My dd is an Irish dancer and five years in, I am really happy that we chose ID. DD loves ID and hopes to dance professionally some day. She has learned poise and confidence in addition to becoming physically fit. I know ballet is thought of as the foundation for all other dance, but ID also is a good foundation and ID dancers who move to ballet tend to get moved up very quickly because they have that foundation already. Conversely, ballet dancers who move to ID also tend to move up the levels very quickly. We've found that ID offers many more opportunties to perform than ballet. My dd loves the stage and lights, so this is a good thing for her. Our studio does performances in local pubs, parades, nursing homes, weddings, banquets and other events. DD also loves competing, so we do that, but our studio offers recreational options too. It has gotten expensive because of dd's focus on performance and competition, but for those who just want to learn to dance, the costs are much less. One of the ballet moms here has mentioned spending $13k in a year, but we've never spent anywhere near that much. There are ways to keep travel costs down, such as taking food, sharing a room with another mom and daughter, carpooling, etc. If you choose ID, even if your dd is not interested in competing, I would choose a studio that has at least one TCRG (certified teacher) and offers competitive options. The studios that don't offer the option to compete tend not to teach good technique and mechanics. As someone else mentioned, poor technique will lead to injuries. Our studio has worked with a local PT who specializes in biomechanics to work on better (safer) technique to minimize injuries. He is the PT that the Carolina Ballet uses, as well as many Irish and Scottish dancers.

I wouldn't have an issue with making my kids try a class, but I wouldn't make them stick with it if they didn't like it. Here's a link to two seminarians have a tap/Irish Dance dance-off. Maybe it would help him with the girl/boy thing? There is also a tap/ID dance-off in Riverdance that you can find on youtube. My dd's ID teacher played that role for a couple of years. ID is great for building stamina and physical fitness, and boys are well-loved in the ID world. Most of the dancers are girls, so studios are always thrilled when another boy joins. http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/Dueling-tap-and-Irish-dancing-priests-in-Rome-go-viral-VIDEO.html# ETA: My dd had gross and fine motor delays and her OT worked with her to build core strength, but it's Irish dance that has made her very strong. Her core is hard as a rock after 5 years of dancing.

IME, (not in KY), bio kids are allowed to share beds. When we were considering fostering, the foster kids had to each have their own beds, but our bio kids did not.

That makes me curious when and where you went to college. I went in the 80s, had a business/accounting major and sociology minor, and never heard of a "black male problem." I went to 3 MD public universities by the time I finished my degree. (I moved around a lot during that decade.)

The first OT my dd went to was pretty standard and within a year, there was nothing more they could do for her. She needed more and fortunately, I found a place that is like normal OT on steroids. The sensory room has a thing made out of sheets where she had to climb up out of one and down into the next. She hated it the first time, but after the second time she would have spent the entire hour in that course. There was a spinning thing that the OT used to try to get dd dizzy, to work on the vestibular system. They would do Interactive Metronome for 10 minutes and then go to the sensory room to USE those new brain pathways being made. When dd started IM, she was like the worst patient they'd ever evaluated, so she could only tolerate using it for a short time at first. They worked on balance, core strength, fine motor skills in her hands/fingers. They gave us good suggestions for things to do at home with her. We also did the Therapeutic Listening Program and we did brushing for a short time. She spent two years there and it was good for her. But… you mentioned gymnastics. My dd does Irish step dance and it is incredible for her. She's a sensory seeker in most areas other than taste and food textures, so the stamping in ID is awesome for her. You should see her face in action shots when she's up in the air - she's in heaven. She also has dyslexia, APD, and ADHD, so ID is good for her for many reasons. I just skimmed a few other responses and people mentioned management vs change. FWIW, I think dd will always need a high degree of physical exercise and activity to manage her deficits. There have definitely been changes for the better, but there are also still ongoing needs.

I googled to see if anything had changed in MD in the past couple years, and it appears that a bill has passed and Gov Hogan was expected to sign it yesterday, which would allow non-nurse midwives to attend homebirths other than VBACs. I knew of couples who had midwives come from PA to attend their homebirths when I lived in MD, but they knew it wasn't legal. I tried to find when it became legal for certified nurse midwives to attend homebirths in MD, but I couldn't find that info. However, I did find a letter to the MDHHS that said there are only four CNMs who will attend homebirths in the entire state. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-midwines-hearings-20150209-story.html http://wtop.com/maryland/2015/02/maryland-lawmakers-mull-home-birth-bill-license-midwives/ http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/12/maryland-legalizes-homebirths-midwives/

A planned home delivery is not legal in MD with or without assistance. Unassisted delivery is illegal in NC. We have friends (more than one couple) who have had some stressful interactions with law enforcement on this issue.

According to Thomas Madden (a Catholic professional historian and professor), the reason the Church and pope rose to power after the fall of Rome was because suddenly there was no welfare system, no court system to resolve conflict, etc. So people started coming to the Church to have their needs met. The fall of Rome left a vacuum that the Church filled. That doesn't completely answer the questions you have, but it explains why the Church's power increased when it did. ETA one more thought: You might be interested in taking a look at the letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians. He lived AD 30-101 and Iranaeus and Eusebius listed him as the 4th bishop of Rome. The letter talks about the apostles appointing their successors.

But do you really think they will really use it for these things? One of the comments on the GFM page is that they should not list legal fees as an intended use for the money because GFM will then shut down the page. But if they say they need money for these things and then use the money for legal fees instead, is that fraudulent? I don't know.

This is an excerpt from the Go Fund Me page. If the funds are not used for these purposes, would that constitute fraud? We ask for your support for the Naugler family at this time. Any support is greatly accepted. At the start of this campaign, the Nauglers didn’t know what it would take to get their children back and they are now in the process of determining with an attorney what needs to be done to ensure the safe return of their children and providing better for their basic necessities. Included in the costs are expected to be multiple things: $25,000 - Physical materials and upgrades including labor costs to the home including a fence, finishing a new primary living structure, and permanent solutions for clean water and electricity. $3,000 - Purchase of laptops or phones and other technology aids and a reading library of age-appropriate books for their children. $15,000 - Purchase of a newer, more reliable 15-passenger van for family transportation. $2,000 - Possible unforeseen expenses related to the children being kept in the home such as the cost of travel to fight this and time off work from Nicole’s pet grooming business. If excess funds are available beyond these needs, funds will be used for outreach to help other poor families in similar circumstances to keep their children.

Oh my gosh, they can buy underarm pads at a dance store if they don't want to use period pads! :-)

A couple of my friends posted it. I commented that there seems to be more to this case. Then I posted it on my wall to remind people to be skeptical and don't donate to internet strangers without vetting their stories. Someone asked me for links, so I posted the ones included in this thread and another from a news outlet.

I assumed everyone used tampons except young girls who just started their period and hadn't "upgraded" to tampons yet. I found pads to be uncomfortable and gross. Once I tried tampons, there was no going back. The only problem I've had with tampons is that it's too easy to forget you have your period and therefore don't change it on time. I usually use the cardboard applicators because the plastic ones tend to pinch and oh my, that can hurt. It's interesting to read everyone's comments and see all the different perspectives.

Oh, wow, I don't know if I would have that much willpower. I did slip and fall on ice one time while carrying my then 6-month old. I landed on my elbows so that she wouldn't hit the ground. But I don't know if I could do that to my face.

Thanks. We are so thankful it wasn't worse. Did you watch the choreography comps at SRO last year? We watched it but didn't give it a lot of thought. Well, our school added two choreo teams this month, so that adds to the craziness. It is something our teacher has wanted to do for awhile because he won choreo at worlds and really enjoys it.

One of the older dancers at our studio quit dancing to focus on academics for her senior year, and also because she has a soccer injury that is still giving her grief even after having surgery in the fall. So my daughter who went to Worlds as a sub on a team will now also be going to Nationals as a sub on the same team. I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the major comps. We were using to the ones within a few hours of home, but now we are doing 5 of those plus Worlds earlier this month, Nationals in July, and Oireachtas (Regionals) in December. We found out that they will be doing grades in DC in July, which is one of the steps toward getting certified to teach, so we'll be going to that comp and staying an extra day so that dd can test in the first three levels. Last Thursday, dd tripped over someone in PE and slid on her knees into a door and hit her head pretty hard. When the PE teacher called me, my first thought was thank goodness it's not her feet/ankles/knees this time. My dh was closer to the school at the time, so he went to pick her up. He called me back to say that he was taking her to the ER because she was having concussion symptoms. I might have freaked out a bit at that point, realizing that this could potentially be much worse than a sprained ankle. Fortunately, her ct scan was clear and she just had a mild concussion. The worst part was the headache that lasted five days, but finally went away today.

I have the wider reading area - they're called computer glasses by the place I buy them from. In your case, I would do it for the piano music. For other things, I wouldn't say it makes a lot of difference.

I recently bought a Shark Rotator Professional after a friend of mine posted on facebook that she likes her Shark better than her Dyson and it picks up a lot more dirt. I got half a cat out of our dining room rug, and it had just been vacuumed a couple days earlier. It's not particularly lightweight, but in my experience, if you want a vacuum that seriously sucks up the dirt, it's not going to be the lightest one. I think this one retails for $299, but I had a 30% off coupon for Kohls plus it was on sale.

I have six and one on the way.

I agree they are not the same and I said it was not a full time option. My only point was that the online concept is not entirely new in NC. My daughter took a class and it was mediocre. I hope the online charters will be better since they will be full time. The DPI doesn't like charters in general, online or b&m. They only tolerate them because people have clamored and lobbied to get them, expand them, and add more of them.

Good news! Connections Academy will be open also in 2015. I thought they weren't going to be available until 2016. I feel a whole lot better about switching. Connections gets much better reviews than K12. Only problem is that because of the NC charter school rules, each one can only take 1500 students in the first year, so I need to get right on the application process if we're going to do it.

Maybe it's because I'm so short-waisted, but if my jeans aren't snug, I am constantly hiking them up. If I add a belt, it just adds bulk to the part of my body that is already too big.

She sounds like my middle daughter. She's an excellent reader and deep thinker, just very slow. She's dyslexic too, but not as severe as the youngest. Thanks for your comments.

I think to some degree, this decision comes down to,"You get what you pay for." If money were no issue, I'd go with Laurel Springs or Calvert online school. But it might be worth trying the virtual school knowing that there are other options available if it goes very badly. NC has had a virtual school for years; they've just never offered it as a full time at-home option. So the transition might not be awful. Cathy Duffy gives the content of K12 a good review, although she dislikes it for other reasons.

One thing we have to consider is that if we pull her from the college prep charter school she's in right now, she will probably never get back in. Siblings of students have preference, and some years, all of the siblings who apply don't get in. I'm not sure we want her to go there for high school anyway because the workload is very heavy, but at the same time, I won't send her to the regular high school we're districted for. So if we pull her, we will have to expect to either do the virtual public school or homeschool her through high school. She is a serious competitive dancer, so some flexibility and a reasonable workload are what we hope to gain. I think Connections Academy will be an option starting in 2016, so if we try K12 and hate it, we could try switching to Connections. K. is motivated. In spite of her ADHD, she is a hard worker. Some of that comes from having to work so hard to learn to read and some of it comes from dancing. I think having some (most?) of the work on the computer will actually help her to be more organized, because she's really bad at organizing paper. My dh was cleaning up some papers out of her backpack last week, and he said, "You know what I really hate about this? My backpack was the same way."