Read this: The Anatomy of Stretching I find it helped me a lot to work out which stretches I needed to do and why

No, I would not even if I had ready access to it (Here in Australia it's only on pay TV) I'm a conservative Christian and I happen to think they all need to GET OFF TV and deal with the mess they are in. I suspect more than a few of them need serious REAL counselling but I doubt they will get it. I am so upset at the influence these people are having on those who can't or won't stop to think about the many issues that seem to be obvious to me. sorry.... Rant over :mellow:

This is very interesting. I have also noticed a correlation between good health (including mental health) in advanced years with regular short-term fasting in people I know, both men & women.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I agree, it's probably not something we can control, but if there's a chance I can keep it at bay even a little, and for a little longer, I'm game to try it :001_smile:

OK, we recently moved my darling mother into a dementia secure nursing home, so this has been on my mind a lot. My maternal grandmother had it, now my mother. I realise we can't control everything in life, but for those of you who think along these lines, what do you think are important factors in preventing, or a least minimising/delaying dementia? I read "Blue Zones" a few years ago & really felt there was some good information there. I've certainly been convinced to tip our family's diet towards vegetables and reduce the meat (we were eating plenty so there was lots of room to move :laugh: ) and be more physically active every day. Any other tips?

Little update on Mum. I took her in yesterday morning. I stayed for a few hours during which time she started asking, "Are we finished? Can we go home now?" So when they took her for lunch, they suggested I leave quietly. So I cried all the way home. I rang them this morning, & was told she had a good night, was quite settled and there were no problems. I won't go to see her till next week to give her time to adjust. Yesterday afternoon I got a lovely email from the resident chaplain, who said he had a good chat with Mum in French because he speaks fluent French! (French was her language before English) This morning I got to meet him. He is originally from Zaire (hence the French), loves God fervently and told me God is good all the time, nothing is happening that is not in His control and that it is no accident that Mum is in that centre. So I cried (again) :001_smile: Then I told him about Mum's life serving God (she and my Dad were missionaries) and then he cried because he said it was such a blessing it was for him to have someone like Mum there and how encouraged he was to meet me and learn about our family. So we sat and cried together for a bit :laugh: Needless to say, I am a bit overwhelmed at how gracious God has been & I am certain, now, that she is in the right place. Thank you so much for your prayers & kind words. God is good, all the time, indeed.

Thank you all.... I know there are many here who have been through this and worse :grouphug:

I don't even know what I'm feeling :confused1: She has dementia, which has progressed over the last year quite significantly. She lived in a granny flat on our property for 17 years. She championed my cause when I decided to first homeschool our now 19-year old.. back when it was really weird. She was my best friend. Life is hard, sometimes. Fortunately, she loves God, and He has looked after her all these years and she knows, even with her dementia, that He will continue to do so. She was calm, trusting and accepting. Life is very hard, sometimes :crying: :crying: :crying: *UPDATE in post #43*

For those of you who pretty much follow TWTM in your homeschooling (as opposed to incorporating other philosophies), do you think I need to get the latest edition? I used the first one with my boys (who are now doing their own thing) but I plan to follow the same plan for DD5. I just don't want to be missing out on any good stuff :D

At least this would be credible (she says, remember the close calls she had from her own toddlers :laugh: )

At some point, I just had to give up posting the same comment on some friends' pages :"Check Snopes". I always feel like such a joy-killer :glare:

We have been members of our church, which has now roughly 120 members, for over 20 years. My babies were born & raised in that church. We have celebrated, laughed, cried, prayed and grieved together. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love these people. No, not every member is my best friend and some personalities just don't mix that well. My DH is a super-private, super-reserved type & it took him longer than it should have (in my opinion ;) ) to allow people close enough to become true friends, but it did happen. Recently, we all came together to support a young family who were in our church for many years & left to start their own church nearby. Their 2 year old died suddenly. The funeral was held in our church & I understood the true meaning of "church family". If we had been a "mega" church, I have no doubt it would have been very different. All that to say, I would encourage you to give them a fair go :001_smile:

I think 15 year olds get between $10-$12 per hour in fast food joints, supermarkets etc... I agree about paying him for the job, as opposed to per hour. My 15 year old (who is man-sized :001_smile: ) was paid $100 to help a friend of ours do some tiling at a new house he was building. He was there all day (over 10 hours) & couldn't move his muscles for 3 days :lol: but I was surprised at the job satisfaction he got.

I agree. This is my story with my 2 eldest (now 19 & 16) who now blame me for not "forcing" them to learn French. Oyvey. I am far more diligent with 5 year old, but I also get the brick wall from her occasionally. I just keep plodding on...

Thank you for posting! Tell your daughter she has motivated ME!

Alleluia, He is risen indeed! "And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me, for I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ!"

I can't believe I am only discovering the bullet journal now. Where has it been all my life?😚 Thank you all for sharing your tips. I knew there was a better way...Thank you especially to Plink- your post was very helpful

Yes well, just between you and me, losing the diary was part of the reason I thought electronic might be better. It might have happened a time or ten. And my mother is the one with dementia :laugh:

I'm in the same boat as a lot of you here so I'm curious what you think; I look after my mother who has dementia, I homeschool a 5 year old + 15 year old, have a 19 year old at uni and I do the same things many of you do (church, Bible studies, sports etc...) A few years ago my technology-loving husband convinced me to go all high-tech & ditch my diary. It works well in the sense that the whole family has access to the Google calendar so we all know what everyone's doing, who's home for dinner (and even what's for dinner, if I'm that organised :laugh: ) On a personal level though, I feel I'm still missing that sense of control I had when I was using my pen-and-paper diary. Have any of you gone back to the Stone Age by choice? :confused1:

For Clementine, and the rest of us who feel the same way: Captain Patrick Sondheimer. That's the pilot's name you want to remember I was especially moved by this paragraph: "We also thank the nameless Germanwings pilot who flew that same route the next day. He greeted every passenger and made an emotional speech to the, promising he would get them home safely. His empathy and grace will be remembered by every passenger on his plane and those of us who only read about his kindness."

I have found sodium bicarb to work miracles on soap scum. We have hard water too. The only time I would be careful with it is on a high gloss surface (nothing in our house is that new :laugh: )

Thanks, SKL. DD had a fall when she was one and knocked her mouth quite badly. And although the doc at the time said there wasn't anything to worry about I've always been jumpy about her teeth (dentist visits have always been fine, too, so I guess I'm worrying for nothing)

Is it normal for the top tooth to fall out first? You'd think that I'd know these things, what with this being my third child and all. My boys lost their bottom teeth first. Her top tooth just fell out and her bottom teeth are not even wiggly!

Welcome to the club! I agree, it's so not fair. I really felt that if my short-distance vision was deteriorating it should be compensated with long-distance improvement. My optometrist just laughed at me and told me where to buy the cheapest reading glasses :glare: It's gotten to the point where I am now looking for those grandma chains so that I can wear the reading glasses around my neck. Yep, I have given up all pretence of being young(ish) & fashionable :laugh:

Good point! I never thought of that :lol: