I looked at the photos yesterday - still haven't read the article or scoped out the bathroom (I follow directions!). This morning I was thinking about those photos, and comparing my own clutter. Really, the home in question would look a whole lot better after about an hour: 20 minutes of patrol with a laundry basket, 10 minutes with a broom, 20 minutes with a vacuum, 10 minutes with a sponge. I'm not saying that solves all the problems, mind you, only that it would make an amazing difference in just a little time. My own home is different. My clutter is mostly books and papers. Oh, the papers, the confounded papers! And I have "lost corners," as a PP called it. I even have some messy closets (but not in the same way as the subject home's closets). And two cats. I have lots of dust, I am ashamed to admit how long it has been since I "deep cleaned" anything, I do not make my kitchen and bathroom sparkle every day. I guess what I'm getting at is that I feel like my own mess can't be fixed with one hour's worth of "lick and a promise," and that's sort of overwhelming and depressing. I'm not sure I could tackle the papers even with a full week to myself. But I do have a tolerance threshold that I am pretty good at maintaining. I guess the answer for me is to convince myself I need a tighter threshold, LOL.

I'm with Hillfarm. When you are declining the invitation, don't dance around the reason, and don't make wishy-washy excuses. "Not my cup of tea" would work beautifully, I think, especially if your friend's take is more "it's something about parenting so I thought, you know, you're a parent, you might like it" as opposed to "OMG I love these people and think everyone should study their every word!"

I agree with your husband on this one.

Thanks. Although you are showing me that I should actually *plan* before I purchase. That means it will never happen. ;)

Will you come over and do my house next? I especially love the outlets - I never would have thought of that! What about heat? That's my other problem - blocking the heat vents with bookcases. We really do need another 2-3 bookcases. Well ... "need" is probably too strong, but ... I just don't want to part with any more of my beloved books!

I'm envious of parents who actually hear details from their children! :p Every year, all I hear is that the test "went pretty well" and I always get a synopsis of the best (usually funniest) reading comprehension stories. This is our last year doing Explore. Next year I'll sign him up for the ACT - which will have me far more nervous than Explore ever did, probably because I remember my own ACT score and have a better understanding of what a score means.

Sorry, my question must not have come across right. I thought I remembered that you weren't wanting to tell her because you knew how she'd react (which turned out to be correct, it seems), so I didn't know if Wolf was somehow backed into a corner where he couldn't really avoid saying so, or whether the poor guy hoped it might be different this time. Either way, I'm sorry she still won't share your joy. :grouphug:

Why did Wolf tell her? :confused:

I'm guessing DS would have known everything but caudal, but I also suspect that his definition of pulmonary, while at least in the right ballpark, would have been quite vague ("uh ... something to do with breathing and stuff?"). :rolleyes:

I usually do 20% of the total (including tax) plus at least a buck or two. I figure they don't get health insurance, vacation days, etc., so they deserve every bit of extra they can get (I feel the same way about cab drivers, too). Back when we were ordering every Friday night, DH and I would joke that the pizza guy waited in our bushes until he saw us pick up the phone, then got out & came to the door with our food. :)

I like Pinetree (superseeds.com) because most of their seed packets contain around 30 seeds. A garden as small as mine does not require the 300-seed packets that many catalogs sell, and the smaller packets have smaller prices so I can try something new without much risk. They are a small (family, IIRC) company and have terrific customer service. I haven't heard of Baker Creek. The last thing I need is yet another seed catalog, but the number of recommendations here have me curious!

Thank you so much for the hug & the sympathy. I really needed that. Of course I also appreciate the input from you and the Panda, but that hug felt good!

Baked potatoes ... one at a time. ;)

Oh, yeah. My dad (b. 1919) had quite a few very old 78s and even 16s (!). He also had a wind-up record player that we were allowed to use only when the power went out. I have many fond memories of evenings spent with antique kerosene lamps and the Bozo records on the wind-up! :)

Sometimes I desperately wish I could homeschool DS11, and sometimes I'm glad I'm not. Homeschooling was never on my radar until first grade already "ruined" his educational path. Then I thought I'd spend the next few years stockpiling savings so I could quit my job and homeschool, but between the market dive and my all-over-the-place ideas about what would be our family's wisest financial moves and time marching on and yada yada, I just don't see it ever happening. I have settled for the combination of before-schooling and "regular-life schooling," and I guess it will have to do. Like someone else mentioned in the original thread, I love researching curricula and educational ideas. I love WTM and this site and all the fabulous possibilites I've seen here and all the curriculum I've purchased but only barely used. But I can't make it happen in real life, for my real DS. We work very well together most of the time, and often truly enjoy the materials we use and discussions we have, but if I had to cover everything myself I know that would change. The way things are now, we can go straight to sharing dessert, without having to eat the beans first! Which brings me to why I'm sometimes glad I can't do it: I read here about the interpersonal struggles that surface from time to time between teacher/parent and student/child; I see the downsides, or trade-offs, of a narrower educational world (e.g., a discussion can only be so robust with no more than two participants) and no common ground with neighborhood PS kids for the grammar school equivalent of "water-cooler talk," etc.; I see the Dark Spectre of February take its toll. And, of course, the self-doubt would probably be a constant struggle for me. Sigh. I guess I don't have a question (again!); I just wanted to share what has been on my mind, and see if anyone can commiserate. At the moment I am tending much more strongly toward the "I wish I could HS" side, and it is leaving me feeling blue.

Well, I haven't seen anyone explain it, so ... for all you youngun's out there ... I'm pretty sure it was so you could stack all the records on the player at once, and then when Side 4 finished you could turn the whole stack over to hear Sides 5-8, without having to rearrange the records (or place them on the turntable one at a time).

Oh, my. I think I'm in love. I would eat that any time, for any meal. I'm not sure it would reheat well, though, which makes me sad. I guess I'll just have to get someone else to get up extra early and make them for me to eat fresh. Somebody remind me of this when Mother's Day rolls around. :)

I just love the sentence above. OP, I do not have any BTDT advice for you, but I think you and your DH are on the right track. As you said earlier, it is his choice, and all you can do is do your best to inform him fully of the consequences of each option, then stand back and wait for him to choose. I can imagine how difficult that is to do. My DS is only 11, but I have already had numerous conversations with him about "getting in his own way" - pointing out that it is his attitude/irresponsibility/whatever that prevented him from achieving his goal. He doesn't seem to "get it" just yet, but I am so hopeful that someday it will click. Someday really stinking soon. Hugs and strength to you!

Keep hanging on, Julie. :grouphug:

I agree with the others - don't ask. It would put the other mother on the spot. Besides, now you have the opportunity to teach your kids that not everything has to be exactly the same for everyone all the time. There will be times when your older daughter will want to have her friends to herself, and the same will happen with younger daughter. I don't know that I'd even plan something fun to do with the younger daughter during the party, because I'd want her to see that it isn't that big of a deal to have 2 or 3 hours of normal life while her sister is doing something else.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

DS11 is a big NPR fan. He even listens to Marketplace! :p In addition to whatever he hears there, I will occasionally print articles from the internet for him to read. Recent examples: the considerable health dangers of drinks like Monster; a terrible local accident in which a teenage unlicensed driver stole a parent's car, lost control, hit someone's house, and caused the death of his friend; and a primer on the fiscal cliff that DS requested. Oh, I often print paleontological news, too. :) I don't have any hard and fast rules concerning what can be shared, but I do consider his age and sensitivity when deciding what to share and how to share it.

Another atheist/agnostic household here. Counting mentally, I'd say we have nearly a dozen. I'd guess half of them once belonged to various members of my family. Somehow it seems relevant to note that DH and I were both English majors/philosophy minors. :p

Sigh ... yeah. I have a lot of siblings, covering a wide age range, so some of us have never been close just by virtue of that. But now that our parents have died, we siblings are splintered. In the two years since Mom died I have come to know some of my siblings in ways I never had before, and learned things about them that I wish weren't true. I am glad that they (well, most of them) have moved out of state. The upside, however, is that I have become closer to one than I had ever been before, and I find great joy in that relationship.

DS has What's Going On Down There? I pre-read it, but that was probably 2-3 years ago, so I don't remember many specifics at the moment. I do recall noticing that it had good information, not a bunch of euphemisms.