Thank you. I am feeling really overwhelemd and confused about all this, because our situation is this: I can't really "sit down and decide with her whether she is going to be homeschooled or going to public school," because, when I homeschooled all the kids it was EXTREMELLY stressful because NO ONE in the family, incuding DH, supported us. They ALL thought it was a terrible idea, and my in-laws even called me to tell me, "We just want you to know we do NOT suppport you in this decision at all." :( Even though everyone insisted that they, and DH would "come around" once they saw how great homeschooling was, in two years of homeschooling that did not happen. Instead, every time my kids did anything of which the rest of the family disapproved, it was atributed to the fact that they were homeschooled. If they were bickering over what TV show to watch, it was because "they don't know how to get along with people anymore," etc. (Okay, crying now as I write this.) Both of my sisters-in-law are public school teachers and they had their 2 cents to put in as well. The neighbor kids (would you believe their mom is a public school teacher, too???) told my kids they were going to "live in a shack" when they grow up. The kids ended up feeling stressed about it, too. I was constantly walking on eggshells because DH and the rest of the family would be on the lookout for things the kids were doing wrong "because of homeschooling." ​I agreed to put the kids back in public school to try to keep the peace because I couldn't live like that anymore. Fortunately, our other three kids have done GREAT in public school. But this one who is having problems . . . I didn't mention it before, but she not only has medical problems but also has an anxiety disorder as well. When we put her in 8th grade last year, she was a mess, calling me from school crying, refusing to go to school . . . we tried to work with the principal, etc. to get her in school, but she would flat-out refuse. DH removed her bedroom door trying to physically PULL her out of her bedroom to force her to school. She cried she would rather die than go to public school. :( ​So . . . we're looking for a psychiatrist and therapist for her now, but having a hard time finding one, and we also have crappy insurance that won't pay for it and our finances are strained. But the point is: the only "conversation" I can have with her about it is one wherein she refuses to even consider going to public school. But homeschooling her with also result in 1) hostility from the rest of the family, although DH at least realizes it's all I can do right now and 2) the other kids not understanding why they "have" to go to public school when she doesn't. :( ​I feel so trapped. Nothing I can do in this situation is right. If I put her back in 8th grade public school she, first of all, will have the same problems with her medical issues and anxiety causing her to miss so much school that the truant officer shows up at the house (which has happened before), and 2) the rest of the family and the neighbors kids will make her life miserable for being a "flunkie" and "so stupid" that she had to repeat a grade. (And, yeah, they'll know she's repeating: she will be in the same grade as some of them and they know she is supposed to be ahead of them.) She is SO SMART. I feel horrible that she's gone from being a brillant, straight-A, GT student, to needing to repeat a grade. And, of COURSE, everyone is going to blame homeschooling for that happening! ​She needs more than just to "find her rhythm." She needs to be able to function with her medical issues (nausea every single day) and her anxiety disorder. But, in the meantime, she needs to also continue her education. I don't know what to do when we're still battling daily nausea and anxiety while in high school where "everything counts," without apparently ruining her chances of ever going back to public school. ​I am just sitting her bawling because it seems so hopeless. :(

Oh yeah! *bonks head* I looked at their website and saw that, but somehow it didn't sink in! We can move up at any time, though, right? So maybe we should start with 8th grade and then move up to 9th when she's ready. So, for 8th grade, we'd only have access to 8th and 7th? Is that right? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

I have a 14-year-old who is supposed to be going into 9th grade next year. She has three siblings who are all in public school (we have homeschooled all kids previously, but now all except the 9th grader are in public school -- long story). The 9th grader isn't in public school chiefly because she has medical issues that make her miss too much school and the school wouldn't/couldn't work with us on that (no 504, EIP, etc.). ​Anyway, she was homeschooled last year, too, but she is really struggling with her health issues and with not being motivated. We were using TTUISD because we're in Texas and I wanted something that followed the state requirements so that it would be easier for her to go back to public school if and when her medical symptoms are under control. But she didn't do well with that at all and isn't finished with 8th grade yet and won't be before next school year starts. ​I'm thinking about doing Time 4 Learning, even though I've heard it's a pretty skimpy program, just to try to get her caught up on the basics. When she was in public school she was in GT, so she's able to do a much more rigorous program, but with her medical issues and lack of motivation, I just want her to actually get through the basics at this point. ​Do you think Time 4 Learning would be adequate for that? Since we'd get access to a grade lower and a grade higher than what we request, I figured I'd go ahead and put her in 9th grade and she could then finish up with the 8th grade stuff and move into 9th when she's ready. ​Like I said, I've heard it's pretty skimpy and that people usually supplement it with other stuff . . .but we're really struggling right now: not only with her medical issues, but one of my other kids has medical issues that aren't keeping her from school, and another kid has dyslexia -- my husband travels for a living so I solo-parent our four kids Mon-Fri, and I'm also working my way through nursing school. I don't have what it takes to scour the internet for supplemental material and come up with ways to supplement this . . . and with how difficult it is to get her motivated just to do ANY of her school work, I'm thinking maybe this is all we can handle right now. ​What do y'all think? Is that an okay plan, or is it not a good idea to use Time 4 Learning as a curriculum, even under these circumstances? ​I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I homeschool in Texas. Last year and the year before, I was homeschooling all of my kids. This year I am homeschooling one, and the others are in public school. The state of Texas doesn't have any PE requirements for homeschoolers, but when I put my kids back in middle school, they had to take extra PE because I hadn't documented any PE courses for them. (?!?!) I'm trying to avoid that sort of scenario in the future for my kid who is still being homeschooled. Do any of you know how to meet PE requirements in terms of kids not lacking in PE credits if they return to school? Would enrolling in a gymnastic program or martial arts program satisfy that? Or would my kid still be told her PE education wasn't well-rounded or something? I tried to look for info online and I got stuff like, "Save and document all of your kid's certificates and trophies from all the different classes and programs they are in." Uhm . . . okay, but we don't have that kind of money to enroll in lots of programs. We're hoping we can afford ONE, but we're not entirely sure about that, either! What do you do about PE?

Hi, all! My eighth-grader is a student in TTUISD. We are having a very difficult time determining a timeline for finishing the courses within one nine-month school year. (I know that's not supposed to be terribly important, but her siblings are in public school, and she wants to move at about the same pace they are.) For instance, in the ELAR, are the "Reading," "Writing," and "Writing Mechanics" modules supposed to be done concurrently for each lesson, or are we supposed to just go through the steps in order, doing "Reading," and then, "Writing," and then "Writing Mechanics" for each lesson? Are we supposed to do one module (e.g. "Lesson 1, Steps 2-5") per day? I originally thought that was what we were supposed to do, but the amount of content and amount of work varies widely between modules (e.g. The "Lesson Six, steps 1-7" is to read six chapters,which seems to be a vastly different amount of work than, say, "Lesson Three, steps 26-27." But they are each listed as one line on the syllabus; is each line on the syllabus intended to be one day's worth of work? And the "Writing" sections also are a vastly different amount of work than the "Reading" or "Writing Mechanics" sections. Approximately how long should the "Writing" sections take?) I realize the course is self-paced, so there are no hard rules for how much should be done per day. But we can't figure out how to tell what we should be doing each day to be reasonably on track to finish within a nine-month period. In one of the subjects (Math? I don't remember for sure.) the instructor actually changed the entire way they do assignments right in the middle of the syllabus. Whaaa??? Any advice you can give us is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Update: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts and ideas about this! We've decided to go with TTUISD for this year. We can reevaluate next year, if need be. Since we're in Texas and TTUISD is TEA-certified, at least I won't have to worry about her credits being accepted if she goes back to public school for high school. This seems like the best fit for us, so she can continue to study while we work on her anxiety and health issues. Thank you so much!!

Thank you SO MUCH for all these helpful responses! I'm barely keeping my head above water, so I'm just now going through and looking up all these suggestions, in hopes we can find something that will work for us. City Mouse is absolutely right that there is a law here in Texas that we can't enroll in online public schools or charter schools, she has to have been in public school the year before. Which is really cruddy, because she was in public school for SIX YEARS, but none of that makes her applicable. Grrrr. ​In response to the questions about her health/treatments: she was seeing a therapist, but we need a new one. She has OCD type symptoms also, and the type of therapy she was receiving was actually making them worse. So we are in the midst of looking for a new therapist. I have gotten some names of therapists both from the school and from her GI doctor who has other patients like her whose GI problems are exacerbated by anxiety, so hopefully I can get her in with someone soon . . . but that won't be within three days, which is how long I have before I get taken to court over these absences. :( She also sees a GI specialist who has done various trials of medications and she has had an upper GI scope. So far, none of the meds have been effective, and her scope came back normal, which is why she has a diagnosis of "functional dyspepsia" -- it's like IBS, in that it is a diagnosis of exclusion where you have symptoms and no discernable cause, only it affects the upper GI tract instead of the lower GI tract like IBS. So, instead of the constipation/diarrhea from IBS, FD gives you symptoms like nausea. I've considered looking into homebound ed., but I keep getting told by people from the school that homebound ed. is intended for people with much more serious diagnoses, and that getting notes from doctors which state that the kid is actually too sick to function is really difficult. (Which I sort of understand, because we were going to use homebound ed. for one of our other daughters when she needed brain surgery, so I got to see just what is involved and the hoops you need to jump through to get it.) The school is telling me she probably doesn't qualify, and her GI doctor has been saying that he has other patients with the same condition and that, unfortunately, it's just something they need to "learn to live with." So I feel kind of like she's "slipping through the cracks" -- too sick to do well at school but not sick enough to qualify for homebound ed. :/ ​I'm kind of scared of things like "Easy Peasy" just because I don't have time to homeschool anymore, and EP is really a homeschool program. One of the reasons the kids are back in public school is that, financially, I need to go back to work soon, and, long story short, the career I had for 15 years no longer exists (done by computers now) and I'm going back to nursing school to make myself valuable enough to re-enter the workforce. I solo parent our four kids M-F while my husband travels and is only home on weekends, and in addition to this 8th-grader we're talking about, I also have a kid with brain/spinal medical issues, and a kid with dyslexia who I have to drive back and forth to dyslexia remediation -- that, and I'm doing my own nursing school stuff. I am barely keeping my head above water, the way it is; there is no way I can add in coordinating lessons for various subjects, teaching them, etc. I did homeschool all the kids the past two years, so I know how time-consuming it is, and I can no longer do it with all that is going on. I really need something that I don't have to organize or teach myself. I know that with online schooling, I'll still need to help at times, but I need something that doesn't require much more time than helping kids with their homework. ​Just trying to answer a few of the questions that came up. Anyway, I see lots of suggestions, so I'm going to try to spend some time looking them over. Thank you so much -- at least I have a little hope now!

I have an 8th grader who has been diagnosed with both an anxiety disorder and a GI disorder that causes nausea. She was in public school for 6 years, then homeschooled for 2 years and now is enrolled in public school again (long story short, we stopped homeschooling because I need to go back to work). She has three younger siblings who also were homeschooled for the last two years and are in public school now. ​We are only two weeks into the school year and I have already had the truant officer at my house because she already has four absences. She is refusing to go to school every morning, saying that she doesn't feel well (her GI disorder causes nausea nearly every day) and also that she "would rather die" than go to school because it makes her so anxious and depressed. Her health problems and related absences started back when she was in fifth grade public school, and between that year and this year I have already talked to loads of people from the school who assure me there is nothing that can be done for her in terms of excusing absences, regardless of having an IEP or a 504 plan. The legal ramifications for absences like court orders, etc. are Texas law, and unless I can get her to school no matter how sick or anxious she feels, I will end up in court. I have explained all this to her, but she still refuses school. ​I looked into public school online (I know there are mixed opinions about that, but I'm desperate) but she doesn't qualify for that, because she was homeschooled last year, and in order to qualify, the student has to have been in public school the year before. I've looked into private online schools and they cost around $5000 or more a year. We don't have that kind of money -- that's why I have to go back to work in the first place: we don't have enough money! I really don't feel I can homeschool her myself -- I need the help of an online school. She's is a good self-learner, and I can help her with lessons the same way I help the other kids with homework . . . but I can't take on the whole role of putting together curriculum and teaching it again. I'm also trying to avoid homeschooling without an online school or umbrella school, because my entire family HATED me for homeschooling (long story) but I really can't handle the ramifications from the family again. So . . . is there any online school that is affordable for someone who can't spend more than $2000? I've looked at Time 4 Learning, but there's no way the family is going to view that as anywhere close to as rigorous as what the other kids are doing in public school. Is there anything else? I was really hoping they'd all be okay in public school again while I go back to work. But I don't want to end up in jail. :(

