Thank you, Kathy. Another quick question, how is the humidity and pollen counts? My son has some "asthmatic-like" reactions, especially sensitive to pollen, freshly cut grass. I hope it's not super windy -- I don't want him tipping in a lake full of alligators. People tell me they are just little babies and are scared of humans. Do you all swim in your alligator lakes? (Sorta scared to ask this question!)

and I meant to ask about bugs, mosquitoes, etc. Do we need to pack bug-repellent? T

"March is usually the beginning of swimming weather for us" -- read this and laugh my head off! My oldest is coming to Leesburg for a month of training with his paddling club, and we're trying to figure out exactly what he should bring for regular, casual clothes and training gear. Friends of ours told us it was "chilly" in the mornings and he'd need long-sleeves for running . . . I just assumed it was always sunny and wonderful in Florida! Thanks for the laugh! T

Hello, Hive! Is anyone located around Leesburg, Florida? Wondering what one would expect for weather, SPF, wind/rainy conditions during the month of March? Warmly, Tricia

These are all very kind responses. The time is now for the real talks about choices and reminding the kids that their father did give up a lucrative international oil&gas career because he did want to see them everyday and chase their sports on the weekend and help them understand that there is a "cost" to have a parent present and available. One poster above made sure to clarify that our path doesn't have to be their path. I like that. I don't think they are jealous or covetous of the peer group that is wealthier . . . I think they are trying to make sense about how we live (simple, by our standards, at least) and the way others live. Maybe it's the insecure part of me that's wondering if we made the best choice for our kids, in terms of lifestyle. I know we're living the life we want to live and our kids get to decide how they want to live. It feels crazy to me that we're here, having these real grown-up conversations that influence how they might walk into their lives. Such responsibility, and I want to make sure we get ithese conversations "right" if there even is a way to get it right. I really like the Richard Foster list for simplicity. That's great. Thank you for that.

Posters Above . . . Thank you. Thank you a thousands times. Your words are helping the anxiety ease off my shoulders and I'm appreciative. Each post is so thoughtful. I'm going to print them all out and have some great conversations with my big boys. T

Hello Hive, We've had a conversation brewing in our home for approximately six months, and now it's here, front and center, and I'm not exactly sure how to proceed. A quick background about me: My brother and I were raised by a single mama who never made more than 18k in our growing up years. We lived in a small mobile home and understood that family vacations, expensive gifts, lovely furniture, house parties, friends staying over weren't part of our equation. We were mostly happy, and well-cared for and played school sports and did well academically, but I recognized early on that we weren't one of the "rich" families. Fast fwd to our adult life with three children . . . my Mr is a civil engineer employed by the province. He earns a decent salary. Our home is not flashy. It services our needs but it's not pretty, by decorated standards. We drive used vehicles and our furniture is nothing special. In comparison with how I grew up, however, we have got it made in the shade. Our children are on a team which is very expensive and attracts families that seem to have extra money, big houses, fancy cars, expensive toys. Apple laptops and Beats headphones and IPads. You get the picture. The boys have been invited over for evening get-togethers and they come home with wide eyes. I have no problem with "rich" people in the same manner that I have no problem with "poor" people. We all have the money we have and we all decide how we want to live in the context of that dollar amount. I've tried to explain to the boys that we choose this life because I wanted to stay home with them and be present. I couldn't do that working a full-time job. How do you help your children understand money and socio-economic factors and big houses and small houses and how people live or don't live? I have tremendous gratitude for my life. Our needs are met and we have a bit left over to share. We do have a kingdom-grid and I don't believe that the North American path of "spend it if you've got it" is the best philosophy for living but I don't want my children to perceive judgement when we're talking about the big houses and fancy cars. Everyone is living their life. I don't want my kids to feel like they can't cross the socio-economic divide and befriend whoever it is that they like hanging out with and clearly, we don't live in that same stratosphere. If you consider yourself a "middle" person . . . where you've made choices that don't stretch your budget to the ends of the earth but your kids orbit with families that are or kick the perception of wealthy, how do you walk that road in conversation? Warmly, Tricia

Hi Laura, we had our meeting this morning. The French "issue" may not factor into the equation b/c they are starting a Spanish strand and it will be a classroom of brand-new speakers. There are other courses that have no pre-requisites, like Economics. He seemed excited about the prospects and I'm thrilled/excited/nervous/sad about having my oldest away everyday. Time for him to launch! Warmly, Tricia

Ah, thank you, Hivers! Always appreciate your knowledge about everything I ever need to know. Warmly, Tricia

Hello Hive, Are any of you following a vegan diet with the added twist of gluten-free? I haven't eaten red meat for 20 + years now. In the last five years, I haven't eaten seafood, mostly for environmental concerns around fish farming and chicken is not my favorite. Approximately 6 months ago, I visited my naturopathic doctor due to low-energy. I mostly thought it was because of the effort I was outputting at the gym but testing showed that all forms of dairy protein will cause imbalance in my body. I wasn't so discouraged about this news, because I spent 6 years living a vegan lifestyle, but then it included pasta, bread. Fast forward to Nov 2012, and a round of blood work and the results came back as a 8.2/9 for gluten intolerance. She recommended I stay away from any products containing gluten. The Holidays have come and gone and now, I need a plan. I'm a wee bit discouraged about meal planning, in a house full of growing, athletic boys. Cooking different options get tedious and I don't expect my family to follow along fully with my food choices. I like them to be open-minded but I'm not all about the "eat this or else" mentality. I'm wondering if any of you identify your food choices as "gluten-free vegan" and what are your best blogs, books for cooking in a way that is family-friendly, relatively easy to prepare and maybe some online community support. Warmly, Tricia

Howdy -- For Laura Corin, I am so nervous about sending him off to school. What if I failed him? What if I didn't do enough? What if every other kid is smarter than him and he tells me I didn't do a good enough job. I just want to lose my mind, but he's excited about the next thing and it will be what it will be. As for the french, I ordered Galore Park French from *RAY* at horrible books. What a great guy! He's also digging into the Carnegie link that cschnee added above. I'm happy he's motivated . . . We haven't done much by way of proper science, so next year will be a heavier focus there. He'll do AofPS Alg 2 and Geometry before he heads off to real school, so I hope he'll be adequately prepared for math. I can't believe I'm here with 18 months left of having my oldest at home full-time. I'll be the only highschool parent saying good-bye to the kid and boo-hoo'ing all the way back to the van. Cheers, Tricia

Good Morning -- and thank you for the suggestions. Galore Park is on my radar, but I'll carefully sift through the suggestions and make a decision after I meet with the IB folks. Warmly, Tricia

Happy Holidays to the Hive! I think we've almost decided that our oldest will attend an IB program for his high school years. The IB program has a French language component (grouped in beginner, intermediate and advanced classes). The students that come out of public school (the core-french strand) do beginner high school French, the students that study late French Immersion do intermediate and native speakers/Early Immersion students do advanced work) My goal would be to have him do enough French in the next 18 months that he could manage the beginner class. I'm meeting with the IB Dept Head in the New Year so I'll be able to match up your suggestions with the pace of the beginner course he'll need to manage. I need a beginner French curriculum that covers all the bases (vocab, grammar, speaking/listening, translating) and has an online teacher component. We did two years of Lively Latin so I'm hoping it could be something along those lines, only for an older student. He'll be away for the month of March with his paddling club so this needs to be an independent curriculum that he can work at on his own. He'll have a computer and access to the internet while he's away. What does the hive recommend? Thank you in advance for your suggestions! Warmly, Tricia

Hi, Thanks to both of you for your kind replies. At this exact moment, I feel like I know writing is power, but my son hasn't ever given that any thought. It hit something in him . . . so instead of doing what I normally do, which is "teach" the joy right out of a natural interest, I'm trying to covertly, under the radar, bring him some "power writing" without "schooling" it. We'll have a peek at the MLK speech . . . and I'm not sure if he's read a book that haunts him, or a piece of writing that moved him to action. It seems present life is very surface so I would like to send him off on an adventure that satisfies a part of him that he didn't even know needed satisfaction. I suspect this reply sounds loopy. I've got boys that aren't bothered by a few hours of math everyday, but reading Great Books (chuckle chuckle) wouldn't be high on their list of priorities. I have my work cut out for me . . . Warmly, Tricia

Hello WTM Boardies: I haven't been here for a long time -- trust you are all well. Wondering, how would the more experienced among us keep a conversation rolling about writing as an act of power? We're reading along in HOAW and my son comes across this line on pg. 47 "even since, the mastery of writing and reading has been an act of power." We had some conversation about religious leaders not wanting the commoners to be able to read the bible and Martin Luther's written post nailed to the door of the church. We had some general conversation around education/reading/writing and revolution. Where would I look for resources/articles/books that speak to writing as power, writing as revolution, reform, justice, information, interest. My shallow pondering's won't satiate what he's after so I need some help for myself, to find conversation hooks, and articles that we can both read and discuss. On a positive note, like most other boys who aren't thrilled with writing, he's somewhat mystified by this idea that writing has power. I feel like I need to jump on this interest, because it might radically change our path together, in terms of thinking on paper and having something to say? Thinking, discussing, questioning and outputting some decent writing thrills me, especially if the writing happens without me having to play the heavy! :) Looking forward to hearing from you. Warmly, Tricia

Public library? Coffee Shop? A neighbor's kitchen table? Even for a slice of the day, so you and yours can feel normal in the midst of reno crazy. Good luck! Tricia

GinaPagnato . . . you can help your son do math. I would rejoice!!!!! :) Our experience with the online classes is that many of the students had already had a go with "direct teaching" via school and were beefing up their understanding and learning the AofPS style as a way to increase their math scores. Some were 10 year old geniuses, no question about that and some seemed rather normal, plugging away and getting it done. A student gets out of AofPS what he puts into it . . . and I'm not sure you can decide until you try it out and give it a go. Good Luck on your journey! Cheers, Tricia

