Since you aren't close to them, any attempt at re-directing the gift will seem like a rejection of them, I'm afraid. Even when families are close, this is ticklish. When children are very little, there are many opportunities for troubles with gifts, when generous relatives don't understand the appropriate ages and stages, or when they give things that the parents do not let their kids play with (weapons, Bratz dolls, would be two examples). The general rule I have used and seen other families implement successfully is to draw a distinction between the actions of others outside the family (which we cannot control without overstepping our boundaries) and how those actions affect our children (which we should be directing and controlling). You can legitimately thank the relatives with all appreciation for their kindness and generosity, while not handing over the kindles to the children until such time as you deem appropriate. Which might be a birthday or some other date.

Thank you! And I'm thankful for you (plural) too!

I fantasize about what I would do if this or that thing went wrong, and how I'd cope in a positive, relaxed way instead of my knee-jerk, stressed way. Imagine laughing if the eggs get dropped on the floor, or if the kids start a silly noises contest while you're reading aloud. Figure out what the positive result is, and work backward from there. I started this when I was going through years of infertility. I had years of fantisizing about holding a precious little baby, and dreaming of how to decorate the perfect nursery. But I remembered that lots of babies have colic and cry for hours every night. So I imagined being exhausted and yet walking the floor holding a fussy baby that would not be comforted. And when that day came (and many more besides), I had a 'template' of how to cope, and I was much calmer than if I had only ever imagined the good stuff. HTH

And don't try to follow all these rules or you'll never ever buy a house. :lol:

This is exactly why I stocked my purse with a set of earplugs. ;)

Thank you. I'll do my best to circulate this to the wide audience it deserves. :D

Remember how Camy called hers 'boybarians?' :lol:

I won't advise you not to stress about it. Because that never works, eh? ;) Use that nervous energy to clean and de-clutter. It'll come in handy if you have to move, and you'll enjoy your house more if you have to stay. :grouphug:

I'll be having scrambled eggs, same as always. :D

The other day as I was praying for my son who's sick with a bad cold, I found myself thanking God for the opportunity to mother him a little extra. :D:001_huh: I'm thankful for November. It's an under-appreciated month. I do love the bright blue of October and its gorgeous color in the foliage. But November has a quiet charm of its own. When I saw a coffee table book many years ago of Andrew Wyeth's watercolor paintings of late fall, it captured exactly the romance of low, gray, watercolor-washed skies and tumbled gold and brown fields, with the dark grayish outlines of tall trees. So quiet, so meditative. Best observed when you're taking a long walk in appropriately sturdy woolens, or from behind a window with a steaming mug in hand. :D

Be happy for me! This is a major achievement -- I've sent out my cards before Thanksgiving this year. And last year, I didn't get any mailed at all! We don't have a huge card list. That certainly helps. :001_smile:

I blend butter half and half with cold-pressed organic canola oil and store it in the fridge in a crock. It stays spreadable, and lasts a long time.

I'll be there someday. All too soon. And I totally understand.

Dang, I was hoping to read more!

Oh dear. My friend just went through a similar procedure with a stent. Very uncomfortable, apparently, but everything about kidney stones seems to be. I'm so sorry.

Food poisoning manifests itself with both vomiting and diarrhea. I vote intestinal virus. But your husband's experiment will tell the tale, eh?

Focus on picking the big things. It's so easy to buy cute little things that fit your theme, and end up with a house full of clutter that doesn't say anything. For colonial, I'd endorse the red idea. Anywhere from a multi-layered distressed barn red to a warm Indian reddish-brown. Did you know the reddish brown hue used in butler's pantries, etc. was called Indian because the paint/dye came from India? (Fun history facts!) Look for hammered iron cabinet hardware -- think of the gates in Williamsburg. If you have an island, maybe choose a farmhouse table look for it. Mullioned or leaded glass windows would be lovely, especially if you have room for a few flowerpots of geraniums or herbs. Personally, I'd put in vinyl flooring in a flagstone pattern. It can be pretty pale to keep the room from getting too dark but still give a sense of charm. Alternatively, a wooden plank floor is always gorgeous. If you have a few open shelves, you can display your platters or even your everyday china that looks period: blue willow, lead-free pewter, Chinese import, yellow ware.

That was my experience too at my first mammogram. I asked on my local FB friends for a 'mammogram buddy' to go along with me to my first test, and then the next. It's a horrible thing to worry about whether you'll see your children grow up, while you're waiting for the results of a follow-up. I kept repeating to myself that a false positive is very, very common, and a much better scenario than a false negative!

This is a deep, haunting fear of mine.:tongue_smilie: I am picking up my locally-raised, frozen bird on Friday, and letting it stay in the fridge from then till T-day. If it's still frozen in the middle a day before T-day, I'm going to soak it in a cold salt water bath in a bucket out in the garage. :D

I'd love a budget. But DH is neurotically opposed to them thanks to a father who knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. :blink:

And all these years, I've been thinking of you as a buff black guy. Instead you're a buff brainiac with great hair. :D

Xbox game, Spyder brand winter jacket, new cell phone. This is a combo brithday/Christmas. My kid is not hard to shop for, because he makes lists and then drags you to the store to make sure you get the exact right thing. :lol:

Oooh, luck-y! :D

Don't know if this will be helpful or not, but I've found that negative emotional states are not necessarily as long-lasting if I DO NOT try to push them away. Let yourself feel your feelings, even if you disapprove of them. They won't put up so much of a fight if they don't have to fight to be noticed and allowed to be. So just sit with it for a while. Don't judge, don't kick yourself for having wierd, meaningless emotions. It might be telling you something. Or not. But trying to push it away tends to make it dig in for the long haul. If that doesn't make any sense, just ignore, 'k? ;)

My history collection is extensive. It takes up a large portion of our finished basement's wall space. I keep each era/area in its own bin, on snap together plastic shelves. So poor Australia and Africa have to share a bin since I don't have much on either. But the European middle ages have three bins, cause I'm such a fan. Maybe more, depending on if you include the bin for the dark ages and the renaissance. I just moved Middle East and India back downstairs to their shelves. Bringing up China for our readings next week. SOTW makes me do a lot of heavy lifting as it moves around the world. BTW, I like bins because I can flip through the contents, assuming I haven't stuffed them too full. I put earlier stuff roughly towards the front, and so forth. I do have a bin on Astronomy, one on Biology including anatomy, and one on math supplements not including the textbooks and manipulatives for Right Start, which are stored elsewhere. And a few others. So, not nearly as much in science. Come to think of it, I keep a lot of my earth science and animal science books upstairs on the bookshelves behind the sofa in the family room. OK, I'm kinda spread out with science.