That sounds like a crazy question, doesn't it? So, how do you listen to the music you like, if your partner isn't into it. Yes, they can put up with it, but . . . I find neither of us listens to our kind of music much anymore. We have a super small house, no escape places. I think I'll solve my problem by playing music in my car as I tend to drive a bit and we've finally got the CD player working. He enjoys his very loud rock music but he doesn't listen to it that much anymore. Is there any technological or other solution I haven't thought of?

Sure, and the ones who really benefit off the increasing child care benefit money are the for-profit child care centres. I agree that there isn't a sense of community support for sah parents; for one thing, they do not advertise the parenting payment, you really have to dig to find out about it. Oh, and the whole debate about paid maternity leave is all around 'getting women back into the workforce' not about what's best for the child and family. Australia is definitely not super family focused, but there are some safety nets at least (if you're educated enough or linked into supports to be able to find out about them anyway).

That happens here (in Australia). Parenting payment is for the SAH parent, whether single or partnered, if kids are under 6. You have to be pretty low income to get it though, under 40 grand. There's also another payment (family benefits), that is for up to 100 grand? or so. Oh, if you homeschool, you can stay on the parenting payment even if your kids are over 6.

Plants. I always give plants when I don't know what to give. Nice pot of lavender, herbs etc.

Teens are definitely more expensive to buy for. I found something my niece would like, $40 all up incl postage, I will buy it because I like her and she'll like it. For $40 for my 2 little ones I could buy a lot of stuff - because they are happy with chocolate coins and plastic Pokemon figures. I try to keep it as simple as possible for Christmas, because my kids will still get lots of gifts from extended family, and I don't want too much stuff coming into our tiny house anyway.

As someone who is not from the US, I think raising the minimum wage is just one of the many things you need to do. This board has been an eye-opener to me, especially in regards to the cost of health care. The very first thing that needs to be done is taxing the rich. Over here in Australia, top tax bracket (45% I believe) kicks in when you earn 180,000 or more. I read (correct me if I'm wrong), that your top tax bracket (33%) only kicks in when you earn over 600,000. That's just - unbelievable. Raise your income tax, use it to provide medicare to all, make a rule that the govt will not supply medications unless the price is fair (as they do in Australia), and yes, raise your minimum wage. You will have a healthier, happier population. Of course, I can give a list of things we should do over here. We need to close the camps, go after company tax evaders, and most of all, care for the indigenous people of our country - who have a lower standard of living than any indigenous people of any country. In regards to the low paid childcare workers, that's an issue here too. One govt legislated that there must be a pay rise and a lower staff/child ratio. Unfortunately, the next govt was led by a PM whose wife owned childcare centres, so you know, she wasn't keen on having to pay more. So I think that law hasn't gone anywhere (again - correct me if I'm wrong). Childcare isn't going away. Paying people more helps everyone, even in a capitalist model (they have more money to spend, hurray!) And I agree - the year I worked in a preschool was one of the hardest years of my life. It isn't a cushy job, that's for sure.

I can't see Hacksaw Ridge (don't like violence), but I did see bits getting filmed in a town local to me, so that's kind of cool.

I think provide a real variety of materials, no instructions, and just let them go for it. I agree look for bamboo, real branches from trees, planks, along side some pvc piping, some tarpaulins and so forth. If you could get just a few bricks or similar (not enough to build a dangerous wall) they could make a walkway or stepping stones. And rope or twine. If you are happy, give them some tools too, like saws, hand-drills, so on. Don't give them some sort of boring set which has instructions. Give them messiness and freedom! Can you imagine waking up to all that? It would be fantastic!

A lemon tree, some books, some DVDs.

Check out "30 ways to transform your play" from An Everyday Story. She homeschools in Australia. www.aneverydaystory.com

I liked it, agree 4 out of 5. I am looking forward to the other films. My other half has no interest in HP at all but still enjoyed it as it was funny and action packed.

Read Moebius Noodles. It's a fantastic book.

Is she 4 years old? I wouldn't make too a big a deal over it.

Dot is kind of useless. We have both and the kids were into them for a bit, and then got over it. However, they're young - maybe an older kid would do more with them. I feel like they'd be great in a club, with kids bouncing ideas off each other. The 6-8 age range would be best I think?

