He has FOUR little brothers! They don't play in the street, but still... This is my other nightmare. Not that he hurts himself, but that he hurts someone else.

*thanks*

I suggest checking out https://www.instagram.com/hereweeread/. She has amazing, diverse books that I would never know about otherwise.

I'm in! I have a sorry box of fish fillets from the beginning of Lent that I can serve tomorrow with some mac n'cheese and bagged frozen veggies. I have 2lbs sweet Italian sausages (from a sale earlier in the year) for Wednesday - I think I have a bag of potatoes I can roast with those. Saturday I can defrost a pot roast...

I had put a feeler out on facebook a few months back asking if anyone had any games that they didn't want anymore (we've been doing a lot of game playing here lately). She told me she had games and also offered clothes. (She didn't drop off any games, just clothes.) She told me to donate whatever we didn't want of the clothes, but I would ask her if she minded me selling some, if that's what I decide to do. That box of shoes, in particular, looks like it could worth the effort...

A high school friend dropped off 3 large bags of her boys' outgrown clothes today, plus a box of shoes. While there is a lot of good stuff, it won't fit my DS8 for at least 2 years, maybe more. The clothes include a lot of brand names. The shoes, six pairs of Air Jordans plus another pair of Nikes, all look like they were only worn a handful of times. My question is - is it worth selling clothes/shoes online? My original plan was to keep the 'classic' things (jeans, khakis, sweaters) and donate the 'trendy' stuff (skinny jeans/sweats, tshirts, etc). However, I was thinking that maybe it might be worth the hassle to sell the best of it, so to not have to store it for 2+ years before it fits? Does anyone have any experience with selling clothes online? (FWIW, I have a wall of plastic totes in the basement where I keep all of DS8's clothes to be passed down to DS5, DS2, and the baby. I have totes for every size from newborn to size 10, so two more totes isn't that big a deal.)

Our plan for 3rd grade next year is around 15 books, plus a month on poetry. Some books we will read together and some he will read on his own. (He currently reads on a 5th/6th grade level.) This year, he will have read 15 books, plus spent a month on Shakespeare (mostly listening to audiobooks for this part).

DH walked the boys, ages 8, 5, and days-away-from-3, to McDonalds the other day for lunch. DH noticed a man having trouble with the ketchup dispensor and offered him one of their packets of ketchup. The almost-3yr old screamed hysterically for that ketchup packet back for NINETY MINUTES. 90. An hour and a freaking half. Kids.

Thanks for this. A number of times I have gotten 'the speech' from a dentist/hygienist... "Stop feeding them candy and juice. Etc..." My kids rarely have candy (Halloween, Easter, Valentines are probably it for the year), have juice and chocolate milk each once a week. They brush/floss/rinse regularly. The adults help at night to brush the little kids' teeth thoroughly *after* we let them do it themselves. But, still, DS8 has had two fillings and a baby tooth extracted. DS5 had decay (probably due to upper lip tie) removed via laser, and DS2 (who will be 3 next week) just had his first check up and had SIX cavities of varying degree. :eek: (I could see one 6mos ago, but our dentist doesn't see kids until they turn 3.) The baby just started cutting teeth - I'm not sure what I can do to keep him from going down the same road... :crying:

:crying: I thought it was just my kids. :crying: Thank you for starting this thread... It makes me feel like less of a horrible mom.

If you follow the Read Aloud Revival, she maintains a list of great audiobook deals that can be had if you but them through Amazon rather than audible. I have an Audible membership but have purchased many more books through her tips for cheaper than the listed price in the Audible app.

I second this. It took a lot of practice to get my 8, 5, & nearly-3 into the habit of quiet time. We had to start with 10 minutes and work our way up. The almost-3yr old can now play in his room for 60-90 minutes without too much redirection from me. The 5 & 8yr olds will happily go for 1.5-2 hours. They each have either a single-player game (Rush Hour Jr, Lazer Maze, etc), a puzzle, Legos/Duplos, or coloring books/paper and crayons. The younger two will listen to audiobooks and DS8 will either listen to an audiobook or read on his own. Sometimes they will put down their activities and just rest on the bed, but not too often. I firmly believe that quiet time has saved my sanity. The days that I don't get my quiet time are the days I am not my best as a parent. It makes a big difference. Good luck!

I haven't modified our Kindle Fire yet (who has time?!?), so I just turn on the book that the kids want to listen to and then lock the screen so that they can't play with it. They also can't pause it or turn it off, so this method has some definite downsides...

I'm looking for blogs (or podcasts or books) about boys and books (reading with boys, reading to boys, boys learning to read, boys learning to love reading, etc...) written from a men's perspective. I want to hear from Dads or teachers or older teen boys. I have five sons - DS21 rarely reads anymore, DS8 reads voraciously several grade levels above his own, and DS5 is beginning to sound out words. I'm interested in the male perspective and recommendations, as DH was never a reader as a child (though he reads constantly now).

I *loathe* coffee, and everything coffee flavored. I only put a single teaspoonful of espresso powder in the entire recipe - I can't taste it, but it does add a bit of depth to the chocolate flavor.

I second (3rd? 7th?) this recipe. I always overpour the vanilla and add a small spoonful of espresso powder but, besides that, it's perfect! Not that you asked, but - the Hershey's 'one bowl' brownie recipe is also the best there is... :drool5:

He has outgrown allergies to: soy (@2yrs), shellfish & finned fish (@8?), dairy (@preteen?), wheat, oat, & barley (@14), and eggs (@15 or 16). He is still allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. Of course, just as he was outgrowing most of the allergies he started having seizures. I preferred the allergies, myself... *sigh*

This was my oldest child's youth. I could never find him candy, so he got potato chips and non-food gifts. One year, he got a bicycle helmet. Another year, he got Red Sox tickets. He has, thankfully, outgrown most of his allergies. His favorite foods are junk food and drive through. :-(

:scared: I may have my husband handle that part... lol!

Thanks, everyone, for the great advice.

FWIW, a regular recipe (using 2lbs flour) is two loaves of bread here. After the first loaf is made, if space is at a premium in the fridge, I will move the rest of the dough to a large pyrex bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Though, KungFuPanda's idea of using a 2qt beverage pitcher sounds like a good idea - it's taller and skinnier. I'll have to give that a try!

DS2 will be 3 at the end of the month. We decided it was time to get him out of diapers during February vacation (DH is a public school teacher and would be home all week to help). It took about two weeks, but DS2 is dry all day and through the night, with very few accidents. The problem is that, with the exception of one glorious day in March, DS still has every bowl movement in his underpants. He immediately announces that he's done it and walks/waddles over to the potty to sit. We've tried bribery, we've tried reminding/asking him beforehand, we've tried chiding him... I'm at a loss. How to I get him to stop doing this? This is boy #4 to be potty trained, and I didn't have this issue with the others. FWIW, this kid has a huge vocabulary, is neurotypical, has no physical limitations, and is well aware what the expectations are.

I use this container.

So, after 12 days I called the town. Seems there might be a water main leak just uphill. They will be back tomorrow with heavy machinery - the kids are so excited! Still water coming into the basement. *sigh*

We have an antenna, Netflix, and we borrow lots of things from the library to watch.