Rhonda, How nice of you to offer us the benefits of your hard work in putting this together! I was already planning on using The Lively Art of Writing this next year with my dd. I will PM you. Thank you! Kathleen

I floss first, then brush. Just my habit I guess. A dental hygienist once told me it didn't matter much either way. I think they are more concerned in the dentist's office about people who don't floss at all, or hardly ever.

I'm sure your terrier friend enjoyed many happy years with you, because it's obvious he was very well-loved. I lost both my greyhounds within a few weeks of each other last year at ages 14 and 15. No matter how many years we get to enjoy them, it's always hard to say good-bye. :grouphug:

I was scratching my head in disbelief when I read this book too. I bought it after noticing all the rave reviews. I was going to assign it for my daughter to read, but after pre-reading it, I quickly tossed in in the Goodwill pile. Maybe it found a home with someone that will love it more than I did. Judging from the responses here, there must be quite a few who would. Funny how a book can evoke such responses on both extremes.

I might have considered having more than one, but life didn't work out that way. I had couple miscarriages before my dd13 was born and then events transpired shortly after that making me a single parent for many years. I've never thought socialization was much of an issue. My daughter frequently sees cousins and friends. Those aren't exactly the same as sibling relationships, but I don't think she feels deprived. She spends more time in the company of adults than she probably would if she had siblings, but I think that's just helped to to become more mature and confident. Because she's an only and we homeschool, she's somewhat less aware of the the prevailing teen scene and doesn't care much about it. When she was younger, I did try to make more of an effort to get her involved in activities with other kids, but now that she's older, she has her own circle of friends and she lets me know what activities she's wanting to do. With only one, I always have the time and energy for her, and I get to devote my efforts to what she needs and is interested in. I've been able to get her into classes and activities, all of which I could not have done if I'd had other kids too. After my early pregnancy mishaps I feel lucky to have the opportunity to be a parent. There were times during my single parent years when I don't think I could have afforded more than one, so I guess life worked out for the best. My dd seems to be pretty well-adjusted and pleasant (so far!), so I don't think I've damaged her too much by not providing her with siblings.

I suppose I could live without the internet, but I really don't want to, because it makes my life easier in so many ways. My grandma washed her clothes in a metal tub instead of a washing machine, and strolled over to the privy instead of using a flush toilet, but I don't want to give up my washer or modern bathroom, even though I suppose I could. The submission thing is a bit foreign to me because it's never been part of our family dynamic, but if someone is demanding on the right to make decisions for others, isn't there a corresponding obligation to seriously consider the interests of those for whom he is deciding? Sounds like he is using the submission card to justify making you do what he wants. What about his responsibility to take the needs of others into account? If family finances are that tough, it seems like you could make a bigger impact by cutting other things, for example, not buying big slabs of meat and going vegetarian at least part of the time, not going out to dinner or movies so much. If my husband were wanting me to give up the internet while still spending money on his hobbies or for the premium cable sports channel he wanted to watch, I'd feel rather resentful, because it would seem like he was prioritizing his personal needs over the family's and abusing his authority to do so. But, maybe that is not the issue at all for you and others see this differently. Internet for us is a very small part of out budget, but is used for work, bill paying, curriculum shopping, research and homeschool classes. The cost is pretty minimal for the benefits provided, at least to us. Has he really thought about what costs would increase if internet were cut? Stamps. Higher curriculum costs for having to buy new or not being able to find used items easily. More gas for transportation to get to the library, bookstore to do things you used to do online. Doesn't seem like he's really considered that there might be extra hidden costs associated with cutting this expense.

Occasionally. I could still be going strong, but my dd14 started becoming less enthusiastic about it after age 12. I miss those days when she swore she couldn't possibly go to sleep unless I read a sufficient amount to her from our book.

This happens to us several times a year. Either the scanner doesn't read properly or the librarian puts it in the re-shelving stack without scanning it in.

I've had a similar thing happen with my dd. She's been working through Algebra I and about mid-way through the year I realized she was rather fuzzy on fractions. Seemed odd since she appeared to be doing pretty well in Algebra. I bought the LOF Fractions book. A lot of it is pretty simple review for her but she says it has been good to get the reinforcement and go back over things she wasn't totally clear about. The beginning of the book was rather rudimentary for her, but overall, LOF has been rather fun as far as math goes, and I think it's helped to solidify these concepts for her. It would be an easy summer thing to do.

My dd and I both dislike drinking milk. My dh loves it, but recently discovered he is lactose intolerant. I generally use rice milk when I have to replace cow's milk in anything I'm cooking for him.

My weight has fluctuated a lot over the past 20 years. About 9 years ago I lost a lot of weight and fully intended to keep it off, but after some health issues and other life stresses, I piled that weight back on - and then some. I was glad I'd saved a couple boxes of basic things so I didn't have to re-purchase an entire wardrobe later on. I can usually find jeans and everyday tops at thrift stores for not too much, but I was especially glad I'd saved a few dress clothes. It seems like the selection of dressier clothing at thrift stores around here is pretty dated. I don't normally buy trendy clothes. It was nice to have a couple of my conservative, classic-cut skirts and a few other dress clothes for when I needed to dress up but had outgrown my skinny clothes.

Garlic Press Lit Guides maybe? http://www.garlicpress.com/home/gar/smartlist_11/literature.html There aren't a lot of them, but we have used a couple and liked them. The challenging level ones are quite detailed.

I did have a massage and a manicure once when somebody have me a gift certificate. I was less than impressed with the manicure. The massage felt great, but I simply couldn't justify spending that much money these days to get another one. I've finally trained my husband and my daughter to give pretty decent back massages, so I just go with what they have to offer. Like a previous poster mentioned, I'd rather spend any extra money on books!

I wouldn't be offended. I get so few personal letters anymore that an actual letter from someone is a real treat, whether handwritten or typed. I think that should be fine as long as it doesn't sound like a form letter.

I still do a weekly checklist that has assignments to be checked off for every single day. I had hoped by this time that my dd would be able to manage her time and work more independently, but that's not the case yet. I have have to check her work daily. No screen time or friend time until the work is done. Sometimes I have to insist that she do her work at the dining room table, because if she's in her room with the door closed, she will sometimes put on a book on CD and listen to that instead of doing her work. If she is working on an assignment and truly thinks the work is too much, she can ask me about changing it or giving her more time, but only if she approaches it in a non-whiny way and only if I'm sure she's making an effort rather than simply trying to avoid doing something.

Family law can vary quite a bit from one state to the next. In my state, even if you have joint legal custody one parent may have authority to make certain decisions, including educational ones. However, the rule could be different in another state, or the custody decree between these two parties could provide otherwise. Taking a chance could be risky, because if she oversteps her legal bounds, the other party could move to modify and seek sole custody. Even if he doesn't get custody, she will have to incur a lot of legal expenses. It's probably worth spending a few dollars to get proper legal advice now. Then she can make a decision with knowledge of what the scope of her authority actually is.

We used to do 4 big days, with art and poetry on Fridays. This year my dd is in 8th grade and we do more on Friday, because that is the only way we would finish our history curriculum this year. Friday is about a three-quarter day now. We do math on Fridays, but somewhat lighter than the other four days. Grammar and geography are still just four days.

Or if you don't want to copy the tapes onto CD, maybe you could just get some garage sale sticky dots and number each book/tape duo, then put the books on a bookshelf that your kids can access. You could then put the tapes in a separate box or go to Goodwill and find one of those cases or storage boxes that were made for tapes. Once your kids choose a book, you could just look at the number and easily find the tape to go with it if you keep the tapes pretty well organized - yet not have quite such bulky storage. My daughter enjoyed books and tapes not so very long ago. Our library still has a few of them. Maybe your kids will get into the book and tape thing if you try it few times - or not. If they hate the tapes, you can always enjoy the books, then donate the works when you are done with them. Someone else may be happy to have the book/tape sets.

This was me as well. I just didn't want that graphic reminder of a baby that miscarried. I can understand that people can feel strongly one way or the other, and neither seems inherently right or wrong, but your sister has expressed her wishes on the subject, and I think those wishes should be respected.

I received a Nook from a friend who had one and thought it was the greatest thing since mashed potatoes. I use it occasionally, but I really like holding an actual book and turning the pages. Sometimes I download books from the library, but really, I could probably have just checked out most of those books the normal way. I haven't purchased many books for the Nook, because I love shopping for used books, and with an actual book, you can re-sell or swap them, which you can't with ebooks as far as I know. When we went out of town recently I loaded up my Nook, but ended up spending all my reading time on a plain ol' hard copy of another book I'd already started.

No matter how rotten the parent is, the child still needs to eat, wear clothes, see the doctor/dentist, and probably a therapist if a kid has a parent who behaves badly enough to have his parental rights cut off. I don't know the facts of this particular case, but possibly the court is focusing on the interests of the child and saying the child needs financial support even if he doesn't need contact with this parent.

We sort of do. My dd attends an orchestra class at our local middle school, so she is very aware of their schedule. This year they cut a lot of Fridays from the public school schedule for budget reasons, but we still homeschool on those days. I only make up weekly school schedules from about September to mid-June, but we do carry on with a lighter school schedule in the summers, leaving ample room for whatever summer activities may strike our fancy. In summers we mainly do a lot of reading, a bit of creative writing, and some math maintenance.

My dd13 started volunteering at our public library when she was 10. That was under their usual age, but we went there so often and the librarians all knew her, so they waived the age requirement for her. Maybe not all places will do that, but it might be worth checking into. My dd was also able to volunteer at our local art center after she asked one of her art teachers about it. We also volunteer periodically for a greyhound rescue organization. The local animal shelter says volunteers have to be 16, but they will allow younger volunteers if an adult accompanies them.

You might also want to take a look at Fairview's Guide to Composition and Essay Writing. Rainbow Resource carries it. You can take a look at the table of contents at their web site. The book talks directly to the student, but I don't think it talks down to them. Not terribly expensive and probably something she can work through on her own quite easily. There is an answer key to some of the exercises in the back of the book. I second the suggestion for the book Thinking in Threes that a previous poster mentioned. We have used this as a supplement and found it to be quite useful because it gives you tools to employ if you get stuck or have writer's block. My fairly reluctant writer thinks this one is rather fun.