I just write out word problems that involve Pokemon - that seems to do it. But I assume you could play all sorts of maths game using Pokemon cards with numbers on them, like you picking up two cards and your opponent picking up two cards, and the highest sum (you could add or multiply depending on where you're up to) would win. With graphs, you could definitely do popularity graphs, getting him to interview friends about the most popular between say 5 types. I haven't seen that much online, except there were Pokemon cards with numbers on them that you could print out.

5 days, exactly 28 days apart until post last baby. I'm 42. Before having kids, period pain was bad, now I don't get any period pain but ovulation pain is terrible, terrible.

Can you sit in a chair and rock him instead? I always find that more comfortable - and then you can 'rock' him off your lap when you're done!

Don't know about the electoral college. In Australia there's a representative for each local area (not state), and you vote for them - they will be either a major party or an independent. The group with the biggest number of representative gets to choose the prime minister. Sometimes you do feel like your vote doesn't count, as your local area has voted a certain way for 20 years. Ours however changed hands this year which was exciting. But then we have the system where you don't just vote for the person you want, you vote for everyone in order from the person you want most to the person you want least. That way, even if you've voted for an outlier, your second choice is counted. So you can't 'waste' a vote the way you can in the US. It also means there are more smaller parties represented in parliament, like the Greens. It's not entirely fair (the Greens won 10% of the vote but have less than 1% of seats), but it's better than nothing.

Hi, I'm a special educator. I'd create a timetable and block out big chunks of time for self care/food/toilet/dressing etc. Gross Motor: pushing big balls, hitting hanging mobiles or balls hanging from the ceiling inside socks/stockings , crawling through tunnels, crawling over soft obstacles. Fine Motor: fingerpainting (use yoghurt/pudding if neccessary), playdough (use edible dough if necessary), posting items in boxes or bottles, putting egg shakers in egg cartons, building/knocking over blocks, for higher support needs, try giving them mittens or socks over their hands, and putting velcro on toys, so that 'picking up and moving around' is easier. Music Time: sing and use keyword sign language. Use toys to act out songs (eg ten in the bed, 3 jellyfish). Use instruments such as shakers and bells. Interaction Time: Peekaboo using hands, a cloth, a book, a teddy - mix it up. Rolling a ball to and fro (vary 1,2,3 - go! and ready set go! and so forth - mix it up). Roll a car to and fro. Hide a ball or balloon under the kids shirt, they pull it out, you do it again - lots of fun and laughter and flexible thinking needed. Matching Time: match real objects to real objects for some kids, match picture to picture for other kids. Important for communication. Say, "put the cup on the cup!" etc etc. Sensory Time: water play, shaving cream (or whipped cream to avoid chemicals), set toys in jello for the kids to claw out, try tubs with autumn leaves, or a big box full of stuffed toys the kids can lie in. Cover them with soft blankets and pull off. Jump on beanbags together. Always think - is the kid doing it, or is it me? Kids are allowed to say no, and allowed to want to continue the activity past when you think it's all done. I went to one centre where "art" was grabbing a kids hand without permission, shoving it in finger paint, shoving it on paper. That isn't art, that's coercion. Hope that helps!

I am hoping for a consumable xmas as our house is so small. Art supplies, treat food, nice handwash, kindle vouchers, music vouchers.

I replied in the other thread but I don't think you saw it. There has been some good research linking ability in spatial awareness to later maths ability. So being able to mentally rotate shapes, discern background and foreground, and understand perspective are all important for later maths. I am pretty sure someone linked an article fairly recently about it, how a small intervention in the early days could have big payoffs. I used a handwriting program from the UK for my daughter (write from the start, I believe?) which focused on spatial stuff. I was astonished that, for example, in a page of pictures she couldn't tell what was foreground and what was background. It was just so obvious to me. However, we covered tesselations in year ten. That is a bit late I reckon. I would say that playing with tesselations as a little kid, preschool, kindergarten, using real tiles and maybe building up complexity over time would be the most effective.

Ah, ok, Well, one of my suggestions would be a chapter or something on family culture. Really understanding what your family culture is - we read in our family, we make in our family, we find things out in our family, we spend time outdoors in our family - knowing that with all education, what you do is far more powerful than what you say. I think that education quite naturally flows from this.

Wonderful news! I think the process you used is amazing - immersing the whole family in ASL. Thank you for sharing.

Love nature? Read The Hidden Life of Trees. It is magical.

I think we get those double word phrases from anglo-saxon poetry? hearth and home, kith and kin, hale and hearty, I think the nook and cranny fit in from the last 'k' sound. The anglo saxons loved those alliterations, and evidently we do too.