[More on names . . . Who were the women of your grandmother's generation?]

I only read through the first 4 pages but I think I counted 4 or 5 Alice's..interesting as I never meet anyone of my generation with my name.

 

My maternal grandmother was Alice (I'm named after her). Her mother was Natasha (she was Russian).

My maternal grandfather was Julian. His mother was Ruth. Others in her generation were Estelle and Catherine.

My Mom is Christine. Her sister is Lisa (short for Elizabeth).

 

My paternal grandmother was Rosalie. My paternal grandfather was Julian. Others in their generation were Hazel, Mason, and Frank. f

My Dad is Richard but goes by Dick...which is definitely a generational thing. His siblings are Ray and Alice.

[Please calm my latest hs fear..]

My kids are young like yours, so I don't have a ton of experience with this. For us, church provides our main social network. We have a small church and have several families that we've been close friends with for 10+ years. My 4 yr old has several very close friends within that group. His birthday parties for the past 2 years have been his Sunday School class which is 4-5 kids and consists of his closest friends.

 

Sometimes, I start having Mommy guilt and wondering if I should be providing him more opportunities to make new friends...but then I remember he's only 4 and I try to talk myself down. :D

 

As he gets older..I can't predict where his friends will come from but I would suspect he'll still have close friends within our church group. Good friends of ours who homeschool are in a co-op where they have made some close friends. I could see us doing a co-op when he is older both for the opportunity to meet new people and the opportunity to try some classes I can't do at home.

 

Other people I know have close friends in the neighborhood. There are kids in our neighborhood that play together but he's not really at the age where I'll let him just go out and ride his bike around or go hang out with some kids playing down the street. When he's older though, I could see that being another way to meet new people.

[Scene that just played out in my living room . . .]

Too funny! I remember loving to play "school" at that age.

[favorite magazines for kids]

10 yog - Cricket and Muse

7 yog - Spider and Ask

http://www.cricketmag.com/kids_home.asp

 

 

I like all these. Ds4 gets Click right now and loves it.

[Seashore study help]

We've about 3/4 way through a month long study on the ocean using three FIAR books (Gramma's Walk, All Those Secrets of the World and Night of the Moonjellies). We go to the beach next week as part of our "study". :) These are some of the books and videos we've enjoyed:

 

Books (all are picture books):

Fiction:

Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines

When the Tide is Low by Shelia Cole

The Sea and I by Harutaka Nakawatari

Shells! Shells! Shells! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (is "fiction" but has great photos of shells and very informative)

Hello, Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan (great discussion of 5 senses)

A Gift From the Sea by Kate Banks

A Beautiful Seashell by Ruth Lercher Bornstein

The Disappearing Island by Corinne Demas

A Flag for Grandma by Sally Grindley

The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow

The Big Big Sea by Martin Waddell

Little Rabbit and the Sea by Gavin Bishop

Atlantic by Brian Karas

Pagoo by Holling C. Hollings (Technically fiction I guess but chock-full of info on tide pool life, about the life of a hermit crab. It's long..we're using it as a read-aloud. Lots of intersting sketches of marine life.)

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

Kermit the Hermit by Bill Peet

Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz

Moving Day by Robert Kalan

The Girl Who Danced with Dolphins by Frank DeSaix

Down at the Bottom of the Deep Dark Sea by Rebecca Jones

Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha

Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier

Those Summers by Aliki

Louie's Goose and Gotcha Louie! by H.M. Ehrlich (very sweet books for a Pre-schooler)

 

Non-fiction:

Animals Without Bones: Crabs

Creatures that Glow by Joanne Barkan (the book glows in the dark)

Nature's Children series: Jellyfish

A True Book series: Jellyfish by Elaine Landau

Sea Jellies: Rainbows in the Sea by Elizabeth Tayntor Gowell

Dolphin Talk: Whistles, Clicks and Clapping Jaws by Wendy Pfeffer

Wild About Dolphins by Nicola Davies

The Magic School Bus Gets Crabby by Kristin Earhart

The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole

Shark In the Sea by Joanne Ryder (I think these are shelved under fiction. They are a series called "Just for a Day" where the author has the reader imagine what it is to be a shark. Very good.)

Sea Elf by Joanne Ryder

World Book's Science and Nature Guides Seashells and Peterson's Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic (I'm taking these with us on vacation. The first one is really nice for kids.)

 

DVD's:

Ocean (DK Eyewitness video)

The Blue Planet (excellent, from the Discovery Channel...similar to the Planet Earth series.)

