Anyone experience feeling better/having MORE energy in your 40s than did in your 30s? If so, please tell me about it including the WHY behind it.

I hadn't watched enough of ABC to see any clips to know wasn't promoted for families. I just saw Muppets and thought it'd be like the wholesome Muppets movies/old show. I made a wrong assumption, for sure.

We watched it for a few minutes and turned it off. Among other adult themes, Kermit, for example, had said "hell" and "sexy." They mentioned Miss Piggy missing a waxing appointment. In another scene, Fozzy is sitting at a table with his "girlfriend's" family talking about compatibility issues. Kermit made a blatant reference to his reproducing (we had already had our son leave before this) -- I can't recall the exact line he said -- but the point was apparent. We didn't like what the writers had done to the characters. We had talked it up for weeks leading up to it thinking it'd be a fun, wholesome show for us to watch as a family. I thought that is what the writers would have tried to appeal to families too. Does this appeal to other families? To whom were they trying to appeal with such adult themes? Thumbs down in my view. If you watched any/all of it, what were your thoughts?

I'm checking all of these suggestions out! thanks all!

I need a nice planner (with calendar for keeping up with scheduling/appointments/To-Do lists/remember birthdays, etc.) ! Please share your fave(s) and source thereof!

Good idea on the painting with a sealant on the back. I bought this chalkboard about 4 years ago from www.usmarkerboard.com. It's been great and I really hate to not give the outdoor thing a try. It'd be fun to do some school on the porch! I think I'll paint the back with the polyurethane sealant and caulk (on the back/sides) where moisture could seep in (from humidity), paint the wood frame with exterior paint and give it a go! Thanks for your replies!

We've moved into a smaller home and I want to bring my big 8' x 4' chalkboard from our old house here to our new place. There's no room for it inside but there's room for it on the wall on our large porch. I'm wondering if it'll ruin/warp if under porch. Anyone BTDT who can offer me some info?

If I were a dictator, I'd require everyone to use Saxon Phonics. Like your materials (WWE, WWS, SOTW), it's easy to implement thus it GETS DONE and it does a fantabulous (my word) job. I credit it with my son reading so well so early (he was reading chapter books end of kindergarten/first grade). He's just turned 9 and reads Tolkien (The Hobbit) easily (as an example). I also credit it with his being such a stupentastic (my word) speller!

Thanks all !

I've heard that Jewish children are required to memorize the entire TORAH by age 13. Is the Torah the same as the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)? Do they recite this in its entirety at age 13 or are they asked KEY verses or is it in a fill-in-the-blank where a facilitator leads / prompts? I just couldn't fathom a kid learning the entire Torah verse by verse and reciting it, but maybe that's true. Please share how this is done. Thanks!

Thanks for all the help!

Just this week my mom made my aunt a cast cover for the same reason. Hers sounds more unsightly than your daughters as her pins went through her calf bones and stuck out on both sides of the leg (the sight of it made a little girl gag at a restaurant thus their requesting mom make them something). Mom made a sleeve thing out of a tshirt that cinched at the top. It was basically a tube that she slid onto her foot and it closed (drawstring) at the top once over the pins and stayed put over the area.

We're trying to choose for our Fall vacation which of these (Pop Century vs. All-Star Sports) hotels. Any advise, pro/con info you can share? Thanks!

thanks all!

I have a question about Classical Conversations. I've heard there's ABCdarians (for the youngest participants)and I can't recall the other age divisions' names, but from this I gleaned that there were other age divisions. Into which age divisions is Foundations typically divided?

How else do you interpret the quote above? "Please stop throwing the 'As a Christian' card. It is insulting."

I had left the forum for good but I wanted to post a final "flounce" "swan song" "rosebud" as I know I'll be greatly missed by all of you who have grown to love and adore me these past few weeks and after my few posts. (lol!) I won't leave WTM forum as I need to access the school stuff/ask school questions, but I won't be sharing anything else like this (my thoughts/questions) on the chat forum. 1. For all of you who are making the comments about my having a coronary about this kid showing the deer nuts at VBS.....my blood pressure was never raised a single mm Hg over the kid and the deer nuts . I was an onlooker/assisting the room. My point of even writing about that was that this 9 year old kid had searched for deer testicles and the "sexiest woman in USA". But, the focus was conveniently placed on the 1.) absconding of the phone 2.) the deer nuts with NO mention of the "sexiest woman" part of the post which was the main point --- that a little child had been searching for that on his device. The thread has been turned to the deer nuts and the relatively inane (for my part) issue of the teacher taking up the cell phones so that the kids could focus on Daniel in the Lion's den as opposed to the deer nuts. 2. I don't spend enough time on this forum/the computer period to know the etiquette of what ALL CAPS mean (yelling). I now know to use asterisks to set off/emphasize a phrase or word for emphasis. 3. In response to the insult -- something to the effect of -- "I'm surprised you think so little of your kid"(can't recall the exact quote) I simply wrote (not knowing the religious background of the person who wrote that that), "As a Christian" to explain that in my "version" of Christianity, that I believe that mankind (my own kid included) is not by nature Holy/without sin/without temptation and that in my religion and per the Bible, that I hold to my concern about what my kid would do with unsupervised internet access, because he has a sin nature and is prone to sin just like me and everyone else. Because I said that "As a Christian" I had a person tell me to "stop playing the Christian card" (or something like that) which is rude and insulting and unconstitutional (as in Bill of Rights/Free Speech). Doesn't it go without saying that no one's claiming to be any particular faith ("Christian", "Mormon", "Atheist", "Jehovah's Witness", "Sik", "Buddhist", whatever) means that their opinions/thoughts represent the entire sect/clan/group of that religion/group? Do we really need to spell that out? Everything we type on here is *our own personal* opinions/thoughts. 4. As far as why I felt the need to add that the VBS teacher was a phD (phD in education who teaches at a prestigious university -- teaches others how to teach)...I don't know! I just thought it was germane that she wasn't an ignorant person who'd never been in a classroom and knew nothing of navigating discipline issues and avoiding stepping on the toes of the parents. She had taught elementary for many years before being a elementary school Principal and is now Superintendent (still teaches a night class at university) in the public school setting. Again, the point wasn't about the deer testicles and as if I cared a whit about my child seeing animals scrotal sacs (our farm animals sport their own sets daily). The point was that the child at the VBS had felt the need to search the deer nuts and, more importantly, "the sexiest woman in the USA" search and, for whatever strange reason, the kids were more interested in the deer nut sac than they were in the big photo of Daniel in the Lions den! surprise surprise! (Not a one of you mentioned that in what followed.....I could be wrong but if it was mentioned it was certainly not the majority focus in the replies) Again, the point of the sentence was that a nine year old had searched for "sexiest woman in USA" and I, personally, was concerned about what images would pop up with such a search. But, no one mentioned that portion of my post. Instead the focus was on how bad we were to take this little darling's phone up. 5. I got the tacit accusations of saying the sex was dirty. I never once said that. Sex is awesome and I hope my son grows up to have as much of it and as good a time at it as his dad and I have had at it for the past 17 years. I want him to grow up and to be a free and fun in the bed as he and his wife want to be. 6. I was accused of being unstable and back pedaling when nothing I had written in that post back pedaled. The fact that my son has, on occasion, self-censored, doesn't back pedal my main concern that he won't in the future when it's more "serious" images/videos such as pornography. After all, 85% of kids don't "self censor" (see statistic below) and I'd be an idiot to *assume* that he'll certainly be in the 15% group. 7. You'd be hard pressed to find a person who cares less about people agreeing with her. I don't mind at all. That has nothing to do with my now being disinterested in chatting on this forum on matters such as this. I'll continue to use the school / curricula portion of the forum. 8. For the person who disputed me in saying there was no evidence of a kids early exposure to sexual imagery speeding up sexual maturation (can't recall exact quote), I was just recalling a portion of a lecture from a phD in Physiology taught us when I was in grad school at Vanderbilt. Perhaps he was wrong I'll try to find this data next week when I have more time. 9. As for the sodomy part of this thread. Because I had listed sodomy in the list of porn, rape, molestation and other topics I'd prefer to not address *in detail* until my son is 14+ (an arbitrary number I confess) I had one of you make some comment about this thread being anti-gay. ......cover your heads as I'm about to play the Christian card.......... As a Christian, I simply have to agree with the Bible's pronouncement on this matter. God says it offends him; it's not for me to debate as God has already made his decree about it. Nuff said. So, yes I list it in that same list of porn, rape, molestation, etc. My son knows nothing about sodomy and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible. Would I answer my son about "what's sodomy" or "what's rape (as he asked me last week)?" --- absolutely. Would I shame him for asking? absolutely not. Will I need to tell my son about sex before age 14? absolutely. The thread wasn't about avoiding having these basic required discussions. It was about what a child's access to images/videos of the porn/etc. would do and what conversations would have to be had in response to *those particular* types of imagery/video/exposure. And to the person who gave me(others?) the quick CliffNotes/refresher course to dispel potentially false notions about homosexuals employment of sodomy.....I worked in ER in downtown Nashville, was a surgical nurse, and worked for years in a clinic (as an NP) where we saw tons of STDs and such. I've assisted with my share of rectal repairs, I've pulled various and sundry items/toys/gadgets from various and sundry places in the body, so there's not many chapters in the Homo and Heterosexual's Complete Book of Sexual Possibilities that I couldn't contribute to. But, I can see where my post could have led one to assume that I was Ma Ingalls or PollyAnna Whittier so thanks for the refresher. 10. I'm not a prude. I'm not an ostrich. I am well aware that the (secular) research has shown that 85% of kids have seen porn by age 10. It's my knowledge of *that fact* that makes me highly protective guarded regarding to what my son is exposed. If someone told me that my son had 85% chance of getting hit by lightning if he crossed a certain field, I'd be on guard. I see porn as more deadly than lightning. Nothing benign about it. My son doesn't need that addiction, he doesn't need to compare his future wife to 18 year old's bodies for their entire marriage (he'll have those images in his mind), he doesn't need to objectify women, he doesn't need to be exposed to homosexuality, he doesn't need to see *fifty shades of grey* acts and embrace this, he doesn't need to not be able to focus on his literature at 17 because he can't wait to look at porn some more, he just doesn't need it. And, for me the *risks* of unsupervised access to internet *far* exceeds the benefits. It's no secret to me that hardly anyone sees it as serious as I do. I am well aware that most people do not share my passion about the need to avoid it. That's not why I'm off this chat forum; I'm off because I feel I was misrepresented and feel there's hypocrisy. Not a one of you got onto the person who insulted me with the "think so little" comments. Not a one of you got onto the person who basically told me not to say that I'm a Christian. And if you try to defend that by accusing me of saying that what I felt is how all Christians feel, that's just not true. No one with a 70+ IQ needs to be told that what one person claims is how all Christians feel. That's as absurd as saying ISIS represents all Muslims. If my comment was received properly and in context you can easily see that I was defending the it's-sad-that-you-think-so-little-of-your-kid insult with WHY I have the basic "concept" of depravity and to do that I had to mention my religious affiliation. If you handed a random person who could read/understand English fluently a copy of the Bible and said, "Please read this cover to cover and tell me if it teaches that the heart of man is naturally good or evil" -- they'd have to say that it teaches that man, apart from God's giving him a new nature at conversion, is sinful, depraved and prone to seek out rebellion against God's laws. He is prone to ignore God's boundaries. That's *my* take on the nature of man and *that* was the point I was making when I dropped the "As a Christian" bomb (or did she say, "Please don't play the Christian card" ?....it was something like that). If a person can say that on this forum --- to say "please don't play the Christian card" and not a soul correct them for this, it's just not the forum for me. Now you guys pass around the Kleenex as my Swan Song is over..........................imagine me in a TuTu flouncing flouncing flouncing to the violin (can you flounce to violin?!!) Now...off to see our baby goats. My son helped my husband and I deliver two baby goats this morning, but now before i gouged out his eyes so he wouldn't see the mama goat's birth canal......lol Too busy to spellcheck....... CrispyBiscuit

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6:10 I've never been so misunderstood and misinterpreted and I've NEVER in my entire 40 years in the US been told to refrain from stating that I was a Christian. I've learned that this forum is not for me. Best wishes to you all! Signing off, CrispyBiscuit

For Christians, sodomy is not an activity condoned by God. So, yes, in my home and per our religious convictions, sodomy is included in the sexual acts that are offensive to our Lord.

I've never once on this thread said that I think we should "limit ... sex education." I've never once suggested Christians should avoid sex education.

No, i use it for emphasis of a particular word or phrase.

How is saying, "As a Christian" insulting? It tells people my own background. In the context of that statement, my stating this was relevant. I wouldn't tell someone on here who writes, "As an atheist, I feel......." that THAT's insulting as it's NOT in the least. Who cares if someone writes, "As a Mormon...." or "As a Buddist"!?! So why is stating MY religion insulting? YOUR comment of "Please stop throwing the "As a Christian" card." is what is insulting. My son has watched NATURE weekly since he was a tot. He's helped me DELIVER baby cows, kittens, puppies, etc. He knows about the cat's vagina, the dog's penis, etc. He knows I've help deliver babies too and knows from which corridor they come out of. Of course there's nothing dirty about sex, birth, etc. I've never once said a child's knowing about sex was dirty.

My son already knows about basic reproduction. We don't tip toe around why the rooster is mounting the hen. When our dog was yelping on the way home from his neutering surgery a few months ago (he hated being in the crate), my son (then age 8) was talking to the dog and said, "Sherman, do you have any questions about what has happened to you?" then he proceeded to explain what had happened(and I’ll try to remember it as best as possible), "You had your testicles removed by the animal doctor and, now that that’s done, you can’t have any children because that part of you made the blueprints that you were supposed to put inside your wife’s womb to make you a kid.†(it was very funny to hear that why I remember it so well) I've never tip-toed around basic sexuality. I have a Master's degree in Nursing (NP) and I'm ALL about a kid being up to snuff on science. We read textbooks aloud. I don't hide the biology 101 textbook. I've never lied to him. When he was younger, around age 7 we were watching the horses and he saw the male in the act with the mare and had plenty of questions. He asked why his “tallywacker†was doing that, etc. I told him the TRUTH in terms he could process and something to the effect of, “Well, the daddy horse wants to help her have a baby horse.†That didn’t satisfy his curiosity so he asked about the tallywacker’s role in the proceedings. I told him the TRUTH that it contained the teeny-weeny instructions called DNA that her womb would need to build a baby and that he was using the tally as a tube to put those instructions in that womb where they could help make a baby horse. I’m all about honesty and not shielding kids from the truth. I can’t imagine him ever feeling ashamed at asking me anything as I’ve always told him we could talk about ANYthing and we do. When he’s asked me “more delicate†stuff, I’ve been completely truthful and I totally agree that making things TABOO, secretive, shameful creates WAY more problems than it helps. But, with that said, I still feel that it’s sad that parents HAVE to have talks nowadays that you didn’t NEED to have AS EARLY in times past. I realize that he can’t even read the Bible without it mentioning sodomy, rape, etc. The Bible doesn’t tiptoe around this stuff and thus I shouldn’t either. But, at the SAME time --- I don’t feel that open discussions on porn, sodomy, and other “adult†topics negate the NEED to keep him from potentially VIEWING it. I’m teaching him to follow his conscious (the Holy Spirit) and to keep it soft (not ignore it) and avoid the danger of hardening your heart where you're insensitive to His leading. Last week his cousin told us both about a game. From his description it sounded benign and it was rated E for everyone, so I downloaded it. I gave my son the phone to play it and he said, “Mom, this is hurting my Spirit; I don’t think this is appropriate for me.†And gave me the phone and asked me to delete it. I PRAY PRAY PRAY his heart stays THIS tender and soft but I feel the fallout of viewing porn, etc. is too dangerous to risk at these younger ages thus the guarding against. I was grumpy and tired last night so I’m sorry I sounded so last night. If my son keeps this tender little heart on into his teens, maybe he too would, as many of you have described in your own kids, make the choice to steer away from the images, but I also know the statistics and the tremendous temptation he’ll face at that young teen age to pursue that curiosity/lust and I would monitor it with more vigilance than I do now as it’s too serious of an addiction/problem/sin to ever mess around with.

"Two way street" == in the context was that BOTH parties could FIND offense. Party A - offense at their belonging being confiscated Party B - offense that his kid had to see testicles at VBS

When I said "lone wolf" I was just making the point that most people on the thread do not feel as I do on the topic; I'm in the slim minority among everyone I know, including on this forum. But that's no biggie :-) Life will indeed throw the near-constant curve balls. I don't think there's a PRESCRIBED age at which a parent has to have these talks. I think each parent has to decide when their child will see/face these situations and indeed talk it out; but it's still sad that the talks have to be had SO early in this age.