Exactly like my father and all his siblings. They had crooked crowded teeth and they straightened out beautifully as they grew. They all look great now.

What was the hot button issue?

We do cash for everything except online and getting gas. I hate going into gas stations. My mind works better with cash. I have a stack that I can see and feel getting smaller. lol

We do not walk anywhere. There aren't sidewalks and this isn't a great neighborhood. Before we lived here, we lived in the mountains and we couldn't walk there either. There was nothing close enough.

Don't feel bad about that. I had a teacher who's son hit his face on the side of the tub when he was a toddler. When she saw the blood, she ran... out of the house... leaving him there. She is terrified of blood and left her own baby bleeding in the bathroom. Freaking out is okay! Leaving your kid bleeding is not.

I would pull her out of school. I don't think a child should ever have to deal with anything like that. The school is not doing enough and it isn't right to let your child live like that on a daily basis while you wait for a resolution.

That's because it was a Dell! It reflects on Dell, not on PCs! Besides you can't really compare unless the computer specs are very similar.

Awww. I'm so glad it ended well!

I dunno, but can we have your broth recipe? :)

Also, many young adults would easily feel resentful of the newcomers if they feel at all forced to do things with them. They did not ask to have their father remarry. They are allowed their feelings, too.

:grouphug: I'm sorry it's so complicated. No one asked to lose a loved one and the kids didn't ask to deal with family grafting. I think love and grace go a long way here.

Oh man... That's really sad. In that case, these boys have been through the death of a parent at a young age together. :( Let them have their time.

That's wonderful and I would expect the older adults in the family to do that. However, young adult boys bonding with their brothers who's lives they've shared for a long time together need to time to share in their bond. Spouse and grandparents I would expect to take in the new family's children as if they were their own. eta: Everyone suffers in divorce situation, but especially the children. These kids have had their families torn apart and rearranged. The sibling bond they have is the only consistent thing left. Let them do their bonding.

Me, too. The older boys should be able to give something special their their brothers. It would be good to encourage new bonds between new family members. You don't do that by stomping on old ones. eta: You can't pretend there is history between the brothers. You can't downplay the importance of their history. It needs to be respected.

I think I'm going to rebel and mark Caucasian on any form that ever asks my son's ethnicity. He looks clearly Asian, so when people look at me cross-eyed after I hand them the form, I will enjoy giggling inside.

I don't think we should care. Classifying people based on skin color is as stupid as classifying people based on hair color or eye color. Can you imagine if it was easier to get into a particular college or get extra help in school because your hair was auburn and not blonde? Or because your eyes are green and not blue. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I'm proud of my ethnicity. I come from a unique and beautiful culture. So does everyone else. Cultural variety adds spice to life. My skin color I couldn't care less about.

16 or never depending on the friends. Truly though, I couldn't stand the mall rats when I was a teen and I don't want my son to ever become part of that crowd. Yuck.

I am sort of on both sides of this issue. The older boys have a longer bond with their own brothers. You know, memories and love that extends further back than with your two boys. At the same time, it isn't nice to exclude people, especially children. I do think their unique bond and private time should be respected. I also think you should explain that to your boys to help them understand. It would also be nice if they made sure at times to include your boys.

Are your children adopted? I ask because if they are not, they are caucasian. It annoys me to no end when a white person has a baby with a non-white person and people think the child is not white. The child is just as white as he is whatever other ethnicity. Example: Obama is just as white as he is black. My son is basically half Irish and half Korean. Him being half Korean does not make him not half Irish. It's ethnicity, not skin color.

Whatever you do, don't go with Dell. They used to be a wonderful company. I will not work with them anymore. I prefer pcs because I can build them myself far cheaper than I could get a mac. Far, far cheaper. Maybe make building your own pc a homeschool project. It would be fun, and it's not at all hard.

I agree with Faithr. After having watched so many parents cover up their feelings while their children run over them, I decided to be honest with my son. I don't hide when I'm hurt. I don't hide when I'm annoyed by annoying things. I don't hide when something upsets me. How else is a child supposed to understand how they are affecting their parents if parents are always covering their feelings up?

Welcome to parenting a boy! The average age for potty training is 3, and boys tend to train later than girls. So don't worry! What finally worked for us is taking away the diapers, and taking him potty every 15 minutes for a few days. Then every 30 minutes, etc. I don't know how to do that with 5 children, but taking a week off for potty training could be worth it. It worked well for our late trainer. Also, I've heard great things about the training over a weekend long camping trip method with boys. Take the family camping and let him run around naked the whole time! He will have fun peeing on trees and bushes and it will cement the whole process for him. lol Gross, maybe, but it seems to work for males.

Also, we've started algebra on the side and he is fine learning it.

We're in the same boat over here. I was going to take a month or so to do Singapore 1A but he's going to have finished it in 4 sessions. His resource teacher (charter school for homeschooled kids) suggested just skipping ahead and forgetting about 1A, but it's good review. Also, he is not very good at handwritting and as the books go up in grades, they'll demand more of his writing skills. He's only 5 and writes like a 5 year old :p even though he's good at math.

I'm kind of posting and running here and don't have the time at the moment to read the whole thread, but TJE stresses not to do formal learning from birth-8 years old. Sounds like she is doing just that, no?