My underline . . . but to assure the OP, some students do need a tutor to help navigate the AofPS material. I had my son work the questions in the textbook (which was a steep learning curve -- in that he was teaching himself and discovering for himself. It wasn't until close to the end that he realized he really did have to work independently at this math) and then do the end of chapter questions. It became immediately clear based on the end of chapter work if he understood or not. If it was more "not" than our tutor jumped in and started from where he struggled. One word of caution, and I didn't catch this until mid-way of Alg 1, is how much my son relied on the tutor to explain and didn't really put the effort into self-teaching. He dramatically improved with the Number Theory course. The material was much easier, but he finally caught on that he had to do the work. My advice from this non-mathy mom is stay on top of the corrections, daily (most certainly) and if in a sticky spot, don't let your child proceed until you've taken a look. Don't let anything slide. I thought AofPS was going to be independent work for my son but quickly realized he still needed me to bring some structure to his math study. HTH's Tricia

I read this entire thread because I'm in the midst of making huge changes in my life and wondered how others would respond to your question. This response resonated with me . . . a very small slice of people come to the end of themselves, never need question how they got there and just fix it. They overhaul their diet, find a way to exercise that fits their life and that's it, that's all. They lose x number of pounds, they regain energy, they stay motivated. I never found myself in that small slice of people. I had to do the cerebral work first. I read and reread every one of Geneen Roth's book about the connections between food and love. I read Brenee Brown's book about shame and how that affects our decision-making process. My Mr and I did a six month marriage course and I realized I struggle with boundaries and food was always my friend when people trampled me. I started to understand my relationship with food as compulsive and started to see how some of my codependant personality slices fed my food compulsion. When I started to see how I processed the world, I could then start to understand why my self-care was found at the bottom of a jug of frozen yoghurt. This has been a three year journey for me and it's only been in the last three months that the final pieces of the puzzle have come together. I found a great gym with really supportive people. For ten years, I craved a quick fix to my weight problems. I had to do the background work of really understanding how I got here. Wishing you well! Warmly, Tricia

This might seem crazy, but I'll tell you my story anyway . . . A month ago, I joined a Crossfit gym a few minutes away from my home. I'm currently 65 lbs over my "fighting weight" and have been holding down the sofa off and on for the past decade. I get rolling on something, lose focus, and quit. Crossfit feels like a real community -- the only place I feel more well-cared for is in my home and faith community. These people go the extra mile to include me, help me learn the movements, and encourage me to push back the gray of physical and mental weakness. Bring life to my body. My trainer at the gym made this comment . . . he said so many folks join a gym, do the work-out they think they should be doing, with little to no direction after the intro sessions, and it becomes difficult to get the intensity level up enough to really empty the tank, so to speak. And, the gym can be a pretty lonely place . . . which is why I love Crossfit. There is always a trainer taking the lead in the class, it's different every day and it's always a mix of strength, reps, time, speed, cardio. If there is a gym in your town, check it out. You never know how it might appeal to your inner-princess-warrior! It only takes 4 hours a week. That was the best part for me . . . 60 mins x 4 and healthy, balanced eating can really change a life. Warmly, T

So my update it this: after poking and prodding and looking, he couldn't see anything wrong with me and has sch'ed a neck ultrasound????? Seeing that this dr taught at a local medical school for 35 years and has been in private practice for 45, I was too scared to give him any Hive opinions. Guess it's more tylenol for me . . . but I am going to see if I can find Culturelle. Thanks for all of the thoughts and suggestions -- I'll carry on from here. Warmly, T

Wow, I've never heard of yeast infection of the ear. I'll add this to the list of "possibilities" . . . this specialist is going to love me. Rolling down my list of all the Dr. Hive possibilities -- :)

I'm seeing the ENT specialist tomorrow and I'll let him know what the Hive has recommended. Did you worry about the amount of pain-relief you took while waiting for the ear to right itself? I'm not a pill popper by any stretch and I'm worried that taking 8 - 12 pills of Tylenol/Advil daily can't be great for my indoors? Did your painful ears look infected or abnormal when the doc took a peek inside your ears? I was at the dr again this afternoon and he couldn't see anything odd about my ouch ear compared to my normal ear. So peculiar. Thank you, all. T

My Mr told me to book that ENT appointment ages ago but I was too stubborn. I will obey the Hive . . . and also look into the natural suggestions that Lara offered. Thank you. Tricia

Dr Hive, For approximately three months, I've been suffering from beyond normal ear pain. When I swallow, my ear throbs but my throat doesn't hurt. Just after Christmas, my fam doc prescribed a run of antibiotics, and then another but it didn't bring any relief. Another dr told me I may have allergies, causing p-n drip and that was causing the pain. He gave me some potent allergy pills, but no luck with that either. This ear pain is so severe that it wakes me up in the middle of the night. I'm embarassed to say that I need Advil and Tylenol to get through the day. I can usually suck it up and deal with pain, but I haven't been able to manage this ear pain. I have an appointment with a naturopathic dr. but her schedule is booked and I can't see her until mid-May. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might be able to do to help myself. This is ridiculous. Warmly, Tricia