Quinoa tabbouleh? Gazpacho? Tortilla chips and salsa? Rice cakes, with nut butter and jam, or sandwich salad of your preference. Salad fixings, precooked shredded chicken... GF quiche?

"I am not comfortable/interested in/open to debating the criteria and merits of our parenting decisions with people who do not live in my house. Please, pass the bean dip..." We have friends whose 7 year old has significant medical issues. The adults' policy is that it is information the belongs to their daughter and not theirs to discuss. If she feels comfortable discussing it, it is hers to share. They do not bring it up at all (we only know because I was venting to my friend about someone telling me I was overreacting after saying this person may not come to our co-op after exposing her children to chicken pox because she can't know the health status of the rest of the members, and my friend thanked me for being the "overreactive" one). And, for what it's worth, I can't tell you how often I get comments from adults about how much they like my children. Because they're nice to other people, go out of their way to help others, encourage their peers, stand up for kids being bullied, etc. In other words, despite never setting foot in a classroom, they "get along" with others, even in a group, and often more functionally than their public schooled peers, probably because they see the uncivil behavior and attitudes as aberrant. (Not a slam against the behavior of public schooled kids. I just think there is a certain amount of "pecking order" behavior that is normalized in such settings, but isn't in "the real world" we are accused of not preparing our children to navigate.)

It is a common misconception that New Englanders "drop" Rs. We (I am a native Mainer, albeit accent free) do not. Yankee frugality would not allow us to waste them by just dropping them altogether. We simply save them for use in words where there is a glaring dearth of Rs. Like "idear".

Maybe the horses are running away and put up the CL ad themselves? I LOVE the idiom-challenged! My favorite mangles came from a coworker and a former boss. Respectively: "This place is going to h3ll in a handbag!" and "I know I'm b!tching at the chorus here, but..." (That would be "preaching to the choir" for the rest of us.)

I dunno... I've balled up in pain, usually shortly before vomicking.

Cut in half with sugar, royaled just in a bowl, peeled & sectioned like an orange. I've never considered putting salt on it (or watermelon, though I understand people do that). Maybe I should try. Mmmmmm.

My (then) 10 and 6 year olds listened to the audiobook repeatedly in the car last summer. They all enjoyed it quite a bit. My daughter had read the abridged version multiple times prior to that. They also enjoyed Little House in the Big Woods on audio.

Not one of the weight-losers here, but I wanted to say Congratulations!! That's a great milestone, and it must feel incredibly good to be able to do stuff!

Ah, yes. I can have a whole head of broccoli in my teeth, lipstick on sideways... Nobody notices. Evidently, that's just how I look. :glare:

So, so thrilled for you and the pack! Safe journey for all of you!

My kids really like Super Friends, Inspector Gadget, Get Smart, Bewitched... And they absolutely howl at WKRP. Howl. It always makes me giggle when I hear a random "booooooooooogeeeeeeer".

I'm 40 and have been graying since... I dunno, late 20s? My hair is dark and the grays stand out in contrast. I don't color, nor do I plan to.

How about the Laptop Lunches stainless drink bottle? We love our old-style ones, but these look even better (stainless on the bottom of the page) http://secure.laptoplunches.com/items.asp?Cc=BOTTLES&Bc=

He can retire in 4 years, at 46, but it will depend on his rank and what else he'd like to do whether he does or not. He'll likely hold out for 8 - when the mortgage is paid off - before he moves on to something he does just for the love of it. Definitely before his 60s, though, and I have no doubt he'll do something part time after that.

Yup. Pack mentality. We're just following the leaders. :tongue_smilie:

I agree with this. You're not being irresponsible. You're feeling genuine emotions and are trying to feel your way through them. I would look for the middle ground, though, rather than give up some pretty significant benefits for a big question mark with warm fuzzies attached.

Once a monthish. It would be less than that, but we've been taking advantage of the monthly "Parents' Night Out" at the Y, and we go out to dinner while the kids are there.

We don't hunt and I'm completely hopeless cooking game, but we sure love when someone cooks venison. However, they tell us ahead of time because some people just don't want to eat game and it's rude to let people assume they're eating one thing when it's another. I really think it's always appropriate to ask.

Yes. I did. My cycle was also back to normal at 6 weeks, 6months with exclusively breatfed twins.

Yep. That's what I use mine on. I have a 16 qt Presto that fits perfectly on my large burner spot. It has a 5-10-15lb rocker weight (change by adding discs) and a rubber emergency relief valve. It's never popped the relief valve (or exploded) no matter how crazy the rocking got before I turned the heat down. I love it so much that we bought an electric pressure cooker for making food (because it takes for.ev.er to get the stovetop one up to pressure for cooking).

The closer I am to the source, the less concerned I am about organic. So, I don't particularly care if my milk comes from the not-organic mixed tank at the farm where we buy. The difference between their organic cows and the others is the hay they get in the barn. They all spend the same time in the same fields, doing cow things. Ditto, produce purchased in season from the grower. And I refuse to buy organic produce plastic wrapped to a styrofoam tray. If I buy something processed, I go for organic mostly, as others have said, to avoid GMO/additives. Anything else is a case by case basis.

:iagree: with this. I want my children to have the resources to make the decisions that are best for their families.

Other: all of the above, plus to avoid allergens.

I'm sorry. It's on their FAQ page at MSDE. Eta: As I understand it, the verbiage in the law that only states "parent or legal guardian" defines that parents (or legal guardians) alone are the primary educators. If there were other allowances under the law, those would be stated.

Maryland law is explicit that the parents are the ones that must educate their children. That doesn't negate co-ops, classes at the nature center, tutoring or even dual-enrollment at the local community college. It simply means you cannot hire a private teacher to come and educate your children in your stead. My kids have done co-op classes, private language and music classes, homeschool PE swimming classes at our Y... All perfectly acceptable.