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shawthorne44

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Posts posted by shawthorne44

  1. A good friend of mine had kids with his ex, who is a bad human being.  Mucho drugs, and expected her kids to overnight visit her when she was living with 'friends' that beat the kids.  More than once.  C.S. went with the kids, which was the only reason she wanted them.  Kids many times missed out on sporting events and fun activities to be at home for the scheduled phone call with her that never happened.  Many years of the kids saying "i want to live with my dad.   I hate my mom."  But the mom kept periodically dragging them into court for custody and wasting tons of money in legal fees.   But, then the oldest (16 years old)  hand-wrote a 6 page essay titled something like "I have a crappy birth mother".   That was what did the trick.  Even her own lawyer said it was hopeless at that point.  

     

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  2. I don't think that helicoptering has anything to do with production.  I see it more as hovering to make sure no hurt in the tiniest degree happens to the child.  It generally comes out in NOT letting the child do things because there is a tiny bit of chance of harm.   So, no climbing on the monkey bars.  The parent sometimes does the kid's homework because getting a bad grade would be traumatic.  A mother I know said in complete seriousness, "I don't think 18 is old enough to go to the park alone."   

     

    Tiger Moms are about the output produced by the child, and also the visible display of it.   So, it isn't enough to be an excellent violin player.   The child is an embarrassment if people don't pay to hear the child play violin.  

     

     

     

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  3. sorry for being dumb...but how do they do that?  just use it to dry their hair? or what?

     

     

    I use a t-shirt because I have curly hair.  When I want my hair to look really nice I wash last thing before bed, and then use the t-shirt just to keep the hair out of the way while I dry my body.   Then I get in bed and just lay my hair on the bed above my head.  

  4. Van1998, your update brought back my personal Bad Bureaucrat memories.  I was in Barcelona, Spain and everything had been stolen. so there was lots of paperwork to be replaced.  Train and plane tickers, passport, credit cards, prescription medicine.  The guy at the embassy was lovely.  But every Spanish bureaucrat was a total snot.   50% of the time they would say "No" before you even said anything.  The only thing you could do was get in someone else's line and hope you landed on the right side of the 50% with the next person.  So, I guess there is advice in there.   When dealing with bureaucrats, if you know you are right, just get in another line.  

    • Like 3
  5. If you shop in  bulk, where do you shop?

     

    Also, we have no easy source of grass fed pasture raised beef unless we choose to buy half a cow from a farmer. We don't eat enough meat to make this worth while, and we don't want to eat all the cuts. This is a pet peeve of mine: I really like division of labor and grocery stores and I do not want to store and preserve my own food for the year. I want to buy what I need when I need it. Plus, I would have to purchase and run a large freezer, something I don't currently have.

    What other options have people found?

     

     

    Also, on the cuts, you can specify the cuts you like, and then have the rest as ground beef.  They will be scandalized that some tender cuts will end up in there.   But those make up for the not so great cuts.  

  6. All I can say from this thread is that I'm glad we have our own chickens.  I can't taste the difference, but I certainly can see the difference in the darker yolk and firmer shell.  I also love that they recycle almost all food waste from my kitchen, and yes, they get every mouse we catch in a trap.  They also get snakes (on their own and any we get - just like mice).  All that stuff tastes better as eggs.   ;)

     

    And I don't have to worry about their having too little space.  We've never had one attack another - even when they get older.  I suspect they're quite happy with their lives.

     

    That said, we do have to buy eggs occasionally - esp over the winter months.  I'll look for certified humane and hope for the best.  It bothers me to buy regular eggs knowing chickens are so cooped up and apparently the "cage free" without any humane certification isn't any better.  I don't want to support either.  I'd get them from my neighbor (who also has chickens), but their down time mirrors ours.

     

    You can freeze eggs, just break them into a muffin/cupcake tray.   

     

    DH promised me a henhouse this winter, so I've been reading up and talking to people. 

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  7. I have hens (see other hen drama thread) and I swear they free range all day AnD get supplemented with fresh fruit and organic feed as they want. I cannot tell the difference at all. But everyone we give eggs to, including people in DH's office keep raving on how delicious they are. I think they're all full of it. I mean I know mine are healthier, but I can't say they taste better.

     

    I recently read a book about Vinotypes.  Vino as in wine.   The idea is that since people truly taste things differently, that wines taste different depending on what vinotype you fall into.   People have different sensitivities to Bitter, Salt and Sweet.   Maybe the eggs don't taste the same to you as they do to the people that are raving.  

     

    We live in a small town with farms around us.   We used to buy eggs from a certain person that sold them at the farmer's market.  I noticed the taste wasn't quite as wonderful as they had been when I started, but still better than grocery.  I mentioned that to another homeschooling mom.  She said, "Yeah, he has a lot more chickens now.  They are still definitely free-range, but the square-foot per chicken has gone down."  

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  8. I have to admit that even though I vehemently disagree with keeping wild animals as pets, I love those pictures. The maid stepping over the lion in the kitchen--oh, my! 

     

    Melanie's mom Tippi Hendren (of The Birds fame) has been involved in animal rights activism for many years now and runs Shambala Preserve for big cats. She said in an interview, "I cringe when I see those pictures now. I have to tell you we were stupid beyond belief. We should never have taken those risks. These animals are so fast, and if they decide to go after you, nothing but a bullet to the brain will stop them."

     

    The maid one attracted my attention.   But, then the crappy TV tray stands distracted me.  So, even people with maids had those.  

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  9. Do you live near a used book store? You can look for a set of Public School reading anthologies for 1st-2nd grade with a variety of stories in them.

    I liked Houghton Mifflins Reading, Scott Foremans Reading Street and SRA Open Courts Reading also. They have trade books compiled into graded volumns and if you get them used.

     

    Just in general, I've found that the used good bookstores have compilations as a bargain.   It is like the people pricing can't imagine a kid's book selling for more $9.  So, no matter how big the book is, or how much it cost originally, that is the max price. So, a 4-book Dr. Seuss book will cost $9, and one of those books by itself will be $7.50, 

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  10. There are also things that reasonable people can have opposite views on, and still be reasonable.  For example, I've heard some complain about SOTW's position on whether or not Alexander the Great was Greek.   On the surface, the answer is factual Yes/No with no room for disagreement.  But, how do you define Greek?  Did he consider himself Greek or Macedonian, or both?  Would the people of Athens considered him Greek, Macedonian, both or maybe not understood the question?

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  11. In among trying to find the most accurate books, I'd recommend including one book that directly contradicted what you picked.   Just knowing completely that a History textbook might be blowing smoke, either intentionally or unintentionally, is crucial to that way of teaching history.  

     

    If the American Civil War is part of the history, that is super easy to find contradictory sources.   I can tell you from personal experience that Minnesota and Texas public schools don't talk about the same war.  

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