I should have said parents are told to let go.. to the public institutions. I agree with you. Other posters stated my point better than I did.

I think.. we have become a society that thinks parents SHOULD let go. And it's earlier and earlier. Pre-school has become the 'norm' around here. It was practically unheard of when I was a kid. Full-day K was unbelievably hard on both of my kids (and I had issues with it, as well). Homeschooling has caused me to look at some of the things we were told were 'normal' in an entirely different light. We don't let our kids cry it out, don't walk away from tantrums (usually). So why the heck do we think it's ok when our three year old is crying on the floor of preschool and we just... leave? (just referring to my own family here!) I don't know anymore... and aren't parents SUPPOSED to be connected to their kids? Barring weird situations or overbearing parents, biologically aren't we SUPPOSED to be the primary caregivers? It is sad that 'letting go' of our tiny children is the norm. I haven't heard that one (I'm a bit surprised LOL).

I choked on a.. of all things... tootsie roll on halloween. Thankfully, it wasn't lodged tightly and after an unbelievable number of coughs (and desperately telling dh I couldn't breathe), it dislodged itself. It was, perhaps, the scariest 30 seconds of my life. Poor kid :(

I chose kindness, because I do think we (most parents) teach that first- from the time our babies are born. Every time we respond to a cry, change a diaper, or feed our babies cuddled against us, that is what they are learning. But to actually set OUT to teach something, probably respect and obedience. I can't imagine purposely teaching patriotism. Sounds a bit weird to me. And sense of humor imho isn't really something you teach :tongue_smilie: My ds has one similar to mine: an absolute sense of the ridiculous, minus my somewhat dark humor. My dd has one as well, but not in as obvious a way.

I always find it odd to see teens trick-or-treating here. It just.. isn't done. Or WASN'T. Saw a couple out last night that looked about 17, by themselves, clearly trick-or-treating. I feel the same way about young moms and babies (too young for candy.. like less than 1) out supposedly trick-or-treating. imho, it's for elementary kids. But I think 10 was the last year I went. My own 10yo went gleefully last night, and I'm certain next year he'll want to go, too.

Just plain not ready :glare: Going outside in a bit to do a little cleanup. Got to get the goats/chickens into the barn and make sure they are snuggled in. Hoping we don't lose power, although we have plenty of wood for the stove and jugs of water if we do.

I'm mean- I made my daughter do a worksheet on b, then she did a handwriting sheet and wrote the letter a bunch of times. The next day I repeated the exercise with d. It completely cured her of writing the wrong letter. It doesn't prevent her from making mistakes while reading though- I chalk that up to inexperience.

For us, we can make something we don't like work, but we can't fix it if I totally screw up teaching a lesson :glare: We don't like our ss curric... I only bought it out of guilt (the PS does ss... blah blah). The text is dry and boring. None of us like it AT.ALL. I bought a silly Mickey Mouse pointer at the dollar store, and point to our map with grand florish during lessons. Ds's taken to reading his portions to me in a ridiculous accent. We laugh through the entire thing, and the laughter makes it stick. So I would say.. for me figuring out learning styles is important. Figuring out my teaching style is important. Curric generally gives me the track to run on and base lessons around- but it is never the entire lesson. (That said, there IS a popular math curric that I had wanted to use. One look at the book though and I knew I couldn't teach it. I'm sure there are other things like that as well for us, we just haven't found them yet)

Yes, this too. My mil was forever giving us stuff that she had. I point blank told my dh that we were no longer the drop-off point for Goodwill. If you haven't used it for years, and don't love it, get rid of it. Hardest for me: if you don't know what it goes to, and haven't used it in a year, get rid of it ;). this goes against my pack-rat mentality, but it really helps with clutter.

There are lots of opinions on this, and I'm no expert, but here's mine: Stop it. Now. Correct him every single time he even looks like he might growl. I also don't let my dogs on the couch or the bed. There is a heirarchy here, and they are at the bottom. Another thing that helped with a prev. dog we had was to have my ds (who was targeted for the growling) walk her on a leash. I was with them, of course, but he was the one the dog saw as 'in control'. And I mercilessly (ok well, no beating ;) ) reprimanded her whenever she growled, no matter why she was doing it. I don't consider myself a 'positive' trainer though... I treat my dogs with tons of love and respect, but I expect the same in return. Their toys are MINE, their beds are MINE etc etc etc. Totally agree with The dog Whisperer. Not so crazy about trying to treat train dogs out of aggression... again, that's just me.

Haven't read the other responses, so apologize if I'm repeating anyone here. I start where my time will have the most visual impact. So... a small room or a not-so-bad one. The bathroom here, usually, because it's almost always no-brainer stuff: dirty laundry, the kids toys, then spray and wipe. Then I hit the laundry and dishes. Then I continue on. If I don't know where to start in a room, I again pick the least messy corner and work out. It feels much less overwhelming to me. My mother told me she starts with the messiest part first, though, so to each his own ;) I also do flylady some stuff (not a follower anymore though). 15mins at a time, lots of breaks. No stressing out if I don't finish something, only vacuum the middles.

Something similar happened with our doctor's office as well. They were calling for a yearly well-child check for dd. I was busy and hadn't called them back. My father is listed as an emergency contact... so they called HIM. He is no one I want in my business at ALL (beyond occasional visits), and certainly has nothing to do with doctor's appointments. I was very angry.. and ultimately decided they must be desperate for patients or something. Imho it completely crossed the line, and was a warning for me never to put down anyone I didn't want them to call... for any reason.

I, too, think the example is flawed. I was a good student in elementary. Why? Because the work was ridiculously easy. The kids who struggled were all over the place with concentration, though. In our homeschool, my kids are always challenged. We rarely do easy busywork. I can't hand them something and tell them to just do it because usually the work is something new, and they need a bit of hand holding to feel confident. Now, give my kids a maze, word search, color and cut for dd, logic puzzle for ds... and they are quiet as mice.... ...that is.. until they want to share what they've done. So yes, I remember sitting quietly in 2nd grade, pulling out a book when my work was done, waiting for the teacher. But I was also the kid who would cry if my name was on the board (I think I was awed by the entire experience). I don't expect or want that from my own kids.

Also on Librivox: The Princess and the Goblin. They have a nice Alice and wonderland there as well, but I haven't listened to it yet.

Ahhh.. I come from a family who treated alcohol as a loaded gun. Many members of my mother's family are alcoholics. My father's family as well. My dad was an alcoholic when he was younger. My father still reminds dh and I (on the rare day we are going to have some alone time) that we, "don't need alcohol to have a good time!" We're in our mid-thirties :lol: BUT. I think my own attitudes actually started before dh and I had kids. We had gone to a party, the host's 8yo daughter was there. The host got falling down drunk in front of her, slobbering all over her... it was awful. Now, even if I wanted to actually have a drink in front of the kids, it is very very difficult for me. The thought makes my stomach turn. Dh occasionally has a beer, but never more than that. Neither of my children has ever seen anyone drunk in real life, ever. Both know a little bit about alcohol (they know it is an adult beverage, they know it can make you act like an idiot), but we haven't really sat down and talked about it much. We try to make it mostly a non-issue: neither overly interesting, nor taboo.