I should perhaps clarify.....there are no easy landmarks, and she only asked three times or so in a 3 hour trip and for this particular instance we were in the last 30 minutes. The reason I told her not to ask again was because instead of stopping to listen to our answer....she was 4 "daddy"s into rushing to ask us for the 7th time the first breath after asking the 6th time. In short she was fixating and not processing. We generally don't have this problem with her. Stefanie

I've mostly seen them used for homebound or hospital bound patients asking clergy for communion. Stefanie

So, after 6 "Are we there yet?", in a row, I cut off the 7th in progress with, "Do not ask 'Are we there yet again'. Long pause......."Are we getting closer?" Progress. I guess. Stefanie

Be careful with it. My middle stepson broke his hip (femoral neck/head) earlier this summer and the doc said the major blood vessel runs in that area and if it gets damaged it can die off and result in a total hip replacement. Stefanie

I voted didn't care and other. I didn't care about my academics, but it wasn't the lack of interest in college/education that caused the lack of caring. I didn't care at all. I could do well almost effortlessly, but I didn't care to do anything. My grades were 100% carried by my test scores but were generally abysmal because I wasn't doing homework or daily work. My senior year I took AP biology and got a 4 on the test, but my teacher had me doing worksheets on the last two days of class as an excuse to not fail me for the semester. It wasn't my HS or teachers' fault. I was seriously depressed and having a tough time. My parents divorced in 8th grade, lost a grandpa I was really close to less than 6 months later. Spent two years getting into the groove of divorced life and my dad remarried, then found out he had cancer halfway through 10th grade. Spent all of 11th and 12th dealing with his declining health and just a few months after I graduated HS he died. That killed any initiative to head off into college so I worked and spent another 2 or 3 years generally figuring out where my life was going. I did finally go to college though. Stefanie

The pharmacy tech certification books are more than that. You can get just dose calculation workbooks, but the certification books also teach basic pharmacology, drug classification, prescription terminology and the legalities behind dispensing/ordering drugs. It might be something to add to your A&P, spend the last semester working on the pharm tech book. Stefanie

We started last week. Did great, got everything done, and I hope the system continues to work. I learned I can't just rely on DD to choose what to do or else she'd leave everything for Friday except math, spelling and handwriting and then I'd have a dramatic meltdown every week over getting it all done or not doing the evening activity. Anyway, this week is not off to a great start and it is going to be a busy week. We hit the water park for the last time on Monday and came home early because DD got sick. Today we are taking a "sick" day. Tomorrow we start co-op and then Thursday my grandson starts his mothers-day-out/preschool program. Stefanie

Oh, yes, I second that, go get a pharmacy tech certification study book (could probably find one at a used book store but I got mine off Amazon years ago) and let her spend a year working thorough it. I can't believe I forgot about that since I did that to get a pharmacy certification. Stefanie

But could they get as far in the long run as someone who went in with officer status? My DH believes they can't. I have no direct experience and am just relaying his opinion. And honestly, depending on the girl's military leadership aspirations, it may not even matter, but if it does it may also not be worth taking the chance if advancement could come down to a particular higher officer's prejudice. Stefanie

Not so much, or very dependent on your area. The push for BSN education of all nurses started in 1965 by the ANA when they took the stance that vocational nurses were technical nurses and BSN nurses were the professional nurses. My DH has been working on a "counter culture" nursing book for the last 10 years. He is firmly of the opinion that he was unable to be a good nurse until he learned he could dump about 50% of what he "learned" in nursing school and unnecessary sociopolitical memes. But anyway, yes, if there is any possible interest in any level of nursing management in the future, it would save much time and effort to go get the BSN as directly as possible. Stefanie

My husband doesn't recommend this for several reasons, but especially if she happens to have high military aspirations. Officers that were prior enlisted have a stigma. Also, there is no net financial benefit to enlisting first. A better option would be to seek military scholarship/ROTC where the military pays upfront for a commitment on the back end. Alternatively, if she goes in already in possession of the degree the military will pay off any outstanding student loans. My DH was enlisted and went to nursing school after getting out of the Navy, went on to get a 4 year degree in biology and re-approached the military about going in as a nurse. They told him no unless he was BSN even with his 10+ years CCU experience. I was a unit secretary in a hospital for 7 years. Between the two of us we know a *lot* of people who have done the nursing school process. This is a little more than you asked for, but If we had to recommend a course of action for a high school student interested in nursing it would be this: 1. Volunteer at a local hospital while she finishes high school and start getting to know the nurses and managers. If you can find a shadow program that would be even better, but most of them have disappeared because of HIPPA. 2. When she turns 18 seek employment at a local hospital while taking the 2 years of prerequisites for nursing school. DO NOT go get an aide license or position. A unit secretary position or desk position would be better. She would want whatever job has her entering doctors orders or interacting with the charts and being generally at the desk. This would put her in a much better position to make connections about the things she'd be learning in nursing school. You get familiar with the patterns that you see in the treatments of the various conditions and medications that get routinely ordered for various conditions and their standard dosages. You are at the desk so that you can be around to listen in on the discussions between docs/nurses about a patient's care or the nurses discussing their nursing school assignments and if there happens to be a friendly doc around on a slow day, they are usually more than happy to answer questions and discuss various x-rays/test results/treatment options. The key is being able to be around for the opportunities, which an aide is usually to busy for. The best thing, while she is still taking general classes, she can get a taste for the atmosphere and see if it really is something she wants to do. 3. Apply to any and all nursing schools, BSN and RN vocational programs in order to get in. Even if the program is vocational program, she can get the license and then immediately apply for a transitional program that will give her the BSN. Those are usually 2 year programs but many of them at that point are a combination of distance ed, physical classroom, and clinical classes, she'd have to check with the military to see which programs would be acceptable though, which will allow her to work and gain experience as a nurse. 4. Once she has the BSN by whatever pathway is available, then she can approach the military. As for EMT and the enlist/medic pathway, my stepson was a medic in the navy. In the military he could do more than he could outside of it. They also train from the ground up, but in the military they don't have as much of a forgiving qualification process and if you don't for what ever reason make the cut, your pretty much out of luck. As far comparing EMT/nurse, they just are not equivalent, not in training and certainly not in pay. Stefanie

RealClearPolitics.com Stefanie

She'll probably be fine...but the military won't take her as a nurse unless she has her BSN. Stefanie

My dad told me that in an emergency they would use an ice pick to stab the cows who were bloating to release the gas.... Stefanie

Well, I asked my DH what he though (former single dad) and his take is that single dad mean an unmarried man who has kids. I strongly dislike the generic connection of custody arrangements to "single" mom or "single" dad, especially in situations where I don't have a lot of intimate details. I have a highly blended family. My DH's ex-wife really played up the connotation of "single" mother "doing it all". If you heard only her side of the story DH wasn't present in any of the kids lives and on paper he was only an every other weekend dad. However, she was hardly parenting alone, even on a day-to-day basis. DH paid a TON of child support and went so much above and beyond just doing parenting on "his" time. Stefanie

Flip Flop Spanish is a nice gentle intro to Spanish. My daughter did this as part of a co-op class last year and will be doing the next level at co-op this year before moving on to a conversational class. The first level is for 5 - 6 year olds. Stefanie

The dog is 10, which is quite advanced for a bigger dog, and the dog shows it's age by sleeping a lot and generalized stiffness. Older dogs that are stiff don't want to be manhandled by a toddler and the growling/teeth baring is the dog saying "that hurts" or anticipating pain associated with your son handling it. This dog absolutely could bite your son one day. All it would take is for him to accidentally fall on the dog or otherwise inadvertently cause it pain. Stefanie

Personally, I'm not too worried about it. I suspect that if it becomes a problem judicially, the legislature will step in and "fix" it. The homeschoolers here have enough political clout to pressure such a correction. Stefanie

*sigh* My daughter and I were so looking forward to taking something at our co-op this year. She was dead set on Spanish and art (I was *really* looking forward to art). I went to sign ups today and found out the art teacher cancelled last minute for schedule conflicts that couldn't be resolved and the Spanish teacher for the Flip Flop class hasn't been heard from all summer and didn't show for sign ups. They have a teacher for high school art that may or may not agree to do elementary art. The other Spanish teacher is trying to decide if she is going to cancel one of her high school classes (only two signed up) in favor of offering a second lower level class to catch all the interest from the Flip Flop class that may not happen. I have to admit, I handled it worse than my daughter. But I can't sign her up for alternatives until I know if I can get her into her first choices, and by then the alternatives will probably be full if the first choice isn't happening. I can live without the Spanish class but I'm *not* crafty and my daughter adores art, so I can't get away without it. Any recommendations of 1st grade art curriculum if I need to put something together last minute? Stefanie

Just an FYI for us girls.....strep can thrive "down there" without causing any symptoms. That is why it is routinely tested for during pregnancy these days and if you are positive they'll give you a round of antibiotics before delivery. Stefanie

Hi everyone. I'm in my 2nd year "homeschooling" with my daughter. I'm not sure I'd consider our K year very successful because we had a lot of bumps in the road, but we attended a co-op where she did spanish, sign language and art, and somewhere in that year she taught herself to read, but other than that, everything was a flop. So, we are trying again......and hoping this year we'll get more done. Stefanie