We have two, but they aren't up yet. We don't have the tools needed to drill into these concrete-hard walls, so we'll have one-time help for hanging everything. We have to wait until we figure out where all of our wall art will go, which means we have to wait until all of the furniture is arranged--it's a kind of complicated, time-consuming situation because of the living situation created by my husband's job (living overseas, in employer-provided housing, with employer-provided furniture). I know exactly where the nets are going. We got the jumbo size, so I really hope they'll make a dent in her "baby" collection.

Picasso Tiles (same thing as MagnaTiles): HUGE hit for our 4yo dd last year, and she still uses them as a 5yo this year. I learned about them here, though, so they're probably nothing new to most of you! Disney Busy Book sets: an unexpected hit. My daughter received a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one at age 3 from a family member and still plays with it at age 5. She received a Paw Patrol one this summer and loves it, especially that Mickey and his friends now can be friends with the Paw Patrol pups, too. (These are board books that are also boxes containing a play mat and 12 small figures.) I'm sure she'd also love some of the others that are available.

Is there advice about this type of situation? If so, you may have just sold a copy of the book ... There's no reason to get it in hard copy, is there? I have might-as-well-be-infinite space on my Kindle and ... less than that ... on my shelves!

I've been hearing a lot about the Konmari method, and I'm intrigued. I've considered buying the book (on Kindle; no room on the bookcases!), but I'm not sure that I would be able to use the method to any effect. My house is FULL. Overflowing, piles everywhere, boxes in the basement that haven't been unpacked because I've got no place to put the stuff. But the problem I keep running into is that all this stuff that I have to find a place for ... it's not my stuff. When I can't fit everything, I go through my things and get rid of what won't fit. My husband and daughter, however, don't have the responsibility of making things fit, so they don't see any need to ever get rid of anything. For example, our books ... we have 3 shelves of school books that we need for this year; many of those will go away over the summer before we start buying next year's books. I have about 1 shelf's worth of hard copy books that are not for school that I would not be willing to part with (almost all of my books are on Kindle now). My daughter has 2 shelves' worth of books. My husband has 3 shelves. If we end up with more than will fit on the shelves, both of them are perfectly fine stacking books on the dining room table, or on any other piece of furniture with some empty horizontal space.It follows that pattern for all sorts of things--clothes, shoes, movies, sentimental items. If I have "X" amount, my daughter usually has 2X and my husband has 3X. My daughter has a truly embarrassing amount of stuffed animals, all of whom have names, histories, and familial relationships with each other; she's very attached to them and refuses to get rid of any. My husband has piles of electronic components, sports equipment he never uses, out-of-date training manuals he hasn't looked at in years but "may need someday." I've gotten rid of so much stuff to try to make it all fit, but most of the things that are left are things that I've been told specifically not to get rid of. (We don't even get rid of my daughter's stuff without her ok--my husband was traumatized by that sort of thing as a child and is determined not to do it to her. I agree with him in principle, but I'm at my breaking point.) I know I could purge my clothes some more, and I could use some help with my kitchen stuff--that's all me. We also have a china cabinet full of decorative items, "treasures" that we've picked up in our travels, items that make me smile by bringing back wonderful memories, and I'd be willing to do a lot to make sure we have room to keep and display them (and room for more, since we've just moved to Greece and don't have any treasures from here yet)--and we do have room for them, in the china cabinet, on top of the upper kitchen cabinets, and on a high shelf over a pass-through, places that are good only for display items. (I love them enough to not mind dusting them ... and it helps that I don't mind a little dust :leaving: ) And my husband agrees with me on those items; he's just as attached to them as I am, possibly more. But the things that are taking over, making the house unusable, many of those are things that none of us use or would even see except that there's no place to put them away so they're just sitting out, making my house one of the most stressful places for me to be right now. I can't even get to our Christmas decorations, in boxes at the bottom and back of the pile. Our last house was similar square footage to this one, but had much more efficient storage space, so I thought we'd dealt with most of this during our two years there. The last couple of months being in this new house, though, have shown me otherwise! I feel completely overwhelmed by things over which I don't have control. Does anyone have advice about how to convince my family to let go of some things? If I just get rid of them without permission, it will be a serious breach of trust. But something has got to give, because I'm drowning here.

I agree with holding on to it until you're more certain. It's clear in every word you wrote that you're really conflicted about this, that your heart is crying out for the dress to "experience" more joy and celebration, but also that your heart is crying out for you to use it in support of others who have suffered as you have. One possibility you haven't mentioned--have you considered selling the dress on eBay, Craigslist, or through a consignment shop, then using the money to buy some beautiful satin material to donate? It seems like the burial gown use needs the material more than the dress-as-a-dress, and that way your dress would still be used for its original purpose--and probably thrill some budget-conscious bride--but, through the use of the cash, it also would provide comfort to grieving parents. Maybe that would satisfy both of your needs for this dress. My dress also is preserved (at my mother's insistence and expense). My daughter is too young to have any idea if she'd ever want to reuse it. I'll probably wait another 20 years and then start thinking about what I'm going to do with it if she doesn't want it ...

We also don't use plastic jugs, as they aren't available here. I wish they were. Instead I buy milk by the liter in plastic bottles and run out constantly just because I can't carry enough at one time to last more than a day or two. We do have recycling pickup, but to be honest, I have no idea what can and cannot be recycled here (no idea what facilities they have). I know I see office buildings with bins for paper, plastic, and aluminum, so I tend to put anything that fits in those categories in the recycling bag and let them sort it out.

Lands End

What you did was bad and shouldn't have been done. What he did was abusive and possibly illegal. I'm not sure what I would do in your situation, but I do know that I would make it very clear to my husband that if it happened again, I was leaving. And I'd follow through. It may not be a permanent separation, but it would be a separation. Even aside from my own feelings and safety, I would not allow my children to think that behavior was normal or acceptable.

We have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Maxim-Designed-You-Dollhouse-Furniture/dp/B0019LSGLY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1446490706&sr=8-7&keywords=wood+dollhouse The Maxim Designed by You Dollhouse. It's modular--the rooms can be rearranged into one big house in various configurations or two smaller ones. It comes with furniture and a family of 2 (adults only). We supplemented with a Hape family and kids' room furniture, as well as a baby and nursery furniture. Our daughter loves playing with it, though she makes it a house for her miniature Mickey and Minnie figures instead of the dollhouse people. It's done well through one international move thus far. It does require assembly, but it was easy.

I'm so sorry :( I just said sa prayer for you.

In my experience, showers at restaurants are order-off-the-menu, pay-for-yourself events. However, customs may be different in your area. I definitely would be prepared to pay for myself, and I'd expect to order off the menu. If you're uncertain, though, I don't think any harm would come from calling or emailing the hostess, saying that you have dietary restrictions, and asking for verification that there was no "set menu" involved, that everyone would be ordering off the standard menu. I don't think there's any need to go into particulars about your restrictions unless she says there is a set menu or buffet, in which case it would become appropriate to make sure that there was something you could eat or that you could bring your own.

I leave a space.

I got rid of most of my books two years ago. First, though, I made sure they were available on kindle. I immediately bought the kindle versions of the ones I couldn't bear to lose. I made a list of the rest in case I missed them and needed the kindle version--my husband and I agreed that we could buy those on kindle without argument. If it wasn't available on kindle, I probably kept the hard copy. I have no regrets. I love the feel of a book in my hand, but I love not having to move or store the books more. And for those particularly thick books, I love being able to hold the lightweight kindle rather than the heavy hardback.

I think it would hurt. My husband and I thought long and hard about our daughter's name. We considered not only how it sounds, but what it means. Her first name means "defender," and her middle name is a family name that means "friend." We chose her name with those meanings in mind, and with the flexibility offered by those meanings: she could be a defender of whatever principle she chooses and also a good friend; she could be a defender of her friends; she could be a friend to defenders; there could be some other combination of "defender-friend" that hasn't occurred to us but that will make perfect sense for her and her personality. We haven't actually told her what her name means, but she shows signs of being more than capable of living up to it if she chooses to. She does have the right to reject that name and those attributes. It's our vision, not hers, though I hope she'll adopt it as her own (she certainly has the personality for it--strong willed, a strong sense of justice, sweet, empathetic, and helpful). But it would hurt, and that was the question asked. As far as what we would do ... If she decided to change her name legally, we would respect her wishes and call her by her new name. We would not change it legally for her before her 18th birthday, unless she was 17, had wanted the new name for several years, and we could see benefits to doing it before legal adulthood. Even then, I think she'd have to earn the money to pay for it and we'd simply consent. Adult decision, adult responsibilities. At age 13, no luck, sweetie. I went through a phase of wanting to be named Cordelia at that age. Or Cassandra. Or Juliana. Or anything else that was long and flowing and feminine and beautiful. I probably would have liked Isabella, if it had occurred to me. My preferred name changed every 4-12 months. Then one day I realized that I liked my given name, Deborah, and its inspiration (Deborah in the Bible). It fit my personality, and Deborah the Judge's story was something I could aspire to live up to. I didn't like my nickname, Debbie--it didn't fit me at all: bubbly, cheerleader-type images, not to mention the whole "Debbie Does Dallas" thing I could never escape but that had no resemblance to my personality at all. As soon as I moved out of state, I started introducing myself as Deborah and never looked back. (I wish I'd made the switch earlier, but family dynamics made it difficult.) Is your Isabella called Bella? If so, maybe she could try some other nickname, or no nickname at all. Maybe it's just the nickname that doesn't fit her, ,especially if she doesn't like the high number of dogs with that name.

Southerners do love to linger, and often to linger over goodbyes. However, there are those of us who enjoy lingering, but once we decide it's time to leave, we're gone. My mother's pastor is one such. He stops by often just to visit, sometimes announced, sometimes not. He'll sit around talking for hours, sometimes. Then it's like a switch flips in his head, and he's got to go. Sometimes it will feel very abrupt. He'll have just finished a story, and while we're all still laughing, he says, "Well, time to go, I'll see you next time!" And just like that, he's gone. But he always comes back, and he seems to genuinely enjoy his time at my mom's house, so we don't think much of it. To know if it's a problem or not, I'd need to know much more of the situation: do the guests seem relaxed, comfortable, and happy to be there while they are there? How long are they staying? What's the occasion/type of visit? Have they been invited, or are they just dropping in? (It's not uncommon for an unexpected drop in visit to be short, in case you're busy and too polite to say so.) Do they come back? Are they offered food and drink? (They should be offered refreshments almost immediately, or it's a fairly large breach of Southern hospitality, which they'll notice and respond to. An embarrassed, "Oh, look at me, not even offering you anything to drink! Would you like some tea?" can make up for it, but it still should be rather quick.) So many factors go into it ...

I think it would be reasonable to block out the times that she needs to be at other events--doing school, family events, etc--then talk to her about how much time she'd prefer to devote to babysitting over her break. You know her best and probably have an idea if she'd actually function well with a 40-hour week, or only a 20-hour one, or if she really needs to keep it to 10 hours/week. I'd talk with her about it, giving preference to her choices so that she can start to learn her own limits and have practice making decisions and keeping commitments in a limited time frame (it's only a couple of weeks, not the whole summer; a good time to experiment without a long commitment).

I am not bothered by the screenings being done. I am bothered by the screenings being done *without parental notification* and *without some kind of opt-in/out mechanism*. I had the screenings done as a child. The vision and hearing screenings didn't bother me a bit. I was uncomfortable with the spine exam because I had to take my shirt off. My parents knew I'd rather have that done somewhere other than at school, so they opted me out of that one and had a doctor do it at my next regular checkup. Parents should have the choice of whether to allow those screenings to be done at school or elsewhere. You can't always tell from looking which child is sensitive to different things, anxious about different things, etc., and even for those whom you know have problems--such as nonverbal children being given a standard vision test, as a pp noted--mass screenings at school often don't differentiate. Parents need to be able to opt their kids out.

Another voice urging you to contact HSLDA and/or a statewide group that has the resources to pursue this issue legally. There are no financial damages at this point, but there are damages--a potential but as-yet-unknown harm to your daughter's future options if that fraudulent code remains on her medical record. It must be removed, and this doctor must be stopped from adding fraudulent codes to the records of other patients. Contact HSLDA, another well-funded homeschool legal group, or an independent lawyer who understands medical coding (HSLDA is probably your least expensive, most expert option in that list ...). Contact your state medical board. Contact your insurance company. I would contact all those people/groups, and then--depending on what they told me--I'd make this thing go very, very public. Even before talking with them, I'd start publicizing among other homeschoolers, so that those who don't currently go to this doctor don't start and so that those who do go to this doctor can check their own records and potentially join with you to fight these fraudulent diagnoses. For now I wouldn't go full-court press ... but I'd start making plans in case I decided that was the way to go in the future. I know this is a hassle, and you don't want to deal with it; you just want to fix your daughter's record and move on. But the truth is that your daughter is not the only one affected by this doctor's fraud. You do have a responsibility, at the very least, to make it known among other homeschoolers so that others who may be affected are notified and can choose their own course of action. I personally would feel responsible to take what action I could to make this doctor stop doing this to ANY homeschoolers, not just to my own daughter, but if you don't feel that responsibility, that's fine. You DO, however, have a responsibility to notify others who may be affected. Please take action on this, not just for your daughter's sake, but for the sake of others who may not know yet that they're being affected by this too.

Depression often manifests as fatigue, especially if it's less severe. Could that be what's happening?

I would ask her about it. If her answer didn't satisfy me--and I doubt that it would, based on her office's response that all homeschooled kids get a DIAGNOSIS of educational PROBLEMS--I'd ask her to remove the FALSE DIAGNOSIS (it isn't simply erroneous if there are no academic problems at all). If she refused, I'd contact the state medical board and find out from them if it's appropriate for doctors to give medical diagnoses based on nothing more than the parents' educational choices. I'd raise a big stink. And I'd find a different doctor, no matter what explanation she offered.

A book on a topic about which the child is passionate, and the child otherwise wouldn't have gotten, but that may be used in school = gift Nicer-than-school-supplies for art/science/subject about which child is passionate, and something the child otherwise wouldn't have gotten = gift Curriculum for an elective your child has been begging for, but you've not had the money in the homeschool budget = gift Curriculum or supplies you'd buy anyway, whenever the child was ready for it =/= gift Nice books to build the family library: sort of a gift to the whole family, just labeled as being for the child YMMV, but that's how it works in our family.

Up until a couple months ago, I would have voted that I don't sort at all, unless I happen to have a lot of laundry. If I only had enough for one load, in it all went, no matter. If I had enough, I'd sort into lights and darks, or put "special care" (i.e., hang dry) in its own load. Then we moved to Greece. I'm currently adjusting to my first ever European washer and dryer set. (We've always had American appliances, even in our other outside-of-the-United-States homes.) These things are VERY different from their American counterparts. They're tiny, they have a gazillion different load options, and the dryer has been known to take 5 hours just to get a load to "cupboard dry"--meaning it's not dry enough to wear, but you can hang it in the cupboard/closet and it'll finish drying there so you don't have to iron it. I'm figuring out the best way to sort laundry here. So far, here's what I *think* I've learned: 1) Sort by fabric type and weight, not color. So my husband's UnderArmour shirts (super thin, wicking material) and underwear go in one load, no matter the color. Thick cotton shirts go together; thin polo shirts go together; etc. Items that have to air dry anyway can go in any load, as long as you don't make the load too big--it won't rinse well if it's too big. 2) Don't try to do any load that couldn't be described as "tiny" by my previous standards. Two or three thick, long sleeve t shirts is a load. Five or six UnderArmour shirts is a load. Sheets get washed one at a time--not the whole set, just the flat sheet alone or the fitted sheet alone, maybe with a pillowcase thrown in. Towels just make me cry because it takes a whole afternoon (4+ hours) to wash and dry two of them. It requires 2-3 loads to wash the clothing our family of 3 wore the previous day. 3) Do laundry every day. If you skip a day, it may take four days to catch up. Seriously. And that's just clothes, not even counting sheets and towels that need to be washed. The dryer routinely takes 2-3 hours to get things "cupboard" dry, if the items aren't super thick. It would take less time if I dried things on high heat, but if I do that, my clothes shrink and the dryer spits water on the floor. On the bright side, I'm getting the hang of my European washer and dryer, and now I have all the motivation I could ever want to get in the habit of doing laundry daily.

I've always hated that 2-looking thing :) It makes no sense to me, since it bears no resemblance at all to a manuscsript 2, and for most cursive letters I can at least see how the cursive and manuscript forms are related. My usual handwriting is a combination of cursive and manuscript, so I usually just write a manuscript "Q." If for some reason I felt the need to be more formal and do all-cursive, I'd do something similar to the Zaner-Bloser capital cursive "Q," but maybe add a flourish to the tail or something.

Thanks, OtherJohn!

And, actually--I assume you're preparing your kids for the move, but instead of school, I'd focus on things like reading "Berenstain Bears Moving Day" or other similar books to them. Instead of nature walks, walk through your house and neighborhood with them and a camera and take pictures of the things they particularly like. I know you're stressed and busy, but try to carve out time for this kind of activity to help them process the move, rather than carving out time for school.