Has anyone ever tried LiquidHealth Children's Multi? That's what we use but I just wonder sometimes if it's worth the money... We also do nordic naturals omega 3 with vitamin D... Sometimes I just wonder if that's the right regimen, or if we're spending too much, or not enough... You know those days, LOL!

Thanks!

Me too.

I nursed my daughter until she was 22 months. Then I started distracting her into doing other things. In my case, I am conflicted over whether it was the right thing to do... She has food allergies, and I did not recognize that until I was done nursing because I assumed the liquid diapers were a result of breastmilk. I do think my milk kept her from getting sick because she was sick ALL the time after I quit nursing her until we took her to an allergist. Before that she was hardly ever sick. On the other hand, she has sensory processing and auditory processing problems, which I have read are linked to a low level of omega 3s. I never ate fish or took fish oil while breastfeeding because I was afraid of mercury, and I had a very poor diet before she got allergies and I realized what we needed to eat to be healthy. Looking back at what I ate before I learned about healthy diets, and therefore had in my body to give her, I wonder if she would have gotten more nutrients from formula. She would at least have gotten omega 3s... There's no way she got any from me- that's for sure. It wasn't there to give. But that's just mommy guilt. Another side effect of nursing that I did not recognize was that nursing was exhausting to me. Again, I think this is a result of my poor diet at the time. I didn't have much in the way of vitamins and I must have been giving everything I had to her. When I quit nursing I had SOOO much more energy. But that's my story of what happens when you nurse and you don't know how to eat properly. But just to say to the pp, you can add me to your list of people who might think they should have quit nursing sooner. I'm very conflicted, but I do wonder if I should have quit sooner, and if Grace might not have the sensory problems she has if I had quit sooner...

My daughter's doing well with Cursive First. Especially when we use the little clock stamp to guide her...

I tell myself that I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be sad, angry, grumpy, whatever it is, and ask myself if I like my choices today. I sort of give myself a little lecture... Don't ask me why that works but for me it works.

Here.

I was just trying to be funny about how smart you all are... I really do read a lot more posts than I actually write posts. ;)

I heard wonderful news today. My neighbor thought she might have bone cancer for over a week but found out it was just an anomoly on her x-ray.

:iagree:I am on here all the time and rarely have anything worth saying that hasn't already been said. You ladies are hard to keep up with in more ways than one.

I have two questions: would the person who said they make cauliflower pizza crusts please, please, please list the recipe. if i were to make egg salad, or something along those lines, what would i eat it in? i've done the bowl thing, and right now i'm using low carb tortillas. my daughter's allergic to wheat and i'm exploring this possiblity...

Depends on how you do your taxes. Clothes can be deducted very easily if donated, and you'd get more of a deduction than you would get at a garage sale.

Well, that's so much to think about! I don't think I will have an issue with them being late because I will have a set time when the babysitter comes to watch my daughter while I go for a run. My husband often works late so we have a teenage babysitter come stay with Grace for an hour every day. I will have her scheduled to arrive 20 minutes after they should leave, and if they are late they will know they need to pay her extra because I'm leaving. So that should take care of that problem all on it's own. I've talked to the babysitter about this already and she is fine with that possibility. As for the sick kind of stuff, I think it will be beneficial for Grace to be exposed to some illnesses to raise her immunity, so I'm OK with that. I am very avoidant of taking her places when she is sick due to immunity issues with other children, but I'm usually OK with other kids passing on any illness to her that does not involve vomiting. As for vacations, we're too poor for that anyway, LOL! No really, we're kind of tied to the school schedule because of the co op we're doing this year, so we wouldn't be able to go on vacation without missing classes. I did think about missing out on things in the afternoons and I think that will be the biggest con about the situation. I'm sure there will be field trips we have to rush home from or things we can't attend. But I think the benefit of a "standing" playdate outweighs the con. Now I won't have to frantically search for activities Grace can participate in because she's so friendship seeking. That will be such a load off my shoulders. I think the idea of "trying it out" until Christmas is a good one, both for us and for them. Because they might find that there is something about the situation that isn't good for them, and this would give them a gracious way of bowing out as well. So that would be a beneficial thing for both families. I am SO glad I asked about this on the forum. I told myself it was a silly question and I shouldn't post it, but then I did anyway and I am SO glad!

That's definitely some good advice. You sound like you are speaking from experience. Thank you for sharing that with me. I will try to create some good boundaries to make sure everyone is comfortable with the arrangement. It looks like you covered every angle as far as what I should be thinking about. Thanks so much!

Hey guys, I have a neighbor who approached me regarding after school care for her kindergarten aged daughter. I couldn't ask for a better situation because my daughter is an only child so this will give her daily play time with a friend after we do our homeschool activities. They want to pay me for after school care even though I said I'd do it as a benefit to both of us. I don't even know how much people are supposed to pay for something like that. Does anyone here know what to charge for something like that? I was thinking 20 a week, just to cover snacks and activities? Sound fair? Thanks! Hailey

We have it and have had a great experience. We hooked it to our old computer upstairs (ancient and no one uses it). We did have a tin can sound sometimes with my parents but checked the FAQ on the site and realized we needed to lower our volume sound and that fixed it. We have our correct area code and could have gotten our old phone number but we had some strange people calling that number asking for someone else so we wanted to get rid of it anyway. To the person who said you can only plug in one phone: here is what you do... Plug your magic jack into the computer. Use a phone cord to plug into the magic jack outlet, but instead of plugging that cord into a phone on the other end, plug it into a phone jack in your wall. All outlets in your house will now be able to use the magic jack connection. Just a quick tip. Our only con is that if the power is out your phone is out. We have a cell phone for emergencies though, so that's OK. And when we had comcast phone we had the same problem- no power, no phone. Also, you always have to dial the area code even though you don't have a long distance number. That makes it hard to teach a five year old to use the phone. If you use the free trial you will quickly be able to tell if you have issues with the service. I guess some people have problems and some don't. Most of the people in my neighborhood use it, and none of us report problems. Maybe it has something to do with internet speed in your area? Most of us use comcast cable internet and that's very fast where we live... Oh- that's one more con... When we switched to magic jack our internet bill went up because we ditched the comcast triple play price. But our comcast phone service was so bad it was worth it. Don't ask me why but comcast phone service was always cutting off, not letting you dial, telling people your phone was disconnected. For us, magic jack is infinitely more reliable than comcast, which is pretty sad, LOL.

My daughter has the same problem but wanted SHEER purple shimmer curtains for her birthday. We got a pull down roller shade and installed it inside the window frame, then another larger one to install over the window frame. Hers is a double window so this was the best solution we could come up with, and it successfully blocks almost every bit of light. When she wants it dark it's dark.

That is so wonderful! Thanks for sharing it with us.

My daughter is 5.5 and I am teaching her cursive using Cursive First. I do think that her cursive is much more legible than her print. She cannot print without her hand wavering and the lines looking rough, but when she does cursive she does not seem to have the same issue. Her cursive looks very nice. We're on lesson 15, and they are very easy lessons to use. I found that the paper they give you to write with is too small for her because of her age. I use a lined wipeboard I got from discount school supply, but I've seen the same ones at Target in the dollar bin last week. The wipeboard seems easier for Grace to use because of the ease that the color comes off the pen. So after teaching the letter with the clock stamp, I usually put a few "trace" letters on the wipeboard for her to trace with a "wet" erase marker, then let her use a dry erase marker to trace and make a few of her own letters. That way if she needs to wipe and start over my wet erase tracers will not be erased with her letter. I don't think the cursive first program would be a waste of money. I would recommend purchasing the clock stamp. That's been a big help for us in learning the letters. Alternatively, you could use a clock picture on a laminated page with a dry erase marker. That would probably work as well.

http://cbs11tv.com/education/unschooling.unschooled.unschoolers.2.1828086.html I'm not sure if anyone already posted this... It's an article and a video about unschooling done by a Texas news station and linked on CNN.

Maybe if you call her on your own or email her and ask if they are attending the next meeting, or whatever group function is coming up, she will believe you when you say you are just busy and can only meet up at group events. Because she'd see you took the initiative to call and see if they are attending. Then you wouldn't have to feel guilty for not wanting to do personal playdates because you'd still keep her friendship on a group level. However, she sounds very persistent so that could make no difference at all. You'll know very quickly if she is going to persist even after you express your desire to see her at group functions. Then you'd have to decide what to do from there.

I tried to do them as directed and they burnt (400 degree oven for 7 minutes). Then I tried a batch at 350 degrees for six minutes and I watched them closely- perfect. They puff up and turn a little brown on the top. Right when it turns a tad brownish and it's all puffy you take them out. If you take them out sooner they'll be chewier, later they'll be crunchier. But- with all that said I thought the burnt ones were mighty tasty and super crunchy. My daughter wouldn't try them just because of how they looked, but I liked them. So I have about a cupful of little crunchy crackers on the counter and it only took three slices of American cheese. Cheap and tasty! BTW, the recipe said you can't use "cheese food." It has to say "american cheese." Also the recipe said to keep them at least an inch apart from each other so they won't run together. My husband even likes these- I had to tell him to stop eating them because they're for Grace.

Ok, you all probably already know this because it's so easy, but my daughter really wanted goldfish crackers. She's allergic to wheat so she can't have them. I found out you can take American Cheese and cut it into 1 CM squares and bake it in the oven to make cheese crackers. How awesome! Even I can eat them on my low carb diet! :party:

My husband went by and got one at Target on the way home from work. I don't know why I didn't see it when I was there last week, but he found it with no problems. Thanks guys!

If you knew how limited my knowledge of geography is then you would be laughing as you made that statement. I'm planning on getting much of my education along with my daughter....:lol: