At 3.5 yo, he is way too young to be taking responsibility for his own eating choices imo. I am a very firm believer in the parents being in charge...not the kids. BUT, I don't think it needs to be a huge battle either. You sit down as a family for dinner, your 3.5 yo gets his plate of food (which would be a very small portion). Then I wouldn't mention it again. At the end of the meal, everything is cleaned up and his plate of food goes in the fridge if he hasn't eaten it. Later, if he says he's hungry, out comes his plate of food. If he doesn't want it you nicely say that this is all you have for him. I wouldn't offer anything else. If he doesn't want it, put it back in the fridge. (I personally wouldn't take it out again for breakfast...I would just discard it in the a.m.) If you are consistent, as another poster said - he will learn. It just may take time. I think the biggest key is too not make a big deal out of it.

Setting off fireworks with a group of kids that small and having them all cluster around it??? That is so dangerous. Not letting the children go when they are frightened is teaching them to NOT listen to their common sense and their intuition and remain in a foolish & dangerous situation because of peer pressure. That is NOT what I want to teach my child. True courage is standing up for what is right and not just mindlessly following the crowd. How hard is it to be the only one standing firm and not doing what everyone else is doing...really hard sometimes. But again, that is where true courage comes in. And that is what I want for my dc's. You did the right thing imo.

Maybe try to help him find the answers on his own. The day of the week would be easy, just teach him how to use a calendar. The others may be more difficult. It sounds like he just wants to talk and you're all he's got! If he asks you the same questions over and over, maybe just remind him that you already answered that and ask him if he can remember what the answer was. Other than that, I think this may just have to run its course.

I think it's on your desk! ;)

Congrats on conquering your *mountain* It is such a great feeling!

Does this have anything to do with the 4th of July rep party? I wouldn't worry too much about it - there's so many heavy topics that everyone needs a little fluff once in a while! :001_smile:

Oh.My.Gosh This is SUCH a guy thing. My dh is not as obsessed as he used to be, but come on...it's only grass!

OK, I've been following this thread and just now read the article that OP linked to. Now, I'm not going to say anything about the Pearls because anything I say would be redundant. Everything that can be said has already been said. But did anyone else notice anything else disturbing in that article? Everyone is jumping on the Pearls (not that I'm defending them) but according to this article there were a lot more people who failed this little boy: Social workers had plenty of warning that Sean might be harmed at Paddock's home. Wake County social workers had misgivings about putting him in the crowded house, miles outside the nearest town; a bruised backside after his first visit made them even more nervous. So, they did nothing The state Division of Social Services might have noticed something was amiss, but its annual audits don't go beyond a technical review of contract obligations. Again, nothing done. Sean left his first visit with the Paddocks with a bruise on his backside, according to Wake County records. He told his foster mother and a day-care teacher that Paddock hit him because he petted the family dog. Wake County opened an investigation, but two weeks later, agreed to go forward with the adoption. By mid-March, the Ford children were sent to live with the Paddocks for good. There were red flags that were totally ignored and why? Because: ...over a decade, a social worker from Children's Home Society spotted unsettling risk factors in Paddock's home. But her agency had no incentive to walk away. The state pays the agency for completed adoptions. They did nothing because of money...they wanted to be paid for the completed adoption. No care or concern shown for Sean at all. And this poor, poor little boy paid the price for their greed. Unbelievable!

Who knew dirty diapers could bring such joy? :001_smile:

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Oh my, this story gets me every time. The mom rocking her newborn baby singing "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'l living, my baby you'll be." She does this throughout all the stages of her boy's life until she so old & sick she can't. Then he comes and rocks her and sings the song to her. Then he goes home and rocks his newborn daughter and sings it to her. Beautiful story.

We have one bathroom for five of us. It's doable but Lord willing we will eventually put a 1/2 bath downstairs. It just makes life easier.

This made me laugh! :D

No, a bit more then a dash...enough to coat them all.

Since your appointment is tomorrow, a gift card would probably be the easiest. I was going to suggest you write a heartfelt letter and give it along with a framed collage of all your babies that she delivered. But there may not be time for that. I would definitely bring the baby to the appointment!

Grilled veggies are always a hit and so delicious. My favorites are eggplant and zucchini. You cut the eggplant into rounds and the zucchini you slice length ways. Put them in a bowl with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper & garlic powder. Mix well to coat and then grill until tender. It is so good.

Yikes! How awful.

Stuffed peppers or cabbage sound good - not that my dc's would eat it of course!

I don't know what it is about pregnant women that make people feel they can say whatever they want! I had some doozies when I was pregnant.

LOL - The title of this thread made me laugh and then this! You guys are too funny.

Um...that really works?? And it's easy to get out?? And it doesn't spill when you take it out?? I've never saw such a thing in my life! I think I'm a bit weirded out by it only because it's so different from anything I've ever seen. Going back to the original question - after seeing that and knowing about tampons - I would start my dd off slow. I'm planning on starting her with pads until she gets used to having her period. Then I planned on introducing her to tampons when she was a bit older. But I will also be showing her these cups and let her decide. It shouldn't be much longer for my dd before she starts hers so this thread was very timely for me.

Thanks for this link. I've never heard about this either!

I agree with wagnfun about trying to see if there is a way you could travel with him sometimes. How fun would that be? That kind of flexibility is one of the reasons we homeschool. I also agree wholeheartedly with Brenda in FL especially when she says that your dh should stand his ground w/his employers about the salary. Also, does your dh fly when he travels? Can he accumulate frequent flyer miles that your family can use for vacations? My dh is away a lot - not because he's traveling, but because he is so busy w/work, church and helping is mom around the house. We try to make the best of it - if dh is not home for dinner the kids know they can have one of two treats - they can either read books at the dinner table while they eat (which they love to do) or they can watch a dvd while they eat (which they also love to do). These two little things have made his absences easier for the kids. Maybe you can establish some special privileges that occur only when dh is away? Best of luck with all of this. In the past, I've allowed myself to be resentful of my dh's busyness and quite honestly, the resentment took a bigger toll on our relationship then the actual absences. Once I learned to accept them and not feel so sorry for myself, it became much better. One more thing...I would just like to encourage you to try to be thankful. I'm sure there's lots in this situation you can be thankful for. Make a list of them and then when you start to be bothered by the situation, go back to your thankful list and think about that instead. You'll be amazed at how this one thing will change you. HTH! :)

Here is a link to the article about the boycott - http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/How_To_Homeschool/articles/the_tour_God_planned.php

Does anyone subscribe to The Old SchoolHouse mag? Maybe you can help me remember. About a year ago they were going overseas - England maybe? And they were being boycotted or something because of the Pearls. I'm not sure if it's because the Pearls advertised in the mag or because their dd was a columnist. Anyway - it went all the way to the gov't if I'm not mistaken and a lot of their itinerary had to change.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest but I have read that you should choose a fee only financial planner. The following link has info on choosing a financial planner. http://financialplan.about.com/cs/fpprofessionals/a/FinlPlanner.htm Hope everything works out alright!