Really, cursive? Since middle school my oldest has been dual enrolled, and the only or one of very few who can read and write in cursive. So that is very surprising.

It's free for us, maybe because Ds is dual enrolled? Thanks for the reminder- need to call the school! What sort of ID is required- is a passport enough? Does it matter if he looks drastically different since he's gone through puberty (but it's a valid passport)?

I can't do dancing smiley guys, so imagine some here! hooray, and congratulations! You did it, mama!

If the bugs are cooked, what's the harm? I'm sure I've had more than a few jars of jam with bugs in it. It's boiled, they aren't hurting anything.

I use the color that washes out in 28 shampoos, it gives a more natural look and if you hate it, you can wash the heck out of your hair and undo it. I use a color that matches my own(brown) but with some oomph, a nice brown- red. I put it on my roots for 15 minutes, then the rest of my hair (it's very long) for just 5-10. If you do the whole head regular.y you can get dark patches where the pigment takes more (not the end of the world with wash out color, but still annoying). My hair looks fantastic, far better than all the years I spent getting it highlighted and colored at a salon. The key for me is to use a color near my own, but better, and semi permanent. It took a while to get good at it, now I mix 2 colors together to get it just right.

I put the copper iud with side effects, but really, after 12 years of perfect birth control, I can't complain too much about it. It was great, for what it was- we both hate condoms, I can't take hormones (circulation issues), so for what it was and how well it worked, the side effects (super heavy periods, anemia) were not so bad. Dh just did the big v since I had to have it removed (2 years past it's shelf life) and that was a breeze for him so really, we wonder why we waited so long. All those years with periods 2 weeks long...if he'd just had the v, we could have skipped that unpleasantness! But for a non permanent, no think, low risk method of birth control, the copper iud was fantastic.

I am apparently city Mouses son, lol.minus the milk sensitivity. I just throw up easy. My family is used to it, especially if I have a cold- cough, cough, run and throw up, come back and continue the conversation. It's not fun, but it's not a terribly big deal. I know a few kids absolutely terrified to throw up, they get full on panic attacks about it. I think it's better to have one that throws up easily than that.

I did a few times in high school, but that is the only illegal drug I've ever done. It was nice, if it were legal, I'd smoke it occasionally. I have relatives who do (one is a doctor, one is a mechanic, draw from that what you will) who smoke semi- regularly. But they live where it's now legal, and was hardly prosecuted before, so that makes a difference. I wouldn't break the law for it- it's nice, but I'd be too afraid. The pot smokinest place I ever lived was slc, Utah. I swear everyone I met, lds or no, smoked pot! I was in college, so it was college kids I met, but far more pot smoking happening than in my hippie dip pie PNW home. I found it amusing.

My oldest actually articulates that he places people in "boxes", and he doesn't want to see most outside of their "box". There are school friends, home school friends, friends of parents kids...it's got to be a special kid who Ds wants to interact with outside of the regularly scheduled school day/home school function/ social gathering. He has a few, but he is content not to have more. He doesn't have Facebook for that very reason- everyone mixes. He has band friends, school friends, old friends- but rare indeed is the friend who crosses into the more than social niceties territory. I used to worry, but he is very pleasant and happy, he just knows how to keep those he deems acquaintance material at acquaintance level. He isn't an only child, and he did go to ps at one time, so-?

One of my Ds teachers at the high school (he is dual enrolled) sent me an email asking if his wife could call me to talk about homeschooling. Their oldest goes to 1st grade this year, and she is a teacher too. Ds was the first homeschooler they ever met, and I must say, it made me awfully happy! So don't assume her dh feels school is best!

This thread is hilarious. I am no prude, and not offended by sexuality, but I am offended by bad singing, weird dancing, ugly costumes, unflattering hairstyles and obsessive tongue thrusting. It was just...bad. Really bad. It did cause dh to google twerking, which if you knew him is priceless, so there is that.

Taking him with to the extracurriculars is the only way he will get focused attention on the days he has Russian and another class (mon and rues for sure). He can work independently, but we both really enjoy discussing history and literature together and I feel it's important for his education. There won't be any other time those days otherwise! I already planned to have dhs share of lunch saved in the fridge for his dinner, I guess I can do that for Ds too. But my younger one normally makes rice or something or just eats salad because he is incredibly picky, so cooking a big meal seems like such a waste, even if the other two do eat it eventually. We normally eat out on weekends, perhaps I could instead cook on weekends (barf, I hate cooking!) and eat out 2 weekdays to save time and not ruin the budget too badly. It's hard to find nutritionally dense foods that are both vegan and fast! We will hopefully have a carpool option as we have met one other family who is at younger Ds activity the same schedule, but not as many days. So that is a ray of hope. My nap totally rocked by the way- 2 hours! It was grey and rainy and we didn't do half the stuff on the schedule or any laundry today, but as it's my last week I can blow anything off with any hope of ever making it up- no regrets!

