Would someone give me some examples of the Libertarian propaganda? I've read the series several times and don't really know what you all are talking about...

Even as a kid, Dean Butler never looked right as Almonzo to me. I guess he wasn't quite hot enough in my eyes to be the man Laura raved about.

DH once ran out for a quick errand and left the garage door open. The kids and I were in the house. When he came back, two guys were in the garage grabbing beer out of the extra fridge. He jumped out of the car and started screaming, "GET OUT OF THE GARAGE!" They started running and he immediately changed course and started yelling, "DROP THE BEER!" They dropped the beer and ran. And, our lovely beagle watchdog, who can sniff out the garbage truck from a mile away and will spend half the morning howling about it, quietly snoozed...

We were looking at forms for a homeschool group we are considering for next year. It asked you to check your homeschooling style with boxes for classical, charlotte mason, eclectic, workbook, unschooler, etc. DH said, "Check the other box and write in Susan Wise Bauer groupie". It was even more hysterical because DH pays very, very little attention to our homeschooling curriculum. I guess I throw the name "Susan Wise Bauer" into regular conversation more frequently than I realized.

Do you remember her name??

Hilariously, I watched this video right before falling asleep. At midnight, the 6 year old woke me up to tell me her foot hurt when she walked on it. Ummm, go to bed and stop walking around at MIDNIGHT!! But, first, one more bedtime story...

What do you do when one person refuses to participate in the cleaning?

I bought this book today and am over half way through it. It perfectly describes my son. It perfectly describes how I have reacted. If nothing else, it has made me feel better. Like, maybe his explosions aren't simply because we have been lax in our parenting and discipline. He recently lost devices for two weeks. He had a major meltdown the day after he got them back. We took them away again for a week and he had continued melt downs every day because he felt he had nothing left to lose. DH initially thought we should take them away for the remainder of the school year, but then we have no currency with him at all. I guess I'm confused on how to take them away for an extended period of time while still keeping him motivated to earn them back.

When he refuses, he will not stay at the table. He gets up and storms to his room. And sometimes proceeds to throw everything in the room onto the floor. Usually he will eventually calm down and do the work, or he has to make it up over the weekend. He isn't really behind in work... it has always been done at some point. It's just not being done at the times I want it done. I don't want to help with grammar and read alouds at 8pm at night. I want to be doing the dishes and getting the 3 year old ready for bed. I feel like he is derailing family life for the rest of us. I'm unsure what else to use as a consequence. He mostly only cares about electronics. He plays with legos a lot, but I've been a bit hesitant to take every item he owns out of his room. He's also lost getting together with friends, but he doesn't seem to care.

I'm mobile, so this may be choppy. Short background... 8 year old has always been a difficult kid. Sensitive, difficulty with change, easily angered, has a hard time recovering from melt downs. He does make friends easily and has never had issues in outside classes. Only at home. He is a quick learner. School work is generally easy for him. We moved last summer, and it definitely derailed him. We had a fabulous co-op with hundreds of kids that we left behind. We haven't found a replacement for that here. He is doing gymnastics and parkour and we have park days with friends. He has been so oppositional this year. Some days refusing schoolwork. Sometimes refusing ridiculous things like a park outing. Then, my options are try to drag him, which is getting impossible as he gets older, or all four kids are stuck in because of him. He used to be very motivated by kindle time. The deal currently is that he earns one hour a day to use on the weekend. If I'm generous, he will get two hours this weekend. So, two sorta good days out of five. The rule was previously that he got an hour in the evening if he had a good day, but it was turning into a huge daily battle when it was time to get off. He gets very addicted to electronics. I'm just so frustrated and sick of constantly trying to drag him through school and life with him kicking and screaming. I cater to him as much as I can. But, the reality of life is there are three other kids in our house and sometimes I just need him to cooperate. We've tried bribing him with a star sheet that earns rewards. It didn't seem to help. DH is gone from 7-6 everyday and cannot leave to help. So, there is no way to leave him home and take other kids elsewhere. I'm considering putting him in public school next year. I don't really want to. I'm wondering if having peers would help motivate him to see what behaviors are appropriate and maybe the school could somehow motivate him to do his work. I'm just tired. Tell me this a phase. Give me magical parenting advice. Send wine and chocolate. Help.

My kids take a parkour class. I told DH after the first class that it looked like the funnest possible way to break a bone!

Wow. How can the first listing agent get a commission when you purchase a house he no longer represents? That is so odd. Unless this was the most amazing house I had ever seen in my life, I would probably run from the whole deal.

I know there has been discussion on this before. I have had really odd experiences with facebook ads. Recently, I bought new undies at Target. Didn't google anything about them. Paid with my debit card. Sat in the car after walking out of Target and looked at facebook. Ad for the exact sort of underwear I have just purchased. Can't remember ever seeing an undies ad on facebook before or since. One night I was laying in bed looking at facebook and talking with DH. We discussed a place we hadn't been in a long time. Immediate facebook ad for that place. And, it was some odd place too, not like Disney. There are several times I have noticed things I discuss with others seem to immediately become ads. DH has googled and apparently there are people suspicious that facebook does listen to you through your phone, but of course facebook denies. I know it could be a case of thinking about something and then noticing it everywhere. But, there have just been so many weird incidents. Very specific incidents. And, incidents that I am confident happened without looking online for information. Sometimes it seems tied to my debit card purchases. Other times it seems tied to discussions. It's just creepy.

I've wondered this too. I'm always reminded of the carwash in Breaking Bad. Those stores are everywhere! And, it seems like people rarely purchase mattresses. And, I don't know that I know of anyone who has bought one from mattress firm. And, wait... aren't drugs, money laundering, and mafia exciting theories?!?!

I have loved Nancy Larson Science this year. It doesn't have an experiment every time but is really easy to implement. We also are enjoying Home Art Studio.

I think even with an expensive Sonlight package where everything comes in a box that you need, you would still cap at less than $1000 per kid. Then, a lot of that stuff would be reusable with kid #2. Extracurriculars can get expensive, though. Our oldest has multiple dance classes a week, plus recital fees, costume fees, etc. She is at a less expensive studio. But, multiple kids in a big city in high dollar dance studios, or on some sort of traveling sports team, or ice skating, could get expensive. I don't really rank that as a "homeschooling expense". If the kids were in public schools, they would probably still have dance and gymnastics.

I would like to take a road trip with the family and see a bunch of states we haven't seen. Places I have considered: Utah Yellowstone Seeing some portion of the Appalachian Trail Mt. Rushmore St. Louis Smoky Mountains We've explored Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, so we need to venture out a bit more. I'd love to plan some sort of loop to see some sights on the way out and the way back. The trip can't take more than 2 weeks, and we can't drive more than 10 hours in a day. Suggestions? Any off the beaten trail places to see? I think I'm itching for some scenic America... Editing to add... Maybe I want to go to Toronto through Detroit... Crazy, right??

Agreeing with others... when you have kids that don't match grade level for all subjects (what kid does??) it's usually easiest to pull different things together. If you want to pull your 4 year old in, I would suggest core p4/5. If you are waiting until next school year to order and they will be 6 and 5, you could probably swing core K. Last year my pre-K and 1st grader shared core p4/5. My 1st grader did: core p4/5 Saxon 1 math First Lang. Lessons and Writing With Ease 1 Sonlight readers 3 -- I wound up checking the books out of the library and using the sonlight package to get the readers for my younger kid. Sonlight has some flexibility built in where you can order a different math or reader package, so that helps if you are wanting a package discount.

Running a marathon. Then, laying on the couch and demanding that DH bring me snacks. It will be a great day for one of us!

We are using the original version and my third grader can get his work done pretty quickly. I would say math doesn't take him longer than about 30 minutes. I do most of the "meeting" stuff orally. I cover the pattern answers with my hand and have him just look at the teacher manual. I do the same for the word problem. I also sort of rotate through which questions I ask. I only ask about half of the skip counting questions each day.

We did 8 days there two years ago with a 8,6,4, and 1 year old. We had a fabulous time. We did 3 days at magic kingdom 2 days at Epcot 3 days at Hollywood studios (they were doing Star Wars days and my oldest two couldn't get enough) 1 day at animal kingdom We spent one day in the middle at the closest Florida beach and that was also great. Even if you aren't a super planner, reading a bit before you go can make things sail along more smoothly. Hit the popular rides first thing in the morning and late in the day. Plan some shows when you need a walk break. Plan in advance how much you are allowing for souvenirs because their is expensive crap for sale at every turn. Have fun! We are saving to go back.

I randomly watched YouTube coverage of the US championships. They kept mentioning how their places don't really matter other than determining the US champ. They all go to a training camp and Marta picks. I read a book on Retton a long time ago, and it seemed like the Karolyis might be a bit abusive in their training methods. Why do they get to pick over some other coach?

I read a comment that said, "A lot like serial, but this guy might actually be innocent." I got to episode 3 and am now waiting for DH to catch up so we can watch together.

Reading this thread on my phone right before falling asleep.... I'm guessing I have scary snake infested house dreams tonight. Thanks guys.

Of course it's a desperate choice. It may be informed, but that doesn't mean it's not done out of desperation. A woman willing to go live in another country and be away from her own biological children for months to make $3000 is desperate.