Ha! We get that too, the ignoring, if hubby is with me. And I know this one sounds really harsh, but it is the context: "Can I Pray with You?" I am not talking close friends, family, etc., but random people. I swear people will come up a grocery store aisle, see me shopping and stop dead. We have lots of kids at the Uni here (private Baptist) that will go into public places and look around to see who they can pray for. Why, oh why, is it always me?!! In the frozen food section to boot?! Do I just look like I really, really need it? I am all for sharing the love, but really...it gets offensive:( My hubby once had a tshirt made for me that said: "I am not able to dispense Heaven points at this time" ETA: sorry, I tried to take a picture of my magic s@x trapeze but the light kept reflecting off of all the metal pulleys and bars, and the entire contraption was too big for one frame. Also, it was hard to see what it was, as I was hanging upside down😃

Me too. Does she have an iTunes account?

"What's wrong with you?" "What happened to you?" "But you don't really HAVE to be in that wheelchair, right" "But you don't LOOK like one of those wheelchair people!" The worst is when I have my dd4 with me..."How in the world..?! Is she really yours? Then, I guess you are at least able to have S@x? How do you manage that?" Actually, I don't HAVE to be in this wheelchair, I am just lazy and it get me great parking...I was injured whilst wild boar hunting in the rainforest a of Antartica with only a sharpened number 2 pencil, the way real women do it..no, she isn't actually my daughter, but it turns out if you just swipe a child off the street corner in low-income areas no one will mind too much. I may not look like a 'wheelchair person' right now, but you should see me when I forget my secret anti-drool medication. Ah, s@x, well you see we have this trapeze thing where you... And lots of variations of the above. I TRY to behave myself, I really do. But I have been known to come out with such outrageous answers that they don't know what to say. Sometimes humor for me is the only way to keep from being REALLY rude.

Well, I guess it is dinner and corsage all in one for the thriftier of dates:) Better make sure your date isn't a vegetarian first!

I also wanted to say we have Magnatiles and my dd4 loves them. Since you have limited space, here is a way to make a pretty cool (and cheap!) light table to extend the fun: Use one of those flat, shallow storage bins with either a translucent or white top. Inside, put a string or two of white Christmas lights, and Voila! A light table. You can drill a hole through the side for the cord if you like, but you don't have to:)

Absolutely! My dd4 has had that set for a year, and has several add on kits now. They are a lot of fun. In fact, this weekend we were at a huge science museum where they had a table full of snap circuits for the kids to play with. I was quite suprised at all the littles who were interested and seemed to have them at home:) I will say, the schematics are pretty clear, with pics. My dd can read fluently, so I never thought about it...but I just rechecked and I don't think reading is necessary at all! If he can picture match he will be fine, and after a few tries he will be an old pro:)

I truly hope her 19th birthday will be a celebration of epic proportions, and that even if it is little comfort at the time, she will be able to see her 18th as a great start on the road to health. I am in a wheelchair with a chronic pain condition, and I think the pain and the inability to ever plan anything from one day to the next are the hardest. Never telling my dd4 big plans in advance because mom might wake up that morning unable to follow through. Hugs to your family, as you are ALL affected:( I will say, after she is doing better, if she is still having pain issues? You might check into an intrathecal pain pump. It has changed my life. Very few oral meds and because it is into the spine I get better pain control on MUCH less medication by orders of magnitude. My pain doctor has done a few for Lymes, so I know it is fairly common. With any luck she won't NEED meds, but just a thought...

This is me, for the very reason that I really couldn't keep up with anything without it. This summer is an absolute mess of scheduling:) But...my current problem is that I seem to hve developed this weird blank spot in my brain where my phone I concerned. I swear I lose it in the house at least ten times per day. My poor husband is always calling it for me so I can figure out where it is now. My 4 year old thinks this is hilarious: "Mommy, do you need me to find your phone AGAIN?" The other day she pulled it out of the fridge. In desperation, last night daddy brought home a present...the brightest, sparkly red phone case you have ever seen! He took my sleek, pretty black one away😳

Georgia Public Radio has a wonderful entire set of FREE video lesson on Japanese language and culture. They are all available online, or you can pay to have the DVDs. I am not sure how much they would cost, but I would imagine not too much. The program is called Irasshai: http://www.gpb.org/irasshai/japanese-i

It seems as though there are rarely any decent sales of Critical Thinking Company materials, but I received an email announcing a 2 day sale offering 20% off EVERYTHING. The code is FLASH20. Summer fun materials anyone?

SwellMomma-I wish you all the best in working with your son. I think you have it absolutely right, and this was just what I was thinking as I read through the responses. For some people, especially those suffering with depression and complicated by esteem issues, restricting food to only healthy foods is the exact wrong thing to do as it simply pushes the person to find new secretive and dangerous ways to get the junk food they crave. All growing up I watched as my step-sister battled with this. My mom tried to help by only buying healthy food, restricting food, even eventually putting locks on the cabinets. Even though this was to 'help' my sister we ALL developed strange ideas about food, along wiith weird guilt/weight issues. I probably survived most in tact because I left early and because I was very active, liking healthy foods...and I became vegetarian at age 5, mainly from those issues:) Here is the thing, and I tell this story only to encourage the OP to not look at the issues as simply a diet issue or simply as a control issue. My step-sister stole, traded, hid, binged, lied, and stashed food at every chance when the restrictions, guilt, and shame became too much. And lest you think the restrictions were probably too extreme, I assure you they were not (maybe with the exception of the locked cabinets!) My mom honestly tried to make sure there were always apples, veggies, that sort of thing available. But that does not give the same chemical storm, sense of satisfaction as processed sugar gives if you are used to it and intent on getting it. Sounds a bit like a drug, right? I think that in some ways it can be... Fast forward 15 years. I had not seen my step-sister in several years, although I knew she eventually underwent bariatric surgery when her weight got very high...but she still battled depression and binge, closet eating, only now she was forced to vomit. Last year she died from complications of the bariatric procedure as a direct result of her overheating issues. She left behind a 16 yr old and a 10 yr old. She was 37. Of course this is a very extreme situation. I just want people to realize tht it is often much more than a case of limiting the pantry to only healthy foods. Healthy eating is a great start, and yes it has to happen if you want to lose weight. But as a total package, and not by suddenly making sure there is nothing but healthy foods in the house or anywhere. Honestly, your teen knows the whys and the hows. Frank conversations about why people over eat and developing a plan together. Making sure they know that slip-ups happen an how to deal with them rather than resulting in anger and shame-which push the closet eating are also important. I wish you, OP and SwellMomma, the very best of luck and success in dealing with this...

My constantly-in -motion kid LOVES to do school at the table...but *I* struggle with the fact that she falls out of the seat, tips it over, etc. We do lots of things on trampolines, trapeze bars, swings, in the hammock, on a bouncy ball, even a spinning office chair...but for the times she has to be at the table for writing I stretched a therapy band around the legs of her chair so she can literally bounce her feet on it without being dangerous:) The band I bought also has handles at the ends of where it is tied, so that she can also pull upwards with her hands inbetween! Great resistance and gross motor to boot.

Absolutely! And please don't even THINK she is a non-Mathy kid right now:) Self-fulfilling prophecies kind of thing. At that age I firmly believe there ARE NO non-Mathy kids. Toss the books if you have to to make math fun and to give her confidence...that will go a very long way into creating a love of math, or at least an interest. It may not ever be her favorite, but that isn't the worst thing ever, right? Having a kid who HATES math or is math-phobic is a lot harder. Not to mention very preventable at age six:) I LOVE how well RS worked to set the stage for Singapore, especially with regards to place value. It is very hands on and the games make it more fun for kids...

I see several of my dd''s favorites listed already, some as read-alouds earlier and some independent. She also enjoyed Trumpet of the Swan, which would be great for a boy that age. Anything Pippi Longstocking, but especially the South Seas book. Dr. Doolittle we did as a read-aloud as I wanted to discuss a few issues with her. The Railway Children she enjoyed as well, Wind in the Willows, and a couple of Roald Dahl like Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. On our list: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH The Black Stallion/Black Beauty The Borrowers Bridge to Terabithia Half-Magic Holes The Jungle Book Swiss Family Robinson My Side of the Mountain (we shall see..) And just because he is loving the longer books, don't forget some of the more advanced shorter stories...advice to myself as even though my dd is reading advanced books I do not want her to miss out any any great lit for littles:) sometimes I find myself reading the EASIER books as read-alouds for this reason whilst she tackles something she has become interested in. She just read The Reluctant Dragon after reading a passage in our WWE lesson and it was fantastic:)

SO many great places to go an things to do, and there is such a diverse population. The coop classes are so much more exciting than the ones I have found locally that we are planning to make the 2 hour drive to Austin weekly:) Opportunities for classes and activities in just about anything you can imagine, with a decided emphasis on outdoor, active lifestyles. I am not from Texas, hubby is from the UK, and I have to admit that much of Texas completely baffles me...but Austin. Austin is its own little oasis in the vast see of Texas:)

Ah, I don't think my original post came out right😧 I didn't mean that in terms of 'even my 4 yr old got it''!!! Just that I can't believe generations of us had to struggle through the whole bunny ears, round the tree thing. I hope my wording didn't offend:) And the asynchronistic whole motor development thing drives me nuts! I actually had to recently send my daughter to learn to climb stairs! Apparently we missed a 'crucial development' stage...I am in a wheelchair and so she rarely, if ever takes the stairs anywhere! Who would have thunk it was so important?

That was exactly my thought. We went to a huge St. Patrick's Day parade/celebration in Dallas this year. On just about every corner was a table or booth with brightly colored Jell-O shots, with all sorts of extras like whipped cream and even green sprinkles. Not pre-packaged, just there. The only thing to differentiate them would be a sign above advertising Jell-O shots. Yet everyone there knew, and I am sure if kids asked about them parents simply told them they were 'adult jello, or alcoholic.' No drama, totally recreational, right? You had to be 21 to buy them of course. And if in the very slim chance that you a parent happened to buy one and set it down in reach of a young child without proper warning or supervision, and said child ate it? No one would be condemning the shots being sold, but rather the lack of parental supervision. I guess I don't see THC baked goods as much different. Most parent there weren't about to go near them, especially with kids in tow, but probably still mentioned to kids who asked what the difference was. Absolutely a parenting issue, even if nothing more than to insure kids have a knowledge as to the possibility of THC, alcohol, or other drug-laced foods/drinks.

Not to hijack (I guess it still has to do with aglets, lol!) but have you seen this YouTube video method on shoe-tying?! I taught my 4 year-old in about 15 minutes. None of that rabbit ears, around the tree, through the hole nonsense:)Mine thinks it is a trick to teach people! http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CWl2dPfBQPk

I checked out a book at the library and someone had used a marijuana leaf as a bookmark...in a children's picture book!

Absolutely, space at a premium! But actually in this case I was thinking in terms of the fact that all of our savings are in dollars! We own our house, but even selling it would of course be dollars...the exchange rate would do us in:)

Yikes. Hubby is British and we intermittently discuss the possibility of moving back...a dream that would probably be killed by the US Dollar!

My dd is 4 as well, and has been enamored with geography for a loonnnggg time too. If you haven't done all the Geopuzzles I highly suggest them as that was the step that convinced me to get her Visualize World Geography. I think TimberDoodle has a deal at the moment (under $54 if you are okay with them all being in the same box. They also make great sets of cards with info on each country or state, and a fun geoBINGO set. And Montessori makes the coolest wooden map with little flags you insert into each country that she must have played with daily for weeks:)

I know, right?! Really ridiculous...all I can say it I got it at a MUCH better price than that:) We will be done with all the DVDs and such soon, so maybe I will revisit this post and see if anybody wants it!

Absolutely, I should have clarified he would have to return to his country for the duration. And the fact that he wouldn't 'be able to come here' would be an additional bonus. Also, there are specific requirements for the Fiancé VISA as far as financial and legal obligations to her officially sponsoring him. All of these are roadblocks that may allow her time to either get to know him better or 'really' get to know him better. Even if the Fiancé ViSA were granted, they STiLL would have 90 days after he arrived in country (after nearly a year at least waiting for it!) to get married. Also...going through the ViSA process prior to marriage (providing she does it in the suggested order) will ensure background checks and health checks!

Well.... It is ridiculously overpriced, cutesy, absurd songs and mnemonics, but my dd really enjoys playing with Visualize World Geography. I actually think the younger the better for this particular program, for those reasons...she is too young to really understand the corny groan factor:) http://www.visualizeworldgeography.com/curriculum/single-family/ She tore through apps like Stack the States/Countries and GeoPuzzles, along with major landmarks and waterways, and that was the best thing I could find for a younger learner. I would love to hear if anyone has anything better!