No they don't. My MIL is a prime example of someone with a lack of maternal instinct. And TBH, maternal love.

It is very true (and I remember that episode - it was a great one). My boys are constantly referencing something we discuss with a previous exposure via books they've found, "The Simpsons", Runescape, Age of Empires and their current obsession, "300".

I have to say that the first time I read "The Raven" to my 12yo he beat me to the "Nevermore" punch and shouted "EAT MY SHORTS!" Apparently he'd been introduced to EAP via "The Simpsons". :)

Thank you Patricia! We're in Mexico but so isolated that the kids don't get any language interaction unless we go into town or bring workers out to work on our palapa. I've been looking for two different levels of instruction (for the younger and older kids) and have been thinking of Spanish For Children as I am fluent and can just correct anything. I'm still looking for the younger kids but SYRWTLS looks like a fit for the boys (olders).

I've been using it since 2007. I really love it but never download anything so the onus is on me to record everything.

My husband and I go for an exercise walk anywhere from 9-10am. By 11am I wake my 12yo to see if he wants to get up. Sometimes he gets up at 11, sometimes at noon. The 7yo and 9yo generally get up between 11 and noon. They eat breakfast while I clean up the bedroom/sala and turn the beds back into couches. I shower and they finish eating (DH makes breakfast) and then I head into the trailer to work with my 12yo. DH works on Singapore Math, Headsprout, copywork and Explode the Code with the girls while I work with the 12yo and 14yo. The girls work for an hour or so and then play the rest of the day. Friday they do SOTW and an activity and Wednesday we do Art (in addition to the above 4). I'm hoping to eventually add FLL and Spanish to the mix. The 12yo does Math for 30-45 minutes while I work and then we read the Writer's Almanac, which sometimes leads to further poem exploration or reading more about a profiled author. He then does dictation from a poem or (right now) MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. We then read some world culture (right now India), living history (right now "Gilgamesh The Hero") and some of our History spine (Bauer's Ancient History). He then gets some breakfast and sometimes does a jog around the palapa. We then do Spanish (a mishmash of Rocket Spanish, Spanish for Children, videos off You Tube and others), he does independent reading (his choice) and reads a chapter from an assigned (by me) book (right now "Snow Treasure"). Twice a week we do Sociology (Read from World Religions, Save The Children, or "Teens with the Courage to Give"), Art (right now working on Van Gogh and self portrait), once a week a science experiment, once a week each Teaching Company DVDs of "Joy of Thinking" and Ancient Cultures. I think there might be more once a week stuff but I'm not sure. Oh yeah, Critical Thinking and more I can't remember. Guess I need to add memory work for me. :)

my MIL refuses to tell us what kind of cancer she is battling but we think it is either bone or blood. My father is battling both bladder and prostate cancers.

We delve into so much history and poets and writers just from a daily reading of The Writer's Almanac. Today he profiled Edgar Allen Poe and we did copywork with "The Raven". The Writer's Almanac gets us into really good discussions and takes us on tangents we didn't know were possible. :) http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

thinking about you and sending you positive energy.

Wow Colleen and cheryl! congratulations! Eugene will be a lovely marathon Colleen. I'm coming back after taking 4 days off to rest my leg. I was getting worse and worse and it killed me to take so many days off but today's walk showed me I really needed to rest it. So, our usual hour walk. It was 97F/36C today. Finally the nortes have blown off.

this is me exactly. down to the Catholic upbringing.

I really don't see how the shaming ideas you've received are going to cause her to want to change - they will only reinforce the idea that she is "bad". I would find out why she feels the need to steal. Does she need money? Is she unable to earn money? Is she vying for attention? Is she ashamed of what she is spending money on? I would first find the need and then strategise ideas to help her meet that need.

You know, I really disagree with this. I have a 14yo who is not even a little bit interested in homeschooling. I am comfortable letting him find his way - we've talked at length many times on academia and I think he'll eventually figure his way out. So he does no academia. He is still learning though. My 12yo is very easy to homeschool. He likes structure and knowing what is happening 'next'. Just that kind of kid. So we do a very structured (for us) lesson plan of Math, Writer's Almanac (poetry ad historical poetry and writers), Dictation, History (Susan's Ancient History), Living History (right now doing hte Epic of Gilgamesh and Mara Daughter of the Nile), Spanish (Spanish for Children), World Culture (right now India), reading assigned by me (Snow Treasure right now), Independent reading (his choice) all daily. Then there is addtional work 1-2 times a week (Art, Sociology, etc.). I do not coerce him in this work. The 9yo needs a bit more encouragement but she is generally happy enough to do Singapore Math and reading (Headsprout) daily but she needs to do this first thing in the morning or she will be lost to play for the day. The 7yo LOVES Math and Headsprout and rarely needs any encouragement but needs to be able to pick the time of day she is going to do her studies or she balks.

I don't believe in heaven, but if I did, it would be ala Twilight Zone with the guy who survives a nuclear blast at a library. Well, except about the part where he crushes his reading glasses. :( To have unlimited supply of English language books would be my heaven.

It was just last year that HFCS began making its way on the Mexican shelves. It is still very rare though, because sugar cane is the most abundant source of sweetener. It is still VERY easy to avoid here because most everything is made from scratch. Wonderful stuff that scratch. :)

I don't believe the 1967 octuplets (who subsequently died) were conceived with fertility drugs...

You don't. Seriously. Becoming a successful ex-pat is learning to live within your host country - not bringing Amerika to that country. We ADORE Mexico but worship at the altar of Tarjay on our annual visits. :) I vote for Belgium or Switzerland.

We did this for 3 years before settling in Mexico. You don't need the books you'd think you do because of the bounty of public libraries. We drycamped next to libraries a number of times. We also unschooled when we were on the road. There is a yahoo group called FOTR (Families On The Road) and a decent number of weblogs written by traveling families. I'm thinking we'll get back on the road this summer (depending on the economy).

I agree! I don't know how you people are getting FOUR out of that size pan. :)

I don't have mine here or on Flickr, but I do have it at FB. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1143114505&ref=profile

We do it everywhere. We do Tuesday Tea Time on the beach and sometimes take the readoutlouds down there to sit under the palm trees and read. We watch DVDs in the trailer, do math in the (outside) kitchen or handwriting on the sand in front of the palapa. All depends... We have no dedicated room.

Help out an old ex-pat here who hasn't seen an American movie in forever. Is that you or not? I totally thought it was you...

When we lived in the US our favorites were a TJ brand (I only remember the can was black and red) and Kirkland's Starbucks. Here in Mexico we actually pick the bean, then the roaster. :) I prefer Coatepec beans; Jamie Chiapas. I like my old Italian guy to do what he calls a "Cuban" roast; Jamie likes his "Italian" roast. Beans stay whole until it is time to use them. Then ground and used.

We have been dealing with unsafe water for years. Just SOP here in Mexico. We superchlorinate any stored (1 tsp bleach to 1 gallon water) and always dip the dishes in superchlorinated water after rinsing. Toothbrushing and drinking water is purchased by garrafon (I think those are the big bottles that water companies deliver in the US) at the supermarket. We then purchase a non-name brand (we buy the water for drinking put out by the Pepsi plant) garrafon water for cooking and any boiling water - only because it is cheaper. We get those at the local water bottling plant. Laundry is done with the normal "contaminated" cenote water (tap water) but we always line dry and let the sun bleach the bacteria. We literally live in a petri dish here.

Oh this is so much fun! Thanks to everyone for their answers so far. And Parrothead!!! THAT ISN'T YOU????? :)