Our umbrella group provides member cards. No, I wouldn't pay for one. If I needed a different card, I would print a free one at Homeschool Buyers' Co-op.

That's it! I knew it was an oxymoron!

I got mine at the Dansk factory store when they were closing and everything was 75% off. If I hadn't - or, 100 years from now, when they've all broken - I'd go to Ikea. With the exception of short plastic glasses (from Ikea) that I keep in a drawer for the kids' self service, everyone uses glass. Half the time, there's a glass tumbler in the water dispenser in the fridge door.

Um, yes, I seem to recall a conversation about the Hep B vaccine, in which I asked my pediatrician whether we were betting on the children being health care workers or IV drug users. :001_huh: I believe that was right before I told him to pound sand (which is the same answer elicited by the chicken pox vaccine which, as far as I am concerned, is a purely economic vaccine whose purpose is to keep people from missing school/work). Otherwise, I'm pretty sure our children are fully vaccinated (unless they've come up with new ones). Other things I vaccinate for because our lifestyle does include exposure to oddball things that are communicable but uncommon.

"City" would be a misnomer - We (the county seat) have 2960, as of the 2000 census. As of the same census, our county only has around 29,000. We're outnumbered, about 100:1, by chickens. :D

Yes, I think many jurisdictions have some statue about an irresistible hazard (or some such wording; I'm not a lawyer) that basically says you have to go to great lengths to lock trespassers out of your property if you have something that would be appealing to them, particularly children. (We were appalled to discover that, in our county, there is not even a requirement to fence pools! ) On the one hand, I wouldn't necessarily be pursuing the lack of supervision, unless they were "free ranging" in your yard. On the other, I would totally mention the clandestine use of the trampoline (or pool or anything else hazardous) to the owner, since it appears she does not have knowledge of this and could be liable. And, as everyone else said, if she says they have permission to use it any time, then you really don't need to go further; she has accepted whatever legal responsibility that might come her way. ETA: My kids play outside "unsupervised". They are locked inside a 6 ft privacy fence and I can hear them, though. There's a big area between direct visual contact and having no idea where your kids are or what they're doing.

We generally school all year, specifically to avoid the pain of re-entry. Alas, this year we fell off schedule. Anyway, I devised a daily schedule, broken out for Mom, Eight Year Old and Almost-5 Year Olds. Then, I had a meeting with them, went over the schedule, got "customer buy-in", and told them the schedule would go into effect on Monday. So far, they've been very good about following the schedule, including chore time, and knowing what comes next. Of course, I have also heard that I'm the BEST mom because I give them yummy zucchini quiche, and the boys have commenced to fighting in order to get the toys picked up so we can do history reading ("Yay, History!") so I may have to find the pods the aliens left behind when they swapped out my real children for these clones. :D

:iagree: Though I am confused about how skirts highlight chubby knees (which I thought were a figment of the imagination when I was in MY 20s... until they came to live at my house in my 30s) but shorts don't? Don't your knees stick out of shorts, too? Or are we talking walking shorts, in which case I would totally wear those sandals.

In our local library that has it, it is located in the "Parenting" section, which also includes all other homeschooling materials, as well as behavioral type books. Juvenile Reference seems like a ridiculous place to keep it.

I think the best answer to such a question is, "Not as much as I ought to". We (not in the Bible Belt) looked at that very house! And, yes, it did lead to some conversation about why the current owners were stashing liquor in odd places.

When I worked (until the twins came along), our income was twice as much as it is now. Since I stopped working, our lifestyle has changed very little in order to accommodate the loss of income - it has changed in other ways, of course, but not much because I often worked from home. Frankly, the fact that there has been so little change makes me a little nauseous. It means we used to spend an amount many would consider a very comfortable family income on... crap. Indeed, after the loss of my income, my husband went to grad school at a private university, the children have become more involved in extra curriculars, and we have begun taking much better vacations... Oh, yeah, and we've paid off debt we acquired when I WAS working. :confused: (Is there a nausea smilie? I think I need one.)

I believe, when I received a similar call, my answer was "My daughter does not qualify for free or reduced lunch and I categorically refuse to share our income and SSNs with you." In our system, we also had a form to opt OUT of school based medical services (physicals, etc). Um, opt OUT?? How about if you're interested, you can apply for such?

Exactly. We're already in a database somewhere (let's be real - MANY databases) and, in my view, a tax credit would be the same as the dependent tax credits we get: simply a correction of "overpayment" of our taxes throughout the year. Now, all taxpayers/homeowners here contribute to the education system, among other things, and I don't think I should get a tax credit for not using the roads or because we have never had a house fire or medical emergency, either. But, if I built my own roads or firehouse, I would. :D

Yup, me, too. But I have to be really, really angry. The mantra that works for me is "______ will be here in _____ days/hours/minutes!!" :D

I wonder if this is the part of the equation that is most significant. In cultures where beer/wine is the norm with meals, there doesn't seem to be rampant alcoholism. Likewise, in cultures where there is no drinking. I wonder, though, if the bigger issue is raising children with drinking as a way of life, particularly heavy drinking. I'm thinking of the atmosphere where the liquor cabinet is opened on Friday night and all the neighbors appear for the "beginning of the weekend", or, more specifically, our neighbors for whom the first beer is cracked as soon as they arrive home from work (having stopped for a new case on the way) and it's one right after another all night, while the music gets louder, the language gets worse, other people join in, etc. It's like a perpetual house party. :glare: Anyway, I wonder if that weighs in more than the base have a drink / don't have a drink factor.

I think it depends on the proceedings, but that, generally, yes, courtrooms are open to the public.

Yes, well, we'll leave them alone if they're in France, because they are actually required to wear them. (And I recall somebody commenting in the not so distant past that French pools have speedo vending machines, in case one shows up in one of those "unhygienic" suits... wouldn't want anyone to be embarrassed because they can't get in the water, now, would we? :tongue_smilie:)

I developed Fibromyalgia symptoms, right down to the classic tender spots, when my children were younger, particularly when the boys were young nurslings. It was sleep deprivation. I discovered that there have been studies done, inducing the symptoms in otherwise healthy college students, just by depriving them of sleep over a long period. Could that be it?

Good job! I have to laugh - I just made our schedule, called a meeting of the short people, presented it, and commented to a friend I think I have buy-in from the internal customers.... I think I was having a flashback to corporate life! :D

What does it say about those of us who have opened your thread. Repeatedly. :blink:

:001_huh: A call from PayPal would knock me completely off kilter. I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, don't try to pretend a crackhead is a normally functioning person because they showed up when Grandpa is on his death bed. Forgive, absolutely. There is, however, a difference between forgiving and enabling. I agree this needs to be discussed after the emotionally charged period of losing his grandfather. And I think Wolf needs to give you his word that, until then, he will not expose your family to this person.

I suspect it's a typo. I'd call them, just to make sure.

Hmmm... we socialize with families from lots of backgrounds. It's not a problem; our friends all know and respect our views (as we do theirs). Is there an inclusive support group in your area?

My cousin used to eat Milk Bones. He's a doctor now, so I guess there wasn't any permanent damage... My step father once found a paper bag full of those carob-nut blobs - the ones from the bulk section about a million years ago? - on the counter, and was just about to chow down when my mother came in and screamed... they were cat poop. With litter stuck to them. :ack2: