My second child was born in the front passenger seat of a Mazda!

My Eagle Scout received some gift cards (places like Bass Pro Shops, or Amazon) -- he used those to upgrade his camping/hiking equipment. He also received gifts of money, which he set aside for the same purpose. A family friend gave him a nice Eagle Scout wallet.

Regarding the piano: I know finances may not permit this, but maybe she could get a keyboard with headphones so she could play all she wants without disturbing the neighbors. It's a lot easier to get a keyboard upstairs than a piano!

Thanks for the responses. I did read the Common Sense Media review, but I wanted to see what WTM folks had to say, too. I think we'll let our two older kids see it, but wait for the younger two.

They are familiar with the original Star Trek series, and don't tend to scare easily. Would this movie be okay? Thanks -- Bonnie

I've lived in a modular home for 11 years now, and we've been happy with it. We don't have a basement, but there is a taller than usual crawl space under the house. It was amazing to go in one morning from having a foundation to having a house in place! Our house is three stories, and consisted of four modules. I don't think anyone would know from looking that it was modular. It definitely saved us a lot of money and time -- I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Yes, just getting started (or will be within the next few days, once I stock up on food).

I write down a sentence or two about each day. My intention is to do this each morning. What really happens is that once a week or so, I sit down with my calendar and write down the stuff that happened (where we went, what we did, etc.) A lot of it is mundane stuff (baseball practice, school at home, etc.) but sometimes there are milestones, too (birthdays, anniversaries, ds learning to ride a bike; getting together with old friends, etc.). I keep these notes on a legal pad, and then on New Year's Day we flip through and read the highlights of the year out loud. Once or twice, I've even used this family journal to verify when something important happened that I never would have been able to pinpoint otherwise.

In recent months I've been coming to realize what's stated in the first paragraph; I look forward to feeling the empowerment described in the second paragraph (but I'm not there yet).

How about Daphne or Penelope?

I would love to read a follow-up post by your oldest son regarding his gap year experiences. Now that he's been through a year or two of college, what does he perceive to be the impact of that gap year on his college education?

We went through the same decision-making process with our daughter (softball travel team) last year. We lost a lot of sleep over that decision! In the end, we went with the travel team. It wasn't always an ideal situation (in terms of coaching), but dd developed her skills way more than she would have been able to otherwise. The friend issue was part of our initial decision-making process, but she's made new friends on the travel team, so that was no longer a drawback after a few short weeks. She is with the same travel team again this year (although with different coaching). She thrives on the more intense practices and games; that's just her personality. Who knows if she'll ever play for college or not; right now, she's enjoying the whole experience, and that is worth a lot. I hope something in this may help you. Good luck with your decision-making!

Background: DS14.5 is a Life Scout, and has finished his Eagle project, but still has two merit badges to finish. FYI, we've never said that we 'required' him to attain the rank of Eagle, and right now he is self-motivated to finish. But . . . if he started to say he did not want to finish, we'd probably make him. By the time a Scout gets to Life rank, he is SO CLOSE to finishing. I've heard a number of Scouts, at their Eagle ceremonies, thank their parents for pushing them. These were boys who nearly aged out, but whose parents pushed them to finish Eagle before they did. I don't think those boys will ever regret getting their Eagle rank, but I believe there are probably lots who regret not finishing when they had the chance to do so. Bonnie

. . . but how about "Rhys" (pronounced "Reese")?

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We're doing this as a family-read aloud (actually, audiobooks in the car). We started with The Hobbit, then moved into LOTR. My youngest, who is almost 6, is really enjoying the stories (and he's asking for the Legos, too, of course). We won't let him see the movies for a while yet, though. The audiobook version (narrated by Rob Inglis) is very good. I'd read the books before on my own, but I'm getting a lot out of hearing it read by Inglis. Luckily my local library had the audiobooks available for loan.

"It ain't what you do (it's the way that you do it)" by Bananarama. That's my dd's favorite warmup song (she plays fastpitch softball).

Our troop defines "active" as 70% participation: "The 70% activity level must be achieved in each of the following: • Troop meetings and Court of Honors • Troop Monthly Outings (including Summer Camp) • Service projects, Eagle Projects and special activities • OA events (OA members only)" However . . . the definition of "participation" is still not the major issue to me. We are not trying to say that DS has been sufficiently active; we know he hasn't met the 70% requirement. We're not trying to argue with the 70% requirement, although apparently that is a high percentage compared to other troops. My major issue is that Scoutmaster has told DS on two separate occasions that "your parents are misleading you by having you involved in activities besides Scouts." I have a huge problem with what he said and how he said it. (Who knows, this may be an irreconcilable philosophical difference resulting to a move in a different troop.) I do not have a problem with Scouts upholding high standards.

I know that our troop builds its schedule around the school system's calendar, but since we are homeschoolers, that doesn't apply to us. I'm on the board for our homeschool group, and so I can potentially influence the schedule for performances, recitals, etc. However, our co-op schedule is completed months earlier than the Scout calendar. This past year, there were at least two conflicts between performance dates and camping trips. I know Scoutmaster would say "miss the performances." But, since DS is part of a GROUP performance (and the group would not be able to perform without him there) that just wasn't an option. It would help a lot if the troop would publish its calendar sooner; I might suggest that.

Yes, this is what I think, too. DS loves Scouts, is proud of being a member of his troop, is proud of being in the OA, is looking forward to being a den chief when his little brother starts in Cub Scouts this fall. But I do not think that DS should have to give up all other activities for Scouts. Scoutmaster especially has a problem with Scouts participating in sports (he has expressed this opinion to the troop -- scouts as well as parents -- frequently over the years).

I agree with what everyone has said about having to meet certain requirements in order to make the next rank. I understand if the Scoutmaster won't sign off on Eagle rank (DS still has merit badges to earn, and he does need to step up attendance). But . . . the requirements for the Eagle project itself HAVE been met. I believe he should sign off on the project paperwork. And am I way off in being upset that the Scoutmaster is telling DS that his parents are making bad decisions and misleading him? Honestly, his choice of words is what I have the biggest problem with.

Actually, our issue is not with the attendance policy (although I believe we have a philosophical difference with the Scoutmaster about the value of music and sports -- honestly, he thinks it should be Scouts and only Scouts --) but about the fact that he told ds that we (parents) were misleading him and making bad decisions on his behalf.

I'll make this as short as I can: question first, then background. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts about this. Question: How supportive is your troop / Scoutmaster of boys being involved in more than one activity? Background: DS (14) has completed his Eagle project, has approximately three requirements left before finishing Eagle-required badges, and is an active member of the OA. Lately the Scoutmaster has been initiating conversations with ds about his level of participation in troop activities (like camping trips). Attendance at weekly meetings is regular; but undeniably, this has been a bad year for attendance at troop events. DS has missed most of the camping trips, and here are the reasons: one to attend Scout Merit Badge university, one to go on a family weekend vacation (a rare occurrence for us), one because he was in a community theater play, one because of baseball, and two because of school performances (ensemble performances for our homeschool co-op where his absence would have affected the group). Scoutmaster does not count OA meetings / camping trips towards attendance. When we joined the troop, we knew that the Scoutmaster did not condone participation in other activities (like sports, music, theatre, etc.) that would interfere with Scouts. On two separate occasions recently, ds has come home from meetings telling us that Scoutmaster has spoken to him about his participation level, and said that we (parents) are misleading ds about what he should be doing with his time. That we are making bad decisions by having him involved in so much. That he may not sign off on DS's Eagle Project paperwork because of this.

We;re listening to the Rob Inglis unabridged version right now. My kids love it!

I bought one! Great shirt.