You all have given her a lot to think about with your posts. Thank you! First a foremost, she needs to make sure it is legal in her state. After that, I think you are all correct about finding a family and having to share the same values and ideals. It would be tough to find the right family, but it sounds like it really could work out if that right family was found. How could she market this? I told her that obviously news paper, etc. but does anyone else have other ideas.

I have a friend who has a masters in Education and she is thinking of trying to find work as a "home teacher" - that is, she wants to make herself available to families who may desire to homeschool their kids but can not afford not to work, etc. Do you think this is something that would really "go over?" I mean, part of the reason I homeschool is to be with my kids all day and teach them. However, my former pastor's wife wanted to homeschool their son and could not quit working, so she hired a former teacher to homeschool her son. It worked out becautifully. So, do you think my friend is on to something? If so, how could she "market" herself? I am totally clueless as this is not something I would personally do...so I thought I would ask the hive. Thanks in advance!

Oh I would be worried too...not because he is not okay (I am sure he is!) but because that is your child and it is natural to worry when they are in an uncertain situation. Bless his heart. I sure hope he gets to Poland on the next flight!

This is something that particularly touches me because my dh flies often. I remember hearing the news of the flight that landed in the Hudson River a few weeks ago as i was driving. They called the flight number over the radio and my heart just sank. At that time, they were calling it a crash. My husband was NOT flying that day...but I knew that someone's husband (wife, child, etc) was. It is a touchy thing for me...not because of uncertainity as much as the fact that very rarely do plane crashes end "happily." Often, we can walk away from a car wreck...but very rarely can the same be said for a plane crash victim. :(

My prayers are with you all. The Lord has blessed us beyond belief and I can see now that job decisions my husband made years ago that I did not agree with (but he made them anyway) were all the work of God. He led my husband to the right place, the right career that is not, at this time, in jeopardy. I forget sometimes to be thankful for this, but in times as hard as they are for many right now, I am all too thankful. At the same time, I know that we are not exempt from these things and that, at any moment, we could very well be the ones needing financial prayers. My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to each and every one of you. God bless!

I will have a 5th grader next year. Here is my plan for him: LLATL Purple CW Homer A/Poetry for Beginners A Growing with Grammar 5 Singapore 4B & 5A/EP/IP/CWP 3 SOTW I Child’s History of America Spelling Power Calvert Spelling 5 CD/Everyday Spelling Book NOEO Biology 2 Pentime 5 Geography US Discovery Bible Genesis Vocabulary Connections E Latin for Children P.E, Art, and Music are all done through Co-op.

I started with 1A and then immediately realized we needed to drop back to Singapore Earlybird level B. We did this, cemented the concept of number bonds, and now we are off and running with Singapore 1A. I take each lesson VERY slowly. Right now, we are doing the number bonds for 6-9 and we did one number per day. We made posters together to hang in the classroom, we used manipulatives and linking blocks, etc. - just to introduce the bonds. My plan is to go slowly, pick apart the lessons, use the extra practice and intensive practice, and just take our time. My ds is 5.5 and he has plenty of time to go quickly in math later. If it takes a year to do 1A, then it takes a year to do 1A. :) HTH

I chose the $401-$600 option, but this is true really only for my oldest. My youngest does a lot of stuff combined with my oldest, so the cost goes WAY down for him. For next year, I spent approximately $600 buying USED mostly on this board for my oldest (5th grade). My youngest (combo 1st/2nd grade), I spent only $150 buying used here and combining with brother for a few things. :) ETA: This does not include our co-op classes, extra activities, or anything else (supplies, etc). This is ONLY curriculum.

Gosh...the reaction your youngest had to the spilled and wiped up milk IS scary. :(

Ummm...would you like some white rice made with water? Plain? Bless your hearts!

Okay...EEK! I could NEVER do that! And my gosh...you can't be very old and you had led a "happy and full life." I consider "full" to be like when I am pushin' 100! They are doing the test on the animal's brain. It did not bite me or scratch me and I did not even touch it. All that happened was the wind blew while I was standing near where it died. There was no excessive drool or saliva, etc. Even if the animal did test positive for Rabies, I am still not sure I have anything to worry about seeing as how we were out in the open, there was no real saliva present, and if there was, could the wind suddenly cause it to be an aerosol that was concentrated enough to blow directly into my eyes and up my nose? I am thinking SURELY not. SURELY?! If there is a chance, it is about 1 in a trillion. Otherwise, there would be a lot of old farmers dying of rabies infections. I can't even imagine how many farmers have killed coons that were attacking their cattle or getting in their corn and then just picked the body up with their hands and tossed the coon off to the side of the farm. I mean, if Rabies was that quick to become airborne, we would be dealing with something REALLY scary, right?

Oh no, your post didn't sound snarky to me at all. I am used to dealing with this OCD and while it is crippling at times, it is definitely is something I am learning to get control over. I see a therapist and take medication for this condition. Sometimes, I just need people to remind me I am crazy and that my thinking doesn't make sense.

I wouldn't, personally, pay her over $50. That translates to $25 an hour and that is a very good price for the service (unless you are a total slob and she has to clean human poo off of things. In that case, maybe there isn't enough money....LOL)

I am sorry, but I would have loved to be there for this picture. That rooster reminds me of my youngest son when dealing with his brother! LOL Sorry, no chicken and dumplins recipes. Besides, rooster is not the best tasting meat anyway.