Popular Mechanics for Kids: Super Sea Creatures

Reading Rainbow Ocean Life (actually two episodes on one DVD...one about whales and one about manatees)

[I am looking for a good, no-fluff sunday school curriculum]

I agree. I love GCP, it's really good stuff. But it is definitely Reformed, and I didn't get the impression that OP was looking for that. Hey OP, if you want something Reformed, definitely look at Great Commission. It is meaty and well, just really good. :iagree:

 

This is what we use. It's very good. We're Presbyterian though and it is definitely reformed.

[I am really getting tired of having headaches so frequently -]

I was getting a lot of headaches and totally cut out caffeine. I drink a LOT Of Diet Coke so this was no small thing. The headaches immediately disappeared. After about a week I added it back in but in lesser quantities and haven't had the headaches return.

 

Also, sometimes you can have "rebound" headaches from taking headache meds. Maybe try not taking them for a few days.

[What magazine to get for a 6 (almost 7) year old boy?]

My son is really liking Click (from the Cricket magazine group http://www.cricketmag.com/home.asp.) If he likes science he would probably like it. It has no ads. I'm not sure about reading level...my ds is 4 so I read it to him. The website has more info on reading levels and lots of mags for different ages and interests.

[I need help recovering from public school math]

I only have young guys so no advice on the older ones. I think you're in the right place though...just from hanging out here and reading these boards I have gotten so many great ideas and resources. I'm sure others will chime in with advice for you.

 

For the 4 yr old we are using Singapore EB Math. It's really fun. My ds has liked it a lot. He's a workbook kind of kid and likes doing the pages. We also do a lot of counting, sorting ,etc with stuff around the house. He especially likes using M&M's and Jellybeans for counting. Hmmm...wonder why? :)

[My blood pressure is a bit high after a visit from our foster liscensing worker . . .]

I'm sorry, but this needs an "eyes popping out of my head, rolling all over the floor, mouth hanging open" emoticon. What a horrifying thing to say to a child.

 

:iagree:

[What do you have on your table - place mats, candles, tablecloth...]

Books usually...:)

[What do you get a 4yo boy for his birthday?]

This will probably sound crazy but we got my 4 yr old a digital camera. We found one cheap on craigslist. He loves it.

[ave LOTS of frozen fruit in the freezer - how can I get rid of it?]

Cobblers are really easy and I've made them with frozen fruit. They are forgiving and it's ok if they are a little mushy. Especially if you serve over ice cream.

[Just for fun -- one year ago]

Reading WTM for the first time. Spending half my day nursing. Hadn't even heard of the world of homeschool message boards.

[Any landlords present?]

We had some issues with our last tenants. They asked us for a reference for their new place. We didn't lie but we didn't give them a glowing recommendation either. We just stated bare facts...that they had indeed rented from us and lived their for x number of years. You don't have to give specific information if not asked.

 

Our renters did pay the rent on time so that wasn't an issue. I think we stated that in the reference but didn't mention anything about condition of our condo. They didn't do anything truly destructive, but their standards weren't ours. I didn't feel like it was fair to put that in a reference when they hadn't truly broken the lease or done anything wrong...other than not clean as well as we'd like. And there was some damage to the condo that was borderline "normal wear and tear". I felt like it was beyond normal but it wasn't really destructive. It was somewhat subjective and in all honesty we learned from the situation that we needed to state our expectations more clearly.

[If you have a small pox vaccination scar on your arm, say "aye"]

Aye..I was born in 1972 and must have been one of the very last to get it.

[Self-Education Question re: Book Journals]

I think you picked the right forum, not sure how many people here are using WEM for themselves. Maybe others will chime in.

 

I tried journaling as suggested in WEM. I did it with Don Quixote and found it helpful. I started journaling with Robinson Crusoe but didn't keep it up. I am reading my way through the fiction section. For me, the journaling became a burden and I felt like I wasn't reading as much because I didn't want to do the journaling. I think it would be helpful with some books...I just haven't felt like I wanted/needed to do it again yet.

 

You could divide a notebook page into multiple sections/topics. Then take notes on the topic within that section of the page. Then if you backtrack in your notes it might be easier to find the loose ends you are looking for. Or you could use different colors of ink (that might get tedious though and hard to read). Or you could divide your notebook into multiple sections (instead of each page just divide the notebook and then move back and forth between sections as you need to.

 

Hope that helps some.

[Let's Play What for dinner?]

I'm trying to clean out our fridge/pantry and not grocery shop this week before we go on vacation.

 

So for dinner....Asparagus, Mashed Red Potatoes and leftover Grilled Veggies. Fruit smoothies for dessert.

[The Dark is Rising series?]

LOVE the books! Couldn't bring myself to see the movie as the trailer I watched was obviously so different.

