No....you're not a bad mom. If you don't like animals then there's no reason to own any. You'll just resent having to care for it. That being said, children DO just have a natural attraction to animals....so I would try to provide a lot of opportunities for that curiosity. Things like petting zoos, visiting the animal shelter (possibly even volunteering once in a while), etc.

The only place I would purchase used from would be someone that I knew personally (and could rely on to be honest) or a refurbished one from the Apple website. I purchased my two DD's refurbished iPod Touches two years ago and they looked brand new!

With cats, I'd stay away from leather. We never allowed our cats on the couch, but they'd still get to playing and jump on the couch at times. They always left small tears in the leather (ours is black and you could still see it).

Thanks everyone! Wow, it's crazy how different it can present in each person! I think I'll wait until Monday unless she starts complaining of her throat a lot before then. The only thing that stinks is that she has an appointment with her opthamoligist on Monday morning and we've been waiting on that appointment for quite a while. I guess we'll just have to reschedule....hopefully we won't get charged a fee since I'll have to cancel only a few hours before her appointment on Monday morning. :glare:

On Tuesday my two DD's played with their friends. On Thursday we find out that their friends came down with strep throat. Last night DD4 begins running a fever and her nose is all stuffy. Would you automatically assume it's strep throat? I've had strep before and I was absolutely miserable, my throat was raw, and I couldn't eat a thing. I don't want DD4 to get to that point. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and take her to urgent care this morning? However, her throat is not hurting. And I looked up strep throat online and it said that if you have cold symptoms, that does not go along with strep. I don't know whether to take her in or not. I don't want her throat to get bad. But then again, she has cold symptoms. It just seems like too much of a coincidence that their friends came down with strep throat and now she has a fever. Since the fever just began last night, would a throat swab even pick up the strep yet?

Oooh, I love Tim Hawkins!! He comes to your HS convention?? Jealous!!!

I'm an extended nursing, co-sleeping mama....I've never had one nurse constantly through the night to the degree that your daughter wants to do, but I've had experiences on a smaller scale. What I'd probably do is this....do you have another room you and baby can sleep in for a week (assuming that you want to continue co-sleeping)? Even if you do not, I'd rearrange kids in order to have your own room for a week (could be two). Explain to her, if you think she will understand, that she cannot nurse all night long and that she can nurse to sleep but then the milk goes away for the night. Nurse her to sleep and then lie her down. If she wakes, soothe her, but without nursing her. If she cries with you there, so be it. You are not letting her cry it out if you are right there with her, soothing her. Continue this for as long as it takes. Keep reminding that the milk is night-night....or something of the sort. Does she take a pacifier? This is the main reason I introduced a pacifier to my kids early. I wanted something to sooth them at night other than nursing.

Is it a decent sized area? Is it blistering? If yes to those questions, then honestly, I would take her to the ER. Burns are really nothing to mess around with....they can be extremely painful and can become infected pretty easily. I'm so sorry this happened to your DD!

Yes, I have a blog....the link is in my signature for anyone interested. Why did you start it? I like to write and take photos....this is a way to display them for family/friends/anyone to see. What's its theme? Just our day to day life. Do you update it regularly? Well, I haven't much in the past month because I've had a lot of morning sickness and haven't felt like it....I did update it this morning though. Do you get paid to do it? No Or do you have one but find that you just don't give it the attention it needs? I go through spurts of neglecting it....but mostly, I try to write on a regular basis.

That poor, brave little boy. :sad:

I began learning photography when DD#1 was just a newborn. From there, I just studied, practiced, learned photo editing, and got better. I take occasional clients to make money sometimes, but I'm too busy right now to take on a full time business. Also, I occasionally create things in Photoshop such as birthday party invitations, collages, etc and I've sold them here and there....mostly eBay sometimes.

Ugh, I cannot stand Phillip LOL. Yeah, him and his pink drawers have got to go. One one hand I like Rob, on the other hand I think he's too cocky. I'm not really sure what to think of him.

I didn't read all the other replies, but no, I don't feel we are called to "hide" that we are Christians. I do not have a fish on my car, but it's not because I'm "hiding" it....it's just because I don't have one. I don't have anything stuck to my car.

Nothing of mine matches LOL. Plates, cups, towels, blankets, sheets, washcloths, etc....nope, none of it. I don't really care about things like that.

Maybe my best bet would be to get a Golden Doodle or a Labradoodle then. Then I could have the best of both worlds. :D But from what I've heard, the prices can be sort of crazy....so it may be a while LOL. Thanks for all the replies!

Yes!!! That was THE best Survivor moment everywhere!! And the fact that they threw the challenge, got everyone to work together, no one switched to Russell's side....it was a miracle that everything went off without a hitch but I'm so glad that it did! And then to see Matt beat Russell on Redemption Island....that was great too!!

I really don't think this is a homeschooling issue. I think it's a parenting issue in general. There's PLENTY of rude public and private schooled kids.

I like thumbing through them. I never read each and every article, but they are interesting. I'm a conservative Christian but we are not quiverfull (I despise pregnancy too much LOL) and I don't even own a dress or a skirt. I do admire most of the families I read about in there. I don't look at them and think that they are "superior" or "better than me." They inspire me to be better.

This is a great organization!! Our church had an alter call last year where tons of people just walked up there and left their shoes. Afterwards, they walked around church barefooted heading to their Sunday School classes and such. It was neat to see. Up at the alter I could see everything from $10 flip flops to $70 Nikes!

Definitely A

The Smoky Mountains are nice. Allllll sorts of cottages and cabins up there. We've stayed in several for large family gatherings. There's lots of hiking trails, waterfalls, you can sight see in Pigeon Forge, Maggie Valley, Gatlinburg. There's small amusements parks here and there (Dollywood being one of them). Lots of little shops. Ober Gatlinburg is really neat.....you travel by ski lift or cable car to the top of a mountain in Gatlinburg and there's all sorts of things to do up there. The alpine slides are neat. Cades Cove is a really neat nature preserve where bear and deer come up to the area.

Wow, I'm not sure it would be possible to compile and exhaustive list. There's curriculum out there that people create themselves and offer on their own websites. So with things like that, the possibilites for curriculum could be endless. And me, for young elementary science, I just use Evan Moor science books....they aren't really a "curriculum" but they work for us. So I'm not sure how you would count things like that since there's tons of supplemental materials out there.

Thanks! I had a feeling they did. :sad: Right now we have a Jack Russell and a Chihuahua. The Chi doesn't shed too much but the Jack sheds more than what I'd like...it's just tiny hairs though. Not sure I could handle lots of hair.

I love hearing stories of good customer service! I'll file the Critical Thinking Company away in my memory if I ever need anything!

I'm not dog hunting or anything right now, but I've always really wanted a Golden....I know they are great family dogs. But they shed a lot don't they? I can't stand dog hair. And with their longer hair, I can only imagine that they shed quite a bit. If so, I'll probably have to mark them off of my "future dog" list. :001_smile: