Yes, give and take... I wonder, though, how submission is being defined by some posters... it's not as though the wife is supposed to be in suspended animation until her husband comes home.

Isn't this hand in hand with scripture that tells man to make sure his wife's needs are all met and she is given no reason for resentment? Sort of like, obey your mother and father; parents do not provoke your children to anger... There is give and take. Yes, if the wife submits then the marraige will be easier, but ONLY when the husband fulfills his end of the bargain. While I do think some churches will start to say 'submitting' is antiquated, etc; that will not make them right. Oh, and it says 'servants' not slaves. All the same, the idea is to be the best at whatever you do and to do it with kindness. Isn't that the basic Christian ideal anyway? Turn the other cheek, pray for those that do evil to you, etc.

This sounds like a lot of fun! So.... do we just pm eachother for addresses? :bigear:

You should check by locallity. That's how it's done here. The local police and SS both say it's up to the parents. Northern VA has a pretty high latch key population too.

I'm not sure I would slip out while they were sleeping. There's always the fear they'd wake up, not know where we are and freak out. Otherwise... I leave ds (7) home while I run errands (hour, tops) and dd has been home alone for short periods since she was about the same age. Ds (2), however, goes with me everywhere. I do not leave him alone with his sibs.

I agree. Modesty should not trump life. As for the mammy comment.... wet nursing has been done by way more peoples than just NA slaves, or even the larger group of slaves in general. I would consider that 'throwing the baby out with the bath water.' Some bad examples should not cause the entire action to be scorned.

Ours is up, see sig. Sorry, too sick to read and comment on everyone's blogs this time.... Happy Valentine's (almost)

DD and ds are both 'gifted' with ds leaning more towards the higher end of the spectrum. Dh and I cannot afford to send them to all of the camps and things they are invited too. The scholarships they're offered defer some of the costs, but once uniforms and transportation are figured in... it's not as much as it seems. Now, my family has NO PROBLEM saying we're holding the kids back/down, letting their potential go to waste, etc. Thankfully, they put THEIR money where their mouths are. Oh, it must be so cold and lonely up there at the top glaring down at us bottom feeders. I don't know why people are so scared to seek assistance, I don't know why people would rather go hungry than seek help. After all, we're such a giving society. We care so much about each other's needs. I don't know why people feel guilt when they have to sign up for gov. aid. It couldn't possibly be because they'd be called greedy. As long as it's government aid, it's okay. Then it's just tax dollars that come from random places. As long as they don't ask their family or friends for help..... Sheesh, that's just tacky! As far as ASKING for cash instead of presents........ well, if they were asked what they wanted and they wanted cash, then isn't that just being honest? Should they hedge around and say.. paper that is worth a dollar amount?

When my dd was invited to attend the NYSP camp in DC, one of their reccomendations was to send out appeals to friends and family to help cover the cost. It is a great program, it looks nice on transcripts, and it costs an arm and a leg. When dd was invited to Johns Hopkins, they sent the same ideas to raise funds. The people that were ticked off by our 'audacity' were sent a sincere apology, everybody else got thank you cards, pictures and post cards.

We're both registered organ donors, so I'm not sure that our bodies would be of any use anyway. My mom wants to donate her body to science, but she has a very rare/bizarre bacterial infection (from surgery) and they can't grow the bacteria to study it. Her cdc doc. was really excited when she offered (macabre much?) and now she's pretty positive that's the route she'll go. Her and dad will be buried at Quantico Marine Base, and they both said they don't really care what we do with their remains, so long as they end up together.

Ds and I go through this. I tell him how it makes him appear to others, how others feel about saturnine people. Then we talk about how he can change his behavior. It hurts us both to discuss how his negativity can impact his life, he's very sensitive and I hate to hurt his feelings, but it's better than dragging an ill-mannered grump with me, or the possible consequences of his attitude.

Dh and I both want to be cremated in the cheapest way possible. His grandfather left us a bigger burden than he realized and neither of us want to do the same. We had considered donating our bodies to science, if they were wanted, but then... the idea of someone cutting up a loved one makes me uncomfortable.

:rant: It's like we're forcing reliance upon ourselves. You can't have a veggie garden in some places, because the HOA will complain, you can't compost for the same reasons. You can't live without electricity in some places, because of regulations. None of these things cause physical harm, but the have's (imo) are forcing their lifestyle choices on the have-not's, because it's easier than accepting someone different from yourself. Sneering down their nose at a woman feeding an infant, or calling a b-fing mom akin to a child molester (which I have heard in regards to myself), is society's way of keeping us in line. If one person's health food only comes with an 'organic' label, then it's believed that 'organic' is the only healthy choice. We've turned 'tolerance' into a way to be condescending and force others to our own levels.

My husband's grandfather was born and raised in the Gap and my dad used to run deliveries around there. Both said the area was different. My dad said it was incredibly rustic, Grampa said the ideals are different. Neither called it poor. Their thoughts being, the way of life there is very different (in the backwoods country, of course this is twenty or so years ago). Money isn't the be-all-end-all there, that it is off the mountain.

I completely understand and I do the same thing. Sometimes, I wonder 'what's the worse that would happen' if I just put on my shoes, walked out the door and never turned around. I've even looked into the peace corps/missionary works, lol, as ways to justify a month to a year all by myself. When it comes down to actually DOING it... I couldn't, but hey, I can daydream. I could leave, if I really truly believed my family would be better off without me.

What's the worst that would happen if you did throw together a yurt and composting toilet?

We're so backwards. Since we know how the other shows love, we accept and recognize those as their shmilys. Lol, I WISH dh could speak my language, without me needing to lay it out for him, as it is, I see the things he does and know they're done in love.

Thanks, everyone. I had no idea there were so many options available. Just so you know, her doctors are, imo, worse than useless. If it was me I would've found a lawyer long before now. Be that as it may, I've called my sister and sil and we're going to look at everything you guys have listed, pool our resources, and try to get mom the closest to the real thing we can. Mom's stopped talking to everyone except my dd. Hopefully, when she sees the options, she'll make it back out of this fog.

Mom had a bilateral mysectomy, January of last year. When they put in spacers the first time, to create room for implants, the area became infected. It was a bizarre infection, took months to diagnose and the skin on her chest died. Two weeks ago, they removed 'flaps' from her back and put them on her chest. This was supposed to create enough room for implants, but it didn't. They used spacers again. Now, again, the flaps are starting to die. My mom will be crushed if these don't work out. Depression is not a strong enough word. She has felt like half a woman without shelves or books, or whatever. Please, please, please, tell me there are some sort of realistic looking falsies out there. Where can I find them? I'm sorry, I know this isn't something that really belongs on here, but I don't know where else to go. Thank you, Julie