Nope, not white. Just didn't want to start that whole argument.... go down a rabbit trail. :)

Fine by me. :) I am fine with a corporation choosing how to run itself 100%. If they don't want to hire me because I'm too tall or too short, because I'm Christian or female, fine by me. It's their business. I don't have to work there if they're a bunch of jerks. My issue here is not having anything to do with the principle of birth control, because as I stated in my last post, it looks like they're actually wrong here, that plan B doesn't have an abortifacient effect (although regular BCP may). My principle is one of freedom of religion (FOR ALL), and freedom to practice business that is important to our country's prosperity and liberty. I would want to protect someone's freedom to do something with their business that I found reprehensible, like fire someone for being a Christian, or for being a woman, or for being _________. I don't care if an employer is a Christian Scientist and wants to not have health care, or a jerk who doesn't want to cover pregnancy. Their business, their decision.

I read this article, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/health/research/morning-after-pills-dont-block-implantation-science-suggests.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 and it suggests that while science seems to be confirming that Plan B does not interfere with implantation, that traditional daily BC may still do so. It says so on the websites for the regular pills, and on the enclosed literature- it's one of three contraceptive devices of the pill. No one really knows, unfortunately, how often (if at all) the implantation is disrupted, and I really wish there would be some conclusive research on this. I'd love to be able to use the pill, but that unknown is a risk I'm not comfortable with.

No, no one is imposing religious beliefs, they are simply asking not to have YOUR (or President Obama's, or whoever's) beliefs forced on them. They are asking not to have to pay for something they morally disagree with. You still have the ability to go buy and use whatever forms of BC you want, they simply don't want to pay for it. Win win.

This is frustrating- I keep hearing about how HL and other similar companies are trying to "dictate" or control women's health or choices. This simply isn't true. Women still have 100% access to any kind of birth control they want. This is not an attempt to remove BC from women's hands, or make it illegal, or prevent access. It is someone saying they don't want to pay for it. I don't understand why we have this crazy idea that an employer has a responsibility to pay for health insurance at all. It's so odd. No one is taking away your BC. I believe (IIRC) that there are something like 22 types of BC mandated to be covered, and HL doesn't want to pay for like 3-4 of them. If you don't like it, why not work elsewhere?

I don't think you can realistically hit the next 26 weeks of material by May, no. What if you keep doing history read alouds over the summer, but finish the bulk of school (vocab, maps, math, etc) in May? You could just use the book offerings, SOTW, and the lit read alouds to get them kind of familiar with the material by September, so they could go into year 2 with some context. Hope that helps. :)

In our urban church, we dress slightly nicer than normal- nice jeans, cute tops, flats or low heels, etc. Plenty of people in our church dress up, and plenty of homeless people wander in in rags, too. I think as a culture, the American church should think about the lessons we impart to our poor communities when we make dressing up a prerequisite for worship. I don't think Jesus cared about dress much (of course modesty is important) or class, and the Bible talks about partiality and not excluding the poor. If you attend a church with a formal or informal dress code, I think it can alienate those without much money.

I'd boil the heck out of it and use it.

I think it really does depend on the marriage, especially if one person in the marriage has endured some trauma. However, I think both partners in a marriage should be sensitive to each other's needs. and I think that, stereotype or not, generally men need physical intimacy to feel loved and cherished and "known" and women need intimacy and time and talking (etc) to feel loved. Each needs their needs met and each needs to meet the other's needs. I think it does seem unkind to deny your spouse physical release and intimacy for casual reasons. I think I've said no a few times, maybe 3-4 over 10+ years of marriage, and it was no problem. I certainly have never told my husband I had a "no saying no" policy, and he's never asked me to. As someone else said, it's not like he demands sex and I sadly agree, it's more like he uh... dips a toe in the water and I can choose to reciprocate or not. My husband has never pushed or cajoled me once. Sometimes I will tell him I'm exhausted and really not into it, and he's welcome to convince me, or just sort of go for it, knowing I'm half asleep. But the vast majority of the time I actually love it and have a great time. I do have a high drive, but I agree that it's like exercise- get into a habit of it and do it regularly and you like it more. I do expect my husband to meet my needs, generally, and I'd be hurt if I wanted to talk to him about a problem but he rebuffed me and said he was too tired to talk, or too tired to help me clean up the living room, or too tired to ________ on a regular basis. Of course we all have extenuating circumstances, but regularly rejecting your spouse's needs (physical, emotional, etc) seems like crappy spouse behavior.

I think it's no big deal. I think letting your son work on this independently and allowing them to have a doctor/patient relationship is good (obviously within in the bounds of propriety). I know it's nerve wracking, but if your son isn't complaining, I think it's between them.

Pork rinds are basically no carb, very crunchy and tasty. You can dip them in sour cream or greek yogurt.

Pork rinds are basically no carb, very crunchy and tasty. You can dip them in sour cream or greek yogurt.

As many others have said, it really depends. How many kids, how much money (because having money makes life easier in many ways), health issues, behavioral issues, marriage, how much help you have available to you, what your husband's job and hours are, etc. Having 1-2 kids, a DH working 40 hours/week at a relatively relaxed job, and decent income might not be too taxing, or it might. It also depends on your temperament- introvert or extrovert, how much order and control you like to have, and what type of work you'd be doing otherwise. I bet data entry would be easier than my job, but I bet underwater welder is harder. :) I have 6 kids, some with special needs (medical) and we foster. We are very involved in ministry, and I care for an aging parent. I HS. My job is certainly hard, and I think not many people could do t well. I need to be extremely organized, patient, careful, and plan my life well in order to stay on budget, meet my responsibilities, and meet my kids' and husband's needs. It is hard, but many jobs are hard in different ways. It requires a certain set of skills which I have learned to do well, just as I am sure waitressing or doctoring also require specific skill sets, and both are also hard jobs. Getting into a silly contest over which is harder is ridiculous and non-productive.

I don't think it matters if it creates more work for the parent, as long as it works and teaches the kid. For example, if I leave a crowded holiday grocery store with a wailing toddler, it is a ton of extra work for (not to mention time, frustration, etc) to do that and have to come back, but sometimes good parenting means taking on extra work or annoyance in order to teach. I think you did a great thing.

This happened to me, too, and what worked for me was upping the calories slightly (so maybe go to 1500 or 1600) and adding weight bearing exercise. Not like, 5 lbs weights, but squats with heavy weights (working your way up slowly, with good form and appropriate supervision). Adding squats, pushups, etc really made a huge difference, and it can't possibly be about just burning a few more calories, because I was doing this for maybe 20 mins, 3 times a week max. It must change your hormones, or your metabolism or something. There's no one who really knows how any of this works completely, and there are many different theories on this, but this worked for me.

It's different because you are not dictating what your son may do, but dictating what other people may do. It wouldn't be okay for you to tell others that they may not play videogames or read books you don't like or listen to rap music when your son is there. You can say you don't want him there, but you cannot tell people what to do in their homes, especially when their behavior is commonly accepted to be appropriate, normal, and responsible. While your beliefs may say that alcohol is wrong, many people in this country use alcohol responsibly. It would never even cross my mind not to have a glass of wine with my dinner because a child's friend was over. I would never drink to excess, get drunk, drink and drive, etc- with my own children or anyone else's. But alcohol is a beverage, and having one drink does not make most adults altered in any appreciable way. I think you have to decide if it's a big enough boundary that you don't want your son there, but honestly it seems rather controlling- we live in a culture where alcohol is used, and your son will have exposure to it. Hiding it away and acting like it's not there is not teaching him to handle temptation, peer pressure, etc. I do think it's fine to have a conversation about storage, or about boundaries with kids, like just mentioning that you would prefer your son not be offered any and check that its locked up.

Welcome and good luck! Fostering has been the best headache ever. :) We adopted our son through FC and are fostering again now. It's incredibly hard and wonderful at the same time.

egg on a tortilla, half a protein bar.

Heck yes. I use stuff older than that all the time. Smell it, give it a good sniff. Especially if it has fat on top, which is protecting it from the air, I bet it's fine. Give it a good boil and trust the smell.

My 6th grader probably works 5 hours a day, give or take. History-She has plenty of history reading every week (we use TOG), plus she writes the answers to their accountability questions, does map work, and and places dates in a timeline. Also she makes cards for people and files them in a box. Language Arts/Lit- she reads books every week, has to answer questions or write on the books, and writes one short essay per week. I'm mostly using a memoria press set. She also does a little work in a spectrum book for skills (mechanics, grammar, etc). Math- Saxon math 7/6 Science- she is reading a chapter a week, taking notes, and usually doing a lab each week and then doing the lab stuff. We use a Real Science for Kids curric. Health- we usually do 1 health lesson a week, focusing on nutrition, sex ed, drugs and healthy choices, peer pressure, friendships, etc. We also have some lapbooks we work on, special projects when we have time. She does 1 extra curricular per day- 1 day she has a job (cleaning) for a few hours, 1 day she does volunteer work, 1 day she takes violin lessons, 1 day she goes to an art class, and 1 day she has soccer.

Yes my church does, but I don't really think it matters. Sadly, most abusers are never caught, and I think the check gives a false sense of security. I prefer policies which actually do more to guarantee safety while my kids are with volunteers, such as open door policies (doors are always open), a policy that kids are never alone with adults, never allowing my daughters to be driven home by men or alone, etc. I think this does more than the background checks.

I have six children, of different personalities, genders, sizes, etc. They are all and have been good sleepers. We let them all CIO between 9-3 months. Earlier was easier. When we waited longer it was much harder. With the later kids, we started by not always responding right away when they were a few weeks old. We certainly didn't let them cry at that point, just if they fussed, we let them see if they could work it out for a few minutes. At around 4 months, we let them CIO with no returns. With each it took 2-3 nights, and then they STTN every night. All my kids are well adjusted, happy, attached, healthy kids who are rarely sick, do well in school, etc. Just what worked for us.

I live in Philadelphia, which is a city, but not very HCOL, I don't think. I spend roughly 600 per month for 2 adults and 6 kids, and one of the adults has a very high protein diet and eats a ton. :) Cooking from scratch, limiting portions, and eating what's on sale are what I do. I also shop at discount markets, Aldi, discount produce shops, and bulk stores.

We had herbed roast chicken pieces with roast sweet potatoes and roast asparagus. Took me only about 5 minutes to prep and everyone loved it.

Would you call on a child whom you saw playing in a front yard with the mom/dad inside the house, within view? Same thing.