I agree. Excellent analogy. And also an excellent quote. Makes a lot of sense. Everybody needs down time. After all, the dust will still be there thirty minutes from now. But right now, I can hold my child on my lap and read her a story. Later, she won't fit on my lap. The dust can wait. Jeannie

Our bedroom is fairly large so a corner of it is our school area. Not ideal, but the most convenient. We contain the mess and can still use the dining table. J

You folks are wearing me down. I am actually (gasp!) considering blogging of some sort. Me! Anti technology all the way! I still hand write the grocery list. In CURSIVE even! (sorry, just read a post about cursive handwriting). hmmmm....... J

Good point. I'm about to start laundry lessons in my house. Let us pray..... Jeannie

My friend took her son to it and she told me it was great. She even stayed away through the whole movie, and she is notorious for falling asleep in the theatre. Jeannie

Do they each have a day that is their assigned wash day? I am foreseeing people fighting for the washing machine....... J

My take is that she's still 16. Unless she's been emancipated, she's still your responsibility. You have every right to lay down guidelines. I wouldn't start "throwing your weight around" on every issue. Pick your battles. But I think you do have a right to have a say so in how much computer time she is logging. Just my 2cents. That and five bucks will buy you a Starbucks! jeannie

Sounds like a familiar story. Last year, we pulled our older dd (then 6th gr) out of ps and kept her home. We were doing K12 through a charter school, but ended up ditching that before the end of the year and went straight home school. She came home at Thanksgiving. After a few weeks, her sister (then 1st gr) started begging to stay home, too. After a bout of illness that kept her sick off and on for over a month and some other things the school was doing that just plain ticked me off, I decided God was trying to tell me something. I just went up and unenrolled her and she started doing school at home as well in February. When we began, I really didn't think I could handle homeschooling both of them. I really thought it would be all I could do to get my older dd through her lessons. I found that schooling one as young as my second dd simply didn't take all that long and she was infinitely happier. This is year 2 for us and I am reasonably happy with how things are going. We are all learning how to stay on track and stick with a schedule. Some days are not great, most days are good. Every now and then, the day is pure gold. I would vote to go ahead and let her stay home. 2nd grade is not difficult or time consuming at all. Also, I think you mentioned that your older dd is a social butterfly. (I get the posts mixed up sometimes) My older dd is also very social and I worried about that. When I mentioned it to her, her answer was, "Mommy, that's part of the problem. At school, it's too hard to concentrate because there's too much going on and too many friends. I pay attention to them too much." I thought that was pretty insightful for her. And I was impressed that she seemed to truly understand how difficult it was for her to pay attention and she recognized how much it was hurting her performance in school. Good luck whatever you decide. Jeannie

When I was in high school, 94 was the lowest A. The parish beside us has 93 as the lowest A. I was astounded to get to Texas and discover that a 90 was an A. To me, having grown up with the different grading scale, an 82 was a terrible C and I'd get upset with my dd. She never could understand why I was upset because, after all, it was a B. I really prefer the more difficult grading scale and that's what I use when I grade my daughters' work. Jeannie

I agree. Thanks to you and to Dusty Lizard. This reminded me that I learned a lesson about judging by looks alone a few years ago. When my older dd was in ps, there was a mom there who was the absolute epitome of "put together" and I remember thinking that she had to be a snob because she wore nice expensive clothes, had immaculate grooming, and drove a very expensive car. Well, my youngest dd started pre-K and her class included the youngest son of this woman. Wow! I was in total shock the first time I actually spoke to her. She was the most down to earth, sweet, kind hearted person I have ever met. After several conversations with her, I finally did have the courage to apologize to her and explain that I had misjudged her and had found her to be a wonderful person in reality. I am ashamed to admit that my original opinion of her had come without ever having spoken a word to her. Now, the ladies at tennis.....I have spoken to them. They answered my question and then shut me right back out of the conversation. It was a bit like having a door shut in my face. LOL Jeannie When we first started attending here, I was intimidated by the Put-Togethers, since I'm not a Put-Together at all. (But my dh is, go figure!) Then I started to judge their character, without even knowing them. Wrong move - it took my attending a women's retreat, without the comfort of my homeschooling friends - to realize that these women were not all that different than I am. Well, except that they GOT the "put-together" gene ;) That said, I do have to guard myself carefully - against just what you mentioned, Dustylizard. Thanks for the reminder.

