:iagree: --especially with the bolded parts and most especially with the purple bolded parts. Disclaimer: I have watched the Duggars on television exactly ONE time, and I had to change the channel before the show even ended. To me, it all seemed staged for the cameras, and I did not find the characters endearing.

:iagree:

Exactly. :iagree:

LOL! ER turned 21 last Saturday, and he STILL refuses to part with his LEGO sets. He occasionally takes them out of his closet and builds all kinds of things. NO ONE would accuse him of being childish or immature: he's a senior in college, respected by his professors and fellow students, popular among his peers, has a girlfriend (they've been dating more than 2 years), and has held a couple of part time jobs that require a fairly high level of responsibility. (He served as an intern in a criminal prosecutor's office, where he was required to document domestic violence cases, administer drug tests, and assist the prosecutor in court. Currently, he is serves as a church worship leader.)

ER loved LOTR, and now he is enjoying rereading Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr. He is eagerly awaiting the November release of the 4th and final book of the series.

:grouphug: It sounds like you are making progress in the process of healing. I pray that you have strength for the journey and joy along the way.

Our library is like this too. Also, there is a one-day grace period before fines are charged, IF the book is returned no more than one day late. So if I have a book due on, say Wednesday, if I return it (either at the desk before closing time Thursday OR in the book drop before the library opens Friday morning), I won't be charged a fine. However, if I return the book after the library opens on Friday, I would be charged 10 cents per day for each additional day the book is overdue, including Thursday. That said, I usually renew my books online, which works much better for me. I can renew online, even if books are overdue, UNLESS the accumulated fine is over a certain amount ($5.00, I think?).

I am about to start a blog, but I need inspiration. Tell me how you came up with the name of your blog, and maybe that will jumpstart me. Thanks!

The bolded statements above sound exactly like my father. He was loud and abusive, especially emotionally. He was highly intelligent, but always had a poor self image. He had few friends because he believed either 1) other people were stupid, OR 2) they thought they were better than he was. He belittled my sister and me, and he called us names. It seemed that he never missed an opportunity to berate us and tell us how incompetent we were. We were terrified of him because we never knew what might set him off. Punishments were meted out depending more on his mood than on whether our behavior was inappropriate. For example, he once flew into a rage and threw my sister (maybe 10 years old at the time) against the wall when she dropped the wastebasket in his office into place instead of simply setting it down. He interpreted her dropping the wastebasket as defiance because she didn't want to take out the trash. If my sister and I argued while we were washing dishes ("You didn't rinse that one very well."..."Yes, I did; you're just trying to find fault."), he would come into the kitchen behind us and lash us with his belt. I never thought about there being a name for his personality type; we always just attributed it to the fact that his father was the same way, and we thought it was a learned behavior. His parents divorced when he was 5 (very unusual for the 1940s), and he and his older sister went to foster care. Later, he lived with his dad sometimes, then with his mom sometimes, but he was such a troubled kid that each parent would shuffle him off to live with the other one when he wore out his welcome. He wound up lying about his age and joining the military at 17. He met my mom while he was stationed near the area where she lived, and they married when she was only 15. She says she never knew his true personality until after they were married, and being young and naive, she stayed with him because she didn't know what else to do. She had 3 babies by the time she was 20 years old. (I am the oldest, born just 4 days before her 17th birthday.) It wasn't until I'd been married for several years that I got up the courage to tell him how I felt. Believe it or not, after that, he seemed to be different. He was still hard to get along with, but he respected me more, and by the time he died (when I was 41), he could carry on a meaningful conversation without belittling me. He mellowed a lot over the years, but there were still times when he would lose control and fly into a rage. He was plagued with emotional issues all his life, and when he was in his 50s, he suffered a "nervous breakdown", and was on anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medications for the rest of his life. My mom stayed with him for 42 years, until his death of a heart attack at age 61. The bolded statements above definitely describe me. (About the last one: my father died nearly 10 years ago, but I definitely remember feeling as a child that we would all be happier if he were gone. And even as an adult, when I saw all the heartache my mother endured, I actually encouraged her to leave him. However, she believed that divorce was wrong, so she stayed. Since my issues were with my father instead of my mother, I have had normal relationships with other women, but I can see where my father's emotional problems have influenced my self image and also my relationship with my husband. I am a perfectionist. I often feel inadequate, and I push myself to excel in whatever I undertake. It took me a long, long time to come to trust my husband completely, and to not automatically expect him to be angry with me or ridicule me over minor things. I always feel that I am not pretty enough, not a good enough housekeeper, etc. My sister has also had problems in this area; she has been married 3 times, twice to men who were abusive and domineering, and now to a man who has a hair-trigger temper (but treats her well, fortunately--I know this because she talks openly to me about what's going on in her marriage).

The Wikipedia article was the 8th hit; Bill's WTM post was 1st.

:bigear: I was just coming on to ask the same questions (as well as a few others).

:iagree: with all of the above. Cindy Anthony said in an interview with Greta Van Sustern that the father was deceased. Here is a quote: "Caylee’s never had a father. He was a friend of Casey’s. He’s never been in Caylee’s life. He’s not on her birth certificate. He was a friend of Casey’s that lives out of state. By the time Caylee was born, he had already started another family, and he passed away earlier in the year. And again, his family never had knowledge of Caylee. And that was a mutual thing that Casey and he had agreed upon, that he was not going to be part of Caylee’s life."

:iagree:

In my area of the Bible Belt, this is how the Episcopalians describe themselves, and to a great extent, the Presbyterians (PC USA, but not PCA) do as well.

Me too. :iagree: Again, me too. :iagree:

Just a thought: have you considered Activity Therapy as a career path? I know several people who studied music/music therapy in college and are now working as Activity Therapists in hospitals. Their work incorporates music as well as arts & crafts, animals, dance/movement, music, drama, sports, games, and community outings, and since you have expressed an interest in working with children, it might be possible to specialize as a Pediatric Activity Therapist. You might also consider one of these fields: Recreational Therapy Occupational Therapy Animal-Assisted Therapy (my dd, EK, has long been interested in this field) Speech-Language Pathology Physical Therapy Physical Therapy Assistant With these fields, you might have the option to specialize in some type of pediatric therapy.

I'm an oldest child too, and I agree wholeheartedly. It sounds like neither the groom nor Bridezilla have thought this all the way through. I agree; however, I think that IF the groom opens the door for the OP's dh to say something, this is good advice to follow: But if the groom doesn't bring it up...

Maybe it's because of my age (50) that I interpreted the poll as if it referred to "adult children": whether the oldest child in the family should inherit more property than the younger ones. I have 2 siblings, and I am the oldest, but I do NOT think that I should inherit more than they do just because I am the oldest. Throughout history, that's how things were done, but I don't think it should be that way today. Then I read some of the other responses, and I realized that by "entitled", the OP probably meant privileges during childhood. And my answer to that is the same as GreatLynne's:

:iagree:

:iagree: Exactly what I was thinking too.

Dh and I have date night every week. We didn't always do this, because we couldn't afford a sitter. But now that the dc are older, we've made it a regular thing.

The Hobbit is a much lighter read than LOTR. Even young children can enjoy it as a read aloud, although some of the vocabulary will be over their heads, and the long descriptions might be hard to sit through. IMO, The Hobbit and LOTR don't really make good read alouds; they are much better as independent reading. I'd say The Hobbit would be good for a 12yo who is a strong reader. LOTR is a lot more intense, and I'd recommend it for a mature 13yo who is a good reader.

I think books 1-3 are okay for younger kids, but 4-7 are definitely not. YMMV.

:001_wub:

We celebrated our 10th anniversary 2 weeks before our first baby was born when we were both 29. I am glad that dh & I had all that time to get to know each other, especially since we married so young (19). Although sometimes I wish we'd started our family a few years earlier, the older I get, the more glad I am that we waited. Dh & I are both 50 now, and our oldest is 20 & youngest is 16. A lot of our friends who are our age already have grandchildren! I'm not ready for that yet! Being an "older" parent keeps me young! :lol: ETA: I did NOT want to be like my mom, who had her first baby (me) at age 16, her second at age 18, her third (died in infancy) at age 20, and her fourth/last at age 37 (almost 38).