I think I would be doing an even greater disservice to my teen daughter if told her that dressing modestly provides any protection against rape, than if I told her dressing to show off her beautiful self would incite rape.

And it doesn't matter how short your skirt is if you have on a burka. You could be naked under one of those things if you wanted and nobody would know. Except, what if the sight of a burka makes some hapless male start thinking, "hmmm, I wonder what's under that burka?" Then they really start to imagine the possibilities and it causes THOSE thoughts, we all know the ones. It isn't really his fault because that burka is kind of the cause of them and that could happen to anybody, even nice boys from good Christian families. So then he has that physical response in his trousers, we all know the one, and he can't really help that. It was all that imagining CAUSED by that scintillating burka. So he can't stop himself and sadly another rape happens all because some woman went out of her house in a burka and put herself in that position. I mean, geez, she might as well have been wearing leggings.

Anyone who is truly serious needs to adopt the burka asap. It is the ultimate in modesty and based on your logic will prevent all sexual assault forever(well maybe except within the family and I suppose that doesn't count anyway). So, if you aren't willing to do that you should STFU. Because you can prattle on forever in that baggy excuse for a skirt but we all know you aren't really willing to go all the way, I mean in terms of modesty of course. So clearly you don't care about protecting your daughters from rape or your sons' minds from impure thoughts and random erections (which apparently they are unable to manage without raping someone). And that would be my response OP, so I have to say that I admire your restraint.

Lol, hsing has definitely hit a libertarian vein lurking in me among the true blue state liberal ones. I was quite shocked to find it there.

Zero tolerance and this stupidity are not just because of the schools getting crazy. I mean, to be fair, they have to cope with the possibility of someone coming into a school with an automatic weapon to kill as many people as possible. They are being asked to try to prevent the kind of bullying that results in children committing suicide. So I guess what I am trying to say is that the schools are being charged with solving, or protecting children from, societal problems and of course they can't. But their attempts to do so anyway result in these kind of stupid, arbitrary, counterintuitive reactions. And I really think that the result will be more homeschooling.

This how homeschooling will grow and grow. The schools are becoming crazier and crazier. It is like the post someone did about their son being punished for cheating when he was not cheating and everyone knew it. But rules are rules people! Here is a mother who rushed to the aid of her son and everyone knew it, but you know, laws are laws. Let us never forget that! Rules are more important than children. Rules are more important than parents. Rules are more important than their intent. Rules are the only things that matter and it is just going to get worse.

I am so sorry BLA5, so very sorry. I don't care if my daughters wait until marriage. I care that they are independent, strong and careful and that they choose partners who respect and value them. And I hope they will treat their partners the same way. If they want to wait until marriage I will support that, but it is not something that will come from me. Safety, common sense and respect are my messages. And I hope dh and I have modeled a relationship of love and respect. The idea of a purity ball, as described in the article, is so foreign and strange to me. It is like reading about another culture. It is another culture, not one that is anything like the one I belong to.

Things like this were one of the reasons my dd hated school. And she is not on the spectrum. As she said, "they treat kids like criminals." He was not trying to cheat and he was punished for cheating. I would be likely to agree with him that it isn't fair and then maybe discuss how lots of things in life are not fair and we all have to learn how to cope with that. I mean, it sounds more like a problem with black and white thinking than not taking responsibility. And if the quiz was a surprise and not having the second problem was another difficulty, it is not hard to see how he had some trouble. I think school is full of rules that in practice are very arbitrary and unfair.

I have a BSW and MSW also. I have been out of the field for a while but I don't think, in terms of flexibility and income, it would be your best choice, especially if you are starting from scratch. I did some part-time work as a foster care worker with a BSW. With my MSW I did evaluations (adoption and custody) part-time. I have not done private practice so I am not able to advise you there. Most of the work I did as a social worker also involved being on-call at times. I think texasmama is right as far as nursing being a better option in the helping professions. I have a friend who works part-time as a visiting nurse and loves it. She makes her own schedule.

My youngest brother was born when I was ten and it was wonderful. I refer to him as my first child lol. My kids are seven and a half years apart and it is fine. I think the hardest part is going to be when the older one goes off to college. My younger dd will be bereft. We did not think we were going to be able to have a second either but I am really glad we did. And what is wrong with your MIL? She does not want another grandchild? That seems sort of strange to me.

My SIL is an alcoholic. She had a really tough time and went through inpatient treatment. She hated when we tried to have alcohol free family gatherings "for her sake", hated it. She felt that it made her responsible for us not being able to have a beer or glass of wine and that it implied a lack of trust in her.

I used the book Protein Power to lose weight after my first dd. I kept if off until getting pregnant with dd #2. But it was not so much low carb-high fat as low carb-high protein and don't worry about fat. I had been infertile until I started the diet. I lost twenty-five pounds and had no adverse health effects and got preggers. I have also lost weight, after dd #2 with weight watchers. I think either works if you stick with them. It just depends on what works best for you as far as following it.

One of my rules is to ask questions. Dd8 assumes the most negative meaning for any comment and reacts accordingly. So double check is a good guideline, as in telling her that she needs to ask "what did you mean by that?" Often I ask her to try again, "Is that really the best way to get me to do what you want?" "I think you need to try again." Trying again has been a good strategy.

An organic version with a pleasant flavor would be good marketing I think. Hmmm, what would be a good one? Beer? Pizza?

Tsk tsk, bad boys will only break your heart.

Lupin is the one who has my heart. And not the Lupin from the movies, but the one I picture in my head when we listen to the books.

We have one here too :hurray:

My dd did Singapore science, the seventh and eighth grade books. She read the text and used the workbook. She just worked through them herself and we found experiments where we could. She is a very self-directed learner and motivated and does well with textbooks. It is secular and rigorous. She went from Singapore science at home to honors biology and chemistry at our local high school and is getting A's. So it did prepare her. There was some frustration because there were times when she could not complete the workbook assignments from the text book (this is a curriculum that was developed for use in a classroom and with science lectures). There were times I helped her find information online or she did it herself. Khan was a good place to go for help. Good luck finding something that works for your dd. I find science to be the hardest thing to cover at home, once you get beyond elementary school. Because we can dual enroll in ps and homeschool in our state we do high school science at the high school. But she was well prepared after the Singapore. ETA Sorry, somehow I missed the video watching requirement, not enough coffee this morning. Have you checked out Khan academy? If you could find a secular spine, Singapore or any textbook really, you could combine the two. Hopefully someone else will have some better help lol. Good luck.

Here is my experience with a child who has a lot of challenges with math as a result of a learning disability (NLD). We started with Singapore but I did not think I needed the home educators guide because WTH, we were talking about first grade math. DD HATED (hard to overstate how much) it with a passion. I was a new hser, that is my only excuse and we did not have the dx at that time. I bought the RB books after we got the dx and we used some of activities but they were not any more popular with dd. So I decided to chuck it all and just do Life of Fred because she loved it. So we did just Fred for about nine months until we hit a level where she just couldn't do it anymore without some serious drills, which she also hates. So I went back to Singapore, with the home school parent guide and so far we are doing great with it. We are working a year below grade level and it is taking us twice as long as it would a child without an LD to get through it, but it is good. She is learning and doing well with it and does not cry or hate it. We are still going to keep going with Fred though, because she really loves it. I also find educational game apps that practice the skills we are doing in Singapore.

I think both of mine like it, the arguing I mean. It is satisfying on some very deep level. It isn't just about talking their way out of something. I think they just really couldn't respect themselves if they fell into line with every directive lol. It is about self determination and independence, or the pursuit of it maybe.

I agree, especially with all the snow days and seeing friends scrambling to find alternatives to taking another day off of work. Though it has been lucrative for dd babysitting. I think a woman stuck in a job she hates and struggling to get everything done and work might think I have it pretty easy. And compared to her she would be right. But compared to a woman in a job she loves with a lot of resources (cleaning help, good childcare...) my life might look pretty boring. It is all relative.

I am disappointed but not surprised. Why should he know much about homeschooling, let alone secular homeschooling? I run into this a lot among my progressive/liberal friends and acquaintances. I am giving up on the public good of good public schools by dropping out. I don't care about all the children who can't be homeschooled. I am throwing my lot in with fundamentalist Christians and libertarians lol. If my friends and neighbor's children can thrive in school, then mine can too. The schools here are wonderful... It is good to persevere and make things better instead of walking away or quitting. It goes on and on. All I have to do is say that I homeschool and it opens a floodgate of stories about the many positive experiences they and their children have had with the schools here. The only friends I have who really get it have special needs kids and had their own struggles/problems with the schools. I am envious of people who hs primarily for religious reasons for not having to deal with this from friends, or I assuming that is the case anyway.

I would be OK with it if mine wanted to do it. They never have.

I love it. I wanted to name my daughter Thea, which is similar (to me lol) and dh wouldn't go for it.

Ummmm, forty-four. That gets me in just under the line.