I'm going with a friend of mine. I've been to 1 convention, but it was small - tiny, really, compared to the Cincy one. What do we need to know?

I got it (on the iPad) to look over. Thanks so much!

That will be my birthday present to myself ,

I'm thinking that's what I'll do, just not call her again. If she asks, I'll tell her.

I'm very non-confrontational. I'm sitting on it for a few days before I do anything.

WOW.

Oh yeah, that (running kids to swimming, etc) I totally get. But this was 7 pm last night. My kids didn't have anyplace to be, and no one takes my kids anywhere without my permission. Ever.

sorry, double

I have no idea what you're talking about!

We had a sitter last night for 2 hours. Happens about twice a month. We've always used the same girl (well, for the last year or so) who is now a college freshman. A while ago - spring maybe?, I busted her using us as a cover to sneak around with her boyfriend. (Her parents are friends of ours from church.) We gave her a second chance - partially because the boys really like her, she's reliable, seems to take good care of the boys, and sitters are hard to find. Figured it was just a dumb mistake kids make. (Because, yeah, I wasn't a genius 18 year old either.) Last night, got home, paid her, she left, got the kids ready for bed, etc etc. Talking to DS1 about what they did while we were gone, and he mentioned that she wanted to take them for a quick ride in her car "just up the street". Say what? Oh, I have so many issues with that. No car seats. No permission. And going where, exactly? To do what? And you ask the 5 year old? Thankfully, so thankfully, DS1 has had ingrained in his head to never go anywhere with anyone without asking us first. No exceptions. He said no, and I guess (from him) that she didn't push it. I let DS1 know he did the right thing, put them in bed, then proceeded to just sit on the couch, flabbergasted, for a while. Then at about midnight I had a full blown anxiety attack. Had to wake up DH because I couldn't breathe, heart racing, thought I was going to puke. I will certainly be telling her (and her parents, probably) that we won't use her again. I'm just floored, still today. What in the world? Who does that?

During the week it's 9-7, Sat. hours are 9-1. It's nice!

It's been recommended to me to go by what grade they would be in at a public school vs what level curriculum they are working at. That's what I do. We will be starting first grade in the spring sometime, but I won't say he's a first grader until late summer.

I'm switching to MM in the spring, that is a great idea for me to remember!

Breaking up fights, unclogging toilets, purging toys, plunging toilets, reading books, teaching phonics. In general, back to the usual mass crazy that is a morning around here. You?

I've done that more times than I care to remember! Usually I just open a window and give it about 5 minutes.

We did school today, our same routine as normal in the mornings. I was going to take it off, but we ended up taking last Monday off because of an extended family funeral. Besides, if we don't have school, they fight too much! (like someone else said!)

Sounds like that's my plan then, kick off 1st grade in the spring! And thanks, Ellie, I was thinking of not declaring him a first grader until fall. Thanks for cementing that. :)

I have been pondering this while the forum was down and I dealt with some major modem issues lately. We are on track to hit our 180 days of kindergarten in April. I am planning on school year round, from July to end of May with June off. I could start our first grade then (MFW) or hold off on that until July and do fun stuff in the meantime. He will be ready for the first gr. material in the spring. Just not sure.

I think it means my Ethiopian born son is smarter than the US born kids! (Ok, totally joking. For real.)

I am PMing you too

Hmm, I haven't ran a fire drill in a while. Needed this reminder today. Some good ideas that I haven't thought of either, like the tossing stuff out a window if trapped. (Although neither of mine can open a window!)

I am just now finally reading through the multiple pages of this thread, but I seriously applauded right here at my computer after reading this. For me, perfectly said. Actually, I'm going to save it for me to read when I need the boost!

Both of our kids are ours through adoption. DH was fine with 1, but I was adamant that DS1 not be an only. The day we walked out of the hospital with DS2, I knew we were done adopting kids. He's 3 and I still feel the same way. Like others have mentioned, I'm not necessarily a baby person. They are cute, but I will gladly love on your baby then hand them back. We've hit the stage where we are diaper free and stroller/baby carrier free. I have kids, not babies. And we love it! I really truly feel that I couldn't be a good mom to more kids. Mine are both complete handfuls in their own ways. Neither is easy to parent, and I get overwhelmed easily. We are done.

Well, there's the general bigger issue of my kids just don't get along most days and I haven't figured out how to make it happen. They are polar opposites and they just clash. Plus, we are slowly making their bedtime later since DH is working a new job with longer hours. We celebrated the first snow of the year, we all had naps, we bought a new Uno game, and will have a movie after dinner. We're in better moods all around.

When you all are driving each other crazy, your kids fight constantly, and it takes you all morning to do what you can normally do in 1/4 of the time... What does it take to reset? Is it a Mommy Time Out? Or family activities? Or ?? Today's been a Horrible, Rotten, No Good, Very Bad Day. We are all in our mandatory rest spots for a bit, then I'm hoping with some book time on the couch, a quick trip to the store (not fun, but getting a new game is!) and just working on being together this afternoon will do the trick.