1. Be very loving and concerned and discuss the possible dangers and realistic consequences of running away. (Without going overboard and making him terrified to step over the threshold.) 2. Later, when everyone calmed down a bit, try to find out why he sneaked candy into his room. Was he not allowed candy at that time and sneaked it in so he could eat it without being seen? Or did he not want siblings to see the candy and want some? Is there some place he is allowed to eat candy without being disturbed if that is what he wants? 3. Tell him not to do either again. I don't believe that there does really have to be unpleasant consequences every time a child disobeys. Just remind them of the rules and the reasons for the rules. If a rule has a good enough reason, that should be enough.

My girls have recently been watching (repeatedly!): My Fair Lady The Sound of Music Calamity Jane Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Cinderella (the Whitney Huston version) Ella Enchanted Penelope Nanny McPhee (has Colin Firth, Darcy from the BBC P+P)

:grouphug: I think you should see a doctor. I wouldn't want to turn to meds either, but if that's what it takes for you get back in control......

My kids love Lazytown and it really gets them moving. Since we've been watching it - about 2 years I think - they have all improved their fitness levels.

We (myself and the two teenage boys) watch at least 14 hours of TV per week. Everything pre-recorded so we can fast-forward the ad-breaks. I know that about 99% of what's on TV is rubbish but I don't even manage to watch all the shows I think would be good.

Is there some way he could make a light-hearted jokey response? Can't think of anything word for word suitable but something like a laughing "Too right!" Or, turn into a compliment of his teachers, like, "Well, I do know a lot, thanks to my amazing Mom."

I agree with what most of the others say but also would add something. When do you plan to stop giving her a dollar for holding her pencil correctly? And what happens then? Is she effectively then going to be punished for having learned this skill? (by losing that dollar every week, even if you add another one for some other thing, she is still losing that dollar)

I love that scripture and my children love it too.

I think that is a little harsh. The Bible does use the expression 'train' in connection with children although I prefer to think of it in terms of 'train' a plant - give a framework to grow on. Guidance, if you will. We don't know what was said in the conference between parent and child before the activity, or why the parent was caught unawares by the change in the regular routine of the class. I think it is an unjustifiable leap to consider what happened as emotional abuse. I believe it is also unjust to compare the scriptural 'training' of a child to the completely different training of a dog.

I recently asked my girls to sort out some of their books to see which of them they would like to give away to their younger cousin. When I saw which ones they planned to give away, I began to cry... I realized that they are outgrowing some of the stories I have been reading to my babies/toddlers for 17 years. Books like "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?" "Five Minutes Peace" "The Last Noo-Noo" I don't want to be finished with them yet. :crying:

OK, fair enough. If they hide the chocolate, they more than deserve what's coming to them!:lol:

It was the saying 'yes you can play' but knowing they couldn't really that I found a little mean. (Perhaps mean isn't the right word, I'm trying to use some of the American expressions I've been picking up.) I know how my children would feel if I did that to them. Or how I'd feel if someone did it to me. I sympathize with the logistical difficulties. :)

I personally wouldn't be so mean....... What do you consider overuse? Can they set up a timetable so everyone gets a fair turn? Or perhaps day about? Maybe they just need to know exactly when they CAN play and wouldn't need to ask so often. ETA: Sorry, just read your subject line more carefully. I thought at first you were asking for a new idea...

I would be surprised if I was taking my child to a music class and found there was to be a Halloween activity that I had not been notified about at least a week in advance. I'd possibly be a little flustered and make a less-than-ideal decision about how to handle the situation. Perhaps I'd have a whispered conference with my child about what to do and we'd come up with the idea of her saying "I don't celebrate Halloween" when her turn came. Perhaps we'd both feel bad about the situation afterwards and we'd discuss how better to handle such situations in future. Perhaps we'd buy some cookie decorating supplies on the way back home and decorate and eat dozens of cookies the next day. We'd almost certainly have a light discussion on the way home, (if we'd forgotten to do that so far this year) about Halloween and why we choose not to participate in this particular holiday. I would, I hope, remember to check in advance in future about activities that may come up around the times of various holidays. Would any of the above be abusive to my child, in anyone's opinion?

I have a max/min thermometer in the kitchen. So far, the coldest it's been has been 54F. I'm not sure about the pipes. This is the first time I've done this. I'm thinking that just us all being in the house and having the hot water heated up twice a day will be enough to keep the pipes from freezing. There is a fireplace in my bedroom (it used to be the living room back when the house was built about 50 years ago). If we really just can't stand it anymore we do have some wood cut that we could burn and we could use my bedroom for school etc. We'll see. It may just prove impossible to sustain.:001_smile:

I don't know about the gluten question, but I'd love the recipe for the cornbread.:001_smile:

Well, so far we are coping.:001_smile: The real test will be next week I think when there is a real cold snap forecast.

I think you are being very kind and thoughtful. I think you are doing the right thing, even if it is a little more inconvenient than it could be. Maybe those other ladies are only able to cook with pasta.:001_smile:

We are just not putting any heating on. We heat the water for 10 minutes twice a day and that's it. Keeping all the doors in the house shut. The room we're all in gets warm(ish) just from sunlight and body heat. Keeping the doors shut makes a big difference. Wearing layers of clothing, wrapping up in blankets and sleeping bags where possible. Doing housework etc. quickly to work up some heat.

It's 33 dollars and 21 cents

This sounds very much like how we do things here. I think that by doing all the chores myself when the children were younger, cheerfully, happily and willingly (presumably how you want your children to do their chores) they never picked up on the idea that chores are something to avoid or dislike. Things just need doing. Sometimes when I'm doing something I say "Could you help me with this for a while?" and mostly the child just happily helps and we have a nice time chatting together while the chore gets done. Now that the boys are older, it has worked out that they each handle certain chores every day. Sometimes they may ask me, or one of the girls for help to get everything done more quickly and, if possible, we would willingly help out. We never have used charts or allowance or discipline to get the housework done, we just do it.

I believe that animals are souls, as are humans. If anyone really wants to know why I believe that, let me know. Right now I'm too lazy to go and find the exact scripture references. My daughter wants me to pray sometimes that God will include all the pets we've ever had in the resurrection. I don't think he will do that, but I think it's OK to pray and ask if it is his will he will do so.

My oldest could read several words by 1 even though he couldn't say them. I'd lay the words out and ask him to 'point to the word that says "Mummy"' and so on. He was reading whole books by 2. He hasn't turned out to be a genius or anything but I do think his whole school experience has been easier because of being able to read so young. He has always loved reading. He is short-sighted and wears glasses but then so does his Dad and younger brother who didn't really learn to read until he was around 9.