I did some babysitting as a pre-teen, but my first paid job was as a DJ at the local radio station when I was 15. It was awesome, most of the time. :)

When our oldest ds got his license, he didn't want to drive much, so he used our minivan and we paid everything, including the increased insurance. After he graduated and got a job, we bought a car for him, with the understanding that he would pay us back within 15 mo. He is now covering all expenses, gas, tags, repairs, and paying us back early. It's been a good experience for him to know this is his responsibility. 😊

Me! Me! Going with dh Sunday...all by our lonesomes 😄 for our 19th anniversary.

My kids have desktops in their rooms and tablets floating around somewhere. We don't buy them a phone until they need it for communication purposes when they start doing activities solo, and then it is a prepaid, dumb phone. Once they get a job and can afford it, they can buy themselves a smart phone, lol. Generally, we've had few problems with inappropriate searches on the internet. Dh has software set up to track everything they do/click/search for/etc. (He's our resident tech genius.) He and I don't constantly monitor them, but they know that everything they do will be logged and can be checked at any time, so that helps with accountability. (He and I are transparent about our internet usage with each other also, fyi.) The few times someone tried to sneak a search for something instead of asking us, it was pretty obvious by their general behavior/demeanor that something was up. I know my kids pretty well. We used these incidents as a starting point for conversations that needed to happen. It was not the end of the world. Now, in general, do I wish that my kids spent less time on a screen? Yes, sometimes. :) But it's a techy world nowadays, and I agree with previous posters who said that they have to learn to self regulate at some point, so better to do it now with my and dh's guidance.

Apologies if this has been mentioned already. My migraines start with visual auras, and as soon as I see the "flashing" I take 2 extra strength Tylenol and a big dose of caffeine. For me, that's as much Pepsi or coke as I can get down quickly. That makes them bearable. Hugs to you... I know everyone has different methods of dealing, hth. Migraines suck.

My dh says I only snore when on my back. After a few nights when neither of us slept ( him because of poking me, and me because of being poked, lol ), tempers were very short. Our solution was to pin an old sock to the back of my shirt at night, with a tennis ball in it. It kept me from sleeping on my back, and after a few days adjustment, didn't feel awkward at all. Now, I rarely wake up because of rolling over onto my back; if I do and need to correct position, it happens without me waking up.

Thank you both for responding! :)

Does anyone have experience with swollen ovaries? How would you tell if it's that, as opposed to a cyst? My left ovary swells and is sore around ovulation and during my period, but is not painful or enlarged at other times. Several OBGYNs have dismissed my concerns, because it's never painful when I'm in for an appt.

I have four boys, ages 18, 14, 12, and 8. There is a good amount of horsing around, good naturedly. But we try to emphasize that everyone has a "bubble" of personal space that is to be respected, so they don't get into any serious physical altercations. Hitting and things like that are not allowed as a solution to disagreements. Also, we made it clear that if anyone hurts their brother, we will be taking the hurt kid to the ER, with the offending brother footing the bill.

Holy cow! The thought of this dragging out for months would make me cry!

Thanks for the advice! I feel better in general, no fever, the tightness in my chest is mostly gone, my cough is increasingly productive, etc. I just hate being sick and sitting when there's so much to do. I'm never sick, and I feel so guilty that dh and the older kids are having to pick up my slack. And the dizzy episode earlier scared me a little. I'll see how things go tonight/tomorrow, and keep resting.

ok, I got sick 8 days ago. Woke up feverish and weak, and slept all of Saturday and Sunday. Monday I felt a little better, but still having fever and chills, alternating, and developed a cough. Tuesday and Wednesday I couldn't do anything on my feet beyond get to the bathroom without feeling light headed, so dh made me go to the walkin clinic. Dr gave me an albuterol treatment and did a chest X-ray to check on pneumonia, and sent me home with a steroid pack, albuterol inhaler, and antibiotics. Friday (day7) they said there's no pneumonia, only bronchitis. I've been resting as much as humanly possible and doing all the meds on schedule, but today (Sun.), I just had a spell of light headed ness again! Dh wants me to go back to a regular dr tomorrow, because I'm not improving as fast as we would like. Any opinions for me? Go to the dr? don't go to the dr? Am I expecting too much too soon? TIA

Everyone here has a bag/box for their toiletries, so toothbrushes are all stored in those, and hauled into the bathroom when needed. Older boys have a modern-looking shaving bag. Younger kids have pencil boxes from Walmart.

Mac and cheese

I hate storms and snow, but your setup sounds heavenly! Lol ;)

I wish. This would be an area where I should communicate better with dh. He wants to eat a certain type and amount of food for weight loss/health reasons (preferences, not requirements) and I've done it for several years now. I could cook differently for the rest of us, but that means two meals, every meal. :( I should be supportive of this, but I'm really struggling with it right now.

I'm to the point where I hate cooking and everything pertaining to it, even though it would appear that I have a good system. We have the same thing every week. Spaghetti Monday, chicken Tuesday, Salisbury steak Wed., chicken Thurs., burgers Friday. Saturday is pizza night (carry out), and Sunday lunch is chili. I'm so sick of this, I usually skip dinner and snack later. I wish I could cook whatever I want. I'd love to plan-shop-cook that way. Sigh...

Thank you for clearing that up for me! I was beginning to worry that I had done something wrong in trying to earn points, lol. :)

Kind of off topic, but maybe someone can help me. We have the amazon card for points, but none are showing up. Do you have to let your purchases stay on the balance until the next bill comes before the amounts count toward points? I've been paying ours off as soon as a charge processes, because we don't want to run up a big bill.

This! A hundred times I would like this, if it were possible. Lots and lots of hugs too. Tyrannical in-laws suck. Also, I think you and your dh need to be a team when relating to them. There is no way he should be listening to them rant about you for 90 min. (Sorry if I took that too literally...'cause wow - that's awful!)

There are extended versions. We have them. Not as much added back in as the original trilogy extended versions, it seemed, but we like it. It just seems to flow better in the ext. version. ;)

Me too! ;) I kept telling dh that they need an Ergo or something, but then they finally did and I was like wtheck?! LOL

I'm glad Carol survived; she's my favorite character. But I was really hoping it would be Abraham or Tyrese to go. I would've liked to see Beth's relationship with Daryl play out. Oh, well. It's getting harder and harder for me to get past the weak (IMHO) writing. Turning their backs to the cops during the hostage swap? Michonne wearing the baby while going out to fight a herd of walkers? When Sasha let the cop trick her so he could bash her from behind? I don't get it. Hopefully by Feb. I'll be over it and eager for my next fix, lol! :)

I know it's not most people's style, but my favorite Christmas movies (for adults only, of course) are: First Blood Die Hard The Long Kiss Goodnight Lethal Weapon Cobra ...and It's a Wonderful Life and Scrooge (Alistair Sim version)

We don't do trick or treating either, never have. We do a fairly elaborate treasure hunt for candy at home instead. So, I'd probably let my dd go a bit late to the sleepover, so as to skip the t-or-t, if she's ok with that. I'd probably approach the hosting parents by saying that we had something planned for the earlier part of the evening, but dd would love to attend the sleepover part, if they're ok with her arriving late. I agree that going along but keeping it from dh would be a bad idea. ;)