You know that old Sesame Street song, "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong...?" Yeah... Carson would stick out like a sore thumb among the other names you chose for your kids. It's way more modern/trendy-sounding. It seems like once you go with a "theme" for so many of them, you need to keep up with it or it would just not "fit" right!

My 5 y/o absolutely gets relegated to another room while I'm working on something with my 10 y/o, who gets easily distracted. If I let the 5 y/o stay in the room the whole time, my 10 y/o would get nothing done. Fortunately, my 5 y/o has no interest in just sitting there while his sister does school anyway. Certain read alouds, certain crafts/hands on activities, they can do together, but when it's something like a writing assignment or her math or whatever, I send him in to play and do his own thing. If it's something she can do independently, I'll leave her for a bit and go interact with him in another room. But if it's something she needs me for, I help her, and he entertains himself. I figure it'll get easier, not harder as he gets older and can be a better listener/a bit calmer etc.

No, I don't like it.

You're not a failure! It sounds like you did a great job with her and that she is becoming successful in her own right at the moment, especially at that young age- to be working in management, to be so financially responsible, to be paying bills on time, to have saved to buy a car outright, etc. Right now, she's in a job she's happy with, she's already got her foot in the door in a management position, and maybe she will be promoted- maybe at this stage, job experience is going to be enough to keep her moving from one step to the next, and to keep her happy and responsible and working and so on. Even if she doesn't get a diploma or GED now, that doesn't mean she can't ever do it. If her job or mindset or circumstances change, and something comes up where she decides she needs that 'diploma' to get to the next step in her life, then perhaps she'll decide then to go and get herself a GED- She can do that at any time, and if she feels she needs to at some point, then I'm sure she will! In the meanwhile, it seems she's doing good things with herself- so I would just let her go. Let her make the decision. Don't take it personally. And try not to worry too much. It sounds like she'll be fine!

We have dessert every night. (Growing up I did, and now my kids do. They eat healthier snacks during the day, after dinner they get to have something sweet/a treat before bed. I like to be able to do that, too, to this day).

under the circumstances you mentioned, yes, probably.

I have a brother who has had several deployments and is currently in Afghanistan (til next month!) if that counts. I agree with the others that everyone's comfort level is going to be different- and people are going to understand that your children are young. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd let them ask whatever they want and see where their interest/curiosity takes them, and keep an eye on how the people are responding- either they will answer or they will put the question off, or you'll see if it seems awkward and you should step in, and I think it's fine to say to your son in front of them (if it does seem awkward) "that might be too personal for so and so to want to talk about"- but there may not be a problem at all.

Yes, I would let her. Although if she didn't WANT to go, I would not make her go.

yes and yes.

*I* don't, but then I tend to do SOTW over the summer and just focus on Oak Meadow (which is out main curriculum) over the school year. It feels too stressful to try to do BOTH over the school year, so SOTW has been relegated to summers/more for fun. And with how busy our summers are, we don't get extremely far over the summer with it, either! So, the summer after third grade, we started SOTW, and worked on it that summer and last summer (the summer after fourth grade) and only made it through like 13 chapters of SOTW1 so far. I guess at this rate we'll probably finish SOTW1 when she graduates high school or something haha.

Cough...Choke...Sputter! :lol: Er, NO! I couldn't say! I have definitely seen and heard of some mighty odd tattoo choices over the years, for sure, but to each his own, right? ROFL :lol: ...listen, it's true that sometimes I get a LITTLE bit lazy about how often I shave my legs...but they're never THAT bad!!! :lol: :)

Yeah... it would have been exciting to watch her win. She came close, though!

Tell him he probably just made my husband's night by recognizing Lil Wayne! :lol:

Oy! No! :lol: Yes, this. LOL. Thank you. He will be very happy that someone said that lol. :)

You may have an organization for pregnant and parenting teens, and I would think a place like that could always use donations of cribs and such. I also second the suggestion of a women's shelter. Or a homeless shelter. If all else fails, I know that around here if we just put something outside at the curb with a "Free" sign on it, someone will take it!

:lol: No, I don't know who either of those people are.

I know, I can't stand it either. I always have SUCH a hard time getting people to RSVP for my kids' parties. They don't answer, they say "maybe" leaving us wondering and then we have to hunt them down last minute before shopping to find out "well is that a yes or a no?" Sometimes they say yes then cancel, it's SUCH a PITA! Most recently for Alexa's 10th birthday last month, I thought that I'd do an evite instead of a paper invitation, that perhaps people would be more likely to RSVP if all they have to do is read their email and then click a button online, but even with that, there were still a couple of people who never bothered answering and/or waited til incredibly last minute.

"Even if races don't usually interest you, this evening it's time to root for a female horse-an undefeated one-racing in the Breeders Club championship. I think post time for her race is 6:15pm (EDT) and it's on ESPN. Come on guys, you too, let's hear it for the girl! "Saturday is the Breeders Cup 2010, and Zenyatta, a mare, will be seeking perfection. It's been heavily advertised, in fact: the 6 year old is undefeated in her 19 starts, and one of the relatively few undefeated horses in American Thoroughbred racing history"."

I was 5 or 6 months pregnant, when I got married, too, with my now 10 y/o daughter :D (I didn't wear a big white dress considering I was pregnant, AND it was my second marriage anyway haha and like I said, it was a VERY tiny ceremony with VERY few people, no reception or anything like that). It's not a secret or anything and I still wish I had pictures though! (if you read my earlier post, we totally forgot cameras, then the guy who married us gave us a disposable one he had on hand, and we took and developed pics only to find that not ONE of them came out, they were all black, and it turned out the film was expired- by several years!)

That is the question! I've got this "Multiplication Tables" poster/chart thingie hung on the wall over my computer desk. When my daughter does TT math at the computer, if there's something pertaining to times tables that she doesn't know off hand, I think she just consults the chart. Like, recently she had to fill in some blanks in a sequence of counting by 12's, and I think she probably just glanced at the chart rather than trying to figure it out. I thought to myself, "Maybe I should take that down" so she has to figure out answers without potentially "cheating." But then I thought, "but even if she's looking at it, isn't that still a form of practice/review that might eventually be committed to memory even just by looking at it? What do you think?

pizza.

lol of course it's okay! Don't do any more than is comfortable for you! Right now things are pretty busy for us, too! MONDAY Monday mornings, my husband and I go to the gym and work out for 1 1/2 hours while the kids go in the "child watch" program. Every 2-3 Mondays Alexa has a library book club meeting from 4 PM to 5 PM (this is a temporary thing, not something that lasts all year). TUESDAY At certain times throughout the school year, my oldest is involved in a Special Olympics sport that involves me having to pick her up at school (a half hour round trip) Tuesday evenings starting next week and lasting for a couple of months, Alexa and Ben will be doing an "indoor youth soccer league" at the Y from 5:30 to 6:30. While they do that, I'll be taking an adult fitness class there at the Y. WEDNESDAY Wednesday mornings, my husband and I go to the gym and work out for 1 1/2 hours while the kids go in the "child watch" program. The first Wednesday of each month, Alexa and Ben go to a "homeschool PE" class at the Y starting a half hour after that (so I wait around, because childcare ends at 10:30 and PE starts at 11:00). This is once a month from October-April. THURSDAY My husband and I go to our TOPS (weight loss support) meeting in the morning, while Grandma watches the kids. At certain times throughout the year, my oldest is involved in a Special Olympics sport that involves me having to pick her up at school (a half hour round trip) Alexa goes to Girl Scouts in the evening. FRIDAY No regular scheduled activities. Yay! SATURDAY Alexa will be starting "Youth Judo" classes at the Y next week from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. SUNDAY No regular scheduled activities. Yay! ...of course, throughout each month, there are also various field trips, tours and get togethers with our homeschool group. And errands. And various doctor and dentist and eye doctor appointments for somebody or other. And I might do a "homeschool bowling league" with them again this year which runs for...I forget, maybe 8 weeks or so, over the late winter/early spring. There's always something! Sometimes I like being that busy. Sometimes I even get antsy on that one day I DON'T have to go do something, and start feeling like I WANT to go do something. Other times I cancel on field trips and need to just hole up and not do anything for a day. It varies!

Argh mixed reviews lol. I don't know what to do. I feel like 'plush' sounds more COMFORTABLE, you know? The "plush" one says: Convenient EasyCare single-sided, no flip maintenance Comfort Foam Unique foam layer that provides cushioning comfort while maintaining resilience for durable support at the sleep surface. Soft Convoluted Foam® Air flows freely through this layer of foam so it maintains its resilience for consistent comfort every night Sertapedic® Coil Innerspring Unit Heavy-gauge, twice-tempered coils provide durable support to the key pressure points of the body FireBlocker® Helping to keep families safe by exceeding federal and state flammability standards