Yep. Not everyone has a loving home to go home to, and it is nice to extend kindness when possible.

That's hilarious! :lol:

Wow! $200 seems like a lot for school supplies. What in the world are they buying?

:iagree:

I agree. A GED in and of itself is meaningless, if not required by law. I would encourage her to choose a simple textbook curriculum that she can work through with her children - Alpha Omega Lifepacs, Abeka, Ace. Rod and Staff is very inexpensive. She could always get books from the library for science and history. If there's a free public school at home option in her state, she could try that as well. My aunt made it through high school by the skin of her teeth, and she has already graduated 6 of her 12 children. They're all doing very well. I would encourage her to go for it!

I do that, too if the errand is under 5 minutes (the law in my state), and I can see the car the whole time. I agree.

We thankfully don't have coin deposit machines here. I only have about a 25% return rate. I'll return it if I'm right next to the corral. Otherwise I just push it to a spot nearby where it's not blocking a parking space and unlikely to roll away. In our area, there are employees who get paid to round up extra carts.

Wow! That is amazing!

Oh, I know. I am on a few boards where you dare not mention "Santa" lol.

I don't know of any legitimate black organization whose goal is to succeed by being racist. Typically, these groups were established because of the racist policies of other organizations, and their goals are to meet needs that aren't being met by existing organizations. I don't view organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers any differently than I do Concerned Women for America or the National Federation of the Blind. These organizations are open to all and are not designed to persecute others. If they were, that would be wrong, IMO. I can't speak for others here, but as a black woman, I would be sickened if a group of white children had been treated poorly by a group of black parents. There is no excuse for it, IMO. If this thread were about such an incident, I would be among the first to say, "that's disgusting!" However, since that isn't the issue at hand, this discussion is OT.

Me, too. But being a newbie, it is nice to get a feel for the board. :scared:

I am new here, but I've been in a similar situation and I wanted to share some things that helped me. I was raised by a single mother, so I was really into independence and everyone pulling their own weight, etc. When my dh and I married, I had an attitude similar to yours - he is an adult and he can fix his own lunch, pick up his own dirty clothes, etc. I even went beyond that to say that even though he worked extremely hard so I could be a sahm, he should come home and do his fair share by helping me with household chores, etc. We were miserable, and several years ago, I decided to change. I started studying my husband - kind of like a scientist. What were his likes/dislikes? What were his preferences? What did he want/need from me as a wife? I decided to stop judging his words/actions and convince him he was wrong, and instead try to understand WHY he did the things he did. Why does he want things done this way? Why does he find xyz upsetting? I was determined to accept him as is, and I stopped trying to change him in any way. I tried my best to keep the house the way he wanted it without asking him to help. If he asked me to do something, I made it a top priority. If he had a suggestion for homeschooling that I thought was totally unnecessary, I implemented it anyway. (And it was often beneficial, lol.) I encouraged him to do things for himself, like golf lessons, etc. And when he came home from out of town and fell asleep in his chair, I did the bedtime routine myself instead of complaining that he'd been away all week and it was my turn to relax, blah, blah, blah. (Can you see how awful I was?) Anyway, through this process I really came to KNOW my dh, and in some strange way he started to fully trust me and he began to really know me. We started giving each other the benefit of the doubt. We started really trying to please each other. We gladly sacrificed of ourselves for each other. It was a slow process, but over the past 3-4 years, things have just become better and better. I'm now pg with my 4th child, and dh has pampered me like never before. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Our 10th anniversay is this month, and we are best friends. We share our thoughts and feelings honestly, and we can't wait to be together. We have even had the opportunity to help other couples. The change you want is definitely possible, but sometimes it starts with a lot of sacrifice on the part of one person and grows from there. Kudos to you for wanting to change things for the better and being willing to start with yourself! I railed against the submissive wife stuff for years and years. Now, I will proudly say I am submissive to my husband, and in turn, he has given himself up for me. It makes for a very happy marriage. ETA: As far as the decision making, I decided to trust my dh's judgment and stop trying to control everything. He still wants my opinion about everything, and would never purposely do something I was opposed to. But there is no power struggle. It has honestly been a burden lifted. It is a relief to be able to trust him and not try to control everything.

I don't know much about the Miss Black America contest other than that it was founded at a time when black women were banned from similar pageants, but I do know that MOST black organizations (universities, sororities, fraternities and professional groups) are open to individuals of any race as long as those individuals are supportive of the organization's goals. However, IF whites aren't allowed to enter the Miss Black America contest, does that then make it okay to kick these children out of the pool because of their race? I don't understand why the existence of the Miss Black America pageant (or any other black organization) has any bearing on whether the community club's actions were right or wrong. I do believe racism can go both ways. I just don't understand how that relates in any way to the story that's being discussed here. If this club has done what they've been accused of, then that's racism and it's wrong.

I dump it out in the alley behind our house.

I am new here, but I had to chime in! I was looking at the catalog today and The Three Musketeers/Robin Hood is one of the ones we chose also. He's going to be at our convention in a few weeks so we're going to buy it then, along with a few others. I'm excited because I can't wait to listen to them!