It really does depend on the dynamic. My step-dad married my mom when I was 3. He always treated me as his daughter. When he passed away, other than some legal stuff because I was never legally adopted, I was treated as his daughter. I would have been hurt if it had been done differently. I have some of his baby pictures, and some other things. However, my bio-dad remarried when I was 19. I would be shocked if I inherited anything from her, and I don't feel like I should. I never lived with her, and mostly just consider her my dad's wife, not my mom in any fashion. I don't know her family, and they would think I'd lost my mind if I tried to claim anything that belongs to her or her ancestors.

If it is, then I'm gauche. My daughters and I are all within a 1/2 shoe size of each other, and we have a community pool of boots. We also share shirts and sweaters. None of us care as long as I don't go out looking all twinsie with one of them..lol.

Mostly, I want to just be a grandma, not a grandma raising grandkids. That happens too much in our family. I want to enjoy the perks of grandparent-hood like spoiling them and sending them home. I want to support my girls in being great parents themselves. I'll probably be working, so I definitely won't be the knitting/baking/rocking chair type. Also, I'll likely be a fairly young grandparent.

We have a 30 year, but it wasn't our only option. We only financed less than half what the house and land appraises for (inheritance). We went with the 30 year because we wanted low payments, just in case dh had to stop working. We try to pay extra towards the principal each month.

I had a similar issue. I would actually get choked on food, and it could be very painful to swallow food sometimes. I had reflux that had irritated the esophageal sphincter so much that it began to restrict my throat. I had a scope done, and they did a procedure where they stretched the sphincter back out. Other than having a slightly sore throat for about a day, it was no big deal at all. I hope yours goes smoothly!

I've had this twice in the past year. The only thing that has helped has been anti-inflammatories and a decongestant combo. The first round I got a steroid shot that helped very quickly. The second round I kept a dose of advil going for about a week. Mucinex D with both.

I should probably add that I gave my girls the choice to go back to public school this year, so obviously I don't think the schools are of the devil or anything. They made the choice to stay home because of the flexibility it allows.

If my post led anyone to think that I think high school STUDENTS or TEACHERS are inferior, I in no way meant that. I just find the blanket statement that CC is somehow more dangerous laughable. I do think the PS system in general is broken, but I don't blame the people that attend there or the teachers that are trying to make it work. I also realize that there are some awesome schools out there, but there are also a lot of really bad ones.

I used OdoBan to get rid of ferret smell. It worked, but I found the smell of OdoBan to be almost as offensive.

Well, personally, our CC is pretty decent. I attend classes there myself, as does one of my dds. Another DD started to this semester but our schedules became overwhelming so she dropped. The difference between public high school and CC is quite large. You can actually have complete control over which classes you take. You are generally going to learn something instead of learning how to take a test, or prepping for a test, or taking yet another test. The environment, I have found, is much more tame than any of the three high schools I attended 20 years ago. Yes, you occasionally hear about someone's late night partying, and the teachers sometimes swear, but it isn't that bad. I heard/saw/participated in worse when I was in high school. According to my niece that is currently in the high school my girls would attend, things have not improved in 20 years. Anyway, there are many reasons. As to the OP...that is a rather hilarious reason.

I don't remember being read to. However, I always had access to books, and reading was highly encouraged. I think most of my family members just thought it was cute/funny that I liked to read so much. (I would read anything I could get my hands on).

Speaking as a wife who hid the Nutrigrain bars from her OWN HUSBAND so dd could take them for lunch, I completely understand.

Bona here too. My whole house is hardwood and laminate. We have a dog, and our house is grand central station for teenagers. Spills, mud, you name it, have been on this floor with no major issues. My biggest piece of advice is to just be OK with scratches. Wood floors wear, but in my opinion it is part of the charm.

I am the mother of three teen girls, and two nieces that practically live here. Even knowing them as well as I do, I can no longer buy clothes for them that I know they'll like! lol. Same goes for books and jewelry. Gift cards to the movies (Regal, etc.), Starbucks, or iTunes have all been the most appreciated. My MIL often buys them all colorful mismatched socks or some of those inexpensive gloves to go with gift cards, and those seem to go ok as well.

*Disclaimer: I am a Christian, but one that doesn't seem to fit in most of the Christian boxes..lol The stated results and resulting conversations about the study do not surprise me. I've been mulling over something similar for several months now, for various reasons. At least around here, being a "Christian" seems to give people a platform on which to stand and look down on those that are not Christian, or even their particular brand of Christian. People get angry over people behaving in a "non-Christian" manner when they aren't even Christian. CHURCH here seems to have bred a group of people that think that they are better than the "lost" that surround them. It is awful, and something I am truly struggling with right now in regards to where and how I choose to worship.

My girls are close in age, and have done a lot of things together. Enough to make them pretty close, but not so much that they feel like they are being treated unfairly. Now, personality traits are a totally different story. My oldest ACTS like the youngest sibling, and her sisters often "take care of her". They are just more mature, and she has a very carefree personality. We joke that the twins raised their older sister. The younger two have done many things at a younger age than their older sister, but the biggest reason is because they are looking forward to becoming adults and always want to do the next thing, while my oldest has only entered adulthood kicking and screaming. (For example, she did NOT want to learn how to drive and did not get her license until she was almost 17...while her sisters are 15 and chomping at the bit to get theirs). From my perspective, given their personalities and maturity, it seems like they are only a year or so apart instead of 3.5. For me...my brothers are 6 and 20 years younger than me, so I did act like the oldest sibling. Actually, with my youngest brother, I don't have a real sibling relationship at all...he's more like a nephew. My other brother (6 years younger) I have been more like a mother to our whole lives, although we don't really talk any longer due to some very poor choices he's made.

Mine do. My oldest was a part time nanny one summer. Then the next summer she worked in an after school program that taught circus skills to underprivileged kids, and she began her current job at the library. She still works part time at the library and has been promoted from page to a desk position. She's now a freshman in college. She has also volunteered in some fashion or another since 6th grade. My younger two have mostly done baby-sitting jobs and a lot of volunteering as well. As soon as they get their license in May, they plan on getting jobs. I hope they have an easier time finding something than my oldest did (although she was VERY picky!) They are chomping at the bit to earn some extra money and have a little more freedom to do things that having that money will allow. (An expensive robotics club, mission trips, etc.) My husband and I both worked as teens and feel it was very beneficial to us. (Although I was married at 16, and we were dirt poor, so I really HAD to work..lol)

I'm sorry. The advisors at our school are pretty useless unless you snag a professor in your major. I would definitely request a different one.

DD18 wants to either teach German or work at a library (which she currently does). Or both. DD15a wants to be a forensic scientist or a psychologist. She's been steadily making plans for this for several years, and has the school and program all picked out. Psychology is actually her second choice if her plans don't work out for the school she wants to attend. DD15b has flip-flopped a lot over the past few years, so she really doesn't know. She keeps coming back around to education though.

That is the key! White elephant/dirty Santa among good humored people is so fun! We used to do it with our friends pre-kids. However, we found out the hard way that some people really hate it. We tried it out for our huge family one year and people were getting mad! lol. Some people just can't seem to absorb the concept.

Provide good food and a comfortable place to sit and let the rest just take care of itself. Be sure to introduce people as you can, but I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. We routinely mix family, dh's work friends (which can come from all over the world) church friends, and homeschool friends and it works. People eventually find themselves talking.

I'll never go without health insurance if I can help it. Dh had a completely out of the blue life threatening event about 5 years ago. He went from no pain to a colon rupture in under 12 hours. The emergency surgery, home health care for a colostomy, and a follow up surgery would have cost us everything. We would have had to declare bankruptcy and would have lost our home. As it was it still quite a stretch to pay for what the insurance didn't cover. So now we keep paying premiums that get higher and higher, and watch our deductible grow. Dh and dd are both on medications that cost us as much as our mortgage payment each month, that insurance doesn't touch. We don't come even close to our deductible most years, so every illness is paid out of pocket. This Christmas season I have a hefty ER bill to pay for my self. Fun times. But, I'm still going to pay because if something horrific happens again, I will likely won't lose my house over it. I do miss the days of co-pays and decent prescription coverage though. I honestly don't know how families with lower incomes do it.

just over 9000 here.

None. If they come up our driveway they either live here, or are lost..lol. We live kind of in the boonies.

My dd seems to do better with a full schedule too. She slacked off big time last spring. She only had two classes and no job. Her grades were not what they should have been and she kept missing deadlines. Then she spent the entire summer working more than full time hours between two jobs. This fall she's got a full class load, plus a part time job working 20+ hours a week. She's doing MUCH better.