That really concerns me. The bizarre sheep mentality I've seen so much of, especially regarding insane situations at public schools is, for me, of much higher concern than the assault/strange situations. Have none of these kids been taught to stand up for what's right, or at the very least, to tuck tail and find an authority figure???

potted meat, mini sausages, crackers, chips We had to live out of one for six months. It was horrible, I'm trying to be helpful, but all I can think about is frozen dinners night after night. Sit down, write out five dinners that can be cooked and stored. Dinner salad (with a ham dressing) for instance. Then get the slimmest containers you can to store them. Really, though, remember how tight a space you're fitting. If you're carrying lots of loose foods, like veggies and fruits, I would HIGHLY recommend putting it into some sort of tupper wear container, otherwise, every.single.time. you open the fridge, you will have a cascade of food to deal with.

I don't know what bothers me more... the teacher laying on top of that kid, choking him, or the giggling and conversation going on in the back ground. So, none of those kids thought to get up and get another teacher?!?

Lol, I'll definitely back that up ;)

It almost sounds like sil has gotten too much help. IOW, maybe it is time to drop the "helpful suggestions" and let her mother her kids. Some of the things from the last post sound like what my family did to me. I finally got short and flat out nasty whenever they offered their help. Why? Because they're my kids, they've survived so far, thank you, now hush, iykwIm. As far as a 3yo running outside alone. I would corral them, myself, and keep them in your back yard or house. I would not mention having them, I would not call, I would not knock on her door. My neighbor had become pretty complacent, that her little dcs would never escape and her house was so "safe." I kept having to wrangle HER 2yos and send them home. The last time, I kept the kids. They played in the back with my dcs, they watched t.v., I cooked them dinner, lent them pjs and put them to bed (on my couch). When her dh got home, she realized the kids were gone. I heard all the fuss (on the porch with MY dh, explaining why we had their kids). When she claimed they must've "just slipped away a minute ago," we carried the kids across the street, I told her what she owed me for sitting, lunch and dinner, and then asked for better warning next time. They installed new locks that weekend and, hey, the kids didn't "escape" anymore.

Hi :grouphug: good to see you too :) The index cards are stiff, so it's easier than paper.

It's also smoother, the smoke is not as heavy, and it removes some of the risks to you health (inhaling the left overs from pesticides and the different things they treat tobacco with). My brother smokes Indians, but I find the flavor too light for me. If you want good smelling stuff, go for Cloves or Bindis.

Thank you! It was fun to see what everyone else is doing (and that I'm not completely out of line starting my ds at 3).

These things can take hours and hours. If you can read without other people noticing... at least you'll stay awake. You should try, though, to keep it from being horribly obvious. If your cell phone's off, then you'll be way ahead of the curve, anyway.

How is Bill out of line?

I'm still up in the air about this. There is a specific science curr. I want, but to get it I HAVE to d/l it (no hard copy). I haven't decided yet, I hate to waste the paper, ink, and space on my computer, especially since the few things I have bought and d/led for my youngest have turned out to be complete wastes.

Lol... I blame my parents. They used to send the boys (I have three nephews, too) on the back porch for distance contests (omg). They also recommend pork chop bones for teething, and feel free to pop one into a baby's mouth, regardless of the horrified expression on the mother's face. They're great people, lol.

I get angrier the longer I think about this, so I'm going to try to stop looking. It's not as though this girl woke up one morning, tossed her pretty princess pjs and her pompoms and decided she wanted to wrestle (tee hee). She has worked HARD for this, and to diminish it, or limit HER, because of her sex?!? That is just really disturbing. The implications you've listed, that the boys will have a revelation and start to beat women on the streets, it's so ludicrous, that now it seems they need as much "protection" from the town criers as she does. Yes, yes, they're all little bundles of hormones at this age, but that does not mean they don't know how to behave in public, in competition, and in private. IOW, I totally agree you, lol.

This would be two threads where I agree with you. Wow.

My boys all started with trees.......... We spend a lot of time out in the wilderness.

Perhaps the root of concern lies more in why people are blaming the mother. For instance, this week a boy was killed and another is in critical care. They were struck by lightening while standing on a ball field. The game had been cancelled, weather concerns, and the boys' parents were letting them play catch. Now, letting your kids play catch after a game's been called for bad weather, in the middle of an open field, seems to be a common sense no-no. Have I heard people blaming these boys' parents? No. Why? Because they'll be blaming themselves already and they don't need anyone else's help. I feel for this woman who lost her little girl. I don't blame her. Obviously, she did not believe this would happen, or (as many of us do when deciding to put our kids in cars, in the care of a sitter, into a public restroom alone), she assessed the risks and decided that her daughter was reasonably safe outside, alone. The same thing these parents did in Spotsy. They assessed the risks and decided they were so minimal that the kids would be fine. They were all wrong. Now, they know. Let's not dance on their grief, or use it to make ourselves feel like superior parents. I'm sure we all endanger our kids all the time, even in our attempts to keep them safe. Lucky for us, nothing has gone wrong. I know people that don't own cars, because they are too dangerous. I know families that walk, no kidding, upwards of ten miles for their shopping. I know people that refuse to go to the beach with their kids (we live on a peninsula), because the risks are too high. One person's reasonable is not, necessarily, another's. A risk to one, is an absolute impediment to another, is not worth a second glance to a third.

I have a terrible habit of using the library with regularity for a few months and then falling of the face of the earth, until I get a bill for the books still sitting by the front door. I try to buy books more than borrow, because of that. Also, I get really attached to books that I enjoy... we have a tiny house and a really decent home library, lol.

My oldest showers before school, no problem. My boys, however, appear to be allergic to clean water. They get forcibly dunked about once a week, unless we go to the YMCA, where they will take long showers, go figure. My dss too. Thank goodness I'm not the only one with boys that hate baths. And, I hate bath time too. My youngest will take a shower, but it's rather difficult to wash a 2yo from outside a curtain, without flooding the bathroom.

My ds stands to pee. No diapers for a week now!!!! Unfortuneatly, poo is giving us a problem. Any remedies for a kiddo that does NOT want to poo on the potty? I basically have to catch him at the right moment, run to bathroom and plunk him down before he has a chance to get away....

I bought "safety scissors" for my youngest. He cut the pad of thumb, from nail to the bend. Safe my hiney! Of course, he still uses them, but with a bit more caution. Cutting up index cards could last him all day long.

There's only so many slots available. The local PreK is ONLY for kids who need prep for Kindergarten. Head start is available for people on assistance. Otherwise, there isn't anything around here that I could afford. At the time I was working nights, and the idea of having the kids in ps (free!) so I could work normal hours was to much to lightly pass up.

I would not be okay if I came home and found my sons wrestling each other in the living room. I would not be okay if I found my son wrestling another boy in my living room. As for horse play, m'eh, I horse play with the boys, heck, my dad will still throw a frog my way every once in awhile, or better, a charlie horse. Now, maybe the women here are tougher, but I've known quite a few girls that beat the living day lights out of boys. I've known more female bullies than male bullies and if my sons ran up against the likes of them, I would have no problem with them defending themselves. My dcs all know that anywhere a swim suit covers is off limits. IOW, they don't touch each other's rear ends and they certainly would not touch a girl on her chest or between her legs. I don't need to teach them that all women are weak little waifs to teach them to respect other people. I would hope my dcs would be well mannered and polite, regardless of the person's sex.

Lol, my ds almost tossed his cookies. The older dcs both said, "Mom stop her, oh!!! Gross!!!" This spurred a discussion from my dad about some families that eat the placenta, and then I almost lost my cookies. Have to love those family education moments ;)

And the girls that can and want to should definitely be allowed to. It's not as though people are forcing this girl to wrestle, it was her choice. Like the ladies in Marine Corps and the girls that attend military schools, it's not for everyone, but they worked darn hard to get where they are and they deserve to be treated as equals, they have already proven themselves. How dare anyone try to take that from them, by ignoring their accomplishments thus far and relegating them to the position of "weaker sex."

Or, it could teach men that women are capable of kicking their hinies and they should mind their p's and q's. I see very little from the sports my kids participate in, moving out into general real life scenerios. IOW, my son doesn't believe he swims better than all females, because he's faster than the girls in his class. And my dd is finally free of the assumption that she can take anyone down with her karate. As for the sexual feelings... At that age, at least it would be less sexually confusing than getting "happy" when another guy grabs his rear end. Then, I've always found wrestling a little to close contact. And, hey, they have to learn to control those urges anyway, and SHE has to learn how to nip them in the bud, so to speak.