I actually don't think identifying it is the worse thing. I definitely see how it can lead to arrogance and that isn't good. At the same time it sucks to have no one notice and to be missed and not be given the challenge you need. I like to have a lot of information on something to know what I am dealing with and how to best help. The more information I have I feel the better I can figure out how to best help. I am curious with my own children. Two of them I don't think they are and knowing for sure would be helpful to keep perspective and to know strengths and weaknesses. Although I know nothing is set in stone especially in young children and who knows if things will be a little different in the future. The other has all the traits on the chart someone listed but doesn't fit the 5 level link in all areas that was linked. They aren't an early reader, don't do advanced math at an early age or even like math and doesn't care for puzzles but fits every trait listed for a gifted learner.

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Ds was around 4.5 but it was pretty sloppy. He rarely does it and might have forgot since then because he hasn't in a while. He still hasn't written all his letters or any numbers yet. I started working with my oldest around 5 on forming letters and that was the perfect time for her. My almost 3 year old isn't even close to writing her name.

I think of it as sunny and dry. The weather in some parts of the state is really nice and sunny and doesn't have extremes. They have a cool baloon festival in Albuquerque. It has wide open landscapes with mountains and canyons in some parts. Taos NM has really cool earth ships. I never been there.

I don't have kids with a large age gap at least at the moment but that was how I grew up. My sister was 9.5 and my brother was 7 when I was born. I was a later in life surprise baby. In some ways it felt like I was a only child. I didn't have any peers or kids to play with but I did have a good relationship with my siblings. I looked up to my older sister. At times I know I was a pest like when she was a teenager and had friends over and I wanted her attention. I didn't have a close relationship with my brother growing up but there were times he would take me trick or treating when my mother was sick or take me sledding or make me feel better when kids at school were making fun of me. It was cool when my older siblings could bring me places or do things with me because they were not y parents and it just seemed cooler. Once I became a teenager I developed a close relationship with my sister. Now that we are all adults I have a good relationship with my siblings. My brother and I are both introverts who are not big on calling so we don't talk all the time but we do have a good relationship and have remained close.

It wouldn't bother me unless I had a reason to think the women was really untrustworthy. There is only one women I wouldn't want dh to have lunch with because she did have a thing for getting other people's boyfriends to fall for her. As long as nothing was going on and he told me about it I wouldn't mind him going out to lunch with a an old friend that was nearby even or who frequented the lunch spot he took a child out to lunch with. I wouldn't even mind if he got together with his ex girlfriend with all the kids for lunch. His child was at lunch and she knows about the wife from facebook so I am guessing it wasn't romantic at all in the least.

That book will have entertainment value. The scary part is how many reviewers are so convinced that the book was so convincing and goes over the "evidence" that they are real and related to the End Times. Fun stuff. You can read it and then pretend that you are now totally convinced.

I actually think his answer is very insightful for a 6 year old. I wouldn't worry at all! I love how he says it lets the bad guys get away and no one will respect you. I would keep up what you are doing. For his age he has a really good understanding.

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He sounds a lot like my almost 7 year old and my almost 5 year old. I could write a similar list. I do suspect they may have adhd.

I am in a similar boat with my almost 3 year old. I know I should count more.

I'm not a fan of increasing standards in kindergarten and pushing the cut off farther back and then people red shirt kids with earlier and earlier birthdays. My kids all miss the cut off. I rather they have an extra year of knowledge for their age rather then expecting too much from kindergartners so they push back the cut off. So many kids are 19 or almost 19 when they graduate high school and get a later start at adulthood. I don't think all kids need that.

I'm actually not sure at all. I was hoping to do more this summer then I did. I am trying to just make a better effort this last month and let go a little. Last year for kindergarten I was able to work with dd on a pretty regular basis. I got more reading in then math because she was having trouble learning to read for a while and it shows because now she is a good reader but she struggled a bit in math. In kindergarten dd only had 2.5 hours of school and her homework load was light. She got a homework folder every Friday that we finished on the weekend and sent in on Monday. Since she had nothing during the week and only 2.5 hours of school I had some time to work with her. This year she will be in full day school and might have more homework and homework to do everyday. It is hard to predict if I will have time to work with her or not and how much time I will have and where to fit stuff in. I was thinking of doing the opposite of last year and work with her on weekends with after school stuff and do home work during the week. We will see. She is finally making progress with math facts using 2 + 2 does not equal 5 and I want to keep working with her with that but there is no way we will finish before school starts and I don't want to stop it completely and lose the momentum she has. She will girl scouts during the school year and I might add in some martial arts. DS won't be doing preschool this fall so I will have time to work with him. I plan on taking him to playgroups like the all year hiking group and working with him.

Some book suggestions are Atheism the Case Against God. and The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God and What is Atheism These are obviously one sided but you got a lot of examples from the other side. ;) You have read quite a lot so far on the topic from both sides which is very cool.

Could I ask another question? How did you (meaning the general "you") decide what belief system (or non-belief system) was right for you? Was it just a feeling? Was it by process of elimination? Was it cultural? Was it because of history? Or was it not really a decision? Sorry - I guess that was more than one question... ;) 'Night, all. :) I don't have the ability to quote anymore otherwise I would have quoted. I always had questions and doubt but it took a while to make the push to be atheist. What especially was hard was that if you don't believe then you are going to hell. For me that made it hard because I wasn't sure and I rather err on the side of caution. It was just a realization over time and I only became more certain over time. The first push was a long discussion with a friend who was an atheist when I was starting to go that way myself. When I finally identified as one I never changed. I have done research on religion and atheism. It isn't a feeling just a rational conclusion I came to. I think there is some historical stuff that did occur in the bible. It is a mix of history and myth. I don't believe there is a higher power who has the rules set forth in the bible. It is something I just know. I wasn't traumatized by my upbringing. When I was growing up in it there were parts that bothered me but for the most part I am very accepting of others beliefs. Contrary to popular belief I am very moral and think in terms of the greater good for everything. I think humans are the cause of the problems in the world and humans could solve them. Bad things happen because some people are born without a conscious and a lot of people are just neutral and heavily influenced and can be influenced by things like a bad upbringing or bad social or cultural influences. I believe in evolution but that isn't something I think about much.

There are not really any good examples in the US because it is very car-centric. Australia is probably the same way. Curitiba Brazil is a good example. They almost were going to start doing some examples of it in the city I am in now but a new conservative mayor shut done the 10 year process of compromise for the zoming plans.

I'm an an INTJ and actually not only am I an INTJ I am just like you described strong in the IN always a T and weaker J but I usualy fall in that category. I do look at everything rationally and because of that I did end up an atheist even though I was born a Catholic. I go to a UU church now and members are of all different faiths and very accepting but at my congregation they don't talk religion much at all (I like that)

The greenest way to build communities is to use smart growth methods. Suburban sprawl is not sustainable in the long run. In smart growth you build mixed use and a little denser but the density is well planned. There is a space dedicated to play structures and other valuable community type stuff. The communities are walkable and bikable and built for public transportation options. There is a lot of park, green space, trails, bike lanes and bike trails. There is a large set back from riparian streams and no building in flood zones. As far as reducing erosion or run off they do make permeable roads, side walks and driveways.

If I lived in California I would definitely hit Trader Joes. You don't have to go weekly. You can alternate weeks. I do half my grocery shopping at Costco and the other half at Fred Meyers. When I lived in California we did Trader Joes and Food 4 less. If we went to a Grocery store we went to Ralphs. Maybe you can do Walmart one week, then Costco the next, followed by Trader Joes and Safeway. I don't like to go to more than one store a week either so I alternate weeks. Costco does have gluten free stuff and it seems like they are adding more all the time. Trader Joes has a great price on sun butter and they had yummy pumpkin butter. The prices are Trader Joes are good for natural products.

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I generally do not go to stores late. In the summer my kids are outside to about 8 or so some nights. Then we start the nighttime routine. There are nights where we may be out a little later if we are at a friends but that is when they are generally in by. We have a later summer schedule. It doesn't get dark in the summer here. During the fall and winter when dd is back at school and it gets dark early we have an earlier schedule and we generally eat around 5 and then relax a little and start the bedtime routine and the kids are in bed at 8. Sometimes we have scheduled activities that are late and I generally put them in pajamas after it ends and they go right to bed when we come home or if somethings extends past dinner time then I make a quick dinner.

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The only thing that is hard about summer is the lack of routine. Every day looks a little different and so they don't like when it is time to do work when they used to not mind at all. The weather has been perfect this summer. My oldest dd loves wearing shorts and t-shirts and soft clothes so she loves that this summer is warm enough to wear that all summer long. Ds is sensitive to temperatures and the weather has been good so he is good with that. They play outside all day. We have a sand box and I think that really helps them. They ride their bikes and go swimming. This helps my sensory seeker. The winter is the rough time. It is harder to find clothes dd can tolerate and we don't get outside much. They are sensitive to the cold when they do get out and it involves layers of clothes that they don't like.

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DD's teacher did a weekly newsletter on what was coming up. The homework assignments for the week were in a big folder that contained all her school work from the week. I had a good idea of what they were working on and how she did on papers but I didn't really hear how dd was doing from the teacher. At drop off you can't really talk to the teacher. I only heard at the two conferenceshow she was doing and her opinions. If I had concerns or wanted to talk about something the teacher was available. She answered emails in a timely manner and would meet after class if I had something I wanted to address. Overall it wasn't bad but I just would like to hear how she is doing in class more often. Hopefully her new teacher will be easy to communicate with. I would say a 3 maybe a 4.