You are right. We have very high standards for behavior and almost no behavior issues including playground scuffles. The children here are taught that their behavior must be glorifying to God at all times. If they are DELIBERATELY unkind in word or deed they are sent straight to me. I honestly see about one kid a month, maybe, usually less than that. All the child ever gets (and really, all they ever need) from me is a stern talking-to and it is over. I have never had the same child in my office twice. That's why this incident stood out so much. It is highly unusual here. This is such a warm, safe, happy place.

I hope this true. I have never felt a a ruler or wooden spoon smacked hard against my hand ... Especially not ten times. I hope it wasn't as painful as my mind imagines it. :(

Absolutely!!!!!!!

I feel sad and nauseous right now. It happened like this: Boy A and boy B were playing soccer at recess. They got into an argument. Boy A called boy B a "stupid idiot" and told him couldn't play any more. Boy B left the playground crying and told his teacher. The teacher reported it to me and I called boy A into my office and scolded him for being unkind to his friend. Then I sent him back to class. The next day boy A was mad at boy B because he tattled and boy A was scolded by me. So he deliberately threw a soccer ball at boy B and hit him in the head. Obviously, I can't have this. So I called his mom and told her what happened that day and the day before. Today I got an email from the mom telling me she disciplined her son for his behavior. She explains that this discipline involved her hitting his hand very hard with a bamboo stick TEN times. Those were her exact words. I know his behavior warranted consequences. But hitting him ten times with a bamboo stick? She made it clear that she did it hard. She also acknowledged that I might be offended by her choice of punishment but it is culturally acceptable for them. I can't get his face out of my head. I can't stop wondering how much it hurt, how much he hates me right now. Now I wish I had never called. Sometimes I don't like my job I just needed to get it out. Thanks for reading.

Here? Never. In fact, I was at the grocery store today wishing they would pick up the pace! The is no sense of time urgency here.

Nope. No way. And we vaccinate according to schedule as well except for the flu vax.

Yep, in the bathroom. Each year we end up catching a few huge pythons on campus, some at various staff houses, etc. My dh is a pro at catching them and releasing them back into the wild. We get cobras too but so far no vipers. They stay away because they are afraid. Did you see the pics I posted last year of the huge python we caught (11 feet) that had just swallowed a goose? Our HS school class dissected it! Two weeks ago a huge monitor lizard (5 feet) was apparently lost and wandered into our cafeteria during lunch. That was pretty funny. I've had tarantulas in my house and a civet cat fell through the drop ceiling in one of our classrooms. And let's not forget the baseball game that was interrupted by a wild boar running around the field! Interestingly enough, it's not the snakes that keep my mom away but the long plane ride. :) I promise if you visit I will have the place swept for snakes before you arrive and I won't take you to the Snake Temple where pit vipers roam freely. I love you too much to be the cause of your untimely death. Or nervous breakdown. By the way, did you know it is the Year of the Snake?

I admit that I think all those sorts of organizations for adults with bizarre initiation rituals are just...well... bizarre. My friend talked me into joining a sorority in college and I was giggling through the whole initiation thing because I thought it was so silly and pointless. And we were "sworn to secrecy" about the ritual and handshake and I think there was even a secret phrase or something? Give me a break. Can't your organization do charitable things without all that foolishness? No, my dh would not be joining a group that forced him to keep secrets from me or engaged in weird rituals or both.

I don't correct them. It's usually pointless to do so. They don't change their opinion even if they acknowledge the quote is wrong and usually just think the person correcting them is a hater. I have an unofficial FB rule of letting the first annoying or vulgar update from someone slide. Then I block them from my newsfeed. Let them be ignorant in their own world. I am not reading it.

It is so interesting to me that so many of you have longer mornings too. Most of the churches we attended previously are in and out in an hour or 1.5 hours max. It always felt so rushed. Now we take our time and fellowship and discuss and learn, etc. There is no rush to get out of the door before 1pm when they leave for the orphanage. I am looking forward to joining them at the orphanage when dd is a little older and able to handle it.

Well, there goes my hopes of you moving here! Part of our staff training each year is how to use the snake venom kit in case you run into a cobra on campus. We once had one in the staff bathroom. :)

A question for you all... How long is your Sunday morning at church? This new church we are attending is quite a bit longer than we have had before... About 3 hours total. This includes the regular service, Sunday school and brunch/sermon discussion. In addition, they then go and conduct Sunday school classes at an orphanage in the afternoon. We haven't gone to that because our dd is cranky and ready for a nap by that point. I thought it would be too long but the three hours seem to fly by and we are really enjoying it. So how about you? How long are you at church on Sundays?

Started Reading: Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800) Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300) Still Reading: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800) The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300) The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200) Finished: 8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100) 7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600) 3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800) 1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800) So far I have hit 4 continents and 5 Dewey Decimal classes (but I seem to be stuck in the 800's... I'm on a fiction kick lately!).

Yes it is! I am so glad to have found a church here that teach these. It has been so long.

No but mostly because we have a separate game room where they go to play on computers (there are two in that room), or on the Xbox. The only thing they use their bedroom for is sleeping and changing clothes.

Happy Lord's Day ladies!!! We had a fantastic day. The sermon was incredible and the worship was so wonderful. During our Sunday school classes we are doing an in-depth study of the Heidelberg catechism and it has been very rich. We had a fellowship lunch afterwards. Then we rested this afternoon. We went to a restaurant across from our house for dinner and a family from our church was there so we had dinner together. Great day all around. How about you?

Ok, my amazon wish list is filling up!!! I pray that one of these series takes. I think I am going to get the first Percy Jackson book since so many of you recommend it and the Artemis Fowl to start. Fingers crossed...

My 14yo ds hates reading. Really hates it. As an avid reader, this breaks my heart so I am desperately trying to find books he might like. He thought The Hunger Games Trilogy was pretty good but he didn't enjoy Divergent that much. He liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And his favorite was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. He loved that book. When I asked him why he said because it was creepy and a little twisted but not overly gory or full of gratuitous sex. He is a slow reader and gets discouraged easily. So what does your teen boy read?

That was hilarious!! I had a grand old time helping them see how ridiculous both Romeo and Juliet were and what a great example this play is of how NOT to do a relationship. Me to my class: "If you are sneaking off during a huge family party to make out with guy you don't even know then swearing your undying devotion to him as he stalks you outside your window then lying to your parents then betraying your family then running off to get married at 14 to this guy you barely know then taking drugs then faking your death then actually committing suicide... News flash... You are not in love. But you may be in need of psychological help. Well, you were. But now you're dead."

As one who currently has a broken toe, I'm glad I went in even though they did virtually nothing besides tape it and give me crutches. I was glad to know it was a dislocated break. That sucks. I am sorry you have to go through this.

My goodness. Don't tell anyone I let my students read... Gasp... Romeo and Juliet... At a CHRISTIAN school. The killing, the drinking, the sex, and more killing. Oh the horror! How could I have been so irresponsible as to let my students read such filth???

Yes, easily. That would be more than I spend on all of our groceries in a week including toiletries and paper products. But fruits, veggies and fish are SUPER cheap here. If you asked me to feed my family beef or pork a few times a week with milk to drink at each meal for that amount , there is no way I could do it. Beef, pork and dairy products are brutally expensive here.

Amazingly beautiful. Truly.

Welcome back Aubrey! Well, what I would do is buy another turtle that looks the same and the kids would never know. But I am just practical like that. :)

No worries! I missed your original post as I was asleep (eastern hemisphere and all!) so I don't know what you wrote anyways! :laugh: