I was like this as a teen and I'm still like this today. Honestly, I'm not really sure that much can be done. You can try giving him opportunities to talk with other teens one on one, rather than in a group. Sometimes that helps. But when I was a teen, I didn't really want my parents helping me make friends. Some people are just really shy. Today, I don't really have friends. I'm just not comfortable talking to people unless I know them very, very well. And it's hard to know them very, very well if it's difficult to initiate conversations with them LOL.

:iagree: This is what we do. In the morning, I may say "DD, I'm going to need you to vacuum today....I'll let you know when." When I need her to do it, I say "DD, I need you to go ahead and vacuum....finish up what you are doing and then grab the vacuum. I'll check behind you when you are finished." I don't assign chores. I just expect the kids (mainly DD7) to help when needed since she lives here. When I need her to bring her laundry to the washer, I just ask her. She knows it is her responsibility to feed/water the dogs each evening....I do usually have to remind her. This works out well for us.

Awesome!!! Purging is kind of fun!

Just checking in for an update.....I hope that your son is okay!

Why can't I find deals like that??? That's awesome!!!

LOL! This made me laugh for some reason!

How cute!!! What a neat experience....your kids must love it!

My 4 year old does that too....decides that she just doesn't like a food anymore. And it's usually a vegetable. :glare:

We don't have night stands. :tongue_smilie:

Glad you guys got some peace of mind! Hopefully he will just take off within the next month!

Definitely have the vet check his urine...it could be an infection. My parents have a male cat that suddenly began peeing on the couch. Only on the couch. They had him checked and he had a bladder infection. A few days on antibiotics and he's never done it again.

I spray lemon juice on the apples to keep them from turning.

We pack our lunch to go alot of places. We have homeschool group every Wednesday (but not during the summer) so we pack a lunch for that too. I'm a big fan of small rubbermaid/gladware containers, so usually I fill those with a variety of the following: PB&J sandwich, cut up Nutella sandwich, cut up strawberries grapes watermelon apple slices graham crackers (with PB or Nutella to dip in) cheddar bunnies small salad with a small container of dressing bagel with cream cheese round crackers, squares of cheese and pepperoni to make a cracker sandwich squirrel wedges (nuts, PB, honey, Nutella blended together and spread between whole wheat tortillas and cut into wedges) cubes of cheese mini deli sandwich (Hawaiian roll with mayo, with lunchmeat and cheese in the middle) rolled up lunch meat with a toothpick to keep it rolled up) Sometimes, I even head things up and put them in a thermos.... hot dogs chicken nuggets Bernie O's (organic spaghettio's) mac-n-cheese mini chicken sandwich (Hawaiian roll with mayo on it and a chicken nugget in the middle) Hmm....that's all I can think of right now.

Thanks for all the replies!! Upon your recommendations, I just ordered Dancing Bears and the Apples and Pears books. I can't wait until they arrive. We're going to get started right away. From looking through them online, they seem very good!

I was going to post something very similar to this thread LOL. Glad you did it! We're down here in FL in the scorching heat and I'm 20 weeks pregnant. So we are staying indoors for the most part. But I'm taking one day a week for fun day (we're schooling through the summer due to my 2 week hiatus for morning sickness earlier this year). I'm going to try to pick a few kid friendly movies to attend this summer...Cars 2 being one of them. Our library has lots of activities, so I'll print out their calendar and circle the ones that sound interesting. About 5 minutes away from us is one of those indoor inflatable jumping places...I may go there once. It will probably be very crowded though. I really don't like trying to keep track of my kids in a crowd. As for home, we've done the bath tub idea, but we did it with shaving cream instead. It worked well....just gotta remind the kids not to rub their eyes. I think I'll visit Michael's or AC Moore to a get a few craft supplies to have a craft day. That's all I have LOL....I hope that someone replies with more ideas.

Welcome!! This place is definitely a wealth of knowledge! I don't go to the conferences to actually look at curriculum. I just go cause they are fun LOL. When I get there, I usually already know what I'm going to buy. I just like to be around other homeschoolers and use it as an excuse to stay in a fancy hotel for a good price and take a mini vacation LOL.

Both of my DD's used to take Miralax (and I've even used it on occasion). It is VERY easy on your tummy, but it works wonders. There's no cramping, no sudden urge to have to run to the bathroom, etc. It might take a bit of testing to figure out your dosage (based on the firmness of your poop lol). You can not get Miralax without a prescription as well.

If my child were ready, then I'd go ahead and start them. If they want to learn and are capable of doing kindergarten materials, then in my opinion there's no reason to wait. Now if you begin and he resists more work, then I'd back off.

Today I got up, packed up our school materials, and headed to Chick-Fil-A. The kids think this is so great. We school for about 20 minutes, then I send them off to the play area for about 10 minutes. We've accomplished reading, math, and vision therapy work in record time. Next up is language and Bible, then we will head home for science. When I came in I bought us all lemonades, and we ate lunch here as well. I wouldn't just come in to sit without purchasing something. We may try this a few more times this summer!

No, this is not common practice. I'm a photographer myself and she should have gotten a signed release from you. I'd call her on it. Usually a photographer will offer something in return for a model release.

Infant Swim Resource (ISR) sent us ours....I think they are pretty much like the ones at Target. Ours never got pooped in though.

The auditory program we're using is Fast ForWord. I hope it is doing something....it is EXPENSIVE! I think I'll check in to all the things you guys mentioned. Something needs to change.

I've never heard of that. I think it would be fine. We have an upright freezer in ours...looks just like a fridge, but it's a freezer only.

If you are weird, then I'm weird too. :D My DD's are not really old enough to spend the night anywhere yet, but when they are, they will not be allowed to. Trouble comes from sleepovers. I would have no problem with a child coming over here to sleep though. Call it a double standard, but I don't care. I honestly *don't* trust other parents. I know that my children are safe here, there's no guns, no drugs, no alcohol, we supervise at all times, etc. I cannot guarantee that for other people's homes, no matter how great of a family they may seem from the outside looking in. If the parents do not like the double standard, then they do not have to allow their child to sleep over here. That's their prerogative and I have mine. The only two exceptions are my parents house.....and probably one of DH's cousins who has three girls of their own. Our parenting styles are pretty identical and we know them very well. But at this point, the only place my 7 year old has stayed is my parents house....and my 4 year old has never even stayed there. And for the record, I'd be TOTALLY ticked off at your DD's friends mother for trying to undermine your authority.

Thanks for all the replies! I do think we'll skip this series. My daughters are the type to hear sassing or a mean word and say "ooooooh, she's not supposed to say that!" So they'll be forever asking why Junie is saying mean things when it is wrong.