Thank you! That helps a lot. I was wondering both about Learning Foundations and about Scottish Rite -- I wasn't sure if they were OG based, or what. Don't have much time to be online ATM, but wanted to say thanks, because your info helps a LOT. And if you have the names of the schools, that will help, too. I tried to Google "Dyslexia Schools San Antonio and didn't come up with much. Okay, wait . . . I was using another search engine -- I'll actually GOOGLE it --LOL. We don't have a lot of $ (the whole reason the kids are going back to school is so I can go back to work), so I don't know which of these is a viable option for us, but this is a lot of useful info. Thank you!

Thank you! Hope to reply more later, but can't right now, but I appreciate the info. And yes, OneStep, feel free to PM me. <3

Thanks for your response! <3 We're in San Antonio, TX. He's going back to school (as are my other 3 kids) because I need to return to work because the family needs my income; we're a family of six and we're struggling financially with only DH's income. I don't want to open a whole other can of worms WRT working at home -- I worked from home for nearly 20 years as a medical transcriptionist, until that field basically dried up, and given my experience with the pros and cons of being self-employed and working from home and trying to raise four kids essentially by myself because DH's work takes him away from home M-F . . . working from home and homeschooling and solo-parenting four kids just isn't something I can tackle right now. I know people do it but . . . I've been really struggling with the solo-parenting thing, and I just don't have it in me to work from home and continue homeschooling. Plus, my family (which means my in-laws, as I have no family of my own) was totally against me homeschooling and constantly made comments about how stupid my kids were going to be and how they'd never amount to anything and it was my fault, etc.and it's gotten to be more than I can handle. They are the onlky family I have and I want peace in the family. Okay, more info than you wanted, probably, but those are some of the reasons we're not continuing to homeschool. Anyway, he hasn't had any real accommodations thus far, other than my working on him with reading/phonics every day (we did some multi-sensory stuff, but we didn't use an OG program). Because he was making progress, although it was slow, I thought it would be okay for him to just keep plugging away at his own pace. But now that he needs to return to PS, I see that "his own pace" wasn't nearly fast enough. :( I went to a meeting for the parents of incoming fourth-graders, and the teachers were very adamant that the kids needed to be able to read for extended periods of time and read a variety of texts and genres ("Don't just let them only read fiction stories all summer!") or they would "REALLY struggle" in fourth grade. Now i feel really badly, because, forget about reading for "extended periods of time" or reading "a variety of texts and genres" -- he can barely read AT ALL. I feel now that I haven't done enough. My thinking was along the lines that I was doing more than the public school was doing, because I was working with him on reading every day, and he wasn't being embarrassed like he was in public school. (They had to grade each other's papers, and the other kids saw that he got 20s and 30s on his spelling tests. Then he wouldn't turn them in; he'd shove them in his desk.) Anyway, I asked my ped, but in lieu of making referrals nowadays (any type of referral for anything) they just give us a list of providers and we're supposed to pick one. She gave me a list of speech therapists and occupational therapists. She also suggested I have the school test him. But they won't even consider testing him until they've observed him in class for six weeks. So that's six weeks of him being in class that I already KNOW he is not ready for, before they even START the process. His sisters were in "GT" when they were in school, and he already considers himself "stupid" in comparison to them. (I try to encourage him not to compare himself, but you know how that goes among siblings.) I feel like I've failed him because I didn't get him some kind of remediation sooner, and now he'll be stuck in school unable to read well enough to do the work. I know we'll probably have to wait four months or so to see a neuropsych anyway at this point, so I don't know that there's much I can do for him. Do I just have to stick him in school knowing he'll fail? I know he'll feel awful. I've considered going to one of those dyslexia learning centers . . . not a Davis one, but one here that uses an OG program . . . but I don't know much about going that route.

I've got a 4th grader who was in PS for two years, then HS for two years, and now will be returning to PS next year. He is almost certainly dyslexic (has lots of dyslexia symptoms beyond just reversals, and his dad has dyslexia symptoms, and his 1st grade teacher recommended dyslexia testing which was denied because he was "too young") and may have other LD's as well. We're looking into a private eval, but that won't happen for at least another 4 months. In the meantime, the PS doesn't want to schedule an eval until AT LEAST six weeks into next school year -- they say this is because they want to observe him in class, etc. I attended a meeting for parents of incoming 4th graders last week, and what I saw there was that my dyslexic/LD kid will NOT be able to do what is required of him. The teachers were very adamant that "if your kid can't do xyz, they are going to be REALLY struggling." They were saying this in hopes of lighting fires under the parents and getting them to keep plugging away at their kids' learning during the summer. Well, my kid can't do ANY of their XYZ's, and is unlikely to be able to do so by the beginning of next year. And he won't be evaluated for LD's until AT LEAST six weeks have gone by. (He needs to be able to read and comprehend his texts and to learn material by reading it, and he can barely read.) His previous experience in PS was K and 1st grade, where he was already so embarrassed by his lack of ability to read/spell that he would take his spelling tests (which were graded by other students and then turned in, and on which he got grades like 20 and 30) and shove them into his desk instead of turning them in. :( So . . . I'm trying to figure out what in the world I'm supposed to do for him. Just send him anyway and let him be totally lost and failing? He has three "gifted" sisters and already feels "stupid" in comparison (He compares himself; I don't compare them.) He also has bully neighbors calling him "stupid" all the time. I can't imagine sending him to school knowing he's going to be totally lost and failing for six weeks before testing is even considered . . . and then probably for weeks/months after it that. What would you do?

Sorry if this has been asked before -- I looked around a bit and didn't find anything. I have a 9-year-old boy who was in PS for two years, then HS for two years, and now will be going back into PS next year. He will be going into 4th grade and still struggles greatly with reading. When he was in 1st grade, his teacher recommended him for dyslexia testing because he has a lot of dyslexia symptoms (more than just reversals) and his father has dyslexia symptoms, but TPTB at the school said he was "too young." I'm looking for a private eval for him (the school said they won't test him until at least six weeks into next year, and apparently, here in Texas, they are within their rights to do that because there is no mandatory timeline). I want him tested for dyslexia, but I ALSO want him tested for other LD's, because we're not certain his difficulties are limited to dyslexia. He also had a coup-contracoup brain injury when he was 5, and I'd like to know if there's any evidence that any of this is related to sequelae from that. So I'd like a comprehensive eval that includes dyslexia. The neuropsychologists I've looked into have told me they don't test for dyslexia, and everyone I've found that will test for dyslexia, does only that. I feel like I'm missing something here. Can a comprehensive eval only be done by a neuropsych, and can a neuropsych not do a dyslexia eval? Is one an educational model and the other a medical model or something? What I want is for him to be tested for: 1) Dyslexia 2) Other LD's, especially processing disorders 3) Evidence of coup-contracoup concussion sequelae As you already know, the evals cost in the vicinity of $3,000 -- do we need to schedule evals with more than one provider for this?

Thank you. :001_tt1: :001_tt1: :001_tt1: :001_tt1:

Does anyone have any recommendations for testing for learning disabilities other than the school? Psychologist vs. occupational therapist vs. learning center, etc? I've been homeschooling my four kids for the past two years, but next year they'll be in public school (I need to go back to work). I have already gotten them registered for public school for next year, and they have all been in public school before. My kid who is going into 4th grade needs an evaluation for learning disabilities. We suspect he has dyslexia because he has a LOT of the symptoms of dyslexia (not just reversals) and because his father, my husband, has a form of dyslexia, but we didn't have an official diagnosis. BUT I also suspect there may be other learning disabilities at play -- for instance, he has trouble with memory -- I told them that, too. When he was in 1st grade at the same school, his 1st grade teacher recommended testing him, but he was considered "too young" at the time. Now, they told me they'd test him for dyslexia after the first six weeks of next year. When I asked about testing for other LD, she just said they'd see after six weeks. I had thought they could test him before next year -- either during this last month of school, or sometime over the summer -- but she said the teacher needed to get to know him first. If it sounds like I wasn't in a hurry to get him tested until now, that's sort of true: while we were homeschooling, he was making progress, but more slowly than would be expected in school. At the time, I was okay with that, because he WAS making progress . . . but being in school and progressing slowly without interventions will mean six weeks or more of getting F's and being embarrassed and hiding his work in his desk -- which is what happened when he was in school before.

I think they're fairly used to working with homeschoolers -- there are a lot of homeschoolers in this city. I'm just going by the list of things they requested that we bring when we register, one of which is listed as "report card from previous school attended -- (if available)." So, the report card isn't actually mandatory, but if I show up with no record of anything they've studied, I don't know if they'll expect my kids to take placement tests or something. I figured a record of what they've studied may be good to bring. We live in Texas and there are no regulatory tests or criteria that we have to meet on a yearly basis in order to homeschool -- we're basically free to homeschool however we want to, so I didn't do testing/grading, etc. I just taught a concept until they understood it and then moved on. I used Homeschool Tracker to keep track of what we've studied. I don't really have time anymore to have them take some standardized tests before registering them with the school, because two of my kids need special services (one needs Dyslexia testing and the other has health issues and needs a 504 plan) and I have to request those early -- I'm already pushing the limit of how long I can wait before requesting those for next year. I kind of like adding the wording that hornblower mentioned . . . that sounds reasonable; maybe that would satisfy everyone. I'm reluctant to just randomly stick some B's or C's in there to make things look more public-school-like. Hmmmmm . . . .

I need to register my kids for public school after having home schooled the last few years.(I need to go back to work for financial reasons.) When I go register the kids, the school requests a report card from any previous schools they've attended -- if available. It's not mandatory, but I guess they think it would be helpful in some way. I've been using Homeschool Tracker, so printing out a report card is no problem, BUT -- I've just been using a pass/fail system, because there's no real reason for them to get a grade of C or D, etc., because we don't move on until they understand a concept, at which time I give them a grade of "pass." So, a letter-grade report card would just have all A's on it. My question: would you just give them the report card with grades of "pass," or would you convert it to letter grades, which would be all A's? I was thinking they'd probably roll their eyes at a report card with all A's, like, "Oh, big surprise: you gave your kids A's in everything." Whatcha think? (My oldest is in 8th grade, so no high school students yet.)

Thank you for your replies so far -- they have been EXTREMELY helpful. <3 Do y'all think it would be best to have the school test my 4th-grader for LD, or have it done privately? The main reason I haven't had it done yet, is because I keep bounding back and forth on the issue. I know that the testing is typically not covered by insurance, and that it can be expensive -- but I'm totally willing to go that route if it results in a more accurate diagnosis. (My previous experience with the school regarding an IEP situation was less than stellar -- but that was also a different situation: a daughter with selective mutism. But they did all sorts of things wrong, like "forget" to notify me when there was an RI meeting about my daughter and just have the meeting without me, including one in which they decided to terminate her intervention measures.)

