Do what makes you functional. My DH has many opinions about my sleep (at least he has ever since we had children), but I ignore him (or, occasionally argue with him, which is never effective). He sleeps through the night. I haven't done that in 7 years. He also doesn't breastfeed or otherwise donate his body to grow other humans. I love him, but his opinions about my sleep patterns are irrelevant. I'm sorry you are having so much trouble!

I'm really glad you and Greta mentioned this. The most recent time I successfully LC'd for over a month, I lost my craving for salt (I always, regardless of how I eat, crave salt, so this was weird). I went with it, thinking it a good thing, but I started having severe problems with attention, brain fog, low blood pressure, and exhaustion. I even felt unsafe driving occasionally. I blamed it on the supplements I was taking for anxiety, but the symptoms went away when I gave up LC during a stressful situstion. I bet it was a lack of electrolytes!! I've been on plan, fully, less than 20 net carbs, for five days, and less than 1500 calories, though I don''t at ress much about calories. When I eat very LC, the calories tend to take care of themselves. While I've been under 40 net for a bit now, I decided that I needed to kick it up because the weight wasn't moving. I'm feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, hubby cooked breakfast (frittata with potatoes), so while I picked out all the potato I could, I still counted 15g of net carbs between the pieces I couldn't remove and the broccoli and onions. That means I can't eat the jambalaya I'm cooking for the family tonight. The tomatoes and onions would knock me over goal. :-( Oh well.

Happy Birthday, Marco! My scary-adventurous-intense-exhausting-awesome one recently made it to age four. He survived a crazy accident just before his 3rd birthday, so your title made me choke up a bit. Hang in there, Mama!

I'll join. I'm almost 2 years out from my roughest pregnancy yet. While I didn't gain as much weight, I've only lost about 5 of the 40 pounds. LC works well for me (lost 60 pounds on it after second pregnancy, after being unable to lose baby weight from kid one and kid two with any other method), but I've been struggling so much with hormone levels, B vitamins and severe anxiety since he was born that I never seem to last more than a week before falling off the LC. My anxiety has improved markedly in the last three months (I'm sure therapy is helping, as well as time), and I'm ready to try LC again. While I don't have blood sugar problems yet, I'm sure they are coming if I don't get my weight back down and monitor my carb intake. I've been successful for 5 days this time. I aim for under 30 net carbs, as that is what worked last time. I maintain my weight eating 50-100 grams of carbs a day, and I gain when I eat over 100g.

Here is the Cool Running C25K plan that offers plans for either running for distance and for time. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml I don't know anyone else who runs as slowly as me and actually sticks with it, but I've been running at that 14 minute pace 3-5 times a week for over a year (and before/between pregnancies, I logged a few years too). It works for me. ETA: There are podcasts for C25K that are scheduled for time rather than distance. I used Running Into Shape's podcasts for my training. She now has several different podcasts with different styles of music, but I used her originals. It's so nice to have a voice in your ear to tell you when that never-ending 60 seconds of running finally ends in week 1. :-) http://runningintoshape.com/5k-training-downloads/

I agree that it is an ambitious plan. I've successfully used C25K twice (before and after a pregnancy). Both times, I hit a wall at week 3 and week 5. I chose to repeat the previous week, then do the trouble week twice also. So, my an ended up being Week 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. No shame in that! The second time I did C25K, I actually skipped weeks 8 and 9 because I was ready for the full distance after doing my long routine up to week 7. I am a very slow runner (about a 14 minute mile now, 15-16 minutes back then) so when I do C25K, I run for time, not distance. I absolutely could not have successfully completed C25K for distance back then...it took me 48 minutes to run my first 5K and the training programs only plan for about 30 minutes as the longest runs. Instead, I complete the program for time, then continue to slowly increase my time until I'm running as long as I want to be running. I prefer to run for 60 minutes now, which is about 4 miles, and I throw in longer runs of 1.5 hours (6 miles) weekly or so, but it took me many additional months of training to get to that distance. If I try to run faster, I get hurt. Because I absolutely love to run, I have no interest in increasing my speed at the risk of injury. Embrace your pace and have fun!!

The Dance (Garth Brooks) Go Rest High on that Mountain (Vince Gill) God Gave Us You (Blake Shelton) My Best Friend (Tim McGraw)

Somewhere along the line, I realized that everyone has secrets, and that the loudest among us often have really, really big ones. I know the culture of the Duggars well enough to be, sadly, unsurprised that they would cover up such a horror. I grew up in a fundamentalist culture. Thankfully, it wasn't quite as legalistic as I see in the Duggar/ATI/Vision Forum world (except for that minute when my parents joined a crazy sect that required some out there behaviors). I saw what happened when a man molested a child in the church. He was given the opportunity to repent in a meeting with the elders, and, after doing so, asked to leave the church. No police report. No warning the next congregation he would, certainly, victimize. No telling the rest of our congregation what had happened so they could investigate their own children's safety. No professional counseling for the child. I was 14 when it happened and the child was very dear to me, and, even at 14, I knew that the church leadership was being profoundly irresponsible. I was appalled, and, yes, I felt foolish that I expected better of the church leadership. I never expected better again. Later experiences proved my low expectations correct. Forgive should NEVER mean ignore, hide, protect the criminal, and blame the victim. Edited to remove some details.

Rent Wicked Aida Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat The Last Five Years Of my favorites, I've only seen Rent and Aida, but the soundtracks of the above are some of my favorite music ever recorded. I adore almost all musicals (but, seriously, there's not a compelling song to be had in "Into the Woods." What is up with that??).

My husband used to use his time very inefficiently, and after we had children, this became a point of conflict. He would put in a twelve hour day, conveniently arriving home immediately after the kids were in bed. He worked evenings and weekends. The week before and the week after a business trip, we would hardly see him, meaning I was on my own with the kids for more than twice as long as he was traveling. He could do these things because he knew that I would handle everything. I pointed out what I was seeing over and over again until he began to improve. He's much better now, but I still remind him of his tendencies when I know a business trip is coming up. At this point, he knows he does this so he doesn't resent my gentle reminder to plan ahead and use his time well so he can remain an active husband and father. In addition, he now has a reputation as one of the most efficient people in his office (he was seen as very good at his job before because he always got everything done and did it well, but everyone has noticed his improved efficiency with no reduction in performance).

My husband agreed to a "trial period" that turned into a "well, this works." I was homeschooled for 8 years and loved it, so I was hopeful that I could make this work with my own children.

I used to babysit for a family that considered "oh my word" and "oh my goodness" to be swears due to these referencing God's word and goodness. These were the extent of my "bad language," but that family required me to say "oh my land" instead. Apparently, they didn't consider that the land was also God's....

My mom used to complain constantly that we were only hungry immediately after she had cleaned the kitchen. She said we must have a clean kitchen alarm installed somewhere. :-) My children are always hungry, so that one doesn't apply here, but bathroom and phone time? Oh, yes, everyone needs Mama, and, yes, of course it is an emergency.

I am not religious, but I used to be. Very. Very. Religious. While I was lucky enough to not have any creepy pastors or youth pastors (that I know of, anyway), I was witness to what happens when youth pastors don't pay enough attention and communicate well. Several of my friends got into some very inappropriate situations that may have been avoided with more structure and communication. In addition, his claims about technological incompetence raise red flags. If my son was in this group, I'd pull him.

Since the author appears to assume that all homeschoolers are some version of Christian, I must join the ranks of the yet undefined Tier 6.

I was homeschooled for nearly 8 years on a boxed curriculum (ABeka, for the record). I lived being homeschooled, but I hated the curriculum. I burnt out so badly that I refused to do any schoolwork and my mother, thinking me rebellious, put me in public school. My childhood experience with that boxed curriculum informs my choices when educating my own children. I don't like boxes or boxed curriculum. My children don't fit in boxes. I tweak everything we use. My kids are very young, but I am very pleased with our path so far. For what it's worth, most young homeschoolers I know use boxed curriculum, and they question my decisions liberally. I encourage people to remember that each home gets to find the method of homeschooling that is right for that home. :-) We like what we do. It works. We're happy. ETA: I intended to write that I loved homeschooling, but I suppose saying I lived it works too.

I've used expensive shampoo and conditioner (Pureology, Matrix), cheap shampoo and conditioner (Suave, Pantene), and no shampoo and conditioner. For my fine, limp hair, baking soda and vinegar work best. I have more body and control with my current baking soda and vinegar routine (going on 4 years now) than I ever had with "real" shampoo and conditioner. That said, I have recently started using high-end styling products again (Moroccanoil) and I'm loving the result when combined with my no shampoo washing routine.

Thanks for the correction, Jean. I was working from my faulty memory and unable to verify her last name when posting earlier.

I had chronic, extensive trigger points for many years. They have been improved by the following: trigger point massage (think extra deep tissue), learning t do my own trigger point massage ( through Trigger Point Workbook, the green massage hook, a foam roller, and lots of massage with my fingers), adding magnesium to my regular supplements, and, finally, discovering "Alignment Matters" and the blog "Katy Says," both written by Katy Bowen. I did the above on that order, over the course of several years. Trigger point reduces the pain, magnesium reduces the severity of the trigger points, and alignment, the magic bullet, has largely eliminate the trigger points. I spent about a month doing everything Katy says to do in "Alignment Matters," including her suggested stretches, combined with my usual trigger point self massage. I had noticed that I was in less general pain within a few days of correcting my alignment, but the amazing moment came after about a month when I realized that the trigger points Weren't Coming Back! I used to self massage daily. Now I do it weekly, if that, and also massage significantly fewer areas of my body. Seriously, this book is awesome (but the other stuff helps too).

My first grader isn't ready for BA quite yet either, but I solved the problem of Singapore being too easy by switching him from the workbook to the IP and CWP when he was doing 2B. He had to work just enough. I'm hopeful that he is ready for BA soon because those comics on my shelf taunt him constantly. :-)

When 2nd grade begins, I'll have a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old. I expect this to be my hardest year (at least until they are all in upper grades), but the last few months with my 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old have nearly broken me, so I hope it doesn't get much worse! :-) Math: Singapore 3B, 4A, and 4B, Miquon Purple and Yellow, and Beast Academy 3. This boy lives and breathes math. Reading: OPGTR and Explode the Code 6-8 Spelling: I don't know if I will start this in 2nd, but if I do, we'll try Spelling Power Grammar: Easy Grammar (unless one of those vintage texts calls my name) Handwriting: Getty-Dubay, probably repeating book 2, then book 3 Writing: Writing Strands 2 Literature/History/Science/Geography: AO Year 2, secularized. Science experiments on the weekends. Spanish: Maybe Power Glide, maybe Rosetta Stone. My "make my own" method didn't work this year because I didn't do it. I want to start Latin, but I don't have any idea how or with what. Also, it might be crazy to even try next year.

Thirding this. My explosive child requires a very strict diet. Food coloring increases the duration of his tantrums from 1 minute to 30-60 minutes (but has no effect on the frequency of tantrums, FWIW). This means finding dye-free medications when he is ill, which is, thankfully, becoming easier. For various reasons, including violent reactions, constant sadness, and physical ailments, dairy, gluten, and all legumes have also been eliminated from his diet. He's still explosive and intense, but he feels better and more in control when all of the above are managed carefully. *Edited to add that multiquote didn't work. This quote referenced the suggestion of a food diary because food intolerance can look like what you are describing.

My kids love A.A. Milne's works, but they can be tricky to read, so I would suggest you read those aloud. We love Stevenson's "A Child's Gardeb of Verses" too. For easier to read collections, try my boys' favorites, "Animals, Animals" and "Dragons, Dragons," both illustrated by Eric Carle.

I don't know anything about trigger point needling, but I taught myself basic trigger point massage when I had to move away from my excellent trigger point massage therapist. I've been successful in managing my own pain this way.

This happened to us around Thanksgiving. I was home all day when it was supposedly delivered. My doorbell was not rung, which is quite odd because our carrier always rings the bell. I was out in the front yard multiple times that day as well, with no sign of it being left anywhere. Unfortunately, the package was never found, and USPS refused to honor the insurance on the package because their system marked the package as delivered. They tried to convince me that the package was stolen. I highly doubt it. I was not happy.