I have re-read these books over and over and over again...like others here I still pull them out as an adult. In fact, maybe this could be my beach reading for next week....

 

Just to let you know how much I love these books (although it's kind of geeky to admit) we went on our honeymoon to Cornwall because of these books. Enough said.

[What tv shows do you hate to admit you watch regularly?]

We don't have TV but I watch Survivor every week online. It's a total guilty pleasure. Recently dh and I watched an episode of The Office online and I could see how I could get hooked on that so I'm not watching anymore.

[What are you wanting for Mother's Day?]

We go to the beach every year this week with my parents. It works well as we're already set up for a nice family time with no cleaning, cooking or real life stuff !

 

I'd also like: a bath, some time alone, and to watch the Survivor finale with noone making fun of me. :)

[Wearing shoes in the house]

We take off our shoes. Dh is American-born Chinese and grew up doing this. I think we were married before I asked what the reason for the custom was...thinking I was being so culturally sensitive. He looked at me oddly and said "to keep your house clean." :)

 

My FIL is pretty strict about the no-shoe policy. They have a basket of slipper socks (from the hospital where SIL is an ER doctor) at the door for people who don't want to be barefoot or in socks. We have had a couple of big events at his house and usually on the invitation is included something like "We ask guests to remove their shoes. Feel free to bring slippers if you desire."

 

At our house we take our shoes off and all our close friends know this and so just do the same. We have a monthly lunch group after church that often includes visitors or people we don't know very well. Usually they see everyone else removing shoes and do the same. I try not to make a big deal over it since it's more important to me to have guests feel comfortable than anything else. If people are going to go upstairs to where our bedrooms are we generally so ask them to remove their shoes. But we keep it pretty low-key and I hope don't make anyone fell awkward.

[Women's Ministry Mother-Daughter Brunches--what's your take?]

For me, MD brunches -- not to mention Mother's Day! -- became difficult as I continued into adulthood as a single woman in the church. I was 37 years old when I finally :001_smile: married, but for years it was a bit awkward to attend certain types of church and family functions that emphasized motherhood, something that seemed to be passing me by. So, I didn't go.

 

 

 

 

We go to a very small church (about 75 members). I was director of women's ministry the past 4 years (just stepped down on May 1st...:D) and I avoided doing Mother-Daughter things for this very reason. Since we're so small it just didn't make sense to exclude women who were single, or had sons, or were married without kids, or widows, etc. I'm not against the concept but it just didn't work for us. Also, I have several close friends who are single women in their 30's and we've talked a lot about how the church can sometimes exclude singles through this kind of event. So, I tried to be sensitive to that when planning our activities. I do like Chris in VA's comment about exposing daughters to women's fellowship. We tried to do this by having events for all women but including girls at some of them.

 

My Mom's church (pretty much all white, Pentecostal) does a tea every year. They do it more as an older women/younger girls thing than mother-daughter. The girls plan the tea and make the food and then invite all the older women. They have had a tradition where they bring fancy over-the-top hats and everyone wears them and gets photos taken. My Mom loves it and says it's a fun, silly, lovely tradition. She always goes and has a blast.

 

I also agree with other posters that three hours on a Sat afternoon is too long. I probably wouldn't have attended for just that reason alone.

 

For the demographic "research"...I'm white and my church is PCA (Presbyterian).

[Tell me I can quit my job and be a SAHM]

When I read the original post I thought of the term "sequencing". I've heard it described as "having it all, but not all at once". Where women have a career, but maybe delay it or take time out for a period of life. I know you say that it would be hard to go back to your particular line of work. I'm not in IT at all so I have no clue about your field...but it's possible you might find yourself in the SAHM phase for a season and then find a new career as your kids get older.

 

I think both Madeline Albright and Sandra Day O'Connor are the most cited examples of this. Albright was a SAHM until age 39. Sandra Day O'Connor delayed her career until her boys were all in school. (And has been criticized for retiring from the Supreme Court to care for her husband, which could also be seen as "sequencing".)

 

Anyway, it sounds to me like your heart is at home and if you have the ability to do it...I'd say go for it.

 

Just to add, I'm speaking as someone who works part-time. It works for me and dh now (we both work part-time and stay home part-time.) I would imagine that leaving a career isn't just quitting a job but is also about losing part of your identity. I can understand the struggle but it sounds like from your original post that you may be ready to move on to the next thing.

[Did we commit an interview faux pas?]

I don't think it can hurt. But having been on committees that were interviewing prospective candidates we only really noticed when someone sent an odd note. For example, one guy sent a large picture of himself in a Speedo windsurfing with his dog. It got him noticed...but not as a good thing. I can't remember ever thinking "oh, no thank you note..this person is toast." :)