My daughter is a non-mathy kid and I'm a non-mathy mom. In fact, it is our worst subject. I was always afraid of teaching math since I am so bad in it myself and I just had no idea how to actually teach it. I gravitated immediately to Saxon in my early homeschool career because I loved that it was so scripted and I could just read it and not have to figure out how to actually teach the concepts to her. That was fine and dandy while she was doing kindy, 1st and even 2nd grade, but as time went on, she just began to hate Saxon's repetition so much. She dreaded doing math and would give me alot of behavior problems when it was math time. A friend of mine recommended Singapore to me and so I went to their website and did the placement test. I was surprised that it was so much more advanced and that kind of scared me too. We switched from Saxon to Singapore for 5th grade, but I had to start her in 4A and 4B. She liked it much much better. They use 3 methods to teach a concept and always she would be able to understand it with at least one of the methods. She liked the drawings of the little kids in the books and and she liked that there are so few problems to work. Singapore is big on Word Problems. My daughter really struggled with them for awhile, but now that she's been doing Singapore for 2 years, she's getting much better at them. She is learning how to think mathematically, not just how to solve a problem that looks a certain way. I really like that about Singapore. One thing that helped me tremendously is the Home Instructor's Guide. It has all the answers to the problems, teaching tips and suggestions, and it has the problems worked out so you can see what it's supposed to look like. In my experience, Singapore has been good even though neither I nor my daughter are mathy people. We're learning to become mathy though. ;) :) Hope this helps. :)

:lol::lol: LOL I'm glad I never took the time to read it or see the movie now. I had wanted to read it when I heard it was coming out years ago, but my mom read it first. I asked her, "Do Rhett and Scarlett get back together." Mom said "no" and I guess I just lost my interest in ever reading it. What's the point if they don't get back together. hehehe :tongue_smilie:

She's lovely. :)

I am so very sorry. I wish I had some advice, but I just wanted to give you a cyberhug. :grouphug: I know a woman who works full time at my local Christian bookstore. She homeschools her daughter. I asked her how she did it when she's always at work and she told me that her daughter (just turned 13) does alot of independent work and that she also homeschools with her cousins. That might be an option for you?? Maybe you can find another homeschool mom in your area and work something out?? I truly wish I had something more to give you. More than anything I just want to give you a :grouphug:. I will pray for you. Jennifer

I have used it with my daughter. I use it strictly as a suplement though because she gets bored just sitting there clicking pictures for too long. I think it is a good tool to have in the tool box, but there should be other things as well. Fortunately my public library has it so it was free to use. :) Your library might have it as well. :) Good luck to you. :)

Oh wow! I'm glad you said that because I was looking forward to that coming out and seeing it with my dd. The killing would really affect her. Thank you so much for the heads up. :)

:) I did check the smoke detectors last night actually. :) Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I used to have some recurring dreams too, like driving a car that is out of control and speeding and I cannot get it to stay on the road and stuff like that. I took it to mean that I was feeling like I was out of control in my life. But certain dreams, like teeth falling out, those dreams really scare me. In Cuban culture, a dream where you lose your teeth means that someone close to you is going to die. When I have those dreams that is where I get over into the realm of irrational superstitious type freaking out. The thing is, that everytime I've ever had a dream about my teeth falling out, someone in my family HAS died. That is what scares me. :eek:

Thank you. Now that you mention your dreams I remember that I used to have alot of recurring dreams when I was a kid too. I still do occasionally, that is if I sleep long enough to actually have a dream. :tongue_smilie: hehe I wonder if it is something that everyone has at certain points in their lives or if it is something that only affects certain people?

Thanks you for this. Once I found out that she heard us talking I have been open with her about it. I'm sure you're right that it is related to the job loss that is likely to come. Control is a major issue with her and she always needs alot of structure and needs to know what is coming next. I'm sure it is the uncertainty making its way into her dreams.

I think slavery and racism are an abomination. It makes me sick to think about what the slaves suffered, but that being said, I can tell you that I really enjoyed Gone with the Wind, both the book and the movie. I just look at is as what it is. The author's point of view. I don't have to agree with it in order to appreciate her writing skills. Scarlett is a wonderfully written character and the chemistry between Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the movie was brilliant. I too wish she and Rhett could finally find happiness in the end. I was hoping when 'Scarlett' came out that they would, but honestly, I don't think the story would be as endearing to me or have the same impact if she had reconciled with Rhett. The fact that they don't make it IMHO is what makes the book/movie stay with you the way that it does. :)

ALOT!! ;) :D Sorry. I just couldn't resist. hehe I'm guessing you would need several pounds. maybe 20 pounds or so??

