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Our Daily Thread 12-20-14

Good Morning!

5 Days!!!! 🙂

Today’s header photo is from Kare.

*It’s now Sunday the 21st, so I believe someone has a birthday today.

Happy Birthday Linda. 🙂

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On this day in 1790 the first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, RI.

In 1860 South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union. 

In 1879 Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, NJ. 

And in 1968 author John Steinbeck died at the age of 66.

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Quote of the Day

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.”

Dale Evans

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 This one is a request.

And this one is because I like it. From King’s College Choir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4&feature=player_detailpage ______________________________________________

Anyone have a QoD?

7,368 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-20-14”

  2. Ok, we plan to go this morning but we need to be back for the fifteen year old from school and for the other fifteen and nine year olds to help some folk move firewood. Busy busy.

    Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Definitely getting to late summer with a tinge of fall in the air.

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  3. I love the fall and am missing it here. My favorite season. Looking forward to it next year. I also want to go to our county fair. Used to be the highlight of my summer when I was in high school as we did nothing else. As member of 4h I got to stay at the fairgrounds for all 4 days.

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  4. We just went to the football game. Our team lost, something like sixty to eight. In the past, they get way behind and then come back. This was their toughest opponent, homecoming game. And our star player (our seventeen year old) spent a good part of the time writhing on the ground from leg cramps.

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  7. Very quiet here this morning. Time to get ready for church.
    I just corrected a couple of email addresses. I think somehow an extra dot had gotten added at the end of the address. Hopefully now the messages will go through

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  9. I think it is. He eats independently and does not eat fruit or veggies, though he ate both for years. Just when he started eating out that he stopped.

    But his coach says it is slightly different from a normal cramp. The deep bruising injury causes the internals of the leg to contract when aggravated. A cramp but not a cramp. Caused by the injury. I would be interested in the herbal relief for him.

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  10. What I use is Hylands Leg Cramps, quick dissolving. You dissolve 2 to 3 tablets under the tongue. I keep them beside my bed. Lately, I rarely need them, but in the middle of the night when a cramp strikes, it is so nice to take them and know I will not have another cramp in my legs that night. It is a homeopathic remedy that I found in the health food store.

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  15. The store had dark chocolate, mint m and m’s.
    So of course I had to buy some to try.
    The also had organic mushroom broth. They had some last year and it was wonderful. I just add some meat and veggies and it makes an entire dinner. So I bought 5 liters. You never know when or if they will have it again.

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  16. I have been up doing the chores. I got up early so thought I would go ahead without the entourage. It is a bit quicker by myself, but how will they learn if we don’t get them out there? Not to worry, there are other chores to do.

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  19. yup, sometimes it is more relaxing not to have help.
    The term is over. Now for parent conferences. Of course the parents I want to speak to the most did not sign up. Wait a minute, they may be working with high school students and this is the weekend they go away. Okay, I will have to ask them to come in another time.

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  20. I have to admit that I wasn’t very good at having my daughters help me clean house. But I did teach them, & would have them do separate chores. IOW, I’d give them things to do, but I’d work on my own cleaning chores myself.

    It worked out, though, as both of them know how to clean. And Nightingale enjoys yard work, in all seasons, which is a considerable blessing to us.

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  21. I have tried to give children a variety of chores so they would know roughly, each one. Currently, I am doing the feeding chores myself because I enjoy the quiet time with God and the animals and because I am giving them Fall clean up chores. They are cleaning out flower beds, picking up trash, that sort of thing.

    Our nineteen year old daughter was the one who liked to do everything outside so though we miss her, she is doing a good thing. It is hard on her though because my dad insists on doing the outside chores himself, leaving her only inside. Tee hee…..

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  22. I have allergies so do not enjoy the outside chores as much. However I love to prune and we had so many cedar trees growing in our yard that I would keep going out and cutting down 100 little ones at a time. They would just take over.

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  23. The place that I own now has no yard as it is on a slope. Lots of rosemary though. and big boulders, but no grass for me to mow or take care of.
    That’s how I knew it was my place. 🙂

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  25. It’s funny that I consider it mine, which it is, and think and plan about it. I only lived there for 6 weeks and it has been rented ever since. All of the renters have lived there longer and now I am hoping for a new renter.

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  28. The way the tax situation works, I need to live there for two years even if I decide to sell. The tax difference is between selling a rental and selling a residence. Big difference too.

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  29. Heard a report tonight from a group that went out to research an area to see if they are using their Bibles. We work so much on translation, but, once translated, are the scriptures used. Fascinating. Especially given all the different variables in this very diverse culture. Where they went there has been very low usage and there is also low literacy.

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  31. My aide is PNG’n. Also I have several students in my class, one year I had more nationals than expats in my class. All of our employees are nationals and we work together. or should I say my coworkers? So everywhere I go that is who I interact with. I have a friend who is one of the tellers at the store. And of course the market.

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  33. It is interesting to see some of the workings of the brain. I am always amazed to watch the ten year old and hear his wisdom on the things of God, yet he struggles with counting over five.

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  36. Me, too!

    Yesterday evening, Little Guy, Chickadee, & I were spending some time outside. Little Guy ran around picking up some of the pretty fall leaves that are starting to appear on the ground. He gave me one that he said was the most beautiful. (He may have said “beautifulest”, but I’m not sure.) Indeed, it was very beautiful.

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  37. Missing those leaves.
    I am studying dyslexia and even a tutoring program to use with the dyslexic.
    Mumsee, I also have a boy in my class who only knows 0 and 3. Puzzling out how to help him. I have lots of number games that I need to pull out and look at.

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  38. With counting, I always think of counting steps. How many steps to….? And then march it out. Anything that they can do physically, with their whole body. One daughter of mine marched around to help her learn things.

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  39. Son can only say up to five correctly consistently, but he can do math. He can add and subtract and multiply and some division. He uses his fingers and I have no idea how but he is quick. Just cannot say them.

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  41. Well, I sent fifteen year old off to school this morning with the reminder that he is not to go on the field trip. He can spend the time finishing up his late papers in History and English and keyboarding. I doubt he will do that. The school, of course, does not understand why he can’t go on the field trip. When he makes our priorities his priorities, we will make his priorities our priorities is the way husband says it. He has had his laundry done once in the past two months. He plays football and has taken two showers in the past two months. He never brushes his teeth and rarely wears his retainer. And he does not seem able to find the church.

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  44. we are falling behind again so must make a post.
    Nice to be feeling well again. My gut didn’t feel good this morning so I came home before church even began. After an upset hour, I have been fine.
    Good excuse to lay around and read.

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  46. Glad you’re feeling better, Jo.

    My cold is still hanging on. Although it is mild, I’m nervous about still having the remnants of it when I have my cataracts surgery this Wednesday. But I am choosing to trust God that it will be gone by then. (Whenever I start to get anxious about it, “Trust” comes into my mind.)

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  49. Good idea. The Sprite I had did help.
    Store is now closed for stock take until next Monday. Can you imagine not having a store to go to for a week?
    Okay, I know, Mumsee doesn’t go to the store.
    When I am home I sometimes go to the store just because I can.
    Here the store closes at 4 and is not open on weekends.

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  50. Store? We are out of milk but I am not going to a store. We have perfectly good oatmeal and eggs for breakfast or supper. But husband will be home again tomorrow and I suspect we will have milk then.

    Turns out son has been setting fires for a while. Always asking God to bring out the Truth.

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  52. feeling very frustrated right now. Principal offered to meet with me, but we need to meet as a larger group with more of the admin team. These are important issues.
    At least I am so frustrated that I am taking notes and writing down what needs to be gone over.

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  54. Hubby does the shopping for us, too, since I don’t drive anymore. There is a Costco & an Aldi on the way home from his work, so it is somewhat convenient for him.

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  55. This is Fair week. School is not the top priority this week. It is for us though. Still trying to get fifteen year old daughter back to where she was before going to public school for three months. What a set back.

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  56. Mumsee – One of my liberal Facebook friends (who I knew in high school) has written about her support for public schools, & recently shared an article which said that people who keep their children out of public schools are “bad people”. The reasoning by the author was that public schools will only get better by involved parents pushing them to do so, instead of pulling their kids out to go to private schools or be homeschooled. She even acknowledged that that may mean letting your child get a mediocre, or even bad, education, so that future generations of children can get a better education.

    What she ignores is that the vast majority of students have gone through the public school system, & that didn’t inspire the school districts to do better. So why should they change now if they had a captive audience?

    Sorry to hear about the setback with your daughter. God bless & lead you as you teach & lead her.

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  57. I shared something about a student with the principal. Now I find out that she shared it in a meeting along with her judgment of how wrong I was. So, she has shamed me before my colleagues.
    Prayers, as I may need to speak to her about this today. I’m depressed. God wants me here, right????

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  58. It is a difficult place to be. You need to be able to confide your concerns without them being spread about in a negative way. Does God want you there? I will pray that you will know.

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  61. Lifting you up, Jo.

    Meanwhile, here on the farmlette. Still walking around with a knee brace and appear to be catching son’s cold. Not what I had wanted but perhaps it will slow me down to let the knee heal.

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  63. Jo, I’ve made your mango chicken several times, and my family seems to like it. (My husband doesn’t especially care for a fruit/meat combo in general, but he likes mango and if he doesn’t like this dish, he has never said so. Since he is generally picky, I pretty much figure as long as he is “willing” to eat a dish, that’s enough. He won’t eat peas, sweet potatoes, shrimp, or several other things, so I don’t even try those. But if he is willing and I like it, then I fix it anyway.)

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  66. But God always sends encouragement.
    Yesterday I realized that I had made a new friend! Something that doesn’t happen often here as there aren’t many my age and families haven’t reached out.
    This gal is teaching preschool, the three year old class, right next door to me. She has four of her own children and her husband is a translator. We have been talking off and on and I have been offering her help as she is new. Actually she taught at the school 20 years ago and grew up here. I sat next to her for the entire two days of meetings. And really feel like I have another friend who understands and likes me. That is so amazing. And if that is what God is doing I am very thankful.

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  68. okay, the rest of you are forgetting to comment.
    I am only writing this so we stay on the list.
    Mumsee has Mike home and is injured so she is busy, but the rest of you need to comment.

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  71. Where have you folks been all my life? I am here. And have been icing and heating and resting the leg. It hurts more this morning than it has all week. I suspect because I slept very well and stayed in one position and it was the wrong one for that knee.

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  72. Husband is not happy with son, but there is nothing that husband can do about it. Son stayed out until twelve thirty last night, though we did not know it as he usually climbs in through his window at his return time of seven thirty. He is no longer on the football team.

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  75. He does not care about football, he cares about freedom to do his own thing. I don’t know where he was last night but I locked the doors and windows and when I got up at midnight he was lying on the couch on the porch under a sheet cover we put on it to protect it from the cats. I tossed him his warm sleeping bag, gave him a breathalyzer test, and told him to sleep well. I am thinking of contacting my nephews in Alaska to find out if they know any tough old geezer that needs a day laborer.

    Karen, I don’t know but suspect my stress hormones were abounding and when I went bowling I was not feeling right. The next day it appeared I had torn the meniscus but have not gone to a doctor so don’t know. Just resting it and applying heat and ice and prayer.

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  79. Only three houses along the way, so it is rather peaceful. A few coyotes and deer and cows and such. Which is why we have allowed young folk the opportunity to exercise by walking or riding bikes to town. Builds character, I hope.

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  81. When my parents & I lived in Wisconsin for a while, where I finished the last two & a half years of high school, I had about a mile walk to school. But there was a longer way that wound around through a sparsely populated, & rather rural, part of town, & I enjoyed walking that route home each day. I still remember it fondly.

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  82. My brother, eight years old than I, lived in Ohio, where we had lived before moving to Wisconsin.

    I am a native of Connecticut, but only lived here for five years before Dad was transferred to Tennessee. Then came Ohio, where most of my remembered-childhood occurred, then finished school in Wisconsin.

    At 19, although I was living in my own little apartment, I chose to move back to Connecticut with Mom & Dad. Through all those years, I had a wish to live here.

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  83. Almost like there is something in the feel of the place where we are born. In all my travels, I looked forward to coming back here. But am even more looking forward to what is being prepared for us.

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  85. Nope, I expected to live in the trees when we retired but we are in farm country. I am growing trees as fast as I can. We have put in about twenty five pines, about thirty fruit trees, and various others. Growing them as quickly as I can. But, just past the neighbors begins about six million acres of pine trees. Now that we have lived here a while, I am actually glad to be on the farm land instead because the fires are much easier to put out. We don’t get as much snow as they do in the trees, but we do okay.

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  88. I’m a city girl. I enjoy the wildlife out here in the country, but I don’t like not really having neighbors, and I like the convenience of town. Nashville was the perfect mix to me–big city with a small-town feel, large lots and plenty of wild spaces within the city (creeks and wildlife), four seasons, brick homes, in the South. It was “just right.” But I didn’t have a husband, and I gladly traded the just right of my surroundings for the just right of home. And I even gained the home library I’ve always wanted!

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  89. Foggy day here.

    You can enjoy the view from the deck and not be bothered with snakes. Turkeys and rabbits on the other hand, also enjoy the deck.

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  90. By the way, Jo, I purchased those tablets for leg cramps and son used them last night. He said they were very effective and several of the other boys tried them as they suffered leg cramps as well. All agreed it was a good purchase. The cramps went away quickly after that. Thanks!

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  91. Great to hear. I keep them beside my bed. Haven’t needed them in a while, but good to have.
    Someone who also works at my school referred to the vendetta against me and wondered why. That was so confirming to how I feel and that it is not just my feelings, but what they were observing. I am focusing on keeping my conduct and feelings pure.

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  92. Some sweet conversations with others God gave me today after church. I am feeling cared for and supported and not alone. Others have the same concerns and wonder how decisions are being made. Especially that the Primary School can no longer go to the Mornings in Prayer. God is working, I am just a small part. I need to faithfully do my part.
    Time to write a few more thank you notes.

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  94. Jo, years ago, before I quit my job to have Nightingale, the receptionist where I worked (as a customer service rep) turned against me. She stopped taking messages for me (except to tell me who I had to call back), which added to the work I had to do. I left a Christmas card on her desk, & I saw her throw it in the trash can without opening it.

    (I had apologized if I had offended her in any way, but she did not respond. So I now I did what I could to make peace with her.)

    After a while, I mentioned something to one of the other CSRs, & she said it was quite obvious. But our supervisor didn’t do anything about it, & I did wish someone else had spoken up for me.

    I ended up quitting a couple months earlier than planned, because the stress was getting too much.

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  96. Kizzie you and I are going to have to keep posting as Mumsee is gone on her trip.
    I am hoping that she will somehow pop in to tell us about the baby’s birth.
    For a stay at home gal, this is quite the trip.
    hmmm…. Boise to Denver. I am picturing that route.
    Mumsee should drop in to see my daughter in Boulder.

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  100. A frustrating day as my property managers have told me three times to pay a 1300 dollar bill that I already paid. Then they had someone trim and blow leaves and that was another 372. It is getting ridiculous.

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  101. Is there a relative here in the states who can take care of those things rather than paying a property manager? Well, I guess if that was an option, you’d already have that.

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  105. Trust that Mumsee is having an adventure with a new grandchild and a wedding. Got some rain here today and I can hear it raining again now. Filling up our water tanks. At least I hope it is filling up our tank. I probably need to go clean the tank screen.

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  106. It’s raining here, after threatening all day. Might be our last warm day for a while, though. It looks and feels like fall. Pretty, but I know what’s lurking behind.

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  108. My class was so wound up today. I ended the day feeling stressed. Then I talked to the other teachers at lunch and most felt the same way. Is it a full moon? or was it all the rain we got last night? Which, of course, brought out swarms of bugs.

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  116. The rest of the school has ten events and competes all day. Red team against the blue team. They get lots of team ribbons. Only the sprints and ovals, oh, and long jump, are individual ribbons.

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  118. Then we did a sack race. The funny part was that the sacks had big holes in the bottom and their legs were coming out. They were told to keep hopping even if your legs come out of the sack.. And the littlest girl won for the girls.

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  119. Next was a bean bag throw. I cracked up when the person in charge, a really fun gal, had to yell and yell stop at the boys. They didn’t listen and as soon as they threw started to run to get their bean bags. I am pretty sure who began to run. One boy never knows what is going on and just does whatever. I told the gal that this is why I do not organize the events. By the way my aide had done PE with them and practiced all of the events.

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  129. When I was a child, junior high anyway (I’m not sure whether we did it in elementary), we would have either two or three full days of track and field. A lot of the class really looked forward to it because they loved the events. Well, I was completely bad at all of it, never did win a ribbon in anything, but we only had to sign up for three events. (We could sign up for everything if we wanted, but a minimum of three). I chose the smallest events–50-yard dash, base run (running all four bases on the baseball diamond), and long jump. I made sure I showed up when my event was happening, but otherwise for those days I was free to wander and watch other people compete. They sold foodstuff, too, but I didn’t have money for that, so I just got a break from the classroom for a couple of days.

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  131. I’m not crazy about the “everyone wins a ribbon” approach. In school, I won a few things–writing contests, the school spelling bee, an art contest. Sports was not my thing and I never won in it–and that was OK. It would have meant a whole lot less to have won a ribbon for a writing contest if everyone else did, too. I was able to understand and be encouraged by the feedback that I was good at this.

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  132. I agree, especially little kids all getting soccer trophies.
    Here we have individual events with first, second, third, and then also have team events. In the team events you win points for your team and the team gets ribbons based on their place.

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  134. I hope you & your new neighbor will get along well.

    Wondering how Mumsee is doing. Must be a blessing for her to get to spend a little time with her daughter & her new grandchild.

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  135. Great new neighbor. I doubt she will be here long, as in, in this flat as it is not too nice and looks at the road. Still nice to get to know her. Oh, and I think that she has to stay here for 2 months, before they will let new folks move.

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  136. spent hours at school today working on the book order. You cannot imagine how large an order it is. For many this is their only chance to shop for Christmas. Or their only chance to get books at all.

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  139. Baby Maddie was born on the seventeenth at 11:36 at night. We saw her for a few minutes, a few minutes the next morning and evening and then hit the road to come home. I did not make it to the wedding. But a good time was had by all. Well, maybe not for daughter for about thirty six hours, but that is done.

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  141. Glad you were there for the birth of a granddaughter, Mumsee. Sorry you didn’t make it to the wedding as I would have sent you to visit my daughter in Boulder. You and she would get along great. She is something of a pioneer woman. They mostly ride bikes and only buy secondhand.

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  144. It was. I don’t get out much with all of the animals here. The pigs got out and dug up my tree park. Bad pigs. Son never knew they got out so they must have put themselves back to bed and closed the gate behind them. I suspect one got out and got lonely so went back in, probably under the fence as it is quite muddy these days.

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  145. Five years ago I awoke in a friend’s house, ready to be a bride . . . and looked in the mirror at the reddest eyes I had ever seen. Some sort of allergic reaction, either to my friend’s cat or to whatever she had used to wash the sheets, but it was about the last thing I wanted to see that morning. (Visine took care of it nicely.) I ate a light breakfast with my friend, and then we went to the church to prepare for a 2:00 wedding. Subway thoughtfully had all their footlong subs $5 for the month of October, so in advance I ordered a variety for attendants to eat and had a friend pick them up mid-morning.

    What a beautiful day it was, and I’ve been so blessed.

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  148. Mumsee, I had trouble with nursing with my firstborn. She was below her birth weight at 6 weeks, which is when the military gave me my first appointment. But she also was exhausting herself and sleeping through the night. Once I began getting her up every few hours, she gained all the weight she needed. So thankful that there was an encouraging doctor there as that was one of my worst days when I learned her weight. I had not been around babies so did not know what was happening.

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  149. Her doctors seem to be supportive. They are encouraging her to get baby up every couple of hours and keep her strong enough with formula, while continuing to work on the breast feeding.

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  150. Kizzie, I was 44 when I married, and talking all night the night before might not have been wise. I got no sleep on our wedding night, because I kept one hand on him all night long, and apparently can’t sleep if I’m touching someone. (It was worth it, though! That sleepless night was very sweet.)

    I had expected that the night before our wedding I’d have a bit of a “slumber party” with my sister and various girl friends spending the night at my house. But that didn’t work out for a couple reasons. One, most of the people I imagined being part of that event couldn’t come (or could come to the wedding but not to my house the night before) and also my then-fiance was clear I needed to get a good night’s sleep. So I ended up letting my sister and her family (husband and five children) and my niece and her two children (her husband couldn’t come) crash in my house, while I slept at the home of my best friend. If I had slept in the house with all the children, I wouldn’t have slept well and no one would have been able to devote herself to my care in the morning; we would have been fighting over the bathrooms. To be at the home of a friend with grown children, and have a bathroom to myself in the morning, made a whole lot more sense. It just wasn’t how I’d “expected” it to go, since I’d done a couple of those lots-of-girlfriends slumber parties, and I’d also spent the night with my sister and my niece on their last nights as single women. But when you marry later in life, your peers’ dynamics are different (they’re married with kids) and so is your own body (sleep is essential for proper functioning).

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  153. I have set up to have some gals for dinner on Friday evening. Luckily someone told me they could bring dessert. I am planning on Mango chicken. Lots of mangoes in the market. My neighbor, Fay, is going finish, back to New Zealand. So I will have the four of us who live in this building plus the gal who she is giving her flat to.

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  155. Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Your Friday night sounds like a fun time, Jo.

    Happy Little Guy Birthday, Kizzie!

    We were planning to go visit my dad today but between stomach upsets and colds, it is a no go. But that is okay, still lots to do here and they don’t care to get sick.

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  156. I am actually home early from work today. All last week I put in extra hours to do the book order, so it is nice to be still. Even got another 5 notes off to supporters with someone who is traveling. now someone else offered to take mail so I will try to get more written this week.
    It is about 2 dollars a letter to mail from here, plus it takes so long.
    So I buy forever stamps and send letters with whomever is traveling.

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  157. The roosters are crowing, but that may come to an end soon. At least for some of them. Too many roosters upsets the egg production. Time they went their way.

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  162. Just cut up the mangoes for mango chicken. My energy level is such that I make meals in stages. 🙂 So sauce is made and in frig as well as the shredded chicken and the cut up mango. I can see the top of my table, which I haven’t seen in quite a while. I suppose that I should wipe it off! Need to slice the green peppers and perhaps some ginger..
    No worries.

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  163. My class brought in lots of flowers for Wendy’s birthday. They gave her a group hug as they were leaving. I brought in gummi worms and animal crackers for a treat. Then she took home the rest for her family. I told her she had to eat a worm.
    Also a large jar of peanut butter and markers for a gift.

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  164. I tend to do my various chores in stages, too, Jo, including cooking. In cleaning, I find I do a more thorough job if I do a little section at a time.

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  166. No, Mumsee, you are just supposed to supervise the chores.
    However there is no one left in my home so it is either me or the haus meri and since I told her not to come last week, it is me.

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  168. Actually, I am back to doing chores as well. With three of the remaining children seriously broken, though one is doing well, that puts all of the work on the nine year old. She is a big help, but I don’t leave it all to her. I want her to enjoy work, not think of it as punishment for being normal.

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  171. A beautiful day in the neighborhood. It rained a lot during the night and fog is thick this morning. Nice day to sit by the fire doing puzzles with small folk. But I suspect we will also head off to church at some point. Probably to the Baptist church. And then bowling this evening.

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  172. We had a lazy day at home. Hubby was exhausted, & slept in until after 10am, which I don’t think has ever happened before. He felt fine when he got up, but still needed to just rest & relax. So that’s what we did.

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  173. Quiet, restful days are so nice. I just posted about going to the weight room and then ending my day with upping my miles to over 5. But it is Monday here. I promise that I relaxed on Sunday.

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  174. Actually on Sunday I wrote another four thank you notes to send off with someone. Can’t think of a better way to spend the Lord’s day than expressing gratitude. That means I have written everyone this year, except my children and my church.

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  175. Mumsee, I know nothing about the problems any of your children have with learning, but I have been studying dyslexia. The program is called Barton reading and I am watching dvd’s to become a tutor or just to learn about the program. The program is made to be easy to be a tutor and so that parents can do it. The dvd’s train you on just what to do. I am impressed.

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  176. Okay, I have got it set up to look into later, when there is a bit more time. Thanks. We are open to lots of things in the hope of getting ten year old deeper into reading.

    I love a day of rest each week. I even feel quite comfortable leaving the dishes for the next day, though I often get them started.

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  177. Wow, that is expensive. I know, my husband is on a cruise to the Bahamas but his sister paid for that. I will keep looking at it though.

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  178. watch the free videos and see what you think. Our school got the materials so I can look through it with no expense. Maybe someone in your area has done it.
    I am thinking that when I retire I might become a tutor.

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  180. Okay I mentioned the cost at lunch today. Our principal said to look around the web site. She thought that they will repurchase levels one, two, and three, if you are not seeing progress. Not at full price, but still. Also I am now watching a 2 hour introductory video that is free. I guess you can ask for it to be sent to you. I am thinking of having one sent to my home. The other web site by the same person is Brightsolutions.us I think I have that right. They are on facebook with that name and give lots of info.

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  182. Sounds good, I have myself a note written to remind me.

    In other news, the fifteen year old got home at a more reasonable time yesterday. Still after dinner and after the house was closed for the night, but closer. He says he will only want to be walking a little while longer. I suggested he is walking so as to take advantage of the early school closures this week, and he did not deny that. Reminded him that he would run into the same thing Thanksgiving week.

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  184. Talking to another teacher who is doing the three year old preschool. She is amazed that even here many of the children are not used to discipline. She is seeing a real difference. Makes me wonder how much longer I will continue to teach.

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  185. Fifteen year old did not come home tonight. Well, last night. It is about one thirty in the morning and I got up to see if he was home and he is not.

    He was supposed to be home each day at seven thirty but he was pushing that so I told him he had to be home at five thirty so he could get a shower, eat supper with the family, do homework. So now he does not come home at all. If I was wealthy, I might send him to a camp in Jamaica but I am not. Perhaps the Northwest Children’s Home? But I am not that wealthy either.

    I am beginning to think he is into drugs but as a seller, not a user. The school has not been willing to accommodate us in looking into his school locker. Which is bizarre to me. Whatever he is, he is one messed up boy.

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  186. When I saw your comment on the other thread I thought that you might be over here, Mumsee. Praying for wisdom for you. What a difficult situation. And he is only 15. So sad, but glad that you are standing firm, however painful it may be.

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  190. I thought that was the level of student you were working with, Jo. Aren’t they supposed to be in the process of learning that? My ten year old now knows that, however, he still cannot get most of them or in order. I realized several years ago that none of my children knew the alphabet when they arrived. Well, maybe the current fifteen year old boy but that is it. Some never could get it all.

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  191. I remember learning my letters, & first learning to read, in first grade. (I was an avid reader pretty quickly.) At some point, it was decided that kindergartners needed to learn all that. Some time after that, it was decided that kindergartners should already know at least their letters before starting kindergarten.

    It seems that we are pushing children to learn too much too soon. Some are ready for it, but many are not, & end up starting their school years already behind.

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  192. Basically that is where we started, but we are now a third of the way through the school year. What I am really saying is that I do not want to push this child to catch up. I feel he would be better off with more time with mom to feel more secure in all the transitions in his life or to go to the two day a week preschool right next door with more time to play.

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  193. Well, we are limping along to the new room. This room has really slowed down. I will let someone else open the new door and decide on the décor. Time for breakfast. Oh and then one of my students and her siblings is selling homemade pretzels, the soft, doughy kind, so I will have to meander over there for a treat.
    hmmm…. then to the weight room??

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  198. I am a huge proponent of letting children wait. I especially don’t want them in my class comparing themselves with others and feeling bad. Sometimes it is so hard to convince parents that their child would benefit from some more time. And, then, the decision is really up to the admin and the parents, not me. Hard to keep my mouth shut, but I can pray.

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  199. Especially here. When a child graduates, they leave. The parents may go home on furlough with them, but the child won’t be living here. So waiting really gives you more time with your child. My one little girl still does not really talk, but mom doesn’t seem to want to discuss anything with me.

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  200. There is so much societal pressure to get those babies into a degree program. Not as much as China or Japan, maybe, but it is still there. We all don’t want our little brilliant one to be the one set back, yet they are all individuals with their own time line. And we have pushed academic instruction earlier and earlier, taking away from the time our children should be playing and interacting with the world so they can then understand the things they will be taught in school.

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