Oh wow... I am *so* coming to visit you :)!!!!!

Where are you that you are four hours behind me? West coast is only two hours behind...

We rarely go to bed at the same time anymore. Dh likes to go early,and I like to watch late night TV and chat on the boards :). Works well for us, because he really likes to get up before us and have a quiet breakfast and early start to his day (works from home office). When we're up he feels like he has to talk to us! LOL I do what you do a lot... read in bed till he goes to sleep,then get up. It beats keeping him up with my tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep when I'm not tired yet! Quirky can be good. :)

Pretty big day for Texas! I can't believe how close it is!! GAds, I didn't realize George Stephanopoulos had aged so much. Was it really THAT long ago when we all made fun of how young he was?!? It's official... if George looks that old, then I'm TRULY old. What a bizarre primary season...

I'm so sorry about this. I will pray for her family and for you and her friends, too. A homeschooling father lost his wife to a brain aneurysm here a few years ago. A family friend homeschooled his children for him for one year while they all adjsted, and he soon remarried after that. It was hard, but family and friends surrounded them and carried them through... I hope the very best for your friend's family. Robin

I wouldn't know how to post a picture if I did have one! LOL But maybe soon I'll get that digital camera that I was supposed to get for Christmas but didn't because I got a house instead :).

Hello Dolly is Thursday. Are you going?

Thanks for the welcome (and the chuckles)... It's great to get back to normal!!! Robin

We moved a couple of weeks ago and I'm *finally* back online! Yeah! I still have the dining room and the guest room to unpack and set up, but at least I have a dining room and a guest room again! I'm so happy... we're all so happy... That's all the news on this front, except that today was the student matinee of Othello at our theatre downtown. *Wonderful* production. I love our theatre district... the venues are all so welcoming to homeschoolers trying to attend student events. What exciting or interesting threads did I miss? Robin

Hey Doran, I have hesitated posting further on this thread, because it does appear that you've come to peace with a good solution.. but I've got just a couple more thing to offer if you don't mind listening :). 1. I think your decision to soft ball this is very good. Doing it in a way that preserves the young man's dignity and comfort around your family will earn his respect and your daughter's trust with this issue in general (this is going to be precedent setting, isn't it?). 2. One thing I keep thinking about... is it at all possible that hosting dinner for this young man will send mixed signals? On one hand you're saying that he's getting too close, yet on the other you're inviting him into an intimate family setting. If you want to keep the friendship limited to the class, etc., perhaps it might be best not to engage him socially outside of class? Maybe I'm wrong... this is just my gut reaction... but it seems as though you want to tell him to back off a little, but you also want to show some sort of honor or respect for his feelings towards your dd. I can see how that might potentially confuse the boy. It's a toughie, for sure. 3. Along those lines, I have a suggestion for how to soft ball it (this may not sit well with you, and if not then completely ignore me... I'm just thinking out loud :). What if you took responsibility for this and removed from him all sense of blame (so that he isn't embarrassed)? Perhaps you could go to him and say that you need to talk to him because you feel *really* bad about something... that you allowed the friendship with the emails and all, and didn't realize anything romantic was blooming, and that you feel terribly, terribly bad if you misled him into thinking that you were approving of his romantic interest in her all along. And that if you had to do it all over again, you would have made it clear up front that your dd is not yet of an age where you are comfortable allowing this, and that you're really sorry you didn't recognize where this was all going and say something sooner. You can even say that if your daughter were a little older, you'd be honored to have such a fine young man as him show interest in her, yadda yadda. Doran, please understand that I'm not saying that this is how you SHOULD feel... but it (or some version of it) might be a way that avoids uncomfrotableness, and might even leave him feeling good about the whole thing. And it also acknowledges a possibility that he pursued this thinking that you were perfectly fine with it all along, which will help him understand why now the sudden switch (because you didn't understand what he was thinking at the time). Don't know if any of this helps or not... but good luck with it, and I'm glad you're so sensitive to your dd's feelings and those of the young man as well. I tried to give you a rep point for it earlier, but it wouldn't let me for some reason! Have a great day! Robin

According to Joanne, most of the respondes in this thread *were* totally unnecessary, and not at all appreciated. That's kinda the point...

Jenn, I think it's simply a reaction to Joanne's reaction. If truly this is not a readiness issue, etc., then truly it is just a discipline issue. I think Abbey's advice is good... deal with it as a discipline issue. Don't overthink it. It's simpler than it appears. Do I leave my kid at home alone sometimes? Yes. And she doesn't call me unless she needs to. I've taught her not to. This is a direct answer to Joanne's second question, which was how to handle arranging for uninterrupted time. I go, and I tell her not to call me unless she really needs something. Joanne has made it clear that this is not about readiness or attachment anxiety... it's about not respecting her boundaries. She can search the boards and find lots of good advice about that, much of which was given by her :). (in other words... she knew all along the answer to her problem, she just didn't realize it because mind fog is thicker when it's *you* in the situation). Robin

I have to agree with Abbey. If there are not any anxiety/adjustment issues at play here, then it is simply a discipline issue and you seem quite capable of thinking through that. I'll answer your two questions: 1. Is there a perception of more accessibility today? It's not a perception. It's a reality. We have cell phones now. We *are* more accessable. 2. Do you let your kids access you 24/7? Yes. I do. I never go anywhere or do anything where she can't get in touch with me somehow in case of an emergency. If she abused that access, I would teach her not to. Plain and simple. Robin

Oh wow, these look great! I've been looking for something like this, that gave more space for to do lists and note taking, and less space to appointments. Thanks so much for posting! Robin

I have to agree with Amy on this one. The age difference is too much... I think your dd needs protection from either the pain that could arise from being too inexperienced in relationships to be able to handle her interaction with her well, or from the potential danger of him being overpowering... or even obsessed. I'm so sorry that you have to face making this choice, that I'm going to go give you some rep points right now just for being such a sensitive mom. Good luck to you, Robin

You know, it's just a refreshing new look at how to move the primaries from one state to the next, and it's wonderful that they are keeping excessive materials out of the landfills, and it is brilliant on their part to connect supporters to each other across state lines like this. Absolutely brilliant.

They are running a project where campaign materials are being shared between states, in an attempt to reduce, reuse and recycle. Interesting. Of course, this is also because there is an actual shortgage of materials... but still. Interesting. And I think it's a great idea. This campaign is tight and well organized, isn't it? Boy, the campaigning has started in earnest around here. So unusual for us, we're so late in the primary season. Please be patient as I ask you all to put up with my fascination for the next few weeks! LOL Robin

Barb, I'm pretty sure those statistics take into consideration population... they are rates based on occurrences per 100,00. I grew up in the 60s, so yeah... it seems a lot worse today. Interesting how violent crime peaked in the early 90's though, isn't it? You make a very good point about risk acceptance and non reporting. Robin

Baked potatoes stuffed w/ all the fixings and shredded roast in gravy. It's actually very,very good. A restaurant around here calls it Pot Roast Patootie :). Chopc it up and stir fry it with minced onion, and use it as a stuffing for soft tacos. HTH,Robin

Well, at least you're familiar enough with Gatto to recognize my misspelling of his name :). I've addressed some of your comments elsewhere in this thread... but as far as answering your question... I originally thought your question was "what would a school look like that *didn't* endeavor to keep the masses ignorant and compliant" to which I had trouble responding because I don't think our education system endeavors to do that in the first place. But as you are wording it now (what does a good school look like, plain and simple), I actually think that a good school doesn't look drastically different from the public schools in my area. They already are good schools for the most part, and the only thing I wish I could change about them would be teacher/student ratio, involvement of parents, ambition of students, competitive salaries and less red tape for the teachers, less teaching to the test, more discipline, more fine arts, more emphasis on language skills, stricter dress codes, more flexibility/options for an individually tailored education, and an absence of drugs and violence. As long as we're talking about waving a magic wand, that's what I'd do :). Robin

If you take what your total tax bill was for 2007, your employer should be able to help you (with the aid of tables) come up with a more accurate exemption status for your W-4 which will help you break even at the end of the year. If you have only one child and no itemized deducations (mortgage interest, etc), then I don't see how you came up with either 9 *or* 7 exemptions. If you don't want to owe at the end of the year, you need to increase your monthly deduction. You need to do this anyway, because you can be penalized by the IRS for under withholding. HTH, Robin

That's sweet, Jean. We've got cards and candy... preparing dh's favorite meal and maybe a special dessert (problem is he doesn't like desserts, so we'll see ). Tomorrow night dd is going to a friend's bday sleepover, and he's taking me out then. So we're having a two day celebration! :) Hope you and your family have a glorious day, Jean. Happy Valentines to you! Robin

(Strider)... here's hoping that you haven't been the victim. Good advice indeed. Robin

the information that they are taking from your 2007 return to determine eligibility is adjusted gross income (did you exceed the maximum of $150,000 per couple), and number of children (since they're sending out $300 per kid). Now... if you owe the IRS *back* taxes and they're trying to collect, I don't know if you'd still get a check or not... that's actually a good question (but a different one altogether). HTH, Robin

What a sweet, moving post. ((DB)), may you be granted peace and joy today. With love, Robin