So I should punish the child for his parents' poor decisions? A 6yo child, who has no control over what goes in his lunchbox, should be expelled... Kicked out of his school, lose his friends, have to endure starting a new school, etc.... He should be punished because his parents are too lazy to pack a healthy lunch? Really? With my way of handling it, none of that happens. The child stays in a good school, keeps his friends, gets a healthy lunch provided and hopefully, the parents learn to pack better lunches. But they may have to swallow some of that righteous indignation over their "right" to harm their child. .

Not at all. But I do take my job seriously. It is interesting that I will be held responsible by parents for anything that happens to their child between 8:30 and 3:00 ... If the student gets hurt, is picked on by another child, is treated unfairly by a teacher... The list goes on and on. I hear "You are RESPONSIBLE for what happens to my child while they are at your school!" whenever a parent is unhappy about something that occurred. So I take that seriously. If I had an elementary-aged child that consistently was not eating the lunch his mom packed I would get (and have gotten) phone calls... Why aren't you making sure that my child eats?... Etc. You can't have your cake and eat it too. I am either responsible for your child's well-being at school or I am not. Also, this is GROUP education. There are norms that everyone must follow. I can't let one child eat Oreos and nutella sandwiches and chocolate milk for lunch and not allow it for other kids. Can you imagine a school like that? How the kids would act? But then the teachers would be blamed that little Johnny isn't learning when really he is crashing from a sugar buzz every afternoon. In GROUP education you DO lose a lot of decision-making power as a parent. It is the nature of the beast. It is why many of you homeschool. I support that, obviously. But do not impose homeschool norms on a group education setting. It doesn't work. I recognize the limitations which is why I homeschool my own son. BTW, those parents finally got the message and started sending healthier lunches and that child's behavior and learning improved dramatically. If you think I sound arrogant about what we do here, imagine how arrogant and prideful it sounds when a parent says "It is my RIGHT to make my child sick and unable to focus properly and learn because the lunch I send is so unhealthy. It is my RIGHT to feed my child garbage!" It might be your "right" to do that at home but not on our school property. Not while we are responsible for them. .

Ah. But that is not what I said, is it? I said send your child with a healthy lunch or I will provide one and charge your account. If the parent is unhappy they are free to leave but I never said I would kick anyone out. I wouldn't. I would just keep giving them healthy lunches and charging the parents until they finally woke up and did the right thing. ;)

It's a private school. They are free to take their child elsewhere if they are unhappy with my decision.

We do it at my school. The teachers make sure every child eats a vegetable and finishes their lunch before running off to play. And if we see a parent that consistently sends a very unhealthy lunch, I will personally speak to the parents about it. If they do not change the lunches they send then I WILL give their child a healthy lunch AND charge their account and not even think twice. Our lunches are all made from scratch. No preservatives. Nothing prepackaged or frozen. Completely homemade every day. I had one student this year whose parents sent him to school with a sandwich of nutella on white bread, Oreos, and chocolate milk. EVERY DAY. The kid acted like a spazz after lunch then crashed and could not hold his head up the rest of the afternoon. If that parent is not smart enough to see that the lunch they are sending is GARBAGE then I reserve the right to step in and do something for that child. If they don't like it, they can find another school. But I will NOT sit by and do nothing while a child gets sick from the lunch his idiot parents send. Not on my watch. .

Interesting... Bible study groups generally make me twitch. I've been in more than I can count and it always ends up with the group playing a game called "what does this verse mean to YOU?"... as if every verse written in the Bible was written with the purpose of having multiple meanings that we are free to impose upon them. Cracks me up.

Expository, definitely. Topical tends toward man-centered while expository is God-centered. Also topical often leads toward cherry-picking of scripture and taking verses out of context. I will not attend a church that does topical preaching.

:iagree:

:grouphug:

We are HUGE huggers in this family. My boys crawl in bed with us for stories and prayers and hugs every night before going off to their own beds. We hug and cuddle while watching movies. We walk with arms linked. etc. Interestingly, none of us like to be hugged by anyone but our immediate family. I didn't even have a receiving line at my wedding because i didn't want people hugging me. :tongue_smilie:

Instead, why not a vacation for just the two of you and you can renew your vows in a private ceremony (on the beach? by a lake? at a quaint church?). That way you get the ceremony you want, a honeymoon (even if it is short), and you don't have to deal with anyone's judgments. Like it or not, most people will assume the vow renewal has something to do with your marriage having recently been on shaky ground and I would rather go away and do something private and intimate than deal with people's assumptions.

I know! :tongue_smilie: Especially the part when those rich people are doing missions with the middle class! :lol:

:lol::lol::lol: Thanks. I just wasted a half hour watching that kid's videos! :D

Go for it!!!!! You are going to turn 50 either way so you might as well turn 50 WITH the license. :D .

Me either and I live in a country where palm oil is its major export. There is palm oil in everything here!

It really made me smile. It must be really difficult to deal with major food allergies in your child and still help them feel "normal". I can't wait to see his cute little face tomorrow when he sees the cupcakes!

:lol::lol::lol: :iagree:

I would be concerned with the frequency... Seems like it is already getting intense. Also, if you are ok with the path they are taking I would at least want it under my roof so I can keep an eye on it. I used to go to my boyfriend's grandmother's house too and I can tell you that just because an adult is in the house does not stop you from doing what you shouldn't be doing. All in all, I think 14 is a bit young to unleash strong emotions that will most likely end in one of them getting hurt. YMMV

:iagree:

Just a little story to warm your hearts... Tomorrow is valentine's day which means class parties which means loads of goodies that gluten-free kids can't eat. We have a 4yo little boy in our preschool class who has a pretty severe allergy to gluten that has landed him in the hospital more than once. Normally, his mom will provide a gluten-free snack for him when we have class parties but, of course, it looks "different" than what the other kids are having and it makes him sad. So tonight my preschool teacher is cooking a batch of gluten-free cupcakes for the whole class so they can all eat the same thing and that little boy won't feel left out. Isn't that sweet? My staff is awesome! :D

I liked them a lot and my 13yo ds read them and really liked them as well.

As a child it was Little Women. As an adult it is Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Totally agree with The Shack Memory Keeper's Daughter Also... Middlesex Any of those Sookie Stackhouse books Most Jodi Piccoult novels Outlander There's more but those are fairly recent.

My 13yo definitely outgrew his twin. He is 5'10" and still growing so we got him a queen. He tends to sleep diagonally across it. :tongue_smilie:

:iagree::iagree::iagree: