Just got off the treadmill! I'm in!:D

Well, I am finishing up an English degree right now. I really only chose it because I could never decide on a degree and English fits nicely since all of my classes are things I want to read anyway, you know? I really don't know what to do with it when I am done. If I follow my heart, I'd get a Master's/Phd in Philosophy. - But, how does one make any money off of that????? Write? Teach? So, my "job" option is to get a Ma Ed. in Counseling. It is something I would like to do, and I think that I would be good at it - - later, when the kids are older.... I know how you feel...it is so hard to pick something! It is a problem I have always had!

I went straight away to college really and truly not knowing what to major in, much less what my long-term goals actually were. I suspect that many, many young adults do the same thing. It was really difficult for me to focus in college because I was constantly being pulled one way or another with all of the different and very interesting options available. So, I ended up switching majors way too much, and at the end of 4 years, I had 120 credits that did not add up to a degree in anything! What a mess! So, with that said, if I had to do it over again, and I had the time to do somethings before I decided on "higher education options," I would have worked in the fields that interested me in order to find what I really was passionate about as well as what kind of job fit my personality. I am guessing that you could find many volunteering/unpaid internship positions or maybe even some paid ones that may give you new insights to what you love. After college, I ended up joining the Navy knowing that I was interested in something medical, but after "interning" with the nursing staff for a week gave me a new respect for the job (and also showed me that it probably was not the job for my particular personality type). I ended up in the lab which suited my interests and my tendency to enjoy working alone quite well! I would not have known that unless I had "tried it out." Plus, it ended up as a great opportunity to meet other "like minded people" --- you never know where you might find them! Good luck!

Yes, thank you! We are constantly combating this with our family members and even within our very own troop! I know it is hard to edit yourself when you are talking people (especially to DH's family while he is deployed)... they just don't realize what a big deal this is! We just eventually got off of Facebook and MySpace all together because people were (innocently) asking and posting dangerous things, so Dh and I just quit trying to keep everyone "in the loop." We just say..."Dh will be home sometime in the fall, hopefully" ... "and then he will be leaving again sometime next fall, maybe." That is about all his loose-lipped family will be getting from now on. To add to this, WHY are the media outlets reporting on things that are happening over there before the military is ready to release the information? Honestly, it is really troubling -- with all of this electronic media these days, that every wife in our troop knew that we had lost 4 pilots by watching Fox news/Yahoo/etc. before the actual family members were told. It left everyone in a nightmarish fog for almost 15 hours until we were finally notified if it was our husband or not. We had family members calling and everything. It was terrible.

Me Too! Love it! And the soundtrack is great too! Oh!!! How could I forget that one????!!! Can't wait until my kids are old enough for it.... Dead Poets affected me in so many ways...Must watch it again soon! And how could I have forgotten National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?

From my High School Days..... Out of Africa (I think that Robert Redford's character really influenced my choice of husband ;)) Ferris Bueller's Day Off - my friend and I completely memorized every line... Top Gun & Dirty Dancing - "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" Now, because I want to be the main characters... Chocolat & Amelie

Just finished The Road - It was really good, but Dh said that I was all melancholy while I was reading it - hmmm, don't know why that would happen:confused: Finished The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell- A story of King Arthur - awesome, awesome, awesome!!!! Loved, loved, loved it! Still slogging through Paradise Lost... ugh!.... It is interesting, and I actually like it quite a bit, but I. cannot. stay. awake...... but, almost done!

I would probably roll my eyes, and then Dh would remind me that the Hooters attire is equivalent to what the girls are wearing in gym class at the High School, and that we have been to Hooters before with our kids...and then I would roll my eyes again... :confused: I do think it is pretty dumb choice for someone to make without the parents around, though. I can see where some people would have a problem with it. And, as a coach himself, Dh wouldn't take the boys there without the parents giving an ok first (even though by the time they reach the 17-19 yo age group...I'd guess that most of them had already been there before:lol:). As for the alcohol, I would not care if the restaurant served it. But if I had found out that the coaches were having a few, I would be livid. But, we weren't even talking about that, were we?

From my experience as a player on very competitive club/travel teams, I would say that it was wonderful, but extremely time-consuming and expensive. I am not sure what things are like these days, but we traveled out of state 4-8 times a year - all year round - almost every holiday and weekend plus practices during the week. I know that some travel teams now, are more of a "local" type of team...I would make sure before you commit. Plus 7 is still young. We didn't start up that kinds of schedule until the middle school/HS ages. As far as wrestling goes, the local club systems are great. The issue is mainly the HS years. Since Dh is a wrestling coach, we have even thrown around the idea of just entering into Open Tournaments and see how far we can go with that. But, really, nothing beats working out and practicing in the wrestling room with the team... Margaret, you make a good point about everything backfiring. I am not going to stress about the redshirting issue...everything will work out like it is supposed to, I guess. And we will just make the PS decision when it comes time!

I agree that the scholarship thing isn't what I am terribly worried about, it is more about opening doors of opportunity. Plus, the travel team option is a great option. I went through club soccer and volleyball growing up, and really that was the only place recruiters were scouting-at least in my area. We didn't even bother playing high school soccer. I almost wish all sports would go solely toward that system (except that some people simply can't afford it, and a lot of kids just want to play for fun regardless of level), but then homeschoolers wouldn't have to worry about this situation at all. But, we are a wrestling family, and where we have lived, club/travel stops at middle school. Dh and I talked about the redshirting idea this morning. He is feeling like the we might just be causing more issues keeping them back than by letting them fight it out on their own. We'll see...I think I just need to chill out and keep my options open.;)

I am curious with all of the redshirting talk, if anyone else was leaving the option open as far as putting the kids into public/private school (specifically high school) simply for opportunities such as sports (band, drama, etc, too - but sports seem to be the area most affected). And if you are, what are you going to do about grade placement? Redshirt or not? Like I said in the redshirting thread, it drives me nuts when people keep their kids back simply for sports reasons (not talking about maturity/academic reasons at all here;)). I feel like it is skewing the playing field, and "normally developing" kids are going to be left behind. So, what do we do when our kids are passionate about a sport that really only is taking place within the walls of the PS? My kids are flying through academically but on normal pace physically - which means that my boys (like their father) are scrawny and probably won't fill out until 18 or 19. But, I wonder if we would be doing them a disservice by holding them back/giving them an 8th grade gap year or just let them keep going and fight it out with the more developed boys and hope that recruiters and coaches see what is going on? Or, maybe I am just needlessly worrying and my kids won't even want to go that far in sports:confused:. Probably, but what are you guys with good athletes doing or planning to do? Thanks!

My kids are not shy around adults either. They do tend to hold back a bit if the person is a stranger to them, but if the adult is one of our good friends, they tend to believe that it means that it is their friend, too. Our friends honestly do not mind at all, but now that the kids are getting older we have had to have a sit down with them and try to get them to understand that there are just some conversations and some situations where the adults need to be adults and the kids, kids. It's been hard sometimes, and like you, I don't want to stop them from engaging people. I was one of those kids who preferred adult conversation to my peers, so I can relate. DD is 10 going on 23, so she wants to be in the know on all adult conversations, and sometimes that is just not appropriate - so, yeah, she gets upset sometimes and we have to have the big, long conversations about growing up, etc... :) and she is understanding more and more.... But, all in all, we are pretty lenient, and our friends just know that this is how our family works - the kids are usually always involved in our activities, and they will be involved in most of the conversation.

I guess this subject just strikes a chord with me because Dh is a phenomenal athlete, but he really didn't start developing until he turned 18/19. He wrestled 152 his senior year, got 2nd at State in Ohio, and was still overlooked by the colleges. So, he was in bootcamp 2 days after he graduated high school. Had he been held back like the others, who knows? What I see is that it was a lost opportunity on both sides - he was wrestling on his own at a national level just 4 years later - and couldn't/still can't suck weight lower that 180 because of muscle bulk. So, it just bugs me...I have 3 scrawny, very athletic boys coming up who would be bored to tears if I held them back....what to do...what to do.... :D

I am going to respectfully disagree with you here. :) It does make a difference. Kids start school sports in 6th grade here. An 11 year old athletic kid who is still on the smaller side competing against a huge monster of a kid who is verging on 12-13 makes for a big problem. You are right, in the sports outside of school, these kids would not be together, but in school they are. Even if we are simply talking about gym class, this makes for an intimidating situation. But while we are talking sports, as these same two kids reach high school, not only are we talking about physical advantages for the older kids, but we are also talking about 1 to 2 years more experience playing rec or club sports on the outside. Big difference. You said that "By high school, a very athletic, scholarship hopeful athlete will have been "playing up" for so long that the age of an opponent is irrelevant." The problem is that for some sports, the kid's ability goes along with their physical development, and as stupid as it is, your winning record (in individual sports) matters to a lot of recruiters starting at least at your freshman year, sometimes earlier. Before people started holding back their hopeful football linemen, all the kids had the opportunity to let their bodies mature normally. Now, they are faced with this ridiculous task of trying to "overcome" their normal development so that they can keep up with the older boys. It is very frustrating to DH and me. We both played sports well into our adult years, and because of this insane competitiveness regarding school sports and scholarships, we have been holding our kids out of sports. I loved playing, but people are getting so serious about it at so young an age, we are going to make them wait until they are older. It is sad to me - I am glad to hear that it is not like that everywhere. Maybe we have just been living in the wrong places!!! :001_smile:

DH's family all live in the San Antonio area and they all love it. They all live in the same neighborhood. It really is quite wonderful. Their area has a neighborhood pool and the families are all friendly and look out for one another. Everyone seems to be always outside interacting with each other. We considered moving there as well. I absolutely love the city! There are so many things to do there. I don't know about the local homeschooling climate, but Texas has great homeschooling laws from what I have seen (maybe some more Texans will chime in on this...). The home prices, to me, seemed to be very reasonable. The only things we had issues with was that we wanted to be sort of out in the country, and you have to be very careful about water issues once you get out of the areas with city water. Also, even though I had never had issues with allergies before, I was miserable there during certain times of the year due to the Cedar trees - never had that issue before - maybe it was just a fluke.:confused: Anyway, every single person I have ever known from there sings its praises, but that is just what I have seen in my limited experience. Maybe others have some more info for you. Good luck with your move!

Looks like all of mine will be 18. But it all really depends on what kind of opportunities crop up. If they plan on playing sports, they will probably go straight in, but if they aren't I would love for them to do a "gap" year. I started college after just turning 18 (and would loved to have gone earlier - emotionally and maturity wise), but realistically, I could have used a year or two of real life work/intern experience so that I knew what I wanted to do with myself. I was ready to leave home, but not ready to decide my life's path...is that clear as mud?

Pay-as-you-go.... simply for emergencies - and DH always forgets to take it with him:D

:iagree:The sports side of this debate is what gets be upset. We have some very athletic kids who are moving fast academically. The only hope for a sports scholarship is to "hold them back" in some way even as homeschoolers because if your kids loves a sport that is heavily recruited through the schools and not through the club team system, you have to make the decision of whether or not to put them into a public or private high school mainly for athletic reasons. So, when you put them in, you have to plan for the appropriate grade level. With all of this redshirting going on for sports, it totally affects that decision (Even with wrestling - because even though you are only wrestling your own weight, maturity and experience always come in to play. You know an 18-19 year old senior will usually outmatch a young 17 yo senior even at the same weight class. The older ones have started to fill out and develop their "man" bodies by that time.) Anyway, I hate to say "It just isn't fair!!", but it really isn't - it is crappy for the kids who are on target. And yes, people do think this far ahead for sports. I know many many families that have had their children "recruited" into different school districts while their children were still in elementary school (for many sports, not just football: baseball, wrestling, basketball, and even, yes, girls soccer).

:iagree:We have encountered this same sort of thing. We have lived in very big football and wrestling areas, and I'd say 95-100% of the families with boys were holding them back as long as they could get away with it simply because of sports. And, because everyone else was doing it, you almost had to go along with it as well or else your child would be so mismatched physically if you didn't. It was ridiculous! The crazy thing is that the schools had absolutely no problem with all of this mess, but when we went to them to try to have our DD jump ahead past K (which was just playtime at our school - almost zero academics) -- (she was an older Kinder age - and was completely ready emotionally, academically, and maturity wise to jump into 1st)... they had a complete heart attack and thought we had lost our minds. Needless to say, she was at home being homeschooled after 2 months... maybe it worked out best this way for her, because she would have been about a year and a half to 2 years younger than her classmates by just skipping one grade. I do not have a problem with people holding kids back who are not emotionally ready and perhaps on the cusp of the age lines, but this holding them back for sports is absolutely insanely out of hand.

:lol:Ohhhhh...I hope you didn't get blindsided by that one! I think if you had seen the prequels you would know what you were getting into with that one :D And I really like Clerks!!!;)

We are a military family and since DD10 was born, we have moved 9 times. We have lived on post, rented and owned 3 houses during all that time. I have learned so much from other wives about how to "make your house a home," but one of the biggest issues for us, is to get over the "we are just going to have to pack up and leave again soon" syndrome. Now, we only move with the things we absolutely love, and when we get to our new destination, we unpack everything immediately and settle in as fast as possible. We love to own our houses because DH is a closet architect/designer, and we try to "remake" the place to fit US. But, the absolute first thing we do in a house is fix the lighting (add dimmers, change the ambiance, etc.); that and paint seems to help so much for us. Since we do move so often, we work very hard in keeping the clutter down to the bare minimum. Our decor is made up of things that serve a purpose or at the very least, brings warm memories. Other than that, all of the other posters are right: attitude, snuggling, no screaming through the house, and being somewhat organized and simple are the things we strive for.

Great idea - I'm in! Cleaned out the pencil drawer while I was reading this post and threw away all of the old pens that don't work. Day one done!

I want to play this year :D. 1st up is Milton's Paradise Lost..... #2 is More's Utopia. (just finishing up an English Lit class). Then, on to a few "fun" ones!

Yes! And don't forget to air your grievances! Last year DH was deployed, so another wife and I sent ornaments for the guy's small tree with our grievances written on them. Just a little Festivus cheer! But somehow this year, no one wants to celebrate with us:confused: - I secretly think that they are scared that they will never be able to beat DH in the wrestling match ;).

And just to add another option to your table... don't forget about Warrant Officer career fields. Just one example: we have several friends who did the "High School to Flight School" Warrant Officer Program in the Army. The Army offers this program for Helicopter pilots. Warrants are the "experts" in their fields - meaning if you go to school to be a pilot, you stay a pilot and fly your entire career. Regular Officers, like the pps were saying, may fly for only a year or so, and then they take on admin jobs where they do not get to fly very much at all. We know several Officers who have switched over to Warrant just because of that fact. Anyway, just something else to add to your research list! ;)