I think that is the beauty of homeschooling! My younger son is doing all 1st grade work and is only 5.5. I call him Kindergarten for reporting purposes, but he knows that he is really a 1st grader. :) Tell you son that obviously he IS a 5th grader...he is doing 5th grade work. Whether you call it skipping a grade or not, it appears that he has, in fact, skipped a grade. KWIM? :)

113 for my oldest and 124 for my youngest out of 180. We had P.E. today...all day long. LOL :)

LOL - this is the absurdity. I read somewhere that rabies could become airborne. I called the CDC and they confirmed. So...my OCD mind drew the conclusion that OBVIOUSLY the raccoon leaked a bit of rabbid saliva on the ground and the wind kicked up and the virus became airborne long enough to go into my nostrils and eyes. Then, my POOR husband was kind enough to come home, listen to me cry, and then get online and find out that a total of 4 people in HISTORY have contracted rabies from an airborne method. 2 lab workers who had the virus in aerosol form and did not protect themselves properly...and two men who went into a bat cave in the 60's with millions of bats. Other methods of transmission were not 100% ruled out in any of the cases. That is it. I feel SO STUPID. The CDC didn't know the research...they just said "in lab situations and places of high concentration" which to me could have meant saliva on the ground stirred up by the wind. Oh, I hate how my brain works. :( Thank you all for your responses.

Well, I got pregnant at 19. It wasn't fun, nor was I really porud of it. However, the one thing that really helped me was my family and friends who were THERE for me. That is all you really can do. You can do that, and you can thank GOD she trusted you enough to tell you at all. Honestly, you want her not to go to CA. Hmmm...if she is pregnant, she very well may not be making that trip. All you can do right now is pray for her (as I am sure you do if you are of faith) and be there for her. Like I said, thank God she came to you and told you at all. I was not on such terms with my mom when I first thought I was pregnant and your daughter is showing a really volunerable side of herself by letting you in on this. She must be scared and she needs here mama right now.

I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing? :( (that rarely, it is transmitted through contamination of a mucous membrane). :( The uncertainity here is what really bothers me. They have the raccoon now and I have no way of even knowing where it is or who has it.

I am going to try to make a long story short. I need some reassurance here. Today I came home to find a full grown raccoon in my front yard. It was staring at me and not moving from that one spot in my yard. I called a police officer because my dh is at work, my FIL is gone, and my uncle who lives next door was out in the field working. Police officer came and tried to scare the raccoon away. It would hobble 5-6 steps and then stop and sit down. Obviously, it was not well at all. It never growled or hissed at the officer, but also did not run away and was out in the middle of day in the middle of an open field. The officer shot and killed it to be on the safe side. After it was dead, I came out of the house and gave him two trash bags because he is taking it off to be tested for Rabies. I was standing there as he bagged the animal and this huge gust of wind came and blew the leaves/dirt up and the bag swung around in his hand (with the raccoon in it). Now, you all probably know I am a hypochondriac, and rabies is one of my big issues. I was not concerned and felt I had protected myself and the kids well by staying inside and letting the officer take care of things. Then, I was careful not to touch the animal as it lay on the ground. I even went so far as to not touch the shovel in the same place the officer had touched with his hand after touching the tail of the animal (he ended up not using the shovel at all). Then, I made the mistake of googling. I was actually looking to see if the symptoms could still fit "rabies" since the raccoon was not agressive and actually ran AWAY from the officer. I mean, it was obvious that it was hurt, but not obvious about rabies. There was no foaming, no drool, no aggression. The issue is that when I was reading at the CDC website, I found that in rare cases, Rabies can be inhaled. Now I am concerned that the gust of wind blew virus particles into the air and perhaps into my nose, eyes, and/or mouth. I thought this was absurd, but called the CDC anyway and was told that they just weren't sure if I had really been exposed. I proceeded to call other professionals and ask and got the same answer from everyone..."hmmm, I am not sure...let me ask so and so." :( Now I am a little freaked and am just not sure what to do. They are testing the raccoon, but it will not be back for 4-6 weeks because, as far as they are concerned, no one was bitten/exposed. If I did happen to be exposed, it would show up before the testing came back. Okay, someone please tell me I am crazy. :001_unsure:

I would absolutely NOT let my daughter who is from 12-17 read this book! Absolutely not. Ever. I read it, I loved it. But there are things in there that disturb me...and I am not a prude. I am not terribly anxious about pre-marital sex, etc as it appears in a book. It is just the "you are my life" "there is no Heaven with you in it" "I will give my life for you."

You go buy a pregnancy test and take it. ;)

I think it was a beautiful and selfless thing to do. HOWEVER, I am not sure I would have ever let someone else nurse my children. With diseases the way they are now and the fact that you just never know about someone only based on the way they look and act, I just don't think I could do that. I suppose this has as much to do with my OCD as anything else, but wow. It would have to be a very close friend or the baby of a very close friend for me to consider it.

My dh loves his Rav-4.

I remember you posting earlier this week as to the "reason." I thought it was just NUTS then, and I don't feel any differently now. I can't imagine leaving my children for ANY reason, ever - other than death. I know a mother (unfortunately the mother of one of my best guy-friends in highschool) who took who own life due to mental illness. She thought she was doing them all a FAVOR. She totally ruined their lives. :(