I keep trying to get this skill across to my kids, particularly the oldest who drones on about a tv show or video game he's played. Even now...after months of banned screentime... :iagree: My three talk all. the. time! If two manage to be quiet for any amount of time, the third child will always find a way to fill that "void". I'm introverted and love to think, I cannot think straight when people are gibbering/squealing/giggling (like an airhead, not because something was particularly funny ... DD :glare:)....... I have been known to tell them not to make a sound for X amount of time when it gets to be too much. Particularly in the car. Ugh, the car's the worst! My oldest has some processing issues. He talks as the words come to him. Apparently this is in 3 word spurts, it drives me batty sometimes. I feel bad, because I know it's a disability, but there are days when I want to say "Spit it out or drop it, PLEASE!!" I like conversations short, quick, and to the point. *I'm* having to learn tolerance and a way to help him with that issue, it has not been easy.

I'm sorry :grouphug: We are in a tiny apartment, three kids, for the summer. It's by choice, not necessity, so I try not to complain too much....still, rainy days suck. It's like being sealed in a sardine can with irritable sardines.

Kids favorites: Curious George, Martha Speaks, Dragon Tales, Arthur My favorites (and apparently no longer aired shows, can you tell I haven't watched TV in a while? LOL) The above, as well as Zomboomafoo and Between the Lions. The Kratts were mildly annoying but the show was ok. Least Favorite of the kids: Word Girl, Super Why My Least Favorite: Cyberchase. The show, itself, is fine. I just hate the animation, could those characters be any uglier? All the kids have watched Barney, but thankfully outgrew him. I don't mind Barney in small doses, but I can't take much of him at a time.

I think, like most things with parenting, it depends on the individual child. For a child who has fallen through the cracks, who is stressed, whose personality changed due to their school experience, it may just "take as long as it takes." Like Ellie said, sometimes longer than their time spent in school. My boys are like this. We are deschooled for a couple of months, then resumed with schooling ultra lite which is where we are now. DD could have handled more a heavier load, but also had gaps that needed to be filled in, so we are schooling lite also. I have a friend who will homeschool next year. Her kids are in PS right now, she could start homeschooling them the first day of summer break, and they'd be fine. They are gifted children, they haven't enjoyed school but have always afterschooled to some extent so it won't be so different for them.

I didn't mean to imply that you had butted in when your sister disciplines. I guess what I was saying was that it could be inferred as butting in if you ask her NOT to discipline her child in your home. I don't know if that comes across the way I mean it, I don't mean it ugly. What I'm getting at is that time outs work wonders for some kids and not at all for others. Just like spanking won't work for every kid. I was merely pointing out that, as a parent who has child who will push every envelope, it has become necessary that I enforce EVERY rule. Perhaps your sister is, or feels, the same way? My youngest acted AWFUL with the grandparents until I started refusing to leave him unattended with them to ensure that he was brought back in line immediately when he misbehaved. They wanted to give him "the look" and a stern no...that isn't his currency. What I was really getting at was that if they are wearing the kid out in the living room with the extended family witnessing, I think that's extreme. I think, at that point, you could say "Hey, do you mind going to the spare bedroom?" and not be out of bounds. However, from my POV, if they are removing her to discipline then I think they've done their due to be courteous of your feelings. I don't know how they are handling it, I'm just saying how I would feel about it in my home. You're right, there are people I don't allow in my home because their bad behavior is a bad influence on my children. If you really think knowing that another child got spanked is going to affect your children adversely then you should probably not have them over or go where you will be around them. I have a friend that I limit her coming to my house because she DOESN'T use stronger discipline. Her son is a holy terror, she talks at him about his behavior. I don't want to discipline someone else's child, particularly with them standing there and obviously NOT doing anything, but I refuse to let my children see me ignoring (and thereby condoning) his atrocious behavior.

I don't think a judgement can be made based on your post. There is no way of knowing what kind of child your niece is....perhaps she is a child that can't be allowed to push the envelope EVER. I have one of those. I make him clean his plate. I don't serve him the same portions I serve his teenage brother, they are well within his ability to finish. If I say "Ok, no need to eat your broccoli." when he says he's full, then 10 minutes later he will be having a tantrum for dessert and saying he's hungry. I ended that problem by serving him appropriate portions and telling him he can't leave the table without finishing the food. We've had a handful (in the beginning) of stand offs, but after he realized I really meant he WASN'T GETTING UP...he eats healthy and without complaint now. I also think it's unfair for you to ask them to change their discipline methods to make you happy. If they aren't endangering the child, you need to get past it. Now, if they aren't removing the child to discipline her then I would be uncomfortable. Not because I don't believe in spanking, but because I think they should be handled privately. If they feel that time outs are too light, I don't think you should ask them to scale down the punishment to what you feel is appropriate. I don't understand saying you can't wrap your head around how she parents due to how you were brought up. I was rarely disciplined, I was pretty much a rule follower as well as an only child and a girl... I spend much more time disciplining my own children than did my mother... they simply aren't the child I was. Is it possible that your sister is parenting how she feels this particular child needs to be handled? Anyway, it is their call to make. I saw no where in swellmomma's post that she butted into her sister's discipline. I saw that she disciplined her own child more severely for the same infraction that her niece made and her BIL took that to be some sort of passive aggressive attitude about his own child's misbehavior and the discipline he received.

We saw it yesterday as part of my Mothers Day weekend. It is a really good movie. The kids and I watched Thor on Friday, and I'm so glad we did. I felt like Avengers was pretty much a sequel to Thor. I don't think I would have understood the movie as much, if I hadn't seen Thor first.

I plan to: 1. Spend tons of time in the water. Pool, lake, ocean... anything is fine with me. 2. Keep the kids going with a minimal math and reading program for the summer. They need the work, but I don't want to take away their summer. 3. Fun, educational field trip at least once a week. 4. Spend lots of time with DH 5. Learn to cook a few new things, get DH and kids to try the new things. 6. Camp! For the first time ever! 7. Determine a fall curriculum and fond materials inexpensively. 8. Find a way to get to phoenix this fall/winter for about a month so we can spend some time with my side of the family. That may take researching all summer...

Just bumping for others. Thanks for sharing, we NEED reading incentive here :tongue_smilie:

Not to hijack, but can anyone recommend camping places in the upper Illinois/lower Wisconsin area? Campground or state park doesn't matter. We are new to camping so the easiest, cleanest, most family oriented is what I'm looking for :) My goal is to get DH to camp at Disney and OBX at some point.

I wouldn't worry. My DH is not gay in the least. He doesn't even have any feminine characteristics. I'm always attracted to gay men/celebrities. He Jack Harkness guy, David Hyde Pierce, etc would be on my list. I once commented to DH that some guy was "hot" right before the guy's boyfriend walked in, we have a mutual acquaintance who is likely gay and I find him attractive. I even fell hard in high school and years later....he's gay. Says now he always was. I joke that my either my gay-dar is strong or I manage ti turn men gay with a single glance. I actually think it has more to do with the fact that all these guys fall into a similar physical category - neat attire, tend to dress up, immaculate grooming. Also, they tend to be (or at least appear) intelligent and cultured. Interestingly, DH doesn't fit that box. He's a good guy, smart but doesn't show it, wouldn't get dressier than jeans and a nice tee to save his life, and culture, for him, is a bll game

I live under a rock, in the armpit of the world. I kid you not. I've posted about it.... However, DH works in some pretty cool areas, and we are visiting him for the summer in one such place (Chicago.) I hit HPB today....OMG! How have I NOT been in one of these before?! I spent $50.... and left with three bulging to the top bags of books (and a $10 Pokemon Sorry boardgame :glare:.... note to self: leave kids at home next time.) I think 5 of the books were $1, the rest were 50 cents! Of course, being the cheapskate that I am, I only shopped the clearance section of resale book store........ ha ha! I found some books for school, a few for some series that the kids are reading, and some totally *twaddle* books for me. RL Stine Fear Street, I used to read those all the time as a kid. Since they were so cheap, I picked up several to re-read. I figure DD may like them at some point, I'm sure that'll get my 2 quarters out of the books ;) OTOH, DH almost had a cow when he saw our bed covered with books. He keeps saying "You know this lease will be up at some point, right? You know we will have to MOVE this stuff, RIGHT?" It sort of makes me wonder if he's planning to have to leave quickly, with no notice, in the middle of the night :001_huh: So, anyway, I really need to figure this out. I combed the clearance section over really well. Do they have a method to their clearancing madness? Do they mark down certain days of the week, or is it best to check bi-weekly? Once a month? I don't want to miss any good books :drool5:

I have a Chamilia and love it. I can use Pandora beads on it, I don't *think* you can use the Chamilia beads on Pandora...I think I have that right. DD has a Bauble Lulu. It looks just like my Chamilia, but cost us much less. It has held up every bit as well as my Chamilia, but she does wear it less. I have some Bauble Lulu beads on mine, they have held up fine. So if you want good quality and mid-price, I'd go with Chamilia. If you want cheap price and pretty good quality look at Bauble Lulu....in my totally "un-jewelry-edumacated" opinion ;)

I made an unasked for suggestion today. At Target, I pulled the kids over to the pj section and pointed out a set of pants and a tee that l love. I said, "If Daddy mentions getting me anything for mothers day or my birthday, show him this." Of course dd went home and asked were they buying me anything because I had something picked out. Way to play subtle :tongue_smilie:

Oh. Now I see what you're asking. Lol. I can be dense. We are from tn. So I should check tn museums for THEIR reciprocal program that would apply out here. Thus getting into more places here. Gotcha, I'll work on that in the morning :) Ok the science and industry says its free to illinois homeschoolers. So does that leave all us longterm visitors out? It says you just fill out a form. I'm assuming and show a letter of proof that you homeschool? I have one from our umbrella school but it plainly gives my address as tn. The art museum says it's free under 14, which covers my three. Neither place mentioned excluding summers...

Thanks guys! We have *nothing* in my area to join, reciprocal or not. I know the summer we were in st Louis we could have saved a ton of money by doing family memberships. So even if its only until September I'll get my moneys worth :) I'll have to check out free to homeschooler things and see if that's summer, too. I'll try to remember to post here if it is. Good to know about brookfield, dh had no idea, I'm glad I could check here!

Wow. I've only used it for magic school bus. Now I see I've totally underestimated it's usefulness. Off to browse youtube :D

Is the Shedd worth the cost of a family membership? I love aquariums, but I seem to remember pricing it once and thinking it was three times most membership fees.

Hmmm. I knew lincoln park was free except wasn't it $35 a day to park? I thought the memebrship would be worth it if it covered parking. Maybe. I also wasn't sure which zoo was nicer. We are "south", dh has informed me. Tinley Park, to be exact. We were looking at the family pass to whitewater canyon, but if there is a better place we're open.

I'm looking to get family memberships to one or two things in Chicago. We will be here over the summer/early fall, I know memberships are for a year but with three kids....it's usually cheaper to get the membership of you intend to visit much at all. I was thinking one to the zoo (Brookfield or Lincoln Park? Opinions?) I'd like at least one, maybe two more places to haunt. Field museum? Other? We are looking at a family pool pass, that will give us something to do several days a week, but rainy days or days that I just don't want to swim… I'd like the option to say "We can go here, here, or here." and know that it's pretty much paid for.

Ooh. Me, too. And my *oldest* is just now hitting the teen years. I dread this with my kids in every way imaginable. OP, I'm starting to think a teenager and a toddler aren't far apart emotionally speaking. DS12-almost 13 threw a hissy fit at the store today when I refused to buy action figures. Seriously, stomping off and pouting. I don't think he even had fits like that as a little kid. My 9 and 8 year old don't have a tantrum over having to put a toy back. Every "no" has become his hill to die on. It is tiring. I wanted to run over him with my shopping cart, but some part of me said "Wouldn't that make you the pot calling the kettle black?" LOL

WHAT?! But…but…but you have a two year old. Isn't that a toddler?? What would they have you do with the five year old while the two year old is at story time?! I would assume most "at home" siblings would tag along, be they older or younger. If he really doesn't act up there, then I think they are getting their panties in a wad for no reason. I agree about carpooling. Most people would prefer that it be a trade off between you. Even if someone didn't mind (I don't think I'd mind), it might not be feasible for them to have four free seats…particularly when you factor in car seats. ETA: I think asking for the car one day a week seems like a good idea. Is there any way to make that work? Alternatively, buying an inexpensive car might be worth the payment. Trust me, ps can eat through your wallet too. All the "snacks", materials for a lesson, workbook fees, yearbooks, school pictures, $14 a kid field trips to a movie I paid for.... Ugh. Perhaps if the choice is a car or ps, when you add the expense and compare, it would be worth the car to keep him home.

:001_smile:

I'm not a petite (5'4 and long legs, so I hit right on the "regular" line), but I wear sizes 2-4 so I'm small. My summer wardrobe is sundresses from Old Navy, pants/jeans from Gap and Ann Taylor Loft, a few capris from J Jill. Shirts from all of the above, plus some Faded Glory tanks for layering :) I bought most of it second hand, otherwise I'd have a much smaller wardrobe!

I would ask the parents myself. I would worry that another parent might be angry with me. Where on earth are these parents when their kids are staring balefully at you while you eat?