That's how I get rid of weirdos accosting me in the street asking me for a ride to the airport or weird stuff like that. I don't know how to say no. Because they might get mad, and I dread that. I am sorry. Please don't beat yourself up about it. It's not your fault that some people are terrible.

Pictures please?

Definitely praying for your daughter. Alert the teachers in school too. Some teachers won't care, but some teachers have a zero tolerance bullying policy. I am so sorry about your daughter's experience! Sounds like A is out to get her...I knew girls like that... :(

I don't know if I would have said something at the time. But now, you should definitely put in a complaint. The liability from having someone get hurt from slipping in the water is huge. And imagine there was a fire or an emergency? And everyone ran out? Imagine the accidents and injuries. Definitely, report it ASAP. They are definitely not allowed to do that. I think what I would have done is, once I sat down and saw the suds everywhere, I would have left. (I hope.)

This is definitely child endangerment. It is wrong to be doing meth in a house where kids live (and illegal anywhere). What would I do? I would probably not report it to the gov't. Why? I don't really know--I just wouldn't. And I am angry at myself for not knowing why I wouldn't. Would I say something to the mom? Not unless I was her close friend. Unfortunately, what I would probably do in real life is, I would not hang out with that friend that much anymore. Especially, I would never come over to her house any more and I would make sure my kids never came in contact with their friends' new dad. Bless you for being concerned and for trying to help...