Cin, I was a PT for 8 years and treated lots of patients in your situation. I wish I could resoundingly say "Yes! Go get the surgery!" but in my experience, some people benefitted enormously and others just didn't. Something that seemed to be a halfway decent predictor was whether or not the patient had radiating pain down the leg(s) - the folks without this problem seemed to do better. I would absolutely find out who did your friends' surgeries and go to that doc! I would also search long and hard for a very knowledgeable PT who is willing to hear what you have already tried (what did not work) and who is capable of more than one approach. One poster mentioned the MacKenzie approach, which is helpful in some cases, but is absolutely not indicated in others - so I wouldn't say that one approach fits all. :001_smile:

Sadly, I think you are right. Abortion stance appears to carry the most weight to qualify you as the "right" kind of feminist, along with being anti-gun (although if chicks=dudes then chicks should be gun-toting camo-wearing deer slayers in a blind in the woods, but I digress). It appears to be killin' the Dems that the GOP has put the wrong kind of woman on the ticket. She's pretty! She's not Ivy League! She's pro-gun and pro-life! Holy cr**, she hunts! :svengo: I hope she is ready for the level of poo that is going to be slung at her because she does not fit the mold of what the self-proclaimed Liberal Goddesses (not trying to indicate anyone here on the board, it is a gross generalization) say a successful woman is supposed to look/be like. They HAD their perfect woman and didn't nominate her!

And it is my opinion that Mrs Palin is exactly what "we have fought for". She has a list of accomplishments while being a mother that makes me feel like underachiever of the year, and has enormous approval from the state she serves. She's no dumb beauty queen, she's an achiever who happens to be beautiful. She "knows her place"? I have no idea how you got there! This IS what I have fought for as a woman: to be a mother, to do something worthwhile, to NOT have it be about my face or my breast size but about what I have ACCOMPLISHED.

I had to firm this up for ds last year, too. We did it on the whiteboard - two columns, COMMON and PROPER - and just kept making lists like "boy" and "Matthew". "park" and "Sierra State Park". "mountain" and "Mt Everest" etc. My friend is doing it on posterboard, two columns, cutting out a magazine picture of a city for the common column and writing "Minneapolis" in the proper column. Have you gotten to the stand-up-for-a-proper-noun, sit-down-for-a-common-noun game? DS thought that was a hoot - skip ahead and see if that helps solidify the concept.

Biden's experience is legislative; Palin's experience is executive. In terms of years served, Biden of course comes out ahead. But he's been in another branch the whole time!

:grouphug:This was us, a year ago. My 9yo dd had a horrible experience with public school math (a major factor in our decision to homeschool). She was confused, unable to remember basic math facts, and her confidence was just abysmal. This, despite her excellence in reading and spelling and writing, had me :banghead: and her :crying: every day. Last year we went back through alpha and beta of MathUSee to review, pushed ahead into single digit multiplication, and I am certain she understands the "how". But the errors persisted, the weeping continued, the general aversion seemed out of proportion. So I basically stopped doing a curriculum. I bought colorful workbooks that contain about 90% review. We have been playing math card games (Snap It Up) and board games (Math Dash) and handheld electronic math games and math hopscotch (big strip of brown wrapping paper numbered 1-12 and I sit and call out equations and the kids have to hop/crawl/bounce/whatever to the correct answer). I printed a bunch of blank math copywork pages and both kids are filling in math problems and reciting them daily. I just quit trying to push forward, shifted into neutral and we're hanging out right here until the weeping stops and the math facts settle in. It's been a lightbulb moment for me to realize my kids don't have to be pushing the edge of the envelope in every single subject. Like their milestones as babies, sometimes they didn't do anything new verbally while they grew by leaps and bounds in their motor skills. Hang in there. I hope what has helped us might help you too. :001_smile:

Certainly not an expert, and my kids are younger than yours, but here's what I've learned from completing one year of TOG... 1. plan ahead for reading. Before the unit starts, I make an Excel sheet of reading assignments for each unit and check our library to see if they have each selection. Then I can just go to that sheet and place books on hold for the next week. You can also clearly see the books that you'll be using for more than a week or two, and decide whether or not to purchase them. 2. Go through the whole unit in one sitting yourself, catching the high points/big picture of each week-plan so you can see where you're going. I can get tunnel vision if I'm not careful, and need to remind myself of the big plan here. 3. Develop a planning sheet. After trying some freebies from the Net, I finally made one myself that suits how I like to go through the week-plan and sift the info down to realistic plans. 4. I like to print as much as I can before the unit starts: maps, worksheets, assignment pages are all printed and placed into a 3-ring binder with dividers marking the week #s, one binder for each child. Have a wonderful time! :001_smile:

Soft cover, spine chopped off and spiral-bound at Kinko's. I get twitchy when I can't lay a book down and have it stay open. :)

Snoopy-happy-dancing with you!

Take a look at Doorposts, they might have something you'd like.

We're five weeks in. First two weeks were brutal. Started getting better around week 3 and now things are groovin' pretty well again. Y'all just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I am still seriously considering seat belts on their chairs, though. No, dear child, you are NOT free to move about the cabin. SIT YER BOOTY DOWN. :D

A sudden flare-up with redness and swelling sounds like a gout attack. Not as common in the thumb, but possible. Take a moderate dose of Advil or Motrin regularly for a few days and see if that helps.

Is there room on the bench for me? Ohhhhhhh, the lovely intentions I had back in June. We are doing review only right now. No new lessons - just colorful review workbooks, games, hopscotch math, computer stuff, and yesterday I got the Drill Instructor award because I made a bunch of blanks and both kiddoes are going to be copying and reciting math facts every day. Not as fun as games and computers, but I'm shooting for all the senses here!

I'm 42 1/2. :)

:iagree: I find this so true for our family, too. Change my reaction to their behavior and their behavior changes too. It sometimes feels manipulative, but if it makes them stop.the.insanity then I'm all for it. :D But seriously, there have been so many times when it finally dawns on me, duh, stop feeding the behavior. And then there's the times when I realize I've been the perfect model of the behavior that drives me nuts. We've got a martyr-kid in this house, and...um...well...my name is Jill and I come from a long line of martyrs and I'm a martyr, too. :blush: We call it "throwing yourself under the bus." God drew my attention to all the times when I said "(big sigh) I'll leap to your every command in a moment!" or "(humph) (slap book down on table) (grumble grumble)" or gave a withering look or... oh dear. It hurts too much to think how well I taught my daughter to do exactly what she's giving right back to me. The boarding school thought has crossed my mind in jest as my daughter throws herself under the bus. So part of my response is that I'm working hard to serve my family without a hint of it being a burden.

My heart is splitting in two. I will be holding them in my thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks ahead.

Hehe my first reaction when I saw the title of the post was to say "no, we stay locked in the dungeon till after dark." Our local schools run on a year-round schedule, with 1/4 of the student population off during any given month. So it's not unusual for kids to be outside playing on a school day - they're just "off track". I hadn't realized how much this probably shields us from the prying type of questions you experienced!

Sorry, Mom to Aly - I thought I put enough disclaimers that that was my opinion about extreme extroverts who might lack esteem - and had no intention of it being a generalization. :001_smile:

Veritas Press - Classically Cursive, particularly books 3 and 4.

I'm not at all convinced that "shy" is something that needs to be remediated. :001_smile: I'm an introvert, with a sibling who is an extrovert. I'm also the mother of an introvert (dd) with a sibling who is an extrovert (ds). Ohhhhhhhhh - the comparisons. The shy one. The outgoing one. Lord, have mercy, but I hated that shy label. Introvert: draws energy from calm/quiet/alone time; tends to feel drained after being out amongst the people. Tends to be very self-aware, and often is quite comfortable with her own company (not lacking self esteem!). Extrovert: draws energy from being out amongst the people; prefers company to silence/solitude. My personal opinion is that extreme extroverts might be the ones who lack esteem, and they seek attention and approval through their antics and achievements. Neither has something wrong - it's how we're wired. I would allow your daughter to do what she is comfortable doing. It might help to offer her suggestions or scripts - conversing with someone she doesn't know well probably doesn't feel natural. "Honey, there's that girl we met at the playground last time. You could say, 'hi, I'm ___, want to play horses again?'" Often dd would repeat, verbatim, what I suggested, and I could see her obvious pleasure when it worked and she made a friend. But do not push her, do not let her think shy means that something is wrong with her, and don't let her think outgoing is so much better that she has to go against her own wiring and do what feels uncomfortable/awkward just to please you. And don't be surprised if she is very tired or emotionally frazzled after she pushes her social envelope a bit. Yes. I feel quite strongly about this. Self medicating: :chillpill: :D

We just did this last week. It doesn't need to be nearly as complicated as the link above. I bought a 4-pack of "turkey" (real or faux, i dunno) feathers at Michael's. According to SOTW activity guide instrxns, I soaked them in warm water for 10-15 mins, used scissors to trim the feathers up the quill part way, used same scissors to cut the quill at an angle, used fine scissors to snip a short slit in the pointed tip, used a straight pin to clean the inside of the quill out (just a bit of dried fluffy stuff in there), and voila. I also purchased an inexpensive quill pen and inkpot at Michael's, so we had that ink to use. Seriously - the feather quill worked much better than the purchased pen. :001_smile:

I just made a list of the books I put on hold at the library, which I took from the list I made of the books we will need to put on hold at the library, listed by week. On the other side of the library list is my to-do list for the week. On the schoolroom table is the list of things dd wants for her birthday, alongside the list of books I saw at the library last time that I need to add to the list of books to check out, which will be listed with the hold books on the appropriate week. My grocery list is in order by aisle, on the counter by the coffee maker. My list of birthdays is hanging on the fridge next to the calendar. Oh and I have a list of people I am waiting to hear responses from about invitations to my Mom's upcoming birthday party. Feel better yet? :D i could continue......... It's a sickness. Really. Is there a detox for this?

I appreciate this question - I've wondered too! We have always held to the general rule that you can't be nicer to your guest(s) than you are to your own family.

You know you're a homeschooler when your 7 year old sits down to write a story and asks, "Mom, how do you spell prologue?"

Depending on where he is, the desert climate there wreaks havoc with their skin and eyes - so "our" soldier appreciated eyedrops, lotion, hard candy to suck on, ChapStick, etc.