DH and I are each still on our parents' plans, lol. They seem fine with it; I've offered to exit a few times, or pay for my share, or for overages, etc.--I get a "no, that's fine" each time. And my dad offered to add DD on a 5th line recently; said his bill would actually go down? So speaking theoretically, if it were a better deal all around, I guess we'd do the same, but likely have them pay in. So they can "feel" the phone, if that makes sense?

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I won't answer [the poll] because I don't have a garage, but if we did, I think we'd use it for storage and not parking.

Nope, sure wouldn't. A) I don't consider myself a teacher. I consider myself a mommy and a facilitator. B) I've run into several classroom teachers, and they don't seem to like homeschoolers all that much, and I'm not good with adversity. C) The information wouldn't be useful for me. D) Was it in the evening you said? I don't do evening things all that much.

Haven't paid federal income tax yet. AND get thousands back every year. Literally, $0 for twelve years now. Biggest state bill was a few hundred. Payroll taxes for Medicare and SSI, yes. That's not what funds Medicaid, as I understand it. We have never actually paid for the services we received. And we live in a gap state, so we don't pay the penalty now, either. And still get thousands back. We use it to pay for healthcare. :) Edited because I can't type anymore.

It's because they don't know the answer, and don't know who to ask, and probably don't care. One of many reasons why we are self-pay, even when we were in the Medicaid bracket. BUT, we are a relatively healthy, NT family and don't incur much expense.

Girls and guys can't ever just be friends, lol. Well friendship is a good foundation for a healthy romantic relationship, after all. I wouldn't say anything either, I don't think. Except to suggest that they shouldn't assume someone is gay, no matter how "gay" they appear. I mean, that's what I would do with my own kids, not necessarily what you should do with yours. :) Knowing does change the dynamic, but it doesn't have to end the friendship. I friend zoned a really good buddy once, and that sucked and he was sad, but I really think it was better; he would have ended up more hurt if I hadn't, with the way I was at that stage of life. We stayed friends until I got married.

My issue with summer is I try to do our normal daily routine AND the added seasonal responsibilities (gardening, mowing, moving 7 tons of mulch, pool visits, more friends wanting to do more stuff, family reunions, holidays, etc.). it's HOT. Plus we have a June, August, and September birthday. DH is busier and grumpier because his work is outside and psychologically seasonal. So, in short, summer sucks around here. Our official school year begins the first Monday of August and is year round; I'll have to write progress reports in a couple of weeks. Add to that our sick pets recently (dog surgery in April, dog CCL injury in April, dog weird face last month, sick/dead hamster last week), household repairs/upgrades, a brief clothes hunt for my rapidly growing DD, broken and poorly working mowers, and I don't know what else, lol. I'd say "I'm not sure how I get it all done!" but I don't get anything done, really. I'm just running around putting out fires, and probably will be in the winter, except it won't be so HOT and the grass will be dead. I need a nap. Or AstroTurf. Or both. :lol:

I do think in these terms (sort of; "wishes" is not the right term), but it's not as severe as it comes across, and I guess it helps because I don't think my husband does. He tends to think in terms of mutual respect, which is right. I see the two as dove-tailing, rather than opposing. If DH "puts his foot down" about something, that is the rule. It's rare, and usually not offensive things. With desires, I try to accommodate those, but am not always able to, and he's ok with that. He may want tacos tonight, for example. And if I have the stuff, I'll make them. If I don't, I'll put it on the menu for next week. Not making tacos just because he said he wanted them isn't insubordination, unless he commanded I make tacos. And then he wouldn't be being godly. Make sense? I think you're thinking in military terms, which is ok. I've used that analogy with the kids. I want to be very careful using terms like superior/inferior and defiant/insubordinate because the concept is abused by some professed Christians, and because the Christian marriage has a specific dynamic of mutual sacrifice and submission in which that terminology is safely played out, whereas if that dynamic is absent, the door is open for a lot of abuse. I'm sure others have addressed that at this point; I just wanted to respond to this.

Just responding to OP here. We're sort of traditional, in that he works, and I stay home. We're sort of not in that I pretty much do everything that's not paid employment (or at least try). But again, traditional in that I wouldn't feel diminished if he decided to do all the "man" stuff around here. And I never want to work ever. Where it looks really traditional is decision making. He gets the final call, unless he says it's up to me. If we go on vacation, I'll do all the sifting through rental listings and come up with 10-12, toss them at him, and he'll come up with his top three, and I'll go book, starting with his first pick. Then again, one could really spin that either way, because I'm the first filter, but it's his top pick that I go for first when booking. If I don't manage to succeed, I feel bad, but he's fine. Now for he first half of our marriage, I did just wordlessly enact any and every preference he expressed, without him demanding that or even really being aware of it. I learned not to do that, but that looked traditional, but it was just me at the time, not our faith or his dominance or anything like that. I'm mostly cured of that, though. Now I'll put my two cents in, but still--if I want floors and he says we need siding more, we get siding. If I like colors A B or C and he likes F, we'll go with F unless I just hate it (which I wouldn't), for a few reasons: 1) I don't care that much, 2) it's not worth a fuss, and 3) he has a better eye than I do. If it's something that I do care about and is worth a fuss, I'll (respectfully) dig in my heels. I didn't once and still regret it, though at this point, I can sort of see his side of the issue. So I don't know if you'd class that as egalitarian or complementarian, traditional or contemporary. I think a good marriage has aspects of all four of those labels and that marriage roles go much deeper than who takes out the trash or does the dishes. :)

:grouphug: s and prayers.

Orthodox here (or nearly, anyway). I just recently muddled through this question after an unexpected compulsion to cover a couple months ago (in a parish that mostly doesn't). I do during church services and formal prayer times at home. Because I want to. Like I wear long skirts in public most of the time and I could probably wear my swimsuit unnoticed in a restaurant. I feel more "me" that way, more authentic. At this point, to do the "normal" thing, I'd be uncomfortably wearing someone else's ideals. :) Plus, I've spent years doing the opposite (no hair covering/dyed hair, skimpy/weird clothes, string bikinis), so I figure I've BTDT enough. :D

Happy birthday!!! :hurray:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: More prayers.

Hawaiian pizza

I'm so sorry for the newest development! What a rotten addition to your family's holiday. More prayers for everyone. :grouphug:

My boys come in the bathroom with me still. There are a few places I know well where I'll send them in alone, but on the road like that, I'd take them with me. If someone pitched a fit, then we could step outside until they were done and on their way. Rest areas occasionally have family bathrooms, and I use those when they're available. ETA: exception are single stall restrooms; I'll of course send them in alone there. My concern is random weird stranger where I am unaware/can't react. I'd still help a 4-year-old as needed with bathroom stuff, but successful use of the facilities isn't my hesitation in public.

Praying!! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

This. My friend recently got into one, and she's excited and I'm happy for her. I'm not signing up, though. But I wish her well. :) So far she hasn't been pushy or said anything nuts like your friend, though.

I actually just donate to the local outreach/thrift store. But my stuff is mostly books and activities as opposed to texts and workbooks.

:lol: I love this poll. They let us cover them, but they don't cover themselves. The Boxer will bury her head if we rumple a blanket up enough, though.

Praying!! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Neither clean nor tidy! But there's not old banana peels in there, or anything. Just grass, dog hair, dirt. Stray wrappers, boxes for recycling, stuff from church...hehe. I was raised much better, I promise. I just didn't listen. ;)

All good points, thanks!! We'll proceed then, with awareness. :D