We love camping, did an extended trip all over Maine one year with our then 1y.o., in cloth diapers... but the idea of a weekend spent with a miserable little person, while trying to balance all the work that goes into caring for said little person in a comparatively resource-poor environment (no bath tub, no flipping on the light and stumbling along for nighttime duties, etc) does not give me the warm fuzzies. And, frankly, if the OP doesn't enjoy camping in the first place, and dreads it with an infant, why is that not valid? I don't understand why people seem to think that, if you're not inconveniencing yourself to accommodate their preferences, you'd better have an unarguable reason. Why can't a person just say, "I just don't want to"? When I had infants last, I was exhausted. I can't imagine packing up all their daily stuff to drive hours from home and work harder than normal to get the activities of daily living done. And, again, I enjoy camping.

I've taken babies and toddlers camping. I think it really depends on the particular baby/toddler, whether it's doable or sheer madness. Formula and open play area are workable (put a sheet/blanket down and let her scoot... Or just let her scoot. Getting dirty is really ok. ;) ), but a little person very attached to a specific bedtime ritual/routine could go either way: either she'll be so far outside her norm that the "usual" won't occur to her, or so far outside her norm that she's beside herself the whole time. You know your baby. Only you (and your husband) can really make the call. I'm not really a fan or pressure/guilt to make parents do something with their babies that goes against their gut.

LLBean has boys rain coats, with & without lining, but they're hip length. Amazon has them, by Western Chief, Hatley, Columbia... But you have to wade through the character ones to find them. I feel your frustration. We have the worst time finding non-character clothing. We usually end up getting rain coats from Bean's but they're not slickers.

That's it! I'm coming over there! You better hide your garbage cans. And your hedges.

I know people like that. And yes, extroverts thrive on interaction, which doesn't have much to do with whether one is confident engaging with unknown people.

Hormonal energy shifts are common and described in all traditions of health that I know of (particularly Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine and western herbalism). If you just notice them as part of the rhythm of your body, you're probably just attuned to such things. If you google something "menstrual cycle energy changes" you'll find a lot of articles and discussions on athletic training sites. It's not in your head. ;) If its not affecting your life, I think most people do best to respect the ebb and flow, and plan activities accordingly. (Which I don't really practice so much, as I am sitting here on Day 2 - super low energy day - trying to will myself to go to cardio-kickboxing, even though I know I'll have a dud of a workout. :D)

:smilielol5:

Stop pointing your video surveillance into my windows!!! Freak! :lol:

Please. You haven't even seen MY crackpot neighbors. Their kids are always out playing. During school hours! I tried to be kind and take them enrollment forms for the local school, but they won't even take them. They made some lame noises about "homeschooling". As if that's even legal. :glare: And I can believe I missed another troll thread!

I'm not shy. I just can't handle the input from a bunch of people. It's mentally and physically draining for me. (The reason why we have quiet time after lunch; I need to recharge in solitude) But I've never been passive. I am not easy to intimidate, physically or psychologically. Introvert is not synonymous with shy, withdrawn, or antisocial. There is an interesting interview with the author of "Quiet", Susan Cain, that I heard a few months ago. You can listen to it here.

Yup. I don't think the options a mutually exclusive.

This is me, too. I'm an introvert in the extreme, but I am also very assertive. And I think my manner suggests that it wouldn't be worthwhile to try to bully me. Which is not to say I don't have a beacon that draws wingnuts and crackpots for miles to try their luck, they just don't keep it up for long.

We used a national bank and they.just.sucked. A shame, too, because my husband had been banking with them (or the original bank he used that they bought) for decades. So we went with a credit union, which doesn't have branches convenient to our home (but does have branches convenient to his work, about 45 minutes from home) and I thought it would be an issue... Nope. Free foreign ATM usage, plus local free usage ATMs, and I can scan deposits through online banking. Love our credit union! So, I chose credit union / happy, but they really function more like an online bank for us. :)

I developed a 14 day cycle over the past few years, along with weight gain, body aches and being cold all.the.time (and I'm rarely cold, as a general rule. Not even a coat wearer in winter) None of it came on suddenly, it was just a downward spiral where the 14 day cycle was a permanent fixture, etc. The symptoms started - slowly, periodically - when I was 33, though, after the boys were born. I blamed it on beig post-partum, having nurslings, being sleep deprived. But then those things went away and the symptoms got worse and more constant. The last straw was complete exhaustion. I've been on thyroid replacement for a year, feel like a human again, and have been drinking Mountain Rose Herb's "Women's Balancing" herbal tea. The cycle has gone back to 25-30 days. (I know this because I started using an iPhone app because I seriously thought I was losing my mind) I feel much better about my world right now. :) Eta: and since you're "local", if you want contact info for my doctor (in Annapolis), pm me. He's awesome and I had to sift through a bunch of duds before I got to him.

Verizon allegedly has that option, but it was not available for our Blackberries. I would advise looking at specific phones on the carrier website to see if they're compatible with carrier parental controls.

I think professional paint companies simply have better quality control than home improvement stores. And, probably, better quality bases. Last year, I got stain samples from Cabot for our front porch. We picked a pea green (yellow undertones) and had a gallon mixed at Lowes. When I did a test swatch (on the same scrap piece as the sample) it was most definitely not the same color. It was blue-green, nearly turquoise. (which led to a whole adventure across two states, looking for a proper color mix, being told they were the same color -???- and finally changing to a color that looks like green jello and I still don't like) If I'd been able to buy directly from Cabot, it would have been tinted with the same colors as the sample and not the "universal" tints Lowes uses (that are clearly not so "universal"). Also be aware that reds look horrifically wrong until they've cured. The brick red in our dining room looked fuschia for a week! Don't be alarmed prematurely. :)

Typewriter style. It's like the odd eat around the apple vs eat top to bottom debate, lol.

I just looked. Thankfully, the children weren't around. Whew. For whole-network security, by the way, we use OpenDNS. Our router directs through their server for lookup, and I use their dashboard to control what content level is acceptable. Anything that connects to our wifi has the same controls, since it's router based. ;)

My left hip rolls forward and pinches my sciatic nerve (delightful!) sometimes. I got a clay hot/cold pack (Rite Aid, not exotic) and have found that icing the SI joint helps a lot. And I have my husband kinesio tape it. Have you tried biking though? Biking and walking are different movements, so you may find biking doesn't have the same effect as walking. Or it could. Just sayin'. :)

That, or Kiss My Face Hold-Up, was my first thought. I've also found coconut oil keeps my (curly, dry) hair from frizzing out, but it doesn't hold as well as mousse. (eta) It works very well if my hair is up, which is how I usually have it, fairly well if it's down.

:iagree: and it's much less exciting 4 years hence.

I love my iPhone, too. My husband has a droid and , while he says he likes it, it has issues - app issues, gps issues, shutting down or locking randomly. My iPhone plan costs the same as the old smart phone plan, it's just structured differently. I wouldn't get the kids smartphones. First, they're expensive to replace. Second, I'm not into unfettered, unsupervised data access. I certainly wouldn't want to pay extra for it, kwim?

Oops. Weird, delayed, double post!

You don't live near MedicMom, do you? I would be concerned about the nutters accosting you and accusing you of stealing their cat. And I'm pretty sure animal hoarders actually do know every single one of their animals. I would totally be in the keep him camp, but... With all the threads about crazies lately, I'd be careful. ;)

We get corn fresh from the field and cook it for less than 5 minutes. Really, just long enough so it's hot enough to melt the butter. In a disturbing side note: my grandfather used to cook spaghetti for 30 minutes. :ack2: