Ok, I think AuntPol has covered most of the bases... :D Really, in addition to being ignorant, lazy and righteous, which I find really, really, REALLY annoying in all the aforementioned guises... I HATE HAVING TO LOOK FOR STUFF!!! PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS!!! Seriously. I know (KNOW!!) I take both of my shoes off in the same place. Why can I only ever find one? Is it too much to ask that tools be put back where they were found, so that I do not have to spend 2 hours looking for the staple gun and a razor knife, only to come up with a pack of replacement blades, various drywall tools and a torque wrench? Can somebody please enlighten me as to WHY I just uncovered the seat covers that are supposed to be protecting the leather upholstery from the car seats under a pile of leaves in the driveway? Nothing in my house is ever a 10-minute project. Why? Because you spend an hour looking for the !*@$&! tools to DO the 10-minute project (because someone who shall remain nameless in order to not violate board rules never, ever puts things away), then spend another hour or so un-!*@$&!-ing what the previous owners of our house did in their ignorant, lazy attempt to just get something half done in the most screwball way possible. This applies, in particular, to such momentous tasks as opening a window. Uh-huh. Yep. I bet nobody thought opening a window was a multi-day affair. (Or decade-long, in some instances, involving removal of 150 year old trim and re-installing the weights) I am sending some particularly bad juju out there to the rocket scientist who replaced half of the pulleys and weights with the ever-so-more-modern metal tracks that don't ever work. (The only reliably functional windows are the ones he didn't get around to, uh, "upgrading") Double that to the person who decided nailing and spray-foaming the same windows shut was somehow a good idea. We will not even get started on the person who though it would be delightful to replace the proper storms/screens with those heinous, ill-fitting, DRAFTY "combination" affairs. :glare: (Is it obvious I have some door and window chores I'm working on today? :D)

As somebody who has odd reactions to medications (Benadryl makes me hyper, too, among other things) I would have to weigh how badly I wanted to address the situation - and it seems like chronic insomnia would be something that would need to be addressed - and then work with the sleep specialist to find something that works well. Different medications are in different "families" and work differently so, while one may have nasty side effects for your daughter, another may not; one may actually alleviate the problem and one may not work at all. It seems to me that a sleep specialist, with the sleep studies, will be better able to isolate the root cause of the disturbance and prescribe something that addresses that, rather than just trying various sleep aids, you know? I'm studying to be an herbalist and I do avoid symptom-masking drugs. But I will also point out that natural remedies are not without side effects, they work over the long term, and that (in my not so humble opinion, which seems to be shared by herbalists in general) mass produced herbal supplements, particularly herbs powdered in capsules, are just not effective. And, as above, the correct herb that addresses the root cause of the problem needs to be used. We had some major sleep deprivation in our house when the boys were infants/toddlers, and I remember how horrible it was; I spent about 2 years on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I can't imagine what your daughter is going through - not having an end point in sight must just add exponentially to the stress. :grouphug:

I had <male> friends in high school who painted nails / wore eyeliner... maybe it's just coming back like turned-up collars?

Those. Freaks.:001_huh: That is just so wrong on so many levels. Seriously. We love our LG Tromm machines. (Nice to know about the steam thing, that came out about a year after we got ours and I've had "steam envy" here and there, though if I'm honest, I have no use for such a feature) I'm short enough so we didn't bother getting the pedestals. They clean well, dry well (though I line dry in summer), make pleasant noises when you turn them on... :D Musty smells are a concern with front loaders because the door seals. You do need to leave it open for a while after using the machine. That applies to all of them, as far as I can tell. And dryers will drop in efficiency if you don't clean the lint filter, though mine does take several loads (as evidenced by the different colored lint layers when I notice the drying is not going so well). I would totally find a "scratch & dent" center. Used appliances that have a lot of moving parts would concern me.

Sparrows stay a couple of weeks. They like to nest in one of my husband's old fire helmets in the garage. The babies are adorable when they fledge, with their little frowny looking beaks and crazy stick-out feathers on their heads. They look like tiny, grumpy old men. They also don't seem to get that landing on vertical surfaces is an "advanced" skill, so they spend a lot of time trying to land on things like the side of our trash can, with much sliding and a great flurry of wings. :D

You might want to look at putting together a functional resume, rather than a chronological one. It's like a CV, so easier to read for coherent skills across various industries, etc. Good luck!

