DD8 can write quickly OR neatly. Neatly is s...l...o...w... Which should I be emphasizing? Meanwhile, DD11 types very accurately but seems to be plateaued at 25 wpm. I've been trying to coach her to type more quickly and not worry so much about accuracy but she's such a perfectionist. Pegasus

If they've been in the fridge the whole time, I'd eat them. Our boiled Easter eggs can easily last that long. Pegasus

My DD8 also moves at her own speed. She takes her time, she walks slowly, she transitions slowly from one activity to the next. When I'm in a rush, it drives me nuts. When I'm not in a hurry, I can appreciate her slower pace. She is always the one to notice really cool tiny details that we would rush right past. Sorry, I don't have any real help for you. Did you DD take all these tests back to back? It sounds like she just got tired/burned out. Pegasus Edited to add, DD8 HATES timed games like Boggle. If we play without the timer, she does much better (and quicker too, oddly enough). It's almost like if she is timed, all she can think about is the time going past and not the task at hand.

I've heard the general rule of thumb that a one-semester college class can be shown as 1 high school credit. How does this really work: would a 2-credit college class vs a 4-credit college class both be shown as 1 high school credit? Also, if a student takes 2 semesters of something (say, biology), do they end up with 2 high school credits in biology? How do you title the classes: Biology I and Biology II? thanks! Pegasus

This was DD8's first year in dance classes. We just finished having the recitals and we now have 3 dance costumes that she'll never need again. I LOVE that she loves dance class and I do want her to be able to perform in front of an audience but this expenditure for clothing to be worn twice seems ridiculous and a big waste. Any tips/hints/guidance? :bigear: Thanks, Pegasus

I love this thread and was just sharing it with DD11 when I remembered another dumb thing I used to believe about Sesame Street. The only adults living together that I knew were married couples. So, I assumed that Bert and Ernie were a married couple. Since I only knew man/woman married couples, I assumed that Ernie was a female character. I believed this for years and years. The fact that they argued all the time just cemented my beliefs. :D Just why did these two live together, anyway? :confused: Oh, one more. My older sister would only let me sit in her lap for a short while and would then make me hop up, saying that her bones were getting soggy. Yep, I believed that one too. Pegasus

We do MUS the "lazy" way which works fine for our two DDs who learn math fairly easily. We watch the DVD lesson together on Monday and then do the worksheets through the week. The TM is rarely even opened. Have you tried the demo DVD in a regular DVD player? It is not interactive like the TT DVDs. It is simply a DVD of Steve Demme presenting the lesson. It does NOT have all the problem solutions on it, like TT does. Pegasus

Thanks for the input! Pegasus

Lots of good ideas! I knew I was doing the right thing by asking here. To answer a few of the questions: Yes, she did read early but mostly learned to sight-read so I'm not sure sounding out words to herself would have been a factor. Yes, she has a good vocabulary for her age, since she reads a lot. No, her speech therapist did not have a British accent. Cool idea though! No, she doesn't listen to audio books. Hmmm. . .now how do I determine if DD's accent is "upper class" or "lower class" British. :tongue_smilie: Pegasus

An older sister told me that a mirror was really a window to another planet where there existed someone just like me and who did everything I did at the exact same time I did. I'm not sure just how long I believe her but one day I asked how to open the "window" and she confessed that it wasn't true. I'd probably believe just about anything about farm animals since I've never lived the country. Just yesterday, I read a blog that mentioned putting a glass egg in to the chicken coop to get the chickens to start laying. :confused: Never heard of that before! Of course, I still don't understand why chicken would lay eggs when there's no rooster around. Pegasus

Ok, I think ya'll may be on to something here. DD11 had serious speech articulation problems when she was young. Upon being tested at age 4, she was in the lowest 3% for articulation. She had a year of awesome speech therapy and has been perfectly easy to understand since. So, maybe she does say some sounds just a bit differently (either from the original articulation issues or from the exercises performed during speech therapy). I'll start listening specifically for the sounds that are mentioned in this thread and see if I detect a difference. It's possible that she has a bit of a southern accent, given where we live. I don't detect it but that may be because I'm so close to the situation. She certainly doesn't sound as Southern as most natives to this area. I grew up in South Dakota and consider myself to have the "non-accent" of the midwest. :tongue_smilie:

Thank you for your reply. We have not had either DC diagnosed so she does not have an OT. We did seek treatment for our eldest when she was very young, mainly because her eating was so outside the realm of normal. Responses ranged from dismissal of our concerns (pediatricians) to an explanation that they didn't treat such things (from therapists we contacted directly). So, if anyone knows a great OT who works with sensory issues in driving distance of Knoxville, TN and who will let patients self-refer, let me know! Pegasus

DD11 has had several people, upon meeting her for the first time, ask her if she's from England. At first, I was completely puzzled by their question but have since noticed that at times, she does seem to have a British accent. I still haven't figured out WHY. We live in East Tennessee and none of her relatives or friends speak with a British accent. DD isn't TRYING to sound British and although she's heard a British accent in movies or television, hasn't been immersed by any means. Does anyone else have a child who sounds like they are from elsewhere? Any ideas why DD would sound British? :confused: All theories will be mulled over. :bigear: Pegasus

Girl Scout registration has been $10 per year but I think I heard it will be $12 next year. They will waive the fee if your family can not afford it! Activities are usually paid partially by the families and partially from fund raisers (like selling Girl Scout cookies!). Girl Scouts really emphasizes the concept that children are not left out because they can not afford it. I wouldn't not do Girl Scouts because of a perception of cost. Camping and overnights are usually part of Girl Scouts. I understand that you do not allow your children to do these things. Our troop always allows a parent to come along. I've gone along every time. :001_smile: If that is still out of the question, I think you need to tell your kids this BEFORE they become involved in a troop. We still do lots of activities that do not involve overnights. They could still have a blast. Pegasus

A lot of families are really feeling the pinch. Only you and your DH can decide where your priorities are and make the decisions that are right for your family. If you've been spending more than you are making but still not incurring personal debt, are you depleting savings? If so, you need to look at how much savings you have left. Obviously, if you have a lot in savings, you can continue "leaking" money until the savings drops below your comfort zone. If it were me, I'd stop buying local/organic food and cut the grocery bill. I'd take the kids swimming this summer since you've already paid for it, and I'd plan other low cost activities for them (no expensive camps or lessons). High rent/mortgage and car payments are often what make it tough for families to make ends meet. If this is the case for your family, can you find a cheaper place to rent, make do with one car? We are having to make similar cutbacks. I wish you all the best! Pegasus

We use Purina One and our vet seems fine with it. One of our cats is over 20 years old and going strong. Pegasus

I'm right there with you. :grouphug: We have the closets full of comic books and old board games, models, etc. from DH's childhood. I don't touch any of it. However, I wouldn't hesitate to sell some of the old wedding gifts. Would your DH feel better about it if you were getting some money for it? I mostly let the kids decide when they've outgrown their toys. Yes, this does mean that we are stuck with too many toys most of the time. However, I grew up moving every couple of years and I still remember being so sad when my parents threw out my toys before every move. Good luck. Sometimes you can sneak a few things out of the house over time without anyone noticing. Pegasus

I normally let them wiggle their own teeth out. I was quite traumatized as a child by an older sibling and a pair of pliers. Yikes! BUT, one time DD had a tooth that got loose but just didn't seem to get really loose. The new tooth was trying to grow in front of it. It looked odd but I was willing to just wait and see. Then, the old tooth split in half but still stubbornly stayed in there. We were about to travel on vacation and I didn't want just part of the tooth coming out and causing her pain when we were far from home. Finally, I made DH take her to the dentist to have it taken out. Yes, he wanted to make a shorter trip to the garage for a pair of pliers but I wouldn't let him. He was a bit steamed about the $119 bill but I was happy that the hygienist was able to remove it with no trauma. They used a numbing gel. Pegasus

Both of my DDs have shown sensory issues, many of which my eldest (now 11) seems to be outgrowing. Her remaining quirks seem to be satisfied by wearing knit clothing and Croc style shoes. DD8, on the other hand, seems to have swung from one extreme to the other. When she was very young, she seemed "tough" and would take a rough tumble and just get up and keep going. Once, she wore a pair of brand new rainboots to play outside on a nice day. When I pulled them off a few hours later, they had rubbed a raw ring around each of her legs. She didn't seem to notice or care. Now she's on the other extreme. She wants only very smooth fabrics to touch her skin. She rejects anything fuzzy (like fleece) as itchy. We had a lot of luck with smooth knits until a few months ago when she declared that the seams were not tolerable. So, she's been wearing all of her smooth knit clothing inside out. Is it common for a child to swing from one extreme to the other? I feel like she's gotten "worse" but I now realize that her earlier lack of a response to touch and pain was a symptom of sensory issues as well.

I don't think it is ever too soon for the basic information presented in that book with the exception of the eating disorders. I really wish they would leave a discussion of eating disorders OUT of books about normal healthy development. Pegasus

Unfortunately, they do not have vaccines for eczema and asthma. They DO have allergy shots but I've usually heard of them being using in conjunction with seasonal allergies. I don't know if they'd be effective with food allergies. Vaccinations are never foolproof. Even if you fully vaccinate a population, a certain percentage is still vulnerable to catching the disease. So, yes, vaccinated children can suffer whooping cough, chicken pox, etc. Usually their symptoms are less severe. To answer your question, by fully vaccinating, I'm maximizing their chances (no guarantees!) to avoid serious illnesses. I believe the horrors of the diseases we vax against have faded too much from the minds of the public. Pegasus

Yes, you remember correctly. She did need a couple fillings and she had been hysterically crying at the dentist. It may very well be that she will need to be sedated. I was only surprised at amount of pro sedation comments without much other advise offered. I'm glad to hear that your DD is improving with the progressive exposure, even if it is slow. :001_smile: Pegasus

Nothing wrong with a little levity. :001_smile: Honestly, I've read many of the vaccination threads on this board and have been exposed to the wide variation in opinions. I have high regard for any well informed parent making their own choices. I do believe many (not necessarily on this board!) parents refusing vax are being reactionary, to use your well chosen word. I certainly didn't mean to imply that my 5-minute of googling was exhaustive. Simply that sedation is not risk-free and even cursory research shows the very real (if remote) risk. If one of my DC needed sedation, I wouldn't have much fear for their safety. However, if I wouldn't jump at the chance to sedate them if I thought I could avoid it. Pegasus

Well, technically, since she was drawing on a flat board, everything she had was 2-D. :D She should have used a real cube to show 3-D. Pegasus

Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines. 5 minutes spent on Google turned up several heart-breaking stories related to the use of sedation on children by dentists. I DO believe that dire results are rare. But why not try other things first? That's why I was surprised by the posts. Pegasus