Glad I could give you a chuckle! Jeannie

After looking at that picture, I suspect your recipe should say kidney beans, not red beans. Here in the South, I think the two names are interchangeable, but they are referring to kidney beans. It looks like the "red" beans are considerably smaller. If you want red beans and rice, you want kidney beans. I think. jeannie

I feel your pain as well. I was just noticing this while my daughters were at tennis practice yesterday. We have a new crop of kids this month. Unfortunately, with the new kids we have new moms. New, well-dressed, we attend the right church and the right private school, my husband is the new hospital administrator, we've just redone our house moms. Argh! I sit in the tennis shop while they're practicing and watch. Unfortunately, I also had to sit through an entire hour of these three women discussing home renovations. One of them actually said "I'm a paint snob. I am. I can admit what I'm a snob about and it's paint." What does that even mean? Does her paint need a six figure income? Does it have to come from the "right" store? I'm pretty sure the vapid conversation has destroyed some of my brain cells. I'm going to have to invest in blinders and ear plugs. At first, I started having that feeling of "they're dressed nicer than you are. Look at their nails. Look at their hair." But then, one of the other new moms (who isn't like them) came up to me and started talking and confided to me later that they made her feel uncomfortable. Apparently I didn't. I decided I'd rather be approachable than immaculate. jeannie

Yes, they're the same thing. If not, I've been making red beans and rice wrong for a loooooong time. jeannie

Forget public school! Get those girls into acting classes! LOL J

Shouldn't the subject be "understood you?" Be is definitely the verb. J

I am sorry to say that I did read all three books and I can't remember a more poorly written series! (BTW, I don't think the children "kill" God in the last book. It's more like he dies of old age. But he's also not God in the respect that we think of God. He's basically an angel who put himself in charge.) My primary objection to the series is that it's just cr*p! The author just wanders around all over the place, the timeline doesn't work, the heroine is an obnoxious brat that for some reason the author tries to make you believe everyone just loves and would die for. Frankly, I'd smack the kid! The author's "hero" does exactly the same thing that the author is castigating the church for, but nobody catches on to that. And I have a real problem with the fact that the author seems to think 13 year olds having s*x is ok and beautiful. GAG! To me, the series reads like it has several authors who can't agree with each other. If ever I needed to define "twaddle," this series would be my definition. Ok, rant is over. Jeannie

When my dd was about 4 or 5, we moved our dining table away from the wall and discovered she'd been going under it to write on the wall. Also discovered a lovely signed drawing on the base of the stairs. When I asked her why she drew it there, her answer was "I couldn't find any paper." How could I miss something so obvious? LOL J

This is exactly what happened with my son (now 20). He was taught sight words in ps but no phonics. He would see a word like "they" and he'd start guessing.....the, them, their, there, they....He'd just guess all the "th" words he'd learned till he got the right ones. He ended up having to learn what I call "emergency phonics" in 2nd grade. To this day, he has difficulty with spelling, not because he can't get all the letters, but because he can't mentally break a word into syllables and hear what comes next. Jeannie

bump I hope you find someone! My sister lives in Prior Lake, but her kids are older than yours. J

Conversations in the car are always so fun, don't you think? My dd (then 4) and I were going to an Easter egg hunt and for some reason or the other, we were discussing Adam and Eve. I could tell she was a little confused so I tried to explain to her that they lived a very long time ago. She said "Yeah, I know, back in the 80's." I laughed so hard I almost wrecked the car. Jeannie

I feel your pain. I hope this just means that you are going to get two new chairs that you love even more than the old ones! We moved (hopefully for the last time EVER) this past June. Our movers never showed up so my DH started loading the U-Haul. He decided the moped should go in first so it could be surrounded by things that would cushion and protect it. Instead of pushing the moped up the ramp, he decided to be Steve McQueen and ride it up the ramp. Went fine till he got to the top of the ramp, panicked, and fell off the top of the ramp, moped and all. Almost broke his ankle in the process. It would have made a great YouTube video! Good luck with the rest of your moving adventure. Hope the chairs are the worst that happens. jeannie

I am the third child and I have always felt like the oldest because I have always been the one who is supposed to solve every problem and avert every crisis! And to make matters worse, I am 40 and my dad is 69 and if we went into a store together tomorrow, he would still tell me not to touch anything! ARgh! Jeannie

I'm not worthy! Thank you for these! Jeannie

:lurk5: bump I would like to know also! J