Hi! I've been homeschooling my four kids for the last two years, but unfortunately I need to re-enroll them in public school next year. I solo-parent and I need to go back to work (and yes, I used to work from home, BTDT for over 15 years but that's not panning out anymore). My question is: If any of you have been in and out of the public school system, how hard was it to re-enroll your kids? Did they have to take any tests for grade placement? I imagine this probably varies from district to district (?) but I'm just trying to get a feel for what the "norm" is. Were the tests difficult? Should I be worried if we haven't been following the PS scope and sequence? Should I be worried about my dyslexic kid being held back a grade because of his reading difficulties? (He'll be going into 4th grade, but his reading is more like a 2nd grade level. He hasn't been "officially" diagnosed with dyslexia; we're just using that as a working diagnosis, because his dad has dyslexia and he has the same symptoms. I'm really starting to get nervous because of this! The family was against me homeschooling to being with -- if any of the kids get held back a grade, they will hold it against me forever! Help! Edited to add: My kids should be going into grades 1, 4, 6 and 8. -- Michele ps -- I'm pretty sure no one here would flame me for going back to PS, but I've gotten a lot of flames and second-guessing elsewhere. :(

OH, thanks for posting this! My kids love to stay up looking for meteors!

I read every response to this post and I'm so happy that people here identify, and so thankful to you all for helping me put things in perspective! My second-oldest daughter is having some friends over on Saturday, and I have decided that we will just do a routine tidy-up on Friday beforehand, as opposed to the long stress-inducing deep clean. :D Tempers always get short and people start arguing when we have to stress-clean. And then I end up feeling like what was supposed to be a happy gathering just made the whole family unhappy instead because of the stress-filled prep. So, we'll make sure the kitchen is clean, the floors are vacuumed, the table is clear and the bathroom is clean . . . and not stress about anything else. Also, I liked the poem. Yeah, I never aspired to be a "housewife" either, but I get the intended message. I think I'm going to print it out and hang it on my fridge! :D

SKL, that resonates with me, as well, because my next-door neighbor is like that. I want to be careful not to just sit here and criticize her, because she's a wonderful person in many ways. But she is just as you described: doesn't let her kids play with their toys like normal people. When her kids have birthday parties, they're not allowed to keep their gifts. She donates them all. It makes me feel sad for her kids, and it also made me feel irritated when I found out that all the gifts we chose for her kids were never even played with, but immediately given away. (Now we just give them gift cards.) I mention that, not to gripe about her, but to point out that it is hard for me to live next to someone with that mindset . . . because her house is picture-perfect every time I walk into it. And because of that, I fear that, just as my mother did with our neighbors, she is talking with her family about how appalling my house is. :/ But it is MY job to get over that -- to not worry about what she may or not be saying about my house. She is a good person in other ways, and we have different lives. We each have to live within our own life situations, and it is okay if my house doesn't meet her standards. It only has to meet the standards of myself and my family. :) (Saying that for my own benefit, of course.)

I like the "Messy House Ministry." I'm friends with a woman online (I wish we lived near each other IRL) who has the same perspective and calls it the "Ministry of Real." :D (LOL -- I accidentally put a drooling smilie face there. Haha!)

Oh, and WRT the "stain" on the carpet. It's stainS. LOL! For no other reason than stupidity, when we bought this house and I was pregnant with our first, I thought light cream-colored carpet would be a good idea. *facepalm* Over the past 12+ years, there has been way more than one "mishap" on that carpet. Haha! The stains are going to be seen until we can get new carpet. I'm just going to have to get over that. And get darker carpet next time. Heh heh . . .

Thanks, y'all. tm919 makes a good point about the expectations we grew up with concerning "housewives" compounded with today's expectations of what a "stay-at-home" mother does. I've always found it interesting that, when people enter a messy house, they don't think, "Oh, those kids are such lousy housekeepers," or "Wow, that husband keeps a messy house." It's always, "SHE isn't much of a housekeeper." :huh: