DITTO. Because it is over diagnosed/misdiagnosed, and because of the medication issue, it is quite controversial. But if you live with someone who is truly ADHD, you know it is real.

Awesome!!!

I am from Michigan and lifelong nicknames are rare. Diminutives that eventually fall away (like my brother was Benny as a child but is Ben as an adult) are common. But Skip and Scooter and Peaches? No. My extended family, however, is from Alabama and lifelong nicknames are VERY common where they live.

OMG, you're right. I've been assimilated. AHHHHHH!!!!

Really? I think it is very typical lately... the same thing happened in the Legend series and the Divergent series."The government is evil and you shouldn't trust them no matter who is in charge" is a tired, old theme. The better focus of the first book was on human nature, our desire for entertainment and what we consider entertaining, what becomes culturally acceptable because the in crowd says so, how we are really just a few laws removed from the days of the Coliseum and how quickly we could devolve back to those days even though we would never believe that of ourselves... all the parallels to Ancient Rome. That was the magic of the first book. Makes me think of all our threads on bullying. In the world of The Hunger Games you are either a bully, a victim, or a spectator. The revolution part was boring after that (especially when they had to go back into the arena. That part was just embarrassing).

To me the revolution was obvious. It was inevitable after what happened in the arena. I didn't need a book (or two) to describe to me in detail what happened during the revolution. It was the initial rebellion in the arena that sparked a dream of revolution. THAT was the story. The revolution itself is an after thought, something better left to the imagination.

And that's the key... Which books actually "need" a follow up? Turns out, not many. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a great book. Just stop after you read it. It doesn't really need a follow up. Neither did the Hunger Games.

Then wear a mask.

Really, really UO: being gluten-free does not have to define you as a person. I just spent 4 days in a hotel room with a colleague who is gluten-free. Good for her. I'm glad it's working out for her. But she literally would not shut up about it. It was like a lesson in "101 ways to sneak gluten-free into any conversation." It was really quite amazing, to be honest, how she was able to take ANY conversation topic and somehow mention being gluten-free. Astounding. I actually started to keep track of how many times she said gluten-free, just as a way to entertain myself, but I LOST COUNT. I feel bad for her in a way. It's like being gluten-free is the only facet to her personality.

UO: sick people should not get on airplanes. I was stuck next to a women on a 9-hour flight who coughed and sneezed the whole way. Two days later I was horribly sick and I have been in bed for three days recovering from the worst flu ever. It ruined Mother's Day and I've missed two days of work which I never do. UGH.

No Target (and it is sorely missed).

This made me laugh. I know what you mean but I give you credit for trying. I am a "Game of Thrones Drop-Out." I got halfway through the third book and I had to quit. I think studying for the bar exam would be easier than keeping up with all those characters. So I admitted defeat. Of course, now I'm not in the GOT cool persons group. :( I do wonder about the TV show. With shows lasting such a short time these days, how will he keep it going until he finishes the last two books? Will they just ssttrreettcchh it out while they wait? He doesn't seem like the kind of author that caves to demands to finish quickly. The settings in my mind from reading the book seem cold and gray. All the time. That's it. So I was obviously not getting it anyways!

Yes. This. And it's like I can feel it when I'm reading the book... That feeling of "they are trying to entice me into reading another one with the promise that it will be just as good"... But it's never just as good. They are just writing the screenplay. I think I just prefer stand-alone novels. It seems like when I find an author I like, I can read several of their stand-alone novels and be happy. Maybe I'm just not a trilogy kind of girl. :)

A recurring theme in the bullying thread is how the kids being bullied never told their parents. I'm just wondering why? That is not an accusation, I promise, but a sincere question. Why is it that kids often don't tell their parents they are being bullied? Is there anything we can do to change that? I speak as a mother and a principal. I am not naive enough to think that bullying never happens at my school even though I actively crusade against it. But I also am careful to constantly let kids know that there are "safe" people they can tell...their teacher, me, we even have a child safety advocate they can go to. And yet some of it still goes unreported. How do we teach these children they can tell someone if they won't even tell their own parents?

I'm having bad luck with trilogies. It seems like they all have the same pattern for me. I LOVE the first book. The second book is ok. The final book is blah. And by the time I'm done with the third book I am so glad it's over that it ruins the initial story which I loved. Experiences in the last few years as examples: Hunger Games Legend Divergent Daughter of Smoke and Bone Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ken Follett's Centuries trilogy Here Be Dragons Unwind Beautiful Creatures Clockwork Angel The Map of Time Those are all examples of "first in the trilogy" books I loved whose follow ups I did not. But it's weird because when you love a book you are excited to think another book will be coming...so you don't have to let go of your favorite characters just yet. Then the follow up arrives and is such a disappointment. But now you HAVE to read the third book because you've already read the first two and you can't NOT finish the series, right? UGH. So I think I'm either going to avoid trilogies in general or just steel myself to stop after book 1. Unless there are amazing trilogies I am missing out on? Any suggestions or commiseration?

I saw a guy riding his motorbike down the street with a recliner strapped on it. Of course, it's not the first time I have seen this so it didn't strike me as strange. :)

Yes, that is very true especially among our Korean population. However, I still don't allow it. Just because certain things are "culturally acceptable" doesn't make them right. They attend an American international school by choice and they can follow my rules or they can take their bullying elsewhere. They sometimes show up at our school and bring their old habits with them but those habits are quickly changed or they are kicked out. Honestly, most of them are relieved at the change and are happy to let go of the bullying and enjoy the safe environment we have created.

I was never bullied as a kid but my dh was. He was overweight and was tortured all through school. After graduation he started working out and is now quite buff. :) But He has serious body image issues because of the bullying. It doesn't matter how fit he is, he still sees the fat kid everyone made fun of when he looks in the mirror. Not metaphorically. He literally sees himself as fat. I think there is a term for this but I don't remember it. It has haunted him his whole adult life and has caused problems in our marriage at times. As a principal, I am ABSOLUTELY MERCILESS when it comes to bullies. I will not put up with even ONE instance of it. I find out about it and I come down like a hammer on that kid. I have seen what bullying does to kids and I will not put up with it in my school.

I laid in bed all day sick with the flu. :(

I am glad to read this because I downloaded season 1 and watched the first two episodes and I'm not sold on it yet. I think I will watch a few more now.

I have no idea what to say. Speechless. :(

My dh said I could share his answers. :) He was a SAHD and primary homeschooler in our family (I did all the planning and he put it into practice) for about 4 years. I have more earning power but we both worked. I worked during the day while he schooled the kids and then he worked afternoons and I would finish up what was left over. That is not our arrangement anymore but when it was it worked really well and we both liked it!

Nutella Salt and Vinegar chips!

Started reading: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell Still reading: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor Finished reading: 1. The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan (AVERAGE) 2. The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene (GOOD) 3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (EXCELLENT) 4. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (EXCELLENT) 5. The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith by Peter Hitchens (AMAZING) 6. Champion by Marie Lu (PRETTY GOOD) 7. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (INCREDIBLE) 8. Cultivating Christian Character by Michael Zigarelli (HO-HUM) 9. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff (um...WOW. So amazing and sad) 10. Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church by JD Payne (SO-SO) 11. The Happiness Project: Or Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. by Gretchen Rubin (GOOD) 12. Reading and Writing Across Content Areas by Roberta Sejnost (SO-SO) 13. Winter of the World by Ken Follet (PRETTY GOOD) 14. The School Revolution: A New Answer for our Broken Education System by Ron Paul (GREAT) 15. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (LOVED IT) 16. Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning by Sugata Mitra (GOOD) 17. Can Computers Keep Secrets? - How a Six-Year-Old's Curiosity Could Change the World by Tom Barrett (GOOD) 18. You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself by David McRaney (GOOD) 19. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (OK) 20. Follow Me by David Platt (GOOD) 21. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman (SO-SO) 22. Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman (OK) 23. A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home by Jason Helopoulos (GOOD) 24. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (DEPRESSING) 25. No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige (SO-SO) 26. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff (DELIGHTFUL) 27. The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman (WORST ENDING EVER)

Donate some to neighbors?