Homebirth. All of our relatives thought we were completely nuts and tried very hard to sway us to the hospital model. And we were in one of the most homebirth-unfriendly states in the nation, with zero collaboration or support from the medical community (actively prosecuting midwives for practicing medicine without a license, while there were no out-of-hospital alternatives offered). The midwives we hired were underground midwives. But I had my first two at home successfully!

My husband told me his favorite pie was french silk, but he'd always get "the fake version" from Baker's Square. Somewhere in our first few years of our marriage, I thought I'd wow him for his birthday with a "real" french silk pie, which is made with raw eggs. I thought, "I grew up eating raw cookie dough all the time; I would even slowly eat down a ball of cookie dough for a week; I'll be super careful making this" etc. And it turned out beautiful, he ate it fresh the day it was made, said it was delicious, and then got really sick... (I didn't touch it, not a huge fan of super-chocolate desserts...) He has no desire to eat french silk pie ever again! And now I look at anything containing raw eggs with a suspicious eye... but I have a favorite, favorite buttermilk sugar cookie dough that I make once a year for Christmas that I must eat, whatever the consequences!

Well, it looks like I'm in the minority on this. I don't follow the USDA perfectly with food handling either... sometimes I'll put semi-frozen meat under hot water to finish thawing quickly, but that's for a short period of time and it gets cooked immediately afterwards. But isn't the science pretty clear that bacterial counts on raw meat are significantly affected by handling and thawing methods? The percentage of already-contaminated meats at the average grocery store (including the rise of drug-resistant bacteria)? The benefits of hand washing with raw meat juices, household illnesses? The bacterial growth rate on cooked foods left at room temperature all day? My parents don't get sick, and lots of people do what they do and don't get sick, but those are all anecdotes...

The deep-freeze thread got me thinking... My parents scarred me for life with their food handling practices. I still feel like I take my life into my own hands when I eat a meal at home. I'm sure that this is a huge reason why I am so paranoid/meticulous about meal preparation and hand washing. When they thaw frozen meat, they just leave it on the counter overnight or longer. Even a frozen ham or turkey is thawed this way. After a meal is cooked, it sits out on the stove/counter for hours and hours until someone finally gets around to putting it away. Or maybe it sits long enough to be used for the next meal. If the cook is sick, he/she still has no qualms about constantly tasting and getting their germs in the food. Hand washing means wiping your hands on the dish towel (sometimes a brief few-seconds scrub of soap if you're lucky). Making cookies or cake? We'd always eat the raw batter... But my parents are really hardy, they could probably count on one hand the times they've ever gotten sick from a home cooked meal (the majority of meals). Honestly, I don't remember getting sick from meals at home, and I'm sure they handled food the same way then. As an adult, I've had some real fights with them when I've been pregnant or my kids were really young and I didn't feel like the food they were being given was safe. My parents don't understand why I get so worked up about it, and obviously they won't change the way they do things. Why would they? They don't ever get sick from it. It's really quite amazing that they still get away with this, even in their 70's now with various health problems.

She said it was half thawed when she got it... That would be enough to make me worry a little. I have a deep freeze but I don't trust it to stay steady at 0 F for 2+ years, even without known power outages. Maybe I'm extra paranoid about the subject because I'm pregnant.

3.5 years old... too long. I'd toss that, sorry! 2 years old, maybe. But I would only serve it to the healthy non-pregnant adults in the family, just in case there is a spoilage issue.

"A house is an investment" "You'll get Social Security when you retire in 30+ years" "Saturated fat causes heart disease" "Homebirth is dangerous/scary/irresponsible/crazy/etc" "Tongue ties don't affect breastfeeding, and cutting a tongue tie is akin to child abuse" "Frequent pumping with a super-duper pump will keep up your breast milk supply"

I have struggled with anxiety all my life, and eventually noticed that most of my worries never came to pass. I was immersed in current events, I would daydream about worst case scenarios and play the catastrophes out in my mind. Sometimes it would get a bit obsessive, sometimes I went through spells of depression. 99% of the time, I went through all that stress in body & mind for nothing. After much self-work, my attitude now is that these are the "good times" I'm living in, and I should never take them for granted. If the future is worse, I will be so mad at myself for wasting the best part of my life away in pessimism and worry about what might happen. So I've taught myself to live more in the present. The worries still come and sometimes they are strong. I let myself experience them briefly and then let them roll off me. It doesn't mean I insulate or constantly distract myself... I stay informed about the bad news in the world, but now that news only makes me more grateful for each beautiful, "normal" moment that I'm living right now. This quote from Man's Search for Meaning helped me to understand that changing myself was the key to freeing myself from my anxiety. Actually, it's reading books like these, accounts that include gut-wrenching hatred and the worst human experiences... that help me the most, because they show me how the human spirit has the ability to rise above anything. For some people though (like me), it takes some training to culture a better attitude. I'm not there yet, and I have no idea how I would react to some life-altering disaster, but my day-to-day life is so much better.

Do you have a firm idea of how many hours she had the tick attached? Did you give her a thorough full body check when the first one was noticed (including scalp)? There is a very low risk of transmission over, say, the first 6 hours of a tick bite. A helpful article can be found here (pdf): http://www.bayarealyme.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PCM-risk-poster-color-1.pdf

My 4th grader and 7th grader started SWI-B together a few weeks ago. They both work with the example text shown in the videos, but my 4th grader has been doing level A source paragraphs for extra practice (sometimes the level B source paragraphs look a little too challenging for him). They can be found here (direct link to pdf): http://iew.com/sites/default/files/page/fileattachment/SWI_Level-A_Reinforcement_Paragraphs.pdf

You said you have a tunnel... When my older two were small, we had some sets of tunnels/tents/ball pits that were compatible/connectable and took up most of the living room. We would set them up in different configurations to keep it interesting. Like this set: http://www.walmart.com/ip/GigaTent-Multiplex-Play-Set-with-24-Balls/39891104 connected with this set: http://www.walmart.com/ip/GigaTent-Mega-Cubes-and-Tubes-Play-Tent/19207886 etc... Note: these tents are not the sturdiest, and wouldn't hold up long to rough play or being crushed...

There is a recent PBS Frontline on the current heroin epidemic that is free to stream, and pretty tame (IMO) for older kids. Still shows drug use with needles: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365674182/ There's another older Frontline that you can watch for free, on meth. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/ I have seen most of the older Intervention episodes. Some can be a little graphic with accounts of abuse, prostitution, some of the addicts glorify drugs, some who don't want help lash out with violence/language. But there are more appropriate episodes in there too. I haven't seen any of the new episodes. http://www.aetv.com/shows/intervention There are some other excellent ones, but I saw them a long time ago and I'm not certain that kids (my son, at least) could watch them. The documentary Children Underground comes to mind. Cocaine: History Between the Lines was a History Channel special that showed quite a few drug cartel casualties and people using cocaine, but I don't remember much else that was objectionable. I'd definitely screen everything before showing it to him.

Can you expand on what you mean by this? At my son's age, I would have trouble with anything other than abstinence. I don't think that will change in the next few years...

I like to watch drug/addiction documentaries and tv series like Intervention, and have been tempted to share some episodes with my 11 yo, but the "viewer discretion advised"/"mature audiences only" disclaimers make me wonder whether my instincts are off. For the most part, there isn't any language, violence, or explicit sexual content, but there is often real-time drug use shown (including the processes of cooking, injecting needles, huffing, heavy drinking etc). Is this harmful for children to view, because they might be tempted to emulate the drug use? The whole point of these programs is to show the circumstances in which people find themselves driven to use drugs, and the consequences of addiction for themselves and their families. I feel like there are only a few instances where drugs are truly glorified by the users... for the most part, they openly admit it's a problem and not a life that they want to be living. Of course when they are high, they will often describe the way they feel, which I suppose might intrigue a young watcher? Sometimes the addict tragically overdoses/dies, but again nothing is explicitly shown. I'm not sure why this is something to shield my older son from? My 8 yo, sure, it is too intense for him (he is a more sensitive child anyway). Am I missing something?

Sounds like the real-life version of The Tale of Two Bad Mice!

Cold "family style" meals go over well, here. A plate of deviled eggs (or just plain hard boiled), a plate of various deli meats rolled up onto toothpicks, a cheese tray, a veggie tray, a fruit tray or a big bowl of cut up melon, nuts, pickles/olives, cream cheese/pesto mix served with crackers, maybe buttered french bread slices or a nice cool jello salad. Pass the food around the table; everyone fills their own plate. It is a lot of cutting/prep work, but I always make so much that there are enough leftovers for a repeat the next day. It's also a good way to clean out "odds and ends" in the fridge. ETA: it's also great for getting kids to help making dinner. They really like rolling meat slices onto toothpicks!

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Andrew Lang Fairy Books? Those should last a while... Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, also his Space Trilogy Hornblower series by C. S. Forester Father Brown series by G. K. Chesterton The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Mine started installing Windows 10 and I hadn't clicked any buttons, ever, to consent to downloading or installing the new OS. I don't remember ever seeing a window with a scheduled install date. I was just doing chores and glanced over at the computer screen, and saw that the download was finished and installing had begun. There was no way to interrupt or cancel the process, so I forced a shut down, and the computer rebooted in Windows 8. Now we have completely shut off automatic updates, at least until July 29th. I am paranoid that Microsoft will find a way around that, too. http://www.pcworld.com/article/3073457/windows/how-microsofts-nasty-new-windows-10-pop-up-tricks-you-into-upgrading.html http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2016/05/25/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-warning/#106ec3133166

There are a few pieces of my favorite instrumental music that will usually bring on this feeling. It doesn't matter that I've played them a million times. If I see a clip of horses or other animals running/flying/swimming, sometimes it will overwhelm me with emotion and cause chills/goosebumps. I count this as "viewing nature" and not "viewing a film". When a thunderstorm is close and the wind suddenly picks up, this *always* causes a delicious reaction! I have always loved being outside when severe weather rolls in. When I was a kid I would stand on the railing of our porch deck to be as close to the storm as possible -- dangerous, I know... but it was such a thrill...

Ok, this does cost a lot, but I have to mention the *real* nap sack... the Ostrich Pillow. http://www.amazon.com/Studio-Banana-Things-Original-Authentic/dp/B00B4S6SLW Be sure to watch the video and read the reviews!

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Katy Bowman and her recommendations (I might have found her site back when I was first researching, but this was years ago!). Honestly, I don't even check the WW site more than a few times a year... I just do what I've been doing and don't research much about the prolapse anymore. In addition to your list, I know that the WW approach blames the common "fit" posture of tightening the abs and tucking the butt as a contributor to prolapse, as well as society's fixation on women with flat/toned stomachs. The WW posture is like this (partially nude woman): https://wholewoman.com/blog/images/2016/03/goatgirl-copy-2.jpg The stomach/abs are left loose and rounded, the chest is pulled up, the shoulders are down but not pulled back, and there is a significant lumbar curve. The abdomen isn't actually loose when you lift up your chest, but different muscles are activated than "sucking in the gut" or tightening the abs. It is similar to the posture of a young child. There is a mention of Katy Bowman in this blog post: https://wholewoman.com/blog/?p=578

I have some combination of prolapses that probably started a long time ago, but I wasn't really aware of them. In 2009 the whole family came down with the h1n1 flu. I had a severe lingering cough for weeks, and towards the end it was obvious that something was really, really wrong down there. The constant sensation of something falling out of me while sitting, standing, anything, while also feeling like the beginning of a UTI, and a drastic change in urination... that also lasted for weeks and nothing seemed to make it better... It didn't take long to figure out that this was some kind of prolapse, and it was so depressing. I had just turned 30! I read about the surgeries and the long term (10+ year) failure rates, also depressing. We were hoping to have more children; was that playing with fire?? It was a very scary time for me. I fumbled around with a pessary but it didn't really work. The thing that really helped me was https://wholewoman.com/ . Some of the underlying philosophies on that site and its forums are kind of "out-there/crunchy-granola" and I definitely looked at it with a skeptical eye. In desperation I thought I'd just try this posture and exercise thing for a while, what could it hurt, right? I'd say that within a week after starting, the prolapse was bothering me significantly less. I might even forget about it for a couple of hours, when before the sensation was constant. The symptoms continued to slowly improve from there. I learned some tricks on the forums to help me urinate completely, or at least enough to avoid a UTI. For years now I barely notice the prolapse, unless I do something to aggravate it (too much lounging, lifting the wrong way, getting constipated etc). Even when aggravated, I go back to being careful and the symptoms are gone within a few days. I had another baby in 2014 and am pregnant again (3rd trimester) now, and it still doesn't bother me much. I was pretty scared that postpartum would put me back to square one, but it wasn't bad at all. This is probably not a 100% success story, because the prolapse is still there and will continue to worsen with time. All I wanted was a way to manage it, at least until I am past the childbearing years. By then, maybe the surgeries will have improved, or maybe a hysterectomy will be more feasible. So far so good!

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! I don't feel quite so lost, now :hurray:

My soon-to-be 4th grader reads a ton of books in his free time; right now he's about 1/3 of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm not sure whether he should start with SWI-A or can jump right into B. It sure would be convenient to have him and his 12-year-old brother go through SWI-B at the same time (we have never done any IEW materials before). Here is an example of his creative writing from this year, in public school. (There are a couple more paragraphs after this, but you get the idea)

Thank you for the replies! I am grateful for any feedback, on my overall post or just a small section, please tell me what you think. I am going to pick up a copy of the Well-Trained Mind book, too! Ok, it is good to know that I have too many things picked out. Since my kids read every day for their free time anyway, could I drop Total Language Plus altogether? Maybe make a list of books they have read this year to "prove" they were reading? Put the focus on grammar and writing skills, where they need the most help? They are pretty strong in spelling and vocab for their ages. We do have the LOF books, I jumped on a sale at Educents that was cheaper than anything else I'd seen. From Apples up to the first algebra book. These are the first books I've bought for homeschooling. With two more kids upcoming, we figured it was worth the investment -- and from what the older 2 have read of Fred, they are really excited to get into these books. On the LOF website it says to start a 7th grader with Fractions to review. I wasn't going to go through the younger books formally with either of them... planning on letting them do the easy ones at their own pace over the summer. Once they get to math that challenges them, we will slow down. "Real school" begins with the appropriate-level books in the fall... If there is any struggling/lack of understanding with a Fred problem, I plan to find a worksheet somewhere online or come up with some similar problems myself (this would be hard for me at the algebra+ level because I am not strong in math, but I can handle it at Mr. 7th's current level, or "Math-Man" dad can come to the rescue). But otherwise I am wary of supplementing too much, at least not until we hit some real challenges. I would have offered both of them BA for math if it was available at both their levels, instead of LOF. I just know that Mr. 7th would be upset that his brother gets to do "fun" math books while he is stuck with something "boring." Everything has to be equal in this house, or there will be no peace! If anyone knows of a "fun" math program for 7th grade on up, I am all ears. Is there too much for history/social studies? I was worried that there wasn't enough... Science, I wanted to start with just The Elements with both kids. After that book is finished, feel them out about where to go next. I will take a look at Carbon Chemistry. Do I need to stretch/break/schedule everything into semester-blocks, or can I just go with the natural flow of things? Is it a bad idea to finish a book/unit/subject mid-semester and move onto something completely different?