Good point about wearing him out with daily exercise. I will have to try to figure that out. We live in a rental with a tiny backyard space, so no giant trampolines or digging holes, or even riding bikes since our neighborhood is sketchy. I want to come up with something though. DS does seem to have a surplus of energy.

To me it seems that pinning it on a certain generation is just an attempt to try to make sense of it. I am very close to someone in their 60's who is the most entitled, spoiled, fragile, flighty, irresponsible, juvenile person that I know. And I know 20 somethings who are level headed, responsible, hard working and resilient.

I need help with my just-turned 7 year old. I feel like he needs more things to do with his time, good and positive things to keep him busy. Not for the sake of busy-ness but to keep him occupied in a good way and to give him less time to think of not-good ways to spend his time like bullying his little sister for fun etc. It seems like he's in between life as a little boy and big boy. He is homeschooled, so we are home a lot. I would love to have him involved with at least one sport/ lesson etc but it's not realistic for us financially. Thankfully (and this is an update for anyone who remembers/ cares) we were able to buy a set of real curriculum after hubby worked a grueling stretch of overtime with the resulting extra $, so that has been very good. 7 year old responds well to the curriculum each day during school time but we still have hours in the day besides that. I do have him watching Hoffman Academy piano lessons (free online) with his Casio keyboard, so that's 1/2 - 1 hour a day. Still need more for him to do. He says he isn't into legos right now, which he used to be into. What kind of chores, activities, tasks, anything can I give him?

Makes a lot of sense to me. Granted, sometimes divorce cannot be avoided but it just goes to show that there are profound consequences. And the notion that divorced people with children can be polite and work towards a common good of their children is something so foreign in my own experience of divorced parents. Also my experience of my dad's remarriage, unfortunately, adds to the evil stepmother cliche. I don't want to get too carried away and off topic, but I do think that it's worth mentioning that many "launching" children of broken homes are often uniquely screwed in this regard.

Also, I think things can get complicated when you through a broken home in there. It surprises me that so many people seem to come from in-tact homes where parents work together for the common good of their children. I'm sure it won't be the case for generations to come. My parents have been divorced for a long time and are basically hateful towards eachother and will even avoid their children's major life events if it means running into one another. So that's to say, there is nothing they are willing to work together on like helping the children they have. Plus you have the struggles of making your own way after divorce. Plus my dad is remarried and his wife seems to see my dad's kids as enemies by virtue of being from my mom/ her rival. It's all pretty unfortunate. Sometimes I reflect on how odd it is that my dad and his childless wife (just the 2 people) live in a home that is 3 and 1/2 times the size of the one my husband and I live in with our 3 kids (5 people). But ultimately, I don't want their money because there are crazy strings attached. It feels good to have our humble (and by their standards poverty stricken) liefstyle because it's what we've worked for in an honest way. If things were different it would be a wonderful blessing to be helped by caring family to achieve things like home ownership and move out of our low income neighborhood, but it's just not the case. My kids are all young but we will help them with whatever we have (which is close to nothing but still) with the expectation that they are not lazy and stupid with their life choices.

Interesting to read through the replies. Haven't read all of them but... My mother has been shielded from a lifetime of poor choice consequences because of my grandmother "helping" her. My mom is in her 60's and things haven't really changed. Grandma is in her 90's but has made good decisions with the business that her husband left in her care at his death, so she has enough money to continue on like this. In this case, it hasn't been a positive thing. I feel like my mom single handedly started a cycle of poverty. She's like a black hole that destroys resources that might have been used to help our family line succeed in America (my grandparents are first generation Americans).

There is an article I read once about moms having "beer goggles" for their own babies. It's so true. I relate to what you've said very much too. When I was pregnant with my first I had a lot of thoughts like, "Am I supposed to talk baby-talk to it and stuff? I will sound so stupid." and I was creeped out by breastfeeding too. I did both gladly so it just goes to show how having the experience is something... there's just really no way to anticipate how it will be for some of us.

Could be. That's why I'm asking. I am an adult convert to Christianity (from nothing) and am the only one in my whole family who stays home "doing nothing" LOL, so I've seen a fair bit of both worlds at this point.

This is probably not very important, but I seem to notice a correlation and am wondering if anyone else has. Please don't take this too seriously. :001_smile: It seems like a disproportionately large number of 9 - 10 lb (or more) babies are born to homeschooling, Christian, SAHM types. I am such a type, and I have had two babies well over 9 lbs. I've noticed that these women aren't necessarily overweight either, as you might think that has something to do with it. Gestational diabetes doesn't seem to be going on in these cases either. Incidentally, my 9 pounders are not now overweight children. In paying attention to birth announcements whenever I come across them, whether public figures (like Jessa, who just had an almost 10 lb-er) or people I know or know of or whatever, there seems to be an amazingly consistent pattern of this. "Regular" women who work, are not necessarily Christian and don't homeschool seem to have more babies in the 6 - 8 lb range. Have you noticed this?

Reading this thread is making me feel a little better. My 19 month old is going through a sleep regression. He used to be a pretty good sleeper, but has now decided that 4:30 am is a peachy time to start each day (will scream and wake siblings if not retrieved). Then he's ready for a nap by 9 am, but doesn't want to do a second nap and is a basket case by dinner time. I don't know how to reset him or what to do.

Sprouts is currently the grocery store closest to where we live so I'm ther more than I might otherwise be. They are on par with Trader Joe's except that they have a substantial bulk section whereas TJ's has none. Their prices are what's to be expected for carrying specialty, natural and organic items that you don't always see at regular grocery stores. Good house brand and weekly sales that sometimes beat out even Aldi.

Thanks, everyone. I am not a camping person, don't have any family near, and not near a coast or mountain... but I like the idea of day trips. I like the idea of going to the nearest big city (aside from the one we live in a suburb of) and seeing/ doing as much as possible.

A change of scenery seems to really benefit me. I see it on a small scale when we go to the park or the store. Living in a small home, being a SAH parent, homeschooling (being home a lot) and not having much $ all have me often getting that feeling like I'm going to burst or have an emotional breakdown. When I'm in the car going to the grocery store I often dream of drifting past the grocery store and not stopping for a long long time. I don't necessarily want to get away from my kids, I just want us to all go somewhere and get out of this stale sort of mental state so that maybe I can gain some refreshment and perspective. Alas, it's not realistic. Does anyone have suggestions for getting a change of scenery when a vacation is kind of a pipe dream?

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I don't know how much this helps, but if it's any comfort, I sometimes feel hopeless about conquering deep resentments. I am a bible believing Christian, so I ask God to help me and give me the right perspective, but it's a constant battle. I don't know exactly what happened between you and your friend, but I feel like I can relate to what you've said. It's hard (to say the least) to watch someone who has hurt and betrayed you to go on and live seemingly a charmed and prosperous life while you have life misfortunes on top of the hurt and pain caused by the relationship. I guess if I was going to rise above my emotions for a moment and give myself advice it would be to consider the wrongs I've done to others in my life, and not think of myself as suffering innocently. Then set boundaries if needed, learn what forgiveness is and isn't, and pray through resentment when it flares up.

I just recently realized that Usborne books are multi-level marketing. I don't know if this is fair or not, but the whole concept of multi-level marketing turns me off thoroughly. I actually do like the Usborne books we have. I got a couple used and gifted, and the one time I bought one new I endured so much harassment about coming to a "party" that it made me never want to buy one new again.

Haven't read all the replies, so don't know if anyone mentioned this, but Julia Child herself was repulsed by cilantro. Good woman ;) . Yes, to me it tastes like soap, dirty feet, armpit, those types of things. I was surprised to learn that some people have taste buds that register cilantro that way and some don't. I am curious forthose who genuinely enjoy cilantro, how would you describe it's taste? Honestly, cilantro tastes so nasty to me, I have to wonder if people are lying when they say they like it.

Thanks, ladies. I'm grateful DH took off work today so I could rest but he'll have to go back tomorrow. The 5 and 6 year old are easier, I just have to lower my standards and let the Netflix go on and on, if they can at least not fight over what to watch. The 1 year old will be harder. I guess I'm going to let him cry some, while keeping him safe, fed, changed and as loved as I can from a seated/ laying down position.

I don't know what I have. I've been throwing up and my bones hurt. I have 3 small children, in particular an active, curious toddler who wants to be toted around much of the day. Normally I don't mind but right now I can barely walk. How do you do it, Moms?

I don't know if there's really any "should" about it. It depends on the lady and what's important to her. My mom and grandma are both, at age 60 something and 90 something, lifelong hair dyers so far. At my grandma's age it's a bit hard for me to understand... I mean, she's over 90 and looks it. Maybe she thinks people aren't sure if brown is her natural color??? But for me I'm going to try to go gray gracefully. There are women with lovely gray/ silver/ white hair. No poodle perm, and I don't care what they say, I'm going to have long hair in old age.

Lest anyone think I am dumb and "being lulled into a false sense of security" etc. like I said, I was molested as a child by an immediate family member. They were never charged (and never faced consequences since I was terrified to tell until adulthood). They currently live in a higher income neighborhood and are known as a normal, non-threatening citizen. I know how it goes, ok? I'm just saying, and asking. Registered sex offender sitting in his garage 2 doors down staring at us as we drive by. It concerns me.

The incident that he was charged for involved him as an early 40's man and a 12 year old girl. That's all the info that I can gather from online. There's no way that could have been anything remotely excusable/ understandable, so yeah, I'm pretty creeped out living so near him. I've been desperate to move from here, and still am. It's a situation where I have no choice, so I have to learn how to be shrewd and make the best of it, so that's what I'm hoping to learn how to do.

Yeah, my kids are mostly not out of my sight. They do play in our little fenced in backyard for short periods while I am inside and semi-watching. I would like to be able to send them outside at some point when they are ready to handle that but I guess I have to keep a short leash on them with the way our neighborhood is. It's very tiring to not be able to do that. Anyway, yes, I know from personal experience child sex offenders are overwhelmingly people who are involved in the child's life/ known to the child. I know that one the hard way having lived it as a child. Still, I don't want to find out what the neighborhood sex offender is capable of. As far as the relationship of rent amount to this and other undesirable neighborhood factors, when looking at the sex offender map of this town I navigated over to where my friend lives, out of curiosity. Her neighborhood is much nicer and home values much higher. There are zero registered sex offenders in her neighborhood. So it just makes me ponder the frustrations of living la vida low income.

I just looked it up. "Indecency with a child, sexual contact" :( :( :( victim age 12 The date showing of the "disposition" was 1992 which would put him in his early 40's at the time. I guess he could be harmless at this point but who wants to live 2 houses down from that with young kids?!

How much would it bother you to live 2 houses down from a registered sex offender? We've been here for about 2 years and I've known about him for a while... I looked up neighborhood crime stats and sex offender info not long after we moved in. I'm thinking it's one of the reasons that the rent on this house is so cheap. And the affordability of this place is one of it's only redeeming qualities, believe me, and I would be moving yesterday if we could, but money is stupid. I have young children, so I worry. I see the guy when we drive by. He's in his 60's. He sits in his garage during the day just hanging out, looking at people who pass by, possibly drinking beer, I try not to examine him too much as I'm passing by. I am creeped out.