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My baby turned 17 yesterday!


Susan Wise Bauer
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Has anyone been around long enough to remember when I was 9 months pregnant with Emily, and the Hive spent about a week giving me advice about how to start labor?

 

I had a flashback to that yesterday, and thought: SEVENTEEN YEARS.

 

Which means these boards have been going for almost twenty.

 

Happy birthday, Emily!

 

Congratulations, Boards!

 

And now I'm feeling a little bit on the ancient side.

 

SWB

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May the boards and Emily both continue to flourish! ;)

 

 

And, Susan, I do remember those "Day in the Life of..." articles you used to have posted on the old WTM site.  I loved the one with newborn baby Emily, and how, ummm, real it was.  It helped me see how homeschooling could sometimes be kind of crazy, but still effective. :)

Edited by Zoo Keeper
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Happy Birthday to your daughter! I have not been here (quite) that long, but I've been here a long time. Thank you for creating this amazing and unique place on the web. This place is as much home to me as my own living room is. 💜

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Sweet memories indeed.

 

Seemingly EVERYONE had a sure fire recipe for an immediate delivery!   :coolgleamA:  As I recall, some of them were hilarious!  :lol:

 

That was back in the days of "BOYBARIANS" (maybe Stacey?) and Robin in TX was about to pack her RV and camp in your front yard!  

 

Thank you for everything and Happy Birthday Miss Emily!  

 

:party:  :party:

 

 

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Happy Birthdya Emily!

 

I remember the old website with baby pictures of Emily and the boys standing at your side.

This must have been the same website where you posted homeschooling stories about your two sons B and D and there was a particular incident you described involving M & Ms which always gave me hope and assurance we were not the exception but the norm.  :)

Yup....

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Awww, happiest birthday to her and to you, Susan! 

 

Yes, I've been here that long, and we were so thrilled that she was a GIRL!! 

 

Thank you for the many years you've given us this living room to share. 

 

My personal fave post, before blogging was a thing, or maybe in the infancy of blogging--the one that pulled me through many days when I didn't know if I'd live through homeschooling because it was just SO hard with a crew of littles--was the one in which you mentioned the magical fortification that comes with eating chocolate chips straight out of the bag.  ;-)  

 

Several years later we got a name for *why* homeschooling was so hard for us: dyslexia.  Two out of three of my kiddos had it. Because of WTM and the inspiration to keep plodding along, to keep pressing gently forward in reading and writing, and to ignore the advice I was hearing IRL--that lots of kids don't start reading til they're ten and so on--my kids slowly gained ground, while still loving books.  When Scottish Rite tested my eldest at 13, they gave him a label: "dyslexia, partially remediated" and suggested accommodations.  I pressed for a referral to a language therapist, and they connected us with a lady who tutored 2E kids.  He was tutored for 9 months (the usual is 2.5+ years), and really the only thing he didn't already know was Greek and Latin roots and French endings.  All of that was because of the encouragement I received here. And the good feedback. And the moral support. And the wonderful set of friends.  Oh, and did I mention the good humor of the Hive?

 

Thank you, Susan, and many blessings for you and Emily today. 

 

P. S. Can you give us an update on your boys? (Even if it has to be somewhat general for privacy reasons...)

 

 

 

 

Edited by Halftime Hope
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Happy birdy!

 

And thank you for alllll that these boards have brought to me.  Well, mosssssst, anyway.  :::wink:::  

 

--New IRL and online friends, support, encouragement, a ton of laughs...and even some sadness that is of the good kind, because we only miss people we have loved.  And with this and the book, I had a real guide to bring my son from K-12...some of it at bricks and mortar, some at home, all of it good.  Well, most of it good.  :0)

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Happy birthday to Emily!  I can't the time has passed so quickly.  I hope Emily knows that an entire community anticipated and celebrated her arrival, and she'll always be special to us :).  Thanks, Patty, for pointing me to this thread.  I love this place and all the memories and friends I've made here!

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Aww, thanks, guys!

 

Here's a general update...

 

DS1 graduated from UVA with a theater degree. He's 26, living in Chicago, just finished the conservatory program at Second City. He's published a novel, is working on the second, is producing/acting in a web series, is also producing a skit show at Second City, and...is doing about a million other things. It's a tough field to get a toehold in, but he's got a crazy amount going on. We do get down to see him perform several times a year.

 

DS2 is 24. He's married now and living in Richmond with his wife and their baby girl (first grandchild!). After he finished his junior year of college, he asked to take a break from school, which continues--he's still definitely finding his path forward in terms of work/training/the next thing. At the moment he's settled into pretty much full time dad-duty while my daughter-in-law has returned to school full time. It makes me tired to watch them. I also get to remind my husband that the small-child stage is NOT one we need to miss. :0

 

DS3 turns 21 next week! He's a junior composition major at CNU, plays violin in the orchestra, sings in the Men's Chorus, and is in about seventy performances a year. (That's what it feels like, anyway.)

 

And Em is discovering that the junior year is a tough one! It's been an adjustment for her to have so much academic work this year on top of dance and drama, which are her real passions.

 

Not quite sure how I ended up with all of these performers--but it's been fun to watch!

 

SWB

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What a lovely update. 

 

I see so many similarities with my own family. My eldest is in film and video post-production and has written a screenplay. Happy that yours has made good connections, as the industry is competitive! 

 

My second son took a break from academics, also, got married and had a child. That's so nice that your grandbaby is close! Mine is much farther than I'd like. 

 

We looked at CNU for dd, who plays viola and wants to go into teaching music, but they have a 5 year master's and she'd rather do a BME or BA. Isn't that campus spectacularly beautiful? Such a nice feel from the visit--the music dept people took time to chat with us, even though we did not have an appointment. We didn't like Newport News, though--and have some very bad memories of a treatment facility that now goes by another name and is hopefully cleaned-up. But it is what you make it, and I know you are closer to NN than we are. Hope your son is having a wonderful experience. Must be kinda sweet to have two writers in the family!

 

Jr Year was a bear for my dd. She was so stressed, and she was very disappointed in the support she felt from friends--this year is completely different. She is taking only 3 APs, and has "AP seminar," which is offered to those who are taking at least 3 AP classes--it's basically study hall, so it frees up a lot of time. She's just applied to 4 colleges, and is maintaining A work. Tell Em to hang in there. Her hard work will pay big dividends! Dd says the writing, esp, paid off in her getting a good ACT score in English, which raised her score to scholarship level at an out-of-state school (making it a possibility, financially). 

I wish I could have homeschooled her longer, but it has worked out. 

 

Thank you for sharing about your kids. BEST to all of you!!!

 

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I was homeschooling 20yrs ago, but I wasn't here on these boards.  Happy birthday to WTM and to Emily!!

 

I enjoy the update!  My oldest is also working fulltime towards her degree.  She's pregnant with #3 (okay, there I've said it here).  It's taken her nearly 8yrs to get her PhD.  But, she should be done with her thesis and her internship before baby comes.  We're in the home stretch.   Good luck to your dil - that is HARD.  I could never have done it myself.

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Oh, as part of the update--my husband went back to school also! He's in the third year of the D.Min. program in spiritual direction from Fuller in California. It's been quite an experience for him to return to academics over a quarter-century after his master's degree. And an adjustment for us to have him away more often. But overall, it's been a phenomenal, mind-stretching, eye-opening experience for him.

 

And also it produced that one lovely fall when I had 4 sets of higher education tuition all due at the same time...

 

SWB

 

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Oh, as part of the update--my husband went back to school also! He's in the third year of the D.Min. program in spiritual direction from Fuller in California. It's been quite an experience for him to return to academics over a quarter-century after his master's degree. And an adjustment for us to have him away more often. But overall, it's been a phenomenal, mind-stretching, eye-opening experience for him.

 

And also it produced that one lovely fall when I had 4 sets of higher education tuition all due at the same time...

 

SWB

 

I can't "like" Susan's posts for some reason...not happy 'bout dat.  Best wishes to each one in your family!  I love that you have a writer!!

 

Mine will all be home for Christmas, so there will be a Catan marathon scheduled.  :-)

 

Susan, again, thank you!!

 

 

Edited by Halftime Hope
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