Haha. I was at a doctors appt not long ago. The doc was running a little behind, and I was enjoying my extra few mins alone to flip through a magazine. I didnt mind the wait. The mom next to me with a clearly unwell little baby and a healthy sibling who was driving her nuts lol - she was not happy about the wait. So I told the receptionist to take that poor mom in to the doc in my time slot and I would wait. Partially bc I felt bad for her and partially bc I didn't actually feel rushed to head home to my two who had been bickering nonstop that day lol. I get what you are sayin OP.

True. Thinking of it, my sons closest friends are all into the same games and activities so this doesn't actually present itself as a huge problem in our immediate circle of friends. But first time visits I will usually ask parents "are you ok if the boys go play Halo/Minecraft/whatever" and if they say no then we respect that. And on my end, if I am leaving my son at a friends place I just say a quick "I'm ok with most video games, but E can txt me if he isn't sure". I think if a parent has a strong preference about something - whether it's gaming or movies or whatever - then they do need to mention it to friends and family. Not everyone has the same rules or policies, and if you don't tell me you despise Minecraft I will likely assume that it's ok fr your son to watch Minecraft videos with my son. KWIM? But yes generally most parents in our circle of friends feel similarly to me when it comes to gaming and such. If they are unsure they just call and double check w the parents.

I think you can survive without losing your entire sense of humanity like some of the freaks they've come across. I think even Rick's group has had moments where they've done things that aren't "good", but they cannot be the ONLY group of human beings left in that part of their country who are trying to survive and hang on to their hope and humanity. It's just illogical that every other group they come across ends up being super twisted. I mean, they came across Herschel and the farm and that was good - still had a twist there, with the walkers in the barn, but overall they were just good people trying to keep going. Since then, they haven't come across anyone else like that. They should. But that's my naivete showing I guess lol. I'm interested to see where this new fella takes things.

That is the form of "curious" I am feeling. I sort of went "oh man...why can't they ever meet a group of GOOD people? Why always sheisty freaky bad guys?". But that wouldn't make for interesting tv, I guess.

I'd be pissed. But, like another poster mentioned, after 16 yrs this will be a tough thing to change. However, I would die on this hill.

It was a quiet episode, but it was nice to see them actually bearing the burden of living in the world they are living in. Up til this episode, I was starting to wonder when they were going to start looking and acting as if they've been surviving the apocalypse for a few years. Good episode. I'm intrigued by the new character. I haven't read the comics fully yet - so I have no idea who he is, but he's so CLEAN! That makes me curious.

There is a radiant heatig that uses electric coils instead of hot water tubes. The name is escaping me right now.

Underheated floors are A-MAZING!! And there are a lot of great products out there now, and it's becoming quite affordable. That would be a really lovely option for a basement floor.

Having worked in flooring for a while, I'd say that regardless of which material/product you choose - if you suspect moisture issues will be a problem, have a good waterproofing/anti-flux membrane put in. Something like Schluter's Ditra mat - it will help keep a barrier between the concrete pad and your flooring. If you opt for tile, Ditra mat will also help prevent cracking and shifting. It also helps the cold not be an issue. I'd opt for the wood-look plank tiles. They are gorgeous, durable, and hold up a lot better to wear and tear than a laminate or vinyl flooring. Keep the grout line small to avoid a lot of maintenance and cleaning (cleaning grout is a nightmare IMO) and put a good underlay. But it's such a personal taste issue that what I would love may not be what you would love, so YMMV of course.

Yes, I always make sure that we know which games (if any) are allowed when we have other kids and friends visiting. And I am usually pretty clear when I'm dropping my son off to a friend's place what we are and are not okay with. For instance, Halo is a-okay in my home, but COD is not. Borderlands? Fine. Anything with gory disgusting zombie-killing? not okay. I would NOT be okay with my son being allowed to play a game I expressly said we didn't allow. That would be a big disrespect. I make a point of learning what is okay and not okay by other parents, and I'd just assume the same respect be given to me. I tell my kids often that not ALL families allow gaming of any sort, and some don't allow some of the things that we do - and that we at all times need to respect that. The last thing I want to do is allow something that my friend's son will then go home and whine and beg for in her home. A good friend of ours, has forbidden Minecraft in any form - so my son knows not to talk much about it with this particular little friend, because it makes the friend sad and puts a lot of burden on the parents to then again say no to something a lot of the kids are doing. It's just a respect thing, really. Truly though, I think I'm pretty lucky that I was blessed with two kids who seem to be (well so far lol) more than happy to follow along with my guidelines. If I had different kids, with different personalities - I may have a different policy, who knows?

A good friend of mine is selling me all her hard copy books of MCT Level One right this minute, because she got the iBook versions and LOVES them. They are absolutely gorgeous on the iPad - the photos from Caesars English in particular are just beautiful. I don't have an iPad so I'm opting for hard copy, but living in Canada I LOVE love love when publishers release PDF or e-book versions of their products. Shipping from publishers to Canada is just digustingly high most of the time. I'm lucky that I have someone in my circle who was looking to sell all her MCT books because I would NEVER have paid the shipping that RFWP would have charged to ship to Canada.

I've been playing Halo for... 15 yrs now? Give or take? This thread and the other Halo thread are boggling to my mind, really. I have no qualms about my kid(s) playing Halo, I don't see the violence as particularly gruesome and there is no sexual/nudity issues in the game. I mean, you're shooting aliens and rarely see anything bloody or gory. The female characters are actually not half-naked, which is a treat in the gaming industry. And I think the storyline is actually really well put together. My son has a set of Halo novels and a few graphic novels, he has a Risk boardgame based on Halo. We've watched the mini-series that was released shortly before Halo 4 came out. I don't know any boys of mid-elementary level or so and up, that don't play this game (or played it at some point). HOWEVER, with that said, I think OP if you are feeling any discomfort about YOUR child playing Halo - then follow your gut. Maybe look on youtube for a walk-through video of whatever version of Halo your son is playing and get a feel for what the actual gameplay is like. Then explain to your son "I'm sorry, you can't play this game for x,y,z reasons". We are avid gamers in this house, and if there's a game that I don't know much about, then my partner almost always will have some knowledge of it. If one of us says "Nah this game is not cool for the kids to watch and/or play" then they don't get to play it. I've vetoed a handful of games recently - mostly because of over the top gore, or adult sexual content. The odd swear word wouldn't be a big cause for concern to us, nor mild violence. If I ixnay a game in my house, I always tell the kids why. My son, thankfully, has never pushed me on the issues - and I hear him over his headset telling his buddies "No I can't play that game, let's play 'x' game instead". Even his bio-dad sends him games on Steam and my son always gets me to check it out first - there've been a couple that I've said a flat out heck no, and my son is totally fine because he knows that between myself, his dad, and his stepdad, we all game enough to know when something is over what he can handle. So I'd arm yourself with more info than just the title of the game - figure out which Halo he's playing (there are A LOT) and do a walkthrough of it. Then without to much ado or fuss, just say "I'm sorry, Mom and Dad have gone through this game and we don't think it's appropriate right now - but hey a friend of ours' son plays this or that game and it looks great - why not try that?" Don't make it into much of a 'forbidden fruit' issue because that just makes it so much more appealing.

Thanks! I just poked it BACK into my Amazon cart. I will give it a try.

I have put this in and out of my Amazon so many times, I've lost count! My only concern is - how Christian-focused is this particular book? I've picked up a few other classical ed. books and end up just closing them part way through because it turns into bible verses and what God wants of my homeschool. I, for the most part, can dig through those and still pull out a lot of good and applicable things, but as a non-Christian, that gets tiring. I would love a book that helps me dig deeper and understand classical education withOUT a bazillion bible references. How would this book fare in that respect?

Heck yes, it's been good for me on all fronts. I always intended to homeschool my kids, but when their father and I divorced and I was a single Mom - I put them into public school because at that moment in time it was the most responsible option. I had to work, the school they went into was excellent, and I really would just not have been in a good mental space to be able to handle full time work, full time parenting, and full time homeschooling. No way. After their Dad and I divorced I went through a couple of hard years - I was in a very destructive and abusive relationship, I was just hanging on to my abilities to parent at the minimum, and it took me a while to get my shit together and finally be the parent and woman I needed to be. Then I met my current partner. We've settled into a life full of silliness and love and stability. I decided to leave my full time job so I could spent more time with the kids and not be a stressy ball of tension waiting to explode. Then, not long after that, I brought up the idea of homeschooling and my partner was like "Let's do it". As a mother, I'm better for homeschooling. Finally healing my relationship with my children, and being the mother they deserve, has been life-altering for me. I am so much more relaxed now that I am home with the kids. This is what I've wanted, this is the life we were meant to live. When I worked, and the kids were in school and daycare, there was a day when I came home from work frazzled and stressed and knowing I had a few more hours of work to do before my day was actually over, and the kids came running to me at the door excited I was home - - my response "Get OFF ME and give me a f'ing minute ok?!" I will never forget the look on their faces, and on my partner's face. We decided then and there that I would quit my job and take some time to reassess what I wanted to do for my career, and put my time and energy into healing things with my kids. It's been good for me as a partner. I'm happy, relaxed, and doing what feels right to me. I'm a better cook, housekeeper, and probably a hell of a lot more fun to be around than I was when I was working in a stressful job. I was tired all the time, never home, and when I was home I was likely bitching about my work life. I'm so grateful for everything he has done to support our family, that I just think it's made me a much nicer spouse to come home to really. As a human, I'm better off since homeschooling. As mentioned above, I've come through some serious dark days, and it feels really good to know that I'm doing something I've always wanted and something I never ever thought I'd have the chance to do. Do I miss working? Some days. But not really actually. I just miss adult conversations once in a while. Do I get tired or overwhelmed? yes. But not in remotely the same way I did before. I feel more centered, and more focused, and more curious about the world and about learning the things I never got to learn in my own education. I've gone through a lot to get where I am, and every day I wake up and feel deeply blessed that I get to live this life.

This thread has inspired me. I just downloaded OneNote to my laptop and will spend some time with it this week. I think this may be just what I need!

Yes ma'am and no sir are just generally not heard much where I live. Maybe a regional thing? It would be very oddball to hear anyone, child or otherwise, say something like that to anyone.

My cousin's son just graduated from U of T with his degree in Applied Mathematics and is now at Waterloo for his Masters. U of T is intense, from what I can gather but he said his entire experience was amazing from beginning to end.

Since we're offering up ideas for sessions - I'd be down with something geared to those of us who run a secular homeschool but still want the truth/beauty/goodness of a classical education. It gets pretty exhausting to keep having to read through the religious books/blogs/etc and pull out what is useful to me in my own homeschool. Secular classical homeschooling 101. ;) Maybe something on self-education for us homeschooling parents. I could use some hand-holding for 'jumping in' to a classical homeschooling style NOT from the beginning. Going from traditional school, or unschooling, or whatever else, into a classical style...it can be a bit overwhelming. Otherwise, I'll probably listen in on any of them that I possibly can. Oh, and actual teachers/professors vs. people who have written (and presumably think I should buy) a particular curriculum would also be great.

I don't have access to emoticons on my mobile, but take my word for it - I am doing a happy dance! Living up in fairly rural Ontario most conferences and conventions are just too far away to be feasible for me. This would be a really great option for me. Super.exciting!

Yes. The religious bias is hard to maneuver around but at this stage in my life I don't have the time or energy to put my own history together. Some chapters of SOTW just take longer to get through because we have to stop and explain things. For now, SOTW is the best product for the least hassle for me lol. The kids love it so far.

Holy moly! I had never heard of this before, but just did a quick google and it actually looks pretty good. What a good resource - thanks!

I haven't had the kids memorize any lists or any such thing yet, either, as far as history goes. It just got me thinking about all this. Maybe later we can do that, but in 1st and 3rd grades, it's not something I expect of them yet. Heck, *I* don't even have all our PM's memorized. Shamefully, I have to admit that I don't know a lot of the details of Canadian history myself, which is what I'm trying to avoid in my own kids. Canadian history actually seems daunting to me to teach, honestly.

Thanks! And that is really amazing that you literally have such history in your own backyard :) I think I'm just feeling apprehensive about the kids not knowing as much about our own history as we do about the rest of the world - but I do like the idea of going through SOTW 3 and then maybe focusing on provincial history and early Cdn history. I've gone through the Donna Ward site so many times I almost had it memorized haha. I'm so picky about Canadian history that I end up just not doing...anything. I really value an accurate telling of history, particularly when it comes to First Nations history. I don't want to just tell the usual "Brave Explorers vs. Savages" kind of history (which is what I clearly remember from my own elementary education, and when I learned the more truthful version I felt cheated and lied to). I like hearing that someone else has used her products alongside SOTW. ANyway...I'm totally rambling. I need to give this slightly-longer-term history plan of ours a bit closer look.

So, I'm trying to decide on next year's history. We used SOTW 1 last year, and are working through SOTW 2 this year. I would, ideally, like to keep using it for now as both my kids seem to like it so far. My concern is, do you find the reading/activities/extra reading suggestions become heavier in American history as the books progress into Early Modern and Modern? I am fine to talk about American history in much the same way that SOTW has approached every other region - but I don't want to end up delving so far into something that isn't relevant at their particular ages right now. I was reading through TWTM yesterday evening, and a lot of the ideas in there seem to get pretty US-heavy. For instance, the ideas for what kids should/could be memorizing by certain ages. My original plan was to just replace with more Canadian-relevant activities or topics. But, if I'm going to end up tweaking more than half the book, I'd like to know that now so I can just not buy it at all haha. It was just a curious question, and I thought someone on here must have BTDT. Thanks!