Oh lordy. Ds is dual enrolled, taking music theory 2 and Russian 2. Last year they were back to back, but this year- nope. So our schedule (which is inflexible, no way around it) is as follows: M-f music 730-830 Tue/thur and mon/weds/fri alternating: Russian 1015-1220 (lunch in the middle...Grrrr) M- band 1-3 T- chemistry 1-3 And his little brother has extracurriculars every day, leave at 4ish, back at 8-9. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!! I plan to take oldest with me on at least mon and Tuesday nights to work at the library while his brother dances. Probably will need to every day there is Russian. I am not sure when we will eat-! I planned to make a big dinner like meal for lunch and then dinner would be whatever, like lunch is normally. But now he's gone 3 days a week for lunch, and dh of course, and youngest doesn't actually eat barely anything anyway. maybe make a big breakfast? Ug. None of us eat much breakfast.Weekends are packed with driving youngest Ds hither and yon, but oldest can do some work on weekends. We actually started back to school a few weeks ago, and this is the last week of just being home- it all starts next week. So I'm taking a nap right after lunch...probably my last nap, oh, ever.

My Ds took an online algebra class via keystone and the instruction stunk. We used tablet class to get him through it, he raves about how clear and concise the instruction is. I renewed algebra (PSAT coming and needs review) geometry and going to buy pre algebra for my youngest. You won't be disappointed- my non math kid finally understands math!

I thought "twerk" was a silly way to say "work", which all the dancers at my nieces studio yell at each other while dancing. So I saw some shorts with "twerk" on them in a dance shop and mentioned to Ds they'd be cute for niece. He about died (she's 11) and filled me in. Crisis averted- I can only imagine what my sister would have said if I bought them! Which has nothing to do with this thread.

A little horror story to help you, lol. My dates were bad due to wonky periods and we moved and I had no prenatal care until 7 months pregnant. So the pregnancy was dated via ultrasound and I reached my due date. Two weeks before, the dr was pushing to induce because the baby was big. I went into labor on my supposed due date and gave birth to a 35 weeker, barely 4 pounds. If I'd done the induction, he would have for sure landed in nicu. I shudder to think what could have happened, really. It's no ones fault, ultrasound dating and weighing are just not accurate, but pushing inductions for non emergency reasons is just foolhardy IMO. Oh yeah, he was a girl on the ultrasound, too. I swear they looked at someone else's uterus the whole time.... I didn't consider the induction because I had a little voice telling me not too. It sounds like you do, too. Listen to it- I wish I had in other circumstances!

Ds 12- ballet dancer Ds 15- teach English overseas Both seem kind of possible, I will have to come back and update someday!

Now I'm hungry.

To keep the medicated pads on, we had to tape all around the foot, in a circle. Looks dumb (we used cool camo duct tape, but still) but is very effective holding a medicated pad on the bottom of a foot.

My dog is definitely not smart. Sweet yes, smart...no. That said, I don't think of barking as "badly behaved". Dogs bark, is all. My dog likes to hang out in our big yard we have now, after 7 years of apartment living it's a treat for her. She barks at the neighbors, she has to come in. Yet, she still barks, and I just open the slider to go yell at her to come in and she is already slinking towards the house. She knows she is in trouble for barking. She just can't help herself because, well...she's not smart!

We have had a lot of luck soaking the foot for 20 minutes in water and vinegar, then paring the skin away and applying a OTC pad and cover with duct tape. Do it every day or even twice a day if time allows. Youngest Ds is plagued by them and we have found this more effective and less potentially painful than freezing. He uses his feet at sports and a few bad aim times of the freezing liquid by the doctor benched him- not cool! they always came back when frozen, too, the soak/trim/pad method gets the whole thing, leaves a hole but it doesn't hurt at all and goes away eventually.

I don't track or notice particularly what Ds is reading on his own. Unless it has an awful title like "serial killer 101" and I think it best he not take it to the conservative home school band practice, lol. In general last year he read 2 books (one historyish, one for English) every 2- 3 weeks. This didn't include an outside creative writing course he took in which he read many plays, essays, poems and short stories, no full books. He reads fairly fast though, and in general he could finish a book a week, take a week to write an essay on it (rereading as necessary), start another. That's the plan for this year too. Unless youngest has his brain replaced by aliens in the next two years, this will not work for him as he is a slow reader. The tentative plan is to use more audio books for him. He also has (and I anticipate it continuing) a long commute to extracurriculars, so we can use that time in the car.

Actually called "the Internet", with browsers and stuff...probably 1991?92? Netscape navigator. But I used a government version (several really) prior to that for work. Occasionally would play the most awesomely fun text based games I heard about from people at work- it was so much fun for some reason. I didn't use email or anything except for work until we got a pc in 94?95?. Then I discovered newsgroups and chat rooms and Well, the rest is history. All dial up, I will have to play my kids that sound, lol. My oldest was alive when we still had dial up, but he wouldn't remember.

I had a Siamese cat, from the pound. It had had it's voice box removed and was totally neurotic and very large. It would not have made a good service cat, but perhaps the voice box removal and subsequent abandonment were the reason. He did play fetch though, with balled up tinfoil. But many cats do that. Most will lose interest after a while and then drop the ball on your forehead at 3 am. See? Service cat = bad idea. You will end up in service to your cat. I am so buying my cat a vest.

Bwahahahaha!! I am picturing the cat in it's vest. Gosh, I'd pay money to see that. I just can't picture any cat I've known being remotely helpful for an agoraphobic in Walmart. Particularly when they freak out, tear the vest off, attack a shopper and dismantle the rollbacks on every aisle in the store. Cats are just such unpredictable and inscrutable creatures- how could you not be totally tense wondering what the cat might do? Thinking of taking a cat to Walmart makes me feel anxious, lol.