Yeah... at this point, I'm just hoping the perpetual brain fog from having small children leaves before the actual senility sets in. I find myself (often) calling the kids by the wrong name, their siblings', the dog's... I go through the whole list before going to the Bill Cosby place of "you there, the one I'm looking at, come HERE!" And I'm not pregnant, just addled. ;)

Just to validate your decision to push that button - My dad noticed that his Bean boots (what are they, the Maine Guide Boot or something like that? the ones that scream "LL Bean") were finally wearing out last fall, after, like 30 years and mentioned to one of his buddies that he'd have to invest in a new pair. The buddy's girlfriend took them to Freeport with her one day, and Bean's looked them over, decided they weren't going to be able to fix them to their standard, and sent him a new pair. They have a no-hassle, lifetime guarantee on nearly everything they sell, certainly everything that is made for them. I know people who have had holes burnt in ragged old shirts, down jackets that get torn after several seasons, etc., all replaced with no drama whatsoever. Also, an interesting tidbit - the main store (the big store, which has been expanded quite a bit since I was a kid) has no locks on the doors. They have been open since the day L.L. first opened the doors in 1912, with two exceptions: they were evacuated during a huge fire in Freeport, and they shut down the day of L.L.'s funeral.

I voted "other", as well. The TV is rarely on before the children go to bed, for live broadcast, recorded, or Netflix. Perhaps once or twice a month, they will watch a couple of shows or a movie. In my house, it is much easier to keep it off than to try and limit it to a certain time/show/whatever per day. A few years ago, I woke up and realized the TV was on all.day.long. - literally from when the first person got up, until the last person went to bed at night. Scaling back just resulted in fighting, sneaking in to turn it on, etc. so I outlawed TV completely. Now, they're just used to it not being on. On the occasions when they do watch, it's less of a struggle to turn it off. A lot of that is because they end up watching the late-afternoon kids show(s) on PBS, and they're not into BBC World News when their show is over, or they watch a movie on DVD, so there's a definite end. I totally feel your struggle. That's what worked for us, for what it's worth. :001_smile:

Yes, basketball type shorts keep getting longer. It's funny when I wander past a "classic" game on ESPN Classic - the shorts are so... short! FWIW, my husband's shorts - the cargo/hiking sort - all come to below his knee, and have for years. Come to think of it, if they were cinched in at the bottom, they'd be knickers. There are men's clam-diggers around now, too. Very "preppy".

Apparently I do, too... I couldn't even stretch to an innuendo on that one. :001_huh:

:lurk5: I am intrigued and could be interested. :bigear:

We used a wipes warmer in winter when we had infants. I just folded the flannel wipes in half and they fit fine. (We also have terry/flannel wipes that fit in the warmer without folding) As noted, we just used water, a little tea tree oil, a little lavender and a drop or two of Dr. Bronner's to emulsify the essential oils in the water. I used tap water and never had a problem with molding or becoming "off". Of course, I was using cloth wipes, so I didn't have hundreds to work through in the same solution. On the other hand, I have had a container of wipes in the car for several weeks, for hand wiping, and it's fine, too. Oh, and, yes, I would say it's financially worth it - our diaper outlay for three children (two of whom still wear them at night at 4 1/2) has been about $500, excluding the couple of extra loads of laundry per week. I can't even imagine what the outlay for disposables would be for, essentially, 12 years of diapers thus far.

:iagree: Indeed. (um, also, there is a duplicate thread that should probably be deleted.)

You and your husband are awesome and an inspiration to those of us much earlier on in our journey. Great job, both of you!

I had mine out when I was 16. The surgeon - it would be in poor taste to call him what I normally call him, 22 years later, on the boards - told me I would be completely normal the next day, that the last teenager he had passed him in the doorway of her hospital room and he didn't even recognize her, she looked so good, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I essentially laid on the couch sucking the Tylenol w/ codeine out of the bottle with a straw for 10 days. :glare: I'm sure it's going to be a couple of days before she feels social.

Indeed. My youngest three share a room (dd8, ds4.5, ds4.5), and the boys share a bed. They have, in fact, never slept alone. My mother and three of her siblings shared a bed for most of her childhood, then my uncle (the second oldest) moved into his own room and the girls continued to share a room/bed. And this would have been middle-class America, 1950s-60s. I'm pretty sure my dad shared sleep with his brothers, as well (5 boys). I honestly don't understand why people are so obsessed with where other people sleep. Good grief. :glare:

I'm not sure why my comment would give you the impression I have hostility toward VBS. I was replying to the OP's speculation as to what they might teach, and her comment that she is not interested in her children being immersed in doctrinal topics. I have no objection to churches teaching their doctrine - that would just be assumed, wouldn't it? I do think it's slightly delusional to hope otherwise, as other respondents - of varying religious backgrounds (including Michelle, above) - have pointed out, in the context of vacation Bible school. Something titled "Children's Summer Camp" might be different, but I think the name "Vacation Bible School" sets a pretty clear expectation. No hostility here. ;)

I would assume that Vacation Bible School would be teaching the gospel from a believer's perspective, and based on the tenets of the host church. In fact, if I discovered VBS was something other than that, I would find it very strange, maybe even a little creepy. My kids have been to AWANA with friends, various worship services and holiday observances, etc. I wouldn't send them to VBS, though, unless I intended them to learn the gospel from a believer's perspective, based on the tenets of the host church.

You don't have to develop the rash to carry chicken pox and infect others. (As evidenced by me getting them from a friend who transported a patient with it to the hospital, then infected her son, my daughter, and me.) When it comes to potentially infecting someone with an infant, compromised immune system, etc, I always try to err on the side of caution. I would rather be inconvenienced than responsible for their illness.

Yep, math, fiber arts, reading, history (if you look into the history of garments - fascinating, really)... oh, the list could go on and on! Have fun! I am SEW envious! :D

Yes, every time they're on a bike, even if they're in the yard. Same deal here as previously posted: parents who were/are paramedics. In the vast majority of accidents, helmets (or seatbelts, or properly installed car seats) save lives and function.

I think it's great - same reasons Pooh Bear cited. We use our dining room table for school (or the kitchen island, it depends on the state of clutter in the kitchen) and I can stick everything in there and move it to the buffet when we're ready to eat, rather than stacking random pieces of schoolwork all over available flat surfaces. It's not small, though. It would be a huge pain if it was sitting on our computer desk, for instance.

Thank you, Holly, for your insights into playing vs practice. My 8 y.o. will be reading this when she's finished <ahem> practicing piano. :D So, I'm thinking we have a LOT (comparatively) of piano practice going on here. The 8 y.o. just started her second year and practices about 45 minutes a day, seven days a week, just her regular lesson work... if she is learning a recital piece, she practices more. Regular lesson work, she usually breaks up into 15 minute or so sessions. When she's working on a particularly difficult piece for recital, she might add another 30 minute block in there. And our piano teacher is the kind that wants them to take it easy and have fun with it! Maybe I'm expecting too much? I mean, I'm not standing over her with a whip and stuff, but I do remind her to practice... :confused:

I have to laugh - when my husband and I were dating and first married, the running joke was that, every third night, he slept with my best friend (paramedics, partnered at work), except when he slept with Dave. :D We are focused on each other and, jointly, on the children. If he should have an affair, I would assume there is something very wrong going on with him or with our marriage (not that such a thing would be an excuse, just that that behaviour would be aberrant) and it would be addressed as such. (We recently had the "mid-life crisis discussion" and I pointed out that we are aiming at being debt-free, so an exotic car is out of the question... and any loose women better be a cheap date, too!) That said, I CAN see where being mindful of the appearance of propriety (or lack thereof) is important. I lost a job in my early 20s because of a stupid, ridiculous action on my boss' part that led his wife (along with her accountant) to, literally, raid my office while I was at lunch, looking for a reason to terminate me. Not that that is the situation for you, but it would be a real shame to have to deal with the potential gossip. You can't prove a negative, after all, and no matter what the response to such accusations, they will only "prove guilt" in the minds of the accusers. You know?