SO thinking the same thing! :lol:

Oh! Oh!!! ALmost!!!

Some really good ideas on here so far! Agree with the Lincoln Logs, Melissa & Doug wooden fruit, etc. Maybe some wooden puzzles. Perhaps a very, very soft "lovey" type blanket or stuffed animal (which could be good or not so good depending on sensory issues), etc. Are you wanting toys, books specifically to give to the children? Other ideas for the parents (if the shower is without the kids) would be kids cups or plates, a gift certificate to a shoe store, gift cards to restaurants, house cleaning, etc. Anything to take something off their plate as they adjust to having their children. (And it takes a lot longer than most think it does!)

Praying... :grouphug:

If you have family who are employed in the PS system, what do they think of you choosing to home school? My parents are both retired school teachers, my sisters are teachers, and most all aunts/uncles/cousins are involved in education as well. I am one of the only ones in my extended family who didn't go into education in college specifically. My folks think it is great and if they lived closer would thoroughly enjoy teaching and working with my kids. One sister also thinks it's great. Other sister - not so much, but that is mostly because my daughter has some unique special needs similar to my niece, and my sister feels like the school could be managing it better than I can. (Some days I wonder...) Extended family doesn't say much, but that is because of the unique circumstances with our family, and also because I usually only see them at family reunions and we are often too busy eating and shooting guns and riding 4 wheelers to talk about important stuff. :D Do you receive positive or negative feedback from family who are PS teachers? Not that it matters one way or the other, but I'm just curious.

Absolutely! I don't buy into the "stuff makes it better" theory either. It is never the bells and whistles that make education great - it is the way the material (even in acting classes! ;) ) is presented and taught. As the daughter of two retired public school teachers (who rocked), believe me - I get the impact a great, enthusiastic, well-informed instructor can have. I honestly think the key to helping children develop a love of STEM "stuff" is helping them experience the curiosity of "why is that?", "how did that happen?", and "what will happen if I...?" and that can happen in a classroom devoid of walls and walls of technology. But if that isn't happening (and being a parent there, unfortunately I knew it often wasn't because they were so busy teaching to "the test"), I don't feel like just calling a school a STEM school does much to promote that curiosity at all.

DH was also a chemical engineering major at a top 5 engineering school. He graduated with a 4.0, and had a handful of job offers. He ended up with a Fortune 500 company, but doing nothing in 12+ years that has a lick to do with chemical engineering! I think having the degree in that subject from that school with that GPA was an open door for him. I agree with what others have said - right or wrong I think there is a perception that STEM graduates are more intelligent/diligent. My boys attended a charter STEM public school for several years. People would camp out overnight in front of the school to try and get their child on a waiting list, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. They taught the same curriculum as the other "regular" public schools and had the same number of computers in the classrooms as my dad did when he retired from teaching 4th grade in 1993. While I understand it takes time and budget money to really get specialized in STEM subjects, I was left with the idea that STEM is a lot of smoke and mirrors that is buzzword hot right now. Now that we home school I feel like my kids are becoming better learners as we concentrate on history, literature, grammar AS WELL AS science and math. (Of course, DH wants them to go into a STEM field in hopes that it will provide them with more job security than, say, my theatre major...) :D

When I say "able" I mean emotionally, not just physically and/or financially able to care for aging parents. While I do believe we are all called to honor our mothers and fathers, sometimes the most practical and effective way to do that is to have distance and really, really good boundaries, regardless of anyone's life stage. I am like you - I hope I have a relationship with my children when they are grown where we will care for each other respectfully and kindly based on mutual love. :grouphug:

One of my dearest friends cleans houses for a living, and she has several elderly folks she cleans for. She has now had to cut back on her houses she cleans because she is taking some of these folks to doctor appointments, PT, etc. At least one of these ladies has a grown child living nearby who could do this running (does not work, is healthy, and has no children), but doesn't. Admittedly, I don't know the specifics, but in a situation where an adult child just chooses not to help their aging parent...well, I think that's profoundly sad. There are many reasons why it may not be possible, but in the scenario where an adult child doesn't want to accommodate that need? :001_huh: Sometimes in life you put on your big girl panties and do the right thing. (And before any big girl panties get in a twist, let me reiterate that I know there are LOTS of completely valid reasons why adult children may not be ABLE to care for their aging parents. But just not wanting to? Nah. Not cool for me.)

Do I expect my kids to help care for DH and I when we are older? Yes. What that means or how that looks depends significantly on the situation. It may mean living with them, it may mean them visiting regularly and being an active part of my care in a nursing home. As others have said, there is no one size fits all answer, but I do believe that caring for aging parents is a part of being in a family. While care or circumstances may necessitate it, I can't see any of my sisters or cousins putting our parents/aunts/uncles in a nursing home unless it was medically necessary. We've always cared for the elderly in our family in their homes as long as possible. While I can't give you the specifics of what I expect, I can sum it up by saying I do expect my children to be an active presence in my life when I am old.

My 8 year old is demanding "help" on a word search he is doing for spelling. The main issue is not the word search - he enjoys them and is good at them recreationally, but that he doesn't want to do it. He is pleading for "help". After many minutes of constant grumbling, I had him bring me the book to make sure all the words were there. (They are.) He has already found several, and wants to call that "done". I am not a fan of extra work for the sake of work, but I am also a believer that sometimes in life you do what you have to do, not what you want to do, and you do it to completion. I am not sure what "help" looks like in this instance, short of me finding the words for him...which is what he wants me to do...which feels a lot like me doing second grade spelling...which feels weird seeing as I already DID second grade spelling myself. How much "help" do you give your kids and what does that help look like? I honestly don't believe I should be working harder at their schoolwork than they do. While I accept that teaching and instruction is my job, doing the actual work is theirs. Or am I not getting something???

Big fans here! It's the one show DH and I both really hate to miss!

It is a rainy day. We had a very busy weekend so I didn't get a chance to do lesson planning. It os one of those days when I wish I had some ideas that are a little out of the box as far as what we can do for home schooling without a ton of advanced planning. What are some semi-fun, educational things you might do for home school on a day like today?

We are taking our first real family vacation in YEARS soon. :D Unfortunately we are staying at a place where we cannot take our two dogs, so we will be boarding them. We've boarded them before, but they were in separate little cages, and they were massively stressed out when we got home. If you have more than one dog, do you have them boarded together? We are looking at a place that has really nice runs for each dog, with lots of outside time, walks, etc. But I am not sure whether to have them board together or in separate areas. They get along really, really well, but they are...quirky...and I wonder if the stress of being in a new place might make it difficult to keep them together happily. But then I wonder if being together would keep the stress levels down... And I am just dorky enough about my dogs that I won't be able to enjoy our vacation if I think they aren't surviving well. :)

She. Is. Evil. I have always prided myself on her regularity, right down to the time of day she arrived. Oh, that ship has sailed. I have had 15 and 17 day cycles mixed in with 35 and 38 day cycles. I can't decide what I spend more money on - pregnancy tests or "fem care". ARGH. I'm ready for this to be O.V.E.R.

I am so glad to see this thread. I am 39, periods are suddenly very irregular, hot flashes, night sweats, etc.

We have finally decided to vacation in Destin the second week of October. :) We are looking to rent a house for the five of us with a private pool. My question for FL folks is - do we need a HEATED pool the second week in October? Or will pool water still be warm enough to swim without having a heated pool? Thanks!

We don't go on vacations as a family much at all since we live away from family and most all vacation time is spent visiting them. However, we have decided we need to get away, just the five of us. I need some ideas! :bigear: Here are the perimeters DH gave me. 1. Within 10ish hour driving distance. (We live in middle TN.) 2. Do not stay in a hotel - condo, cottage, or someplace with more than one room for all of us. 3. Traveling second week in October. Here's what I know from the very little we've vacationed. 1. We do like the beach. We went once to Gulf Shores and had a great time. 2. We do not like to do a TON of running around/sightseeing. We don't mind a day here or there of visiting somewhere, but we are big fans of chilling. 3. Disney is out. My husband would rather claw his eyes out with a spoon. (sigh.) I have been on VRBO and so far I have thought about going back to Gulf Shores, maybe Destin, or Myrtle Beach. I seriously can't even THINK of anywhere else! Any ideas????

your 40th birthday? We aren't in a position to say "money is no object", but DH really wants to do something special for my 40th next March. I have no good ideas. :001_huh: Would you want to go on a trip? Have a party? Receive a special gift? Would love to see how others would want to celebrate.

In the moment, run warm water over the insides of your wrists. Also recommend Tai Chi. Great for movement and breathing. It isn't fun. Hang in there! :grouphug:

I watch Steelers football like it's my JOB. :coolgleamA:

We had one for about five years. It worked just fine for us - no major problems at all with it. Reliable. It didn't have many of the bells and whistles, and after we had it for several years I wished for auto door opener, especially when youngest DS was in carseat. But that was probably 7 or 8 years ago, so I imagine things have changed. We liked it. Had no problems with it, and it rode well on long trips. :)

How many frozen meals do you have in your freezer at a time? How much do you make up serving wise - enough for family or single serve? How often do you make/freeze meals? Favorite meals to freeze? Also, do you think an upright freezer is worth the $$$ over a chest freezer for freezing meals? (Can you tell I am a woman on a mission that will, perhaps, put the local fast food joints out of business...)

Went wheat/gluten/dairy/soy free for about 8 months a few years ago after some major medical issues. (Yeah. I ate A LOT of vegetables.) I was not what people would have called "overweight" by any means, but within 6 weeks I had lost 17 pounds and felt better than I had in YEARS. I didn't realize how bloated I was, until...well, I wasn't. I have not read this book, and since this time even when I have personally experienced dramatic results from changing my eating, I struggle daily. (DAILY) with eating choices. Our youngest DS is wheat sensitive. He lost 7 pounds and wasn't puffy after 4 weeks wheat free. But I agree with what a previous poster wrote - it may not work for everyone. Healthy choices don't look the same for every person or every family.

I'm thankful I know how to do martial arts. I wish I could do martial arts without peeing myself. (Darn childbearing.) :001_huh: I also wish I could build stuff, tap dance, speak DD's native language more fluently, read Braille. Working on most of those...slowly.