Yay! My first double post on the new boards! (I get excited over the smallest things when dh has not been home in forever.)

But! My dh has been working 12+hour night shifts for almost 2 months! Can I be just a smidge bit discouraged? It will get better in about 5 days. Then, all will be well. February? Bring it on.

Aww shucks! People noticed my maniacal ravings. I feel special.

I changed my name! I kept my avatar and siggy. Can you guess who I was? (Probably not. I wasn't that noticeable)

Yay! I'm not the only one!

Stacey, I'm Cajun. That should speak for itself ;).

This board includes self-ed, right? So where are the moms who want to improve themselves in order to provide a richer learning environment for their children? Can we truly discuss self-ed topics here? I know, though I was always in the "gifted" program K-12, I have some incredible gaps in my education. While I love the high school home-ed threads, I want to see some threads about moms trying to fill in the gaps of their own education. So can the self-ed moms get a little support here?

Was the book really useful? I'm sure there is so much more my son could be getting out of Scratch, but I just haven't purchased anything else. Maybe a book would be a good Christmas present.

My son loves this site! We just downloaded it and let him go. He taught himself how to create games and animations. While I know absolutely nothing about programming, Scratch seems incredibly simple to learn and use. I know there are books on Amazon that will teach you how to create more advanced programs, but have yet to need them. Just be prepared. If your son is anything like my son, he will beg you constantly to play with Scratch. Constantly.

Riiiight. Sure you didn't read those books. :p

Heh. Eschatological bed.

I am so sorry for what your family is experiencing. Really. I can only speak from personal experience. My experience with the AHA has been good, even though most of it has not been enacted. And that's the thing that many forget. Most parts of the AHA have not gone into effect. The rising insurance cost from which many are suffering are not actually due to the AHA. Those rising costs have everything to do with insurance companies and the refusal of major corporations to provide adequate healthcare to their employees. I'm not talking about small businesses with less than 200 workers. I'm talking about wealthy employers who refuse to give up their Lexus cars and vacations to Monaco to provide their workers, the ones who truly earn them those fancy cars and vacations, in order to perform a basic human decency. And I am in no way saying people who work hard do not deserve to reap the benefits of their hard work! But when you react, before a law even goes into effect, by premptively raising insurance rates? Well, I have a problem with that.

For me, I could not imagine taking on that amount of debt with that income. The square footage is irrelevant. If you can comfortably afford 4,500sqft, by all means go for it. The cost, to me, means perhaps they are biting off a little more than they can chew.

See, our deductible is only $1,200 per person and/or $2,400 for our family. Our premiums have increased by a whopping $5/month in the 4 1/2 years we have been here. We do have a HSA with the company matching our contributions up to a certain amount. I am a little ticked that I can no longer use my HSA funds to purchase my necessary allergy meds, but oh well. I am not 100% married to the AHA. I think it's a step in the right direction, but I really wanted a single-payer system. I think, like the situation here on the boards when the format changed, many people are scared and resistant to change. This will not fix all the healthcare problems in our country, but we are moving in the right direction. When all the changes go into effect and everyone calms down, I do think things will be better. Perhaps some would consider me naive for thinking that way. That's fine. I just want to put it out there that some, perhaps even many, people are not suffering due to the AHA. And that statement in no way diminishes the suffering of people at the mercy of large corporations who refuse to provide adequate healthcare to their workers or greedy insurance companies.

One can hope.

MWF-Open 10:00-5:00 TTh-Open 10:00-8:00 Sat-Open 10:00-4:00

Despicable Me?

I cannot believe I am wading into this discussion, but it is late, my husband is not home, and I have insomnia. My crazy mother, bless her psychotic heart, almost died on the floor of a charity hospital (which is now being de-funded thanks to a certain political party's governor) because she had no healthcare. Both parents worked full-time, yet they were not provided with healthcare. Even though both worked full time, they never made over $40,000/year. We had a family of 5. I suffered so much because of the lack of healthcare. I often missed weeks of school because we could not afford a doctor visit. Right now we would not qualify for government assistance in purchasing healthcare. Dh works for a public utility company. We have excellent healthcare. We pay about $160/month for a high deductible/ low premium plan for our entire family. Our premiums have not increased because of the AHA. Our deductibles have not increased due to AHA. We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield. There has been so much misinformation spread about the AHA. The misinformation is entirely political. When I think about the AHA, I always remember the words of Thomas Jefferson. "We holds these truths to be self evident, tall men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." That means something to me. "Life", to me, means we all have a right to adequate healthcare, since we are all Created equal. That means that a 16yo girl should not have to watch her mom (psychotic though the mother is) bleed out on an ER floor because the mom cannot afford insurance. That means that even though, previously, the parents could afford healthcare, the parents of a 12yo girls should not have to file bankruptcy because they could not afford the premiums on their "Cadillac" insurance policy because the mother developed pre-eclampsia. Prematurely raising insurance rates? Greed. Reducing hours worked by employees so you can afford private jets? Greed. The AHA does not require companies to raise premiums. Greed requires that. Evil human nature requires that, not "Obamacare". As I stated before, the law will not affect my professional, Nuclear Engineering Degree husband. Perhaps, by working for a public utility, we are isolated from the greed of major corporations. However, I have no problems paying a little extra in taxes (though we do not make enough to have our tax rate increased) so some other 16yo kid does not have to watch her "pre-existing condition" mom almost bleed out on an ER floor.

Imp, I am right there with you!!! My oldest is only 12. She is a genuinely spectacular kid-kind, caring, and helpful. These mood swings? God help me! Just tonight I had a talk with her about choosing her reactions to certain situations. She likes to blame her siblings for her irrational actions. The 5yo kicking her warrants a punch in the face in her mind. :/. I know it's hormonal. I know she is dealing the best way she can. Still, I wonder how I will get through her teen years without massive quantities of Prozac/Valium (for either one of us). And this is my easy child!!! How will I deal with a sensitive, hormonal boy? How on earth will I deal when my divalicious 5yo gets all hormonal? I know people survive puberty in their children, but right now I'm thinking all those stories of people surviving teens are just myths.

No! This is so not fair! I have followed your daughter's story here. That is horrible enough. Your dh just cannot have anything wrong with him. Many, many, many prayers are being sent your way. And hugs. At least 1,000,000 hugs.

Agreeing with everyone else. Hope overcomes fear.

Oh the joys of hormonal girls! Did she stomp? My dd12 loves to stomp. It's a nice little touch to the huffy moping.