Thank you so much for your reply. I was thinking the same thing about fire drills. We already have a family plan in place for fires, but I haven't done a drill in a long time. Oddly enough when she tells me about her dreams, she's not scared. She just kind of tells me in a matter-of-fact way and then I'm the one who gets freaked out. hehe The rational side of me wants to look at it like, "oh, she must be feeling some strong emotions. Maybe she is feeling like she is trapped or as if her life is out of control. I need to get her to talk about how she is feeling." While the Cuban in me wants to run away screaming, "ahhhh we're all going to die!!" hehehehe I did lay hands on her and pray over her and she seemed fine after that, but I was the one left with a disquiet spirit. I wonder if God could be using my daughter as a way to speak to me?? Maybe using her dream to reveal to me that I still have some baggage that is not completely on His throne?? I don't know, but I think your idea of writing Scripture is an excellent one. I know I always have to constantly remind myself that God loves me and has forgiven me for all of my sins. The enemy sure likes to remind me of what I was before coming to the Lord. I think I need to overcome that evil with some good. Another thing I was thinking is that this is a time of alot of uncertainty in our family. My husband, who is the sole provider, quite possibly might lose his job to lay offs in the next couple of months. This has led to conversations between he and I of the possibility of moving entirely out of Florida and starting somewhere new altogether. Although he and I haven't discussed this in front of my daughter, the kid's got dog ears or something and hears everything anyway and so she started asking questions about it and asking when we're moving. I told her that we are praying about it and that she can pray too and ask God to show us what to do and where He wants us to go. I told her that we're not going to make any type of move without God clearly speaking to us first, but this kid is already talking about the pets she wants to get when she gets to her new house! hehehe She says she's sick of Florida and wants to go somewhere where it's not so hot and that she can play in snow in the winter. Ironically, the dreams started right around this same time that she first found out that my husband might lose his job. It seems like it's connected to me, because she really rarely has a nightmare, and to have two of the same dreams in two weeks seems suspect. :rolleyes: hmmm.

I think those girls are being very exhibitionisitic. If they start making out in front of the school I think it's because they want to be seen and to be seen kissing another girl has even more shock value to get attention by. If your daughter is going to be attending that school I don't see any harm in even talking to the principal or vice principal and tell them what you saw and ask them what the school's policies are on this issue. As a parent, you have more of a powerful voice than a student who would go into the office to complain and I'm sure the principal doesn't want negative attention drawn to his/her school. If the principal should take your comments to heart and do something to crack down on those types of displays, it will be a good thing not only for your daughter, but the other students who are attending and being exposed to those types of displays. As for the PDA in general, I pretty much agree with the other posters, a quick hug or a peck on the cheek or lips is okay, but beyond than that, people should really just get a room. ;) :)

Oh your girls are so beautiful!! I love goats too!! May I ask, how much does a goat cost and where in the world do you get one from?? Ay, I'm a hopeless city girl who longs to be a country girl. :)

My daughter told me when she woke up this morning that she had another nightmare about our house being on fire. She had the first one a couple of weeks ago and she said that in the first dream her little brother got burned up and that in this dream she had today it was her father. She's not one to have recurring dreams so for me it was a little unsettling. Maybe I'm just being superstitious, but I don't like dreams like that, but then again who does?? hehe I reassurred her that it was just a dream and that God is taking care of her and she doesn't have to worry, but I confess I had to tell myself the same thing. I have a Cuban backround and I was raised in a culture that regards certain types of dreams to be signs or omens of things that will happen in the future. I know that this is being superstitious and since becoming a Christian I try not to let those things mess with my head, but I confess I still have a knee jerk type of reaction to dreams like these. Does anyone else here have a child who has recurring nightmares?? If so how did you deal with it? I'm wondering, is it a common thing for kids to have recurring nightmares at a certain stage in their development?? My daughter is 11 soon to be 12 if that helps. She is a happy kid and usually never has nightmares so the fact that she is having the same one kind of freaks me out. :eek: :blink: :001_unsure: Thank you to all who reply. :)

Awesome!! God rules!! Literally! ;) :D :)

Wow!! Maybe I should consider going to Malaysia too! ;) :D hehe I wish you all the best in your new adventure. I can just imagine how excited/scared you must feel. How awesome that God just totally reassured you like that through your husband. I pray that God richly bless you and your family. :) Jennifer

I used to work in a fragrance store many many many moons ago. My best advice is to go the the mall and hit the testers. Don't just take it sprayed on the little card, but make sure to get it on your skin. I would try out several different ones that you are interested in, all on different places on your arms or hands (just try to remember what is where ;) ) and then leave the store and walk around for about a half an hour to an hour. As the perfume mixes with your body's own scent it can change drastically. It's a terrible thing to love a perfume in the bottle only to get it home and find that you can't wear it. It takes some trial and error, but a good perfume can really define a lady. In addition to the other excellent suggestions above, I would offer my own humble two scents and throw a nod to Coco Chanel, Chanel #5 or Chanel Cristal. Oscar de la Renta's Volupte and Il Bacio are nice if you like a fruity scent, Givenchy's Amarige or Lalique are nice also. Samsara by Guerlain is lovely and Boucheron is a nice one too, but pricey. I think Liz Claiborne, Davidoff and Calvin Klein are always safe bets as well if you can wear them. I never can. I have a weird body chemistry so they always smell too sweet on me unfortunately. :( Another trick once you find your scent is to layer them. Eau de parfum has a much more concentrated scent than an Eau de toilette or an eau de cologne and can be overwhelming and cloying depending on the fragrance and that might be a turnoff if you're trying to keep it light, but one trick to keeping it on the light side, but also to not have it dissappear altogether is to layer it. You can use the shower gel, followed by the body lotion or dusting powder and then a spritz of edt for example. Just my humble two cents for what their worth. :)

Just wait til she gets there. When she sees Mickey hats, dolls, shirts, balloons, sunglasses, pictures etc etc she'll find out pretty quick who the main mouse is. hehe The first time we went with my daughter she was 3. She was like, "Mickey who?" When we went to Mickey's house in Toon Town and she saw where he lived and saw him at the end of it all. She was completely overwhelmed. She ran up to Mickey and gave him a hug (the people in the costumes are EXCELLENT with the kids btw) and Mickey tousled her hair and posed for a pic with her and as we were leaving, she started walking slower and slower until she eventually stopped walking and broke down crying. She was so star struck by meeting the mouse and was so overwhelmed by it all. She wanted to go back into his house again the next day. This was a kid who could care less about Mickey before we went on the trip. Fast forward 3 years and we went back with my daughter and son. My daughter had drawn a picture for Mickey to give to him when she went to visit him in his house. She had drawn it like a month before the trip and had been so excited to give it to him. She made sure that she had it in her pocket when we went and the first order of business when we got to the Magic Kingdom was to go see the mouse. hehe The cool thing about Disney though, is that all of the characters are there somewhere and alot of them walk around in the costumes so even if she doesn't like Mickey she can see The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Tigger, Pooh Bear, Minnie, Goofy etc etc. :)

Thank you, Karyn, so much for your caring reply. Thank you for your openess to share your story with me. My daughter sounds alot like your son. She is compelled to do things and she cannot help it. I remember when she wanted to learn violin and I bought her a "real violin" not a toy one. I gave her a list of 7 rules that she absolutely had to follow if she wanted me to teach her the violin. She asked me if we could make it 10 rules instead of 7. I asked her, "Why 10 rules? 7 is less rules to follow." She answered, "because 10 is better." I asked her, "why is it better?" She answered, "it just is." I asked, "but why?? It's more rules." to which she burst out, "just make it 10!" hehe I have to laugh about these things otherwise I would be crying. I feel so sorry for her. Her mind goes a mile a minute and she just cannot calm down. She fidgets constantly and she fixates on things and cannot let them go. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be her and to be driven by compulsions that way. I feel so sorry for her. I feel the same way about medications as you. I never like to give my kids anything if I can help it. Call me paranoid, but I don't exactly believe that the drug companies have my child's best interests in mind and after the Celebrex controversy, I have a pretty shaky confidence in the FDA as well. I know that these decisions are on my shoulders and it is hard to know what is best for my child. She and my son both are prisoners of their own minds and it's so painful to see them struggle and to not be able to help them out of it. It is so hard to know what to do. I am glad that the medication is working for your son. I will talk with the pediatrician about what's out there when I go in June for my daughter's annual check up. I may have to resort to meds at some point, but for now I have one more thing I will try first. I thank you so much for your encouragement and for your advice. These kids are so special and I feel the weight of the responsibility for their care very much so. It is so difficult to know if I am doing the right thing, the wrong thing, a good thing or a bad thing. I thank you and everyone else for their encouragement and kindness. It really is a comfort. I will keep you all updated in this thread as I work my way through this whole issue. God bless you all and your wonderful, precious, special children. This is one heck of a journey to be sure, but it's an amazing one all the same. Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart. :grouphug: Jennifer

USA I always turn the water off to soap up and back on again to rinse whether it's taking a shower, washing my hands, doing the dishes or washing the car.

That's so nice. My mother does something similar. Once a year she gets together with her closest cousins and they stay in a condo on Panama City Beach for a week. They've been doing this for almost 20 years now! IT's really cool. No matter where they are living or what they are doing, without fail they take that week and fly or drive to Panama City and catch up. :) Have a wonderful time in Disney. I told my husband that I was going to run away from home and stowaway in your car, but he said "no". ;) hehe Have a lovely time. :) Blessings, Jennifer

That's so awful!! Those poor horses. :(

:lol::lol::lol::lol: Oh my gosh! I'm laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes. I can just imagine that scene! Too funny. I was raised to keep everything covered up. Skirts have to be to the knees or below, etc. I would probably have been one of those women having the heart attack if I had been there. hehehe I'm a cultural mutt and I have so many weird things and customs that I don't even know where I fit in where. My family is Spanish and Cuban and I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Half of my family live in the latin quarter of Tampa (Ybor City) and half stayed in Cuba. I only have some distant relatives left in Spain. I grew up never eating dinner until sometime after 9pm. Sometimes we never ate until 10pm on weeknights. I grew up never worrying about time. In fact to this day I don't wear a watch. In our culture it is okay to be late. In fact if you are going to invite someone to dinner, it's understood that they probably won't be there until an hour after that time. We call this "Cuban time" hehe But in Ft. Lauderdale, the surrounding culture was mostly Anglo and they were definitely not cool with the being late all the time thing. I still struggle with this because I am notoriously late to appointments and I try really hard, but it just seems I cannot get anywhere on time. Also, we do alot of the kissing in my family. We are all very touchy feely and kissy and huggy and I have gotten more than a few strange looks from people when I am being openly affectionate with my kids in a public place. I've had people look at me with that shocked face and wide eyes and I think to myself, "what??" hehe Another thing is that we are really loud talkers in my family. I have a VERY large family and when we have family get togethers it is easy to have 50-60 people in the room all talking at once, but of course you don't want to talk to the person who is sitting next to you, you want to talk to the one who is across the table from you so you start shouting to them and they shout back. Everybody is shouting and talking and laughing loud. And then there is the language. We truly speak Spanglish. The conversations flow in and out of English and Spanish and with all of the laughing loud and talking loud I can just imagine what it must seem like to a more reserved quiet type person. :tongue_smilie:My mom said that her Anglo friends when she was a kid were afraid to come to her house after school because it sounded to them like everyone in the house was fighting. hehehe I also always take my shoes off when I go into my house or anyone else's house. To me it is just disrespectful to the person to wear shoes into their clean home and track dirt in. I get weird looks for that one as well. Another thing for me, was that my husband is from the Dominican Republic. When we were first dating I thought that our cultures would be very similar, we eat almost the same type of food, both Caribbean etc. But I was surprised at how different Cubans are to Dominicans. In my family, children are included in everything. My great grandfather who emigrated from Havana to Tampa, used to always have us kids come in and sit down on the floor and he would tell us stories. He told us about Cuba and the stories of our family, wars, etc... If he had a piece of cake he would cut a piece off with his fork and feed it to you and children and adults just mingled together naturally and there was not talking down or sending us away to another room, we were treated like equals, just smaller equals. We were treated with respect and we always felt like we belonged with the adults because we were all family. In my husband's culture, or at least in his family, kids work alot. They have alot of responsibility at a young age and have to do alot of work in the home, cooking and taking care of siblings and such. They treat the children so differently that I was surprised when I saw how his family was. They also barely touch the children. In my family everybody hugs and kisses all the time, or jokes around slapping a back or giving you a nudge with an elbow, there is alot of physical contact. In my husband's family they hardly touch at all. The feel is much more formal and I always feel like I don't know what to do with myself. hehe My sister-in-law will come to my house for dinner and turn on the t.v. and watch her shows. That took some getting used to for me. I always think if a person comes to your house to visit that you spend the evening together talking and visiting, I have to just tell myself that it is a sign of her feeling comfortable that she can make herself at home. :) Language is another one that is funny. In my husband's country they use certain words in Spanish that mean one thing to them, but in our culuture it is a curse word, insult or sexually suggestive. That took some getting used too! hehehehe :tongue_smilie:

Cool! Thank you ladies. :)