Oh, I'm so sorry, I know exactly how you must feel. Our dog is a flighty mess, and it would kill me to imagine her lost, she would never trust anyone enough to be found. I'd rather her dead, really, than alone and scared. I so, so, so hope your dog is found soon! Maybe blitz Facebook, every friend you know get them to put the poster up? Regional/town message boards? I'm so sorry. Diego, come home

I use a very old iPad to look at this board, and I can't get smileys to work either. Besides, I happen to look *exactly* like the gray guy. Also I am lazy.

My son used mine, because he hadn't got an email and was a minor...and now I get his texts in certain circumstances, like kids who use email based text. I don't know why. It's terribly annoying to get 900 texts about mine craft. But I have a feeling this may come in useful later....bwahahahaha.

Whew, glad she is ok! It's so easy to kill or really hurt such tiny creatures- my dad killed his beloved lovebird shutting a desk drawer (bird would spend the day in his office, flying around and hanging out) and he was just crushed, it died in his hands. It happens, they are just so small!

Wow! Poor kid. I just get itchy eyes and skin and sometimes hives. I've had my cat for 16 years now, and cats all my life, and strange cats make me worse- the hives are always at my moms house, guess I'm not used to her cats like I am mine. I take allergy Meds daily and its manageable, certainly preferable to no cat for me. I didn't even know you could have such a strong allergy to animals!

Ah, I'm sorry! As someone who spent five times what the rats cost to euthanize them both at age 3 ( one was very ill and both very old, and I didn't want to leave one alone) I get it. You do what you can, no judgement either way from me. I haven't got experience with pneumonia, but I hope buttercup pulls through!

This, x 1000. Only we don't spank, or go to church, thats why we are "weird", that plus the whole home schooling thing. Family members compliment our kids and in the next breath lament how terribly we are messing them up. It'd be funny if it weren't so sad- the disconnect between how they "expect" our kids to be and how they actually are, but we can't ever seem to get any credit! Mine are now 16 and 13, and while there is still certainly time for some royal f ups, I don't really expect any, and we all have a great relationship and they are lovely, conscientious and just darn nice kids. Which is acknowledged...but somehow, it must be despite us!

I grew up drinking black coffee, my kids also have from around 4-5. We go through multiple pots every morning. We all find it odd people put cream or sugar in theirs, lol. When sleeping over at a friends house and hit by the "what? Kids can't have coffee" rule they always find a way to come home early. My youngest has add and we managed it for years with coffee, then Meds but he really disliked them so he hasn't taken them for about 2 years now, he is 13 and IMO well old enough to have input into his health care decisions. Coffee works for him, for school, but none of the rest of us have add, we just love our coffee.

I always swear I will have no more female pets, because I just feel so darn bad it's such a major surgery and think I can't bring myself to do it...and yet nearly every pet who lands here, homeless, is always female. And we spay them, of course, because you must. But gosh, I wish there was an easier way! Watch for redness, limit activity, keeping indoors is a must until fully healed. If you didn't get pain Meds, go get get some, and give them regularly, even if the pet isn't in distress- it's a major abominable surgery and though animals are stoic, no sense letting them suffer. Some vets don't give them, but I insist, you should too. Our lab was 2, had puppies when spayed so a bit more involved, but by day 2 was jumping and running and acting like, well, a 2 year old lab. Hard to keep down, in other words. Some cats have been very down and sickly, some have been an easy recovery, you just never know. We had a chow puppy spayed who took a while to bounce back, that I probably felt the worst about (did we do it too young?) but gentle care and pain Meds and she was fine. It is a routine, but still major, surgery. sounds like you are doing all the right things. I swear I am going to become a vet and invent a low cost alternative for female animals- it's just so big a surgery!

But tickets for having a kid unbuckled remind you to buckle the kid. Prosecution for forgetting the baby who DIED isn't going to help, because no one meant to leave the baby- hence the word "accident". It doesn't make people less likely to do this, because they never meant to do it and tried NOT to do it already, but had an ACCIDENTAL memory slip and the worst happened. It doesn't mean one doesnt value life, or children, or anything like that. it doesn't mean anything, really, IMO, but that accidents happen and it sucks. I can see the community service of getting the word out, that makes sense, but jail time? Fines? What possible purpose would it serve?!

I'm so sorry Emily. Baby Joey was loved, and I am so glad you all got to spend time with him as a family before he went.

Wow! I'm a native Washingtonian, but never heard of those. There was a beaver-beaver, the normal large type with the tail, that was rabid here a while ago on the news. It jumped out of a pond and chased people, even. Beavers are cool, but much bigger than you think, I'd have the straight up willies if one ran after me, mostly because I wasn't aware they even could run! You all have way less rabies than us back east, though. I miss Washington!

Yes, I don't get why the parents are prosecuted when this happens. I don't mean the people leaving the baby to buy drugs or on purpose, but the "dad drove to the office" type cases- why?? The worst has happened! What possible purpose does it serve to charge a person for a crime, when it was a horrible accident? I don't get that.

Me! We love it. My oldest took algebra 1 via keystone, disaster. The other keystone courses were good to great, but algebra bombed. He asked 1 question, one! All year, and got a two word answer- "page 352". Uh...thanks? The course was very poorly organized as well, as far as order of topics introduced, I was sitting down and teaching him every day, after paying for this expensive class, and we outsource math because I am NOT strong in math, nor do I like it. Then I found tablet class, and he started watching the lessons for the topics rather than using keystones stuff, and just taking the keystone tests. much better! I ended up using it for my youngest for pre algebra, and then just last month getting access to all 4 courses for oldest to use to study for sats. Clear instruction, helpful owner/instructor, great price, and now they have workbooks as well so for algebra 2 (Ds did fine with keystone geometry) we are thinking of just using tablet class. My youngest is better at math than his brother, and uses tablet class exclusively, no help from me needed (this is a good thing, lol) and doing great. Such a relief to have good quality, clear math instruction for a great price- math has been our biggest home school struggle for sure. I sound like an ad, but I seriously love tablet class and found it via this board, so want to pass along to others it may help!

Does anyone remember a few years ago the math test done internationally, and us students did almost worst, but they polled them coming out and us kids felt the most confident of any group? An Asian country (I want to say Korea, we were living there then, but it may have been japan or china or Singapore) did the best, scores wise, but the students co ing out felt they had done badly. It was held up as proof we dopey Americans would never succeed at anything, what with our inflated senses of self worth and bad math skills. But, I heard of the report, and laughed and laughed, because that right there is why we DON'T fail! Dh has worked all over Asia and he sees it again and again- incredibly intelligent, well educated workers- he fully admits much more educated and intelligent than him- who won't or can't offer any ideas, either due to Confucian thinking (has the boss weighed in? Does he disagree? Well, I must be wrong then) or just general lack of confidence or willingness to put themselves and their ideas out there be almost totally useless. Of course this is very generalized, but the lack of initiative, confidence ability to problem solve and accept risk is a huge, huge problem. More so than a lack of education or intelligence, actually. The school world has a set, prescribed list of things to be memorized, learned, done- but the real world doesn't work that way. It's better to be the mediocre math student with confidence to try things and a willingness to consider every angle, than to be the math genius who is paralyzed with self doubt, afraid to fail. I cringe inside whenever a politician lauds south Korea or Singapore or china for their educational system. High school is not compulsory, and must be paid for, no or very limited special education, cram schools, bribery, cheating- uhhh...no thanks. Test scores do not give a whole picture!

I have a very fashionable younger sister who tags her selfie photos on I stag ram with "#ootd", or "outfit of the day" for those not in the know. (yes, she is childless, lol) When I found out what it stood for, I promptly began taking and posting my own "ootd" pics. Only, I only tagged the ones when I was in my pajamas in Food Lion grabbing milk after dropping Ds at school, or at Joanns right before a snowstorm in stained sweats, snow boots and a giant ugly sweatshirt, or...you get the idea. It drives her nuts. There is a whole hashtag of ootd, but the really horrid woman in random crocs that belonged to the boys when they wore them at age 10, bleach stained yoga pants and a ratty tank top with no bra? That's allll me, baby. Ootd, motherf&$?!s. From the moment I opened this thread I wanted so badly to post some of my ootd pictures, but alas, my instagram name is my real name so I really can't. My kids seem to like me fine, and dh is awful grabby so...?

That dog is so dang cute!!! No advice on the potty issue, but dang- your dog is darling!

I love dogs, but I don't like puppies. I've never had a puppy- seeing other peoples was enough for me! I grew up with a black lab who was the queen of dogs, she followed me for miles through the woods and around town on my bike, slept in my bed, just a wonderful childhood dog. So, we got a black lab, but NOT a puppy. I waited and checked the pound and shelters twice a week and when the perfect dog came in, Cleo came home. It took only a month from "hey, youngest is 2 now, let's get a dog" to having her home. She was 2, still a bit crazy, not housebroken (never been in a house I think, we had to drag her in and I think she had been trained not to) but it took a day or so to house train her. Adult dogs are so much easier! And like most of her lab kin, she is calm, sweet, loves to swim and hike- the perfect family dog. She just turned 13, and it's really sad to know that any day now we may have to say goodbye to our Cleo. I imagine we will start hitting the shelters the same day, looking for another black lab. Due to their difficult teenage years, shelters are full of them at age 1-2...the perfect age to get a lab!

Hey, I know this one! Well, maybe. I broke a glass in the kitchen (hate ceramic tile, everything shatters!) when my oldest was 8 ish. Months later he got a sliver of glass in his foot. Same deal, he told me the next morning, thought he got it out, he was getting a drink late at night. Well, he didn't, or not all of it anyway. The dr sent us to a surgeon who did feet, who said to leave it be. Apparently it's really hard to remove glass, because it's so hard to see, and they do more damage trying to get it out. it would grow scar tissue around it and just be there, and that is what has happened, he is now nearly 16. The dr was a military doctor who operated on feet mangled by mines, so I trust he knew his stuff more than your average doctor. Ds could feel it, sort of, but it didn't hurt per se and soon didn't hurt at all. I was shocked how quick feet heal over, though that makes sense they would. He did it at night, and by morning it was closed over. I'd still see a dr, it could be by something important like a nerve or something and so need to come out, but Ds had it in the pad of his foot and it's still there to this day.

I love our tramp. We had it 2 years than had a long overseas stint. It came out of storage and my youngest is on it every day, flipping and doing all sorts of terribly dangerous stuff. It burns energy like nothing else, and for an add boy, is a lifesaver. BUT- the reason I don't want to jump (and even when they were 5 and 2, long before flips or anything remotely dangerous) was because it makes me...pee. I cannot jump, it's true, because I will pee my pants. I long to jump. It looks so fun. But no jumping for me. And I totally thought that's what you would be saying when i opened this thread!

Thank you! A GED was never in the plans, but some reason I thought most services preferred it to a home school diploma, I don't know why. You guys are a wealth of knowledge!

Less "school" and more just reading- aloud, audio, whatever. The pk-6 years nothing particularly stuck (and I truly feel could have waited until 5-6th grade) from curriculum except BOOKS. My kids are incredibly knowledgeable from what they and I have read, the fancy science or grammar...not so much. Made no difference, could have skipped it until middle school, really. Ok not math, but literally everything else can be better absorbed (at least by my kids) from interesting books or documentaries or websites or NPR. All the agonizing over science...what a waste of time! And yes, history can be in any order, I promise, and in the form of historical novels and discussions, and they will remember if they engage and are interested. Timelines of ancient Greece? Again, not so much. I honestly can't think of what I would change other than that- with most things it was just developmental anyway in the end. Oldest realized he couldn't reach his goals without buckling down on math, youngest had the click to reading fluency, etc. I sound all unschooled, I realize, but that is the truth. I am confident my oldest (15) can teach himself anything (find resources, etc) at this point, because he values and understands his own educational goals. My youngest is getting there too. if you'd seen me when I had a 3rd grader still reading haltingly and a 6th grader on his 10th math curriculum, you'd never believe where they are now. The 3rd grader finally got add Meds and shortly after suddenly could read, the 6th grader realized yes, he needed math and had to actually apply himself (and does!) and well, it worked out. would they be ahead of where they are if I'd pushed more? I honestly don't think so. They both have challenges (which I spent a lot of time crying over, because that seems really unfair) and it wouldn't have made any difference. As it is, I pushed too much. There was no perfect curriculum I didn't use, or method I didn't know about that would have resulted in anything but where they are now. And where they are now is just fine, actually. Now don't run me off the board, please.

My youngest (turned 13 yesterday) has brought up a few times the military. Specifically, the Marines. He'd be really good at it (dh is active duty Army, I am a vet) actually. He isn't Naval Academy material, and probably not even college right from high school material, as much as it pains dh who did ROTC. He could certainly enlist though, do some years, do college later. I have heard or maybe read its tough to get into the military with a home school diploma? Is this true? And that Marines don't take a GED? I have done zero research and obviously this is just a passing fancy maybe, but he starting 8th grade next year so it's something to consider. We could do an accredited program (keystone, American school, etc) for him as a just in case. Any words of wisdom or info from you smart ladies? I can't tell you how proud it made us he has considered the military, I was surprised how much it affected me that one of my boys might follow in the footsteps of their dad and I. So I don't want to screw things up for him if he does really want to do that.

I wear bike shorts under my skirts and dresses. I have long legs, so stuff is short. I don't like worrying about sitting or stairs or what have you. I have some for ladies, like an undergarment, but they always have compression to them and aren't comfortable. Bike shorts that are real bike shorts are tight too, and pricey. I've been buying Old Navy kids cotton bike shorts in XL for...10 years? Maybe more? there are 5 bucks, because they are kids go only a few inches down my legs, and I never worry in the shortest skirt or dress. So yes, adults do that. Maybe Kate should, but my butt is flabby and saggy...I may go commando too if it looked like hers!

Most Korean dramas are not racy at all, and so IMO I can't really think of any not appropriate for a 13 year old. Some Korean movies have a lot of torture and gore though, so be more careful there. My boys watched "Queens classroom" with me recently, they liked it. Nearly all child cast, having lived in Korea and seen the school issues first hand through their friends, it was extra interesting to us. They got all into "Queen of Ambition" too, the character is so evil in what she does to get ahead. They don't care for the historical dramas mostly, but they liked a few, now I must wrack (rack?) my brain to remember the names.