I couldn't get much reading done. The power was out for 5 days (!) so you would think I would have had tons of reading time. It's amazing how incredibly dependent on electricity I am. The books I was reading were on my tablet this week. Now that my dd is in high school, most of her schoolwork is done online or on a computer. Even 5 years ago I wasn't reading ebooks or doing any schoolwork on a computer. We did eventually end up in a hotel room. I was feeling a little irritated about the whole situation, and in my warm/dry/electricity filled hotel room I saw a story about Puerto Rico STILL being a mess. Which changed my attitude instantly. I am still slogging through the audio of Unaccustomed Earth. I thought I would really like it, and it was good at first, but now it just seems like it is dragging. I do get tired of listening to short stories after a whole book. I need to find something "good" to read and need to focus on that this week :lol: !

I believe that the ability to listen to something and actually hear it is important. And I think that audiobooks can help you hone that skill. I had a terrible time in college listening to lectures, but at some point after that I realized I needed to work on developing that in myself. For whatever reason it didn't come naturally to me. I started with talk radio, and moved on to audiobooks. Last week I finished Alice Hoffman's new book Faithful. I think I liked it. It was different than her other books, not quite so supernatural. It didn't feel quite put together to me. I did identify with the idea of a painful past that holds you back and controls you until you are able to move on. And how sometimes that takes a very long time and completely changes you along the way. This week I am listening to Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth. I am not usually much of a short story person, but I really like Jhumpa Lahiri. I am also reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry which I am having a really hard time getting into. This is by The Man Called Ove author, and I liked that book ok. I didn't love it. I'm getting ready to give up on this one though. The 7 year old doesn't sound 7 years old, and has a lot of magical fairyland talk, and I am just not interested.

His shirt is at least damp, and so is his hair when he is walking back home. People just swoon over this scene, and I find it hilarious. The way people described it to me before I saw it, I thought it was much more exciting than that. It's very tame. And, I love this quote from Colin Firth: “I'm fully aware," Firth told a reporter for the English magazine Now, "that if I were to change professions tomorrow, become an astronaut and be the first man to land on Mars, the headlines in the newspapers would read: `Mr. Darcy Lands on Mars.â€

I don't think Bridget is supposed to be Lizzie Bennet. I think it's more about the falling in love with Mr Darcy fantasy. At the time it was pretty hilarious that Hugh Grant was going to play the bad guy. And Colin Firth had enough of a sense of humor to reprise Mr Darcy. Maybe it's a context thing, maybe it's an old ladies who love Hugh Grant and Colin Firth thing. FWIW people go absolutely nuts about the Mr Darcy wet shirt scene in P&P, which is why in the 2nd Bridget Jones movie they have a fight in a fountain. I just see it as a clever modern take. To the point of, most modern people haven't read the book and just have seen the mini-series. I always felt like the movie was making fun of itself and the people who would watch it. But I could be overreaching :laugh: . It doesn't mean the movie is that good or for everyone :lol: ! And the sequels are horrible.

I see the movie as more of a homage to the 1990's Pride and Prejudice mini-series and specifically to Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. Colin Firth IS Mr Darcy in my mind, and I love the cheeky nod to that in Bridget Jones Diary.

I love this recipe for cauliflower fried rice http://damndelicious.net/2016/03/30/10-minute-healthy-cauliflower-rice/ I never thought I would like cauliflower instead of rice, but I do!

I used to get pinkeye on a regular basis, for years, when my allergies were acting up. I got the other normal allergy symptoms too, but that was just one of my allergy symptoms. It would be in same eye, and it wasn't contagious. It looked really gross and everyone always thought it was contagious. My doctor said it can almost be like a herpes virus that acts up, like people who get cold sores. Things like wearing contact lenses and having cats (I was allergic to) just aggravated it. I get it a lot less now. And when I do I try to flush my eye out with preservative free eye drops and drink a lot. But, I had no idea when I started getting it years ago that it could be linked to allergies or a viral recurring thing.

This thread reminds me of the, "I walked 5 miles in the snow to school both ways when I was your age." I started researching homeschooling in 2003 when I had a 2 year old. Homeschooling has changed dramatically since then because of the internet. "Old School" homeschoolers, whatever that is, simply didn't have access to things that 2017 homeschoolers do. It's almost like being proud of not using running water because it's too "new fangled". There have been some excellent developments in homeschooling, there are some very good things out there that are better than the pre-internet days. Some things are worse. It's really hard to pinpoint what is exactly is good or bad. It's not inherently "bad" to use a co-op, and it's not inherently "good" to use an old book from the 1900's. There have never been many homeschoolers in my area. There are even less now because of all the charter schools, online and otherwise. I'm not sure this is a good or bad development, just different.

My sentiments exactly!

I wish I had something helpful to post, but I don't. I am right there with you Sparkly. I have a high schooler, and have no idea what I am going to do when this is done. Income is a concern, and I certainly don't have any extra money to put towards anything. I never finished my degree, and any funds need to go towards DD's education now. Devoting yourself to homeschooling for X years and then retiring in your 40's is a weird situation, for sure.

Given then new information you posted, this isn't even about the bath. It's about the fact that you asked her NOT to do it, and she's done it twice more. I can't come up with an acceptable excuse for grandma at this point. It seems like grandma is either losing it mentally or trying to tick you off/subvert you. Neither scenario makes me think she should be alone with your child. I think the biggest problem you have right now is with DH. You two need to be on the same page about this. Then you can deal with grandma.

I'm not talking about same sex nudity. I am talking about grandma taking a bath with the grandchild. I'm sure I wasn't clear enough. I understand other people take baths with their kids. Fine. I'm not going to do it, and I won't judge you, particularly if you don't ask me. I do think it's weird when you bathe with a child that is not yours. Locker rooms, what people do in other countries, that is not what I am talking about. It's also one thing to be changing in a locker room, and another thing to be enjoying a nice long bath together. And again, OP doesn't like it and is allowed to not like it.

I think it's a weird cultural construct when nudity is not a huge taboo. We have different beliefs, as people do.

Many of us don't think adults should be naked with children. And even those who think it's okay, many think 4 years old is pushing it. A 4 year old thinks a lot of things are "Ok" and it doesn't make them "Ok". Beyond all that the OP is uncomfortable with HER child doing this with grandma, and MIL freaked out at her. I think that is what everyone is really taking issue with.

You MIL shouldn't be bathing with your child. It's weird. And it's super weird if it was a new thing. In my opinion, someone who does this out of the blue at the very least has poor judgment. If your MIL isn't mentally ill, using boundaries may work. Maybe this was a misunderstanding. They will be painful to implement, but she would respond to firm boundaries eventually. IE if you and DD have another n*ked bath this will be the consequence, and stick to it. However, if MIL is NPD or something else no boundary in the world is going to work. And frankly, NPD's and other types like that LOVE pushing boundaries. In this case she probably had some idea it would ick you out, and that's why she did it. Just to be in control, upset you, win, etc. If you state clearly that X should not be done, she will "misunderstand" and do it even more. Or say, "I thought you said no n*aked baths, we're in the hot tub!" The big thing for you to sort out is, is MIL a person who made a mistake or has she got some mental issue? Because, if she has mental issues you should not be leaving your dd with MIL unsupervised, ever. And you should expect to have battle after battle after battle after battle with her. It will never end. It's just important to know up front that you will always be "managing" her.

I'm in the minority too. 13 is the cut off in my mind. Escorting your younger siblings is one thing, but going on your own as a teen is too old. The majority of teens that come to my door are being at least a little obnoxious. I still give them candy and say nothing, but I think this is something we need to let children enjoy. I let my teen hand out the candy.

Thank you for saying that. I see a lot of people saying that it's for 7th or 8th grade. I have the book, and I don't really see it working for middle school. I guess I just need some reassurance :lol: ! I also see that Sonlight had it in their 12th grade package.

Thank you. The free workbook is what inspired me to want to use it! It's hard to gauge what age this would be good for. I think it will be good though.

I'd have her take the 530 one. I have been thinking about this type of situation a lot lately with my teen. She is taking a extracurricular class that is KILLING ME. I went along with it to be the super-nice-awesome-perfect-homeschooling mom. It's kicking my butt, I'm PO'd and resentful every week, and I should not have done it. And it hit me, that she would have LIVED ANOTHER DAY if she had to take the "other" class. She would have saved me an enormous amount of stress, and she would have gained just a little stress in return. I should not be killing myself bending over backwards to create the perfect situation for her. It's my job to teach her to become an adult, and how to have relationships with other adults who do not play the role of doormat. This is all me, she wasn't complaining about it or anything like that. I took it upon myself. The 530 one would be much easier for you. You're still taking her to the class, and you don't seem to have any reason to think the teacher is horrible. I guess I don't see the down side, other than it would not be the "perfect/ideal" situation for dd. I don't know about her being ready for this class, and that's a different issue.

My dd is in 9th grade, but I am already thinking about 10th. I would appreciate any suggestions from the all knowing Hive for making this book part of a complete 10th grade English course. DD is on her second year at Write At Home. We've had a good experience, but it's time to move on. It costs a lot, not that it isn't worth it, but I need to start putting money towards college classes. Money is an issue. She will be starting DE at the local CC in 11th. The goal is to finish an Associate's at the CC, then she has the option of going to the local U after that. We are trying to prepare her reasonably for college, but we're not trying to get her into a competitive school. I understand this will be a lot more work for me, and I am a little concerned about giving her worthwhile feedback. But, I also feel like I can handle it for one year. She got really detailed feedback for a couple of years, and this will be a different perspective on writing. Taking all that into account I need something cheaper but doable for next year. At this point I am planning on using 4 free book guides, and having her write a couple of history papers alongside LAOW. Any thoughts or other ideas are appreciated!

I think it would actually be on the police report....cause of death, beaten to death by zucchini bat!

We got 10 bajillion zucchini from 6 plants this year. I have never seen anything like it. Many years we get zero, many years we get a lot, but this must have been a perfect zucchini growing season in New England! All of my cucumbers were chewed up by animals, and my carrots and potatoes are no prize. But the zucchini :scared: ! We started referring to them as The Little Shop of Horror Zucchini plants when the eclipse happened, because the man eating plant appeared during a "total eclipse of the sun". I made 6 million things with it, every recipe I could come up with. I could have written a cookbook or started a cooking show. We had zucchini coming out of our ears, 3 meals a day some days. I gave it away, people got tired of it. I froze as much as I could fit in my tiny freezer....and finally I literally tried to eat one more piece of zucchini bread, and literally started gagging. I could not do it. So, I totally hear you Sparkly. People said to me, "Oh, just make this or that...I could never get sick of zucchini!" Yep, I made this or that 17 times this week already. At first my DH would let them go until they were baseball bats, and finally I just told him, "If you do not pick them when they are small enough I will put them right in the compost pile." And I did. And that worked. Sorry, but desperate times call for desperate measures. :lol:

I think it will last until she gets her period. I feel like the teen years have such a bad reputation, but in my experience it's the tween years with girls that are rough. My now 14 year old has been much easier to deal with at 13&14 than at 11&12. Turning from a child into an adult is just a rough transition for a body to make.

So, a little update if anyone is interested. They are going to let me switch to a 4 week class, and refund the difference. What I still cannot believe is their total lack of understanding of where I am coming from. The manager gave me a long explanation of how hard it is going to be to get my work glazed and fired again in the next week, that I am going to have to come in extra, and what I am going to have to do to complete it. The work that she assumes I have done, that has already been thrown, dried, trimmed and put through the kiln the first time :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: . I have done NOTHING. I still can do NOTHING. I have very strong doubts I would or even should get any sort of product completed in 8 weeks let alone the entire hour I have spent on a pottery wheel so far in my life. There is some sort of very weird disconnect at this place. I did look at a local art college and they have a ceramics program. The 101 ceramics is handbuidling, and the 201 ceramics is wheel throwing. Which is what a lot of you were talking about, the local art college makes you start out with handbuilding. Anyway, I am not going to bother to go back and going to move on with my life now :laugh: !!!

I seem to be getting one a lot of months before I start. I feel like my eyes are crossing and am in a lot of pain. My period has been terribly wonky since I turned 40, it was like a switch flipped on my 40th birthday. It's just all over the place now and I have no idea when it's going to start, or how it's going to go, or anything. There is no predictability anymore, except the months that I get this mind numbing headache...so I guess I should be grateful for it.... :lol: ! All the other indicators I used to have just don't work anymore. I used to get sore bOOks right before, and now they are sore all month, or sore for a week and then not. It makes life very difficult to just be walking through a store or something, and bam my period hits. I never used to have that happen, I sort of could tell it was coming for the past 20 years. I can't believe that I have to go through this for another DECADE! :willy_nilly: