Aren't our babies fun

just because your risk diminishes doesn't mean you aren't still at risk! [2008-12-04]
why does it seem worthless to quit? what if you have a CHANCE of living longer?? you may be diagnosed with cancer still, but it may be sooner than later. Your argument makes no sense, to say that no one is affected by your second hand smoke do you ONLY SMOKE ALONE IN YOUR HOME and nobody visits you ever? if you EVER smoke in public, someone is affected. i can't believe I'm counseling someone who has smoked for longer than i have been alive. i mean that's just my opinion, you are going to do what you want, it's not my business, but if you enjoy smoking and dont care if you die sooner than later, continue on.

if you aren't doing it out of love [2008-11-27]
and because you want to, then don't!! You could allow others the opportunity, go out to eat, volunteer at a public dinner, etc. That's silly to do it all with that attitude. Be true to yourself.

my babies [2008-11-13]
my two lil sweethearts

Do you REALLY think they aren't learning the [2008-10-16]
SF has one of the best school systems in the country. As for 'separation of church and state', what makes you think this will be a religious ceremony? It may be nondominational. I just can't believe the things I'm reading here this morning. It's really sad.

Aren't you guys always saying that [2008-10-16]
X

people drive in the "fast lane" when they aren't passing anyone!!! [2008-10-10]
get over already!!! Didnslower traffic keep right!!! LOL my rant for the day :)

What beautiful little babies! They are just precious. Thanks so much. [2008-10-09]
xx

my babies! [2008-10-09]
Boy Bailey (white one) and Girl Rylee Both now 2.5 and about 50 pounds! i love them to pieces!

These are my babies....sm [2008-10-08]
This is CJ, which if you believe others, would be a evil, dangerous, not to be trusted pitbull. NOT!! He is so sweet. Also the beagle is my Darla. She is very fat and very lazy. CJ and Darla are bestest friends.

sorry, should be aren't nm [2008-09-28]
nm

how can you gain weight if you aren't eating [2008-08-21]
x

why aren't your kids in school? [2008-04-23]

They ARE amazing, aren't they? Definitely scary - (sm) [2008-04-19]
when you're indoors.... so much banging, rattling, stuff falling, etc. But if you're lucky enough to be outdoors, as I was during the 1989 Loma Prieta quake (7.1 on the Richter), it's totally awe-inspiring. I was getting ready to wash my truck, and was carrying a bucket of soapy water across the yard. Suddenly the trees started shaking, and I thought a sudden breeze had come up on what had been a quiet, muggy day. Then I saw that the barn was swaying back and forth, and realized it was a quake. A few steps further, and it really started rolling. Had to hang onto the side of the truck to remain standing. Giant redwood trees were whipping back and forth so far that the tops of them were almost horizontal. We had a large pasture in front of the property for horses, and there were large waves in the ground, moving up and down with more than a foot and a half of vertical displacement. I couldn't help but laugh... it was pretty funny. Interestingly, all the horses turned and stood facing in exactly the direction of the epicenter. Once it stopped & I could let go of the truck, I ran into the landlord's backyard to look at the pool. The waves were big enough to surf on. A friend of mine who lived up in the Santa Cruz mountains was driving down a long, steep, straight road when the quake hit, and she actually saw a big wave in the pavement (the primary, or P-wave) coming straight at her. She stopped and rode it out in the truck. Another, very LUCKY friend, had been driving on I-880, and had just emerged from the covered section of freeway that collapsed when the quake hit, so wasn't caught in that awful disaster. He said it was weird... felt like he had a front flat tire, so he stopped on the side of the freeway to check his tires. As did several hundred other people! Imagine the whole freeway stopping, and everyone looking at their tires.... a 'Chinese fire drill', California-style. My mom lives directly on top of the epicenter of the Northridge quake of ྚ. It was a very sharp vertical quake, and it literally threw her out of her bed, lengthwise. Good thing, because the bookshelf/headboard part of the bed fell over and landed where her head had been on the pillow. I lived down there during the 1971 Sylmar quake, and I was trying to stay in my bed while it bucked like a bronco. My sister was in the bathroom hanging onto the sink & screaming. We had a jillion aftershocks from that one, which were more unnerving than the original quake. Every time we had an aftershock, another of my sisters started hyperventilating. That night, my parents were having the floor measured for new carpets. The poor contractor doing the measurements was so rattled by the shocks, not to mention everyone screeching and running out of the house when they hit, that he measured everything wrong, and the carpet they brought didn't fit. So a couple weeks later he had to come back and do it all over again. I was in Jr. College back then, and had a part-time job working at a stable. After the quake, when the sun came up I went up to the stables for work that day, and it was too dangerous to clean stalls with the horse in there during the aftershocks, so I had to take each horse out and put it in a corral while I cleaned the stall. Took me forever! I was up there all alone all day, and wasn't really worried, 'til I sat down on the ground to sharpen a pair of animal clippers. THAT'S when I realized that the ground was continually moving all the time.... jiggling very faintly, sort of like Jello. That's what got me feeling spooked. Another time, I think in the 80's, when I was at work we had a long, not-that-strong, rolling quake. I was in the basement using the copy-machine at the time. I'd had a migraine that day and had just taken Fiorinal for it, which made me feel a little strange sometimes. While at the copy machine, I was feeling really dizzy and strange, and hearing strange creaking noises. I'm thinking, 'Wow... I don't feel so hot!' The rolling continued, and I felt kind of nauseous. Tried not to look at the light in the copier, which has triggered migraines in me in the past. Noticed lots of people standing in the doorway to the Medical Records dept. and Radiation Oncology, and my foggy brain wondered why they were all taking their break at the same time. Still felt sick, and decided that if I didn't feel better within the hour, that I would go home to bed. Right about then, (with the floor still rolling), someone commented to me on how nonchalantly I was copying away during an earthquake! I was actually relieved to learn that's what the problem was, and not a reaction to the medication! :D

I agree. Aren't you married adults?... [2008-04-18]
This is your husband, not your father. Having been in a relationship something like this in the very distant past I can tell you that you need to get rid of this jerk. Why do women put up with this garbage from their husbands or boyfriends? What advice would you give to a daughter or friend if she was in the same situation?

Women aren't on their own listof priorities (sm) [2008-04-15]
I just read this on Oprah.com and it is really striking me. Thought it might strike some of you too. I actually have felt guilty when I was trying to exercise regularly and eat healthy....spending too much time on myself, too much money for healthy food. Women arenlet yourself go. Women believe itsacrificial lamb within their own families. This is a lie that we allow ourselves to buy into, but we need to wake up! The challenge for women is that they must re-language what it means to be a wife and mother. Being a good wife and mother means that if you don't take care of yourself, in the long run you are ultimately harming all the other people you love in your life. You won't be the only one who takes the hit.

Oh my, aren't we uppity! [2008-04-03]
I I googled the information people said to Google and did NOT find it. Obviously if someone has never heard of the other evil board that shall not be named, it's not quite that easy to find it. So get over yourself already and just post the name.

Well aren't you the lucky one! Most of us don't have [2008-04-03]
!

Oh aren't they BEAUTIFUL! [2008-03-06]
Doncha just love flowers?! I was just talking to my husband today about how I just got royally screwed over by an on-line company... My friend So, I sent her some flowers. When I went to her house to give hugs and support in person, I didn This lady has absolutely nothing, is dead broke, and has no family, and I was very bummed she didn So I called the on-line floral place and they told me they had no idea and couldn Long story short, no flowers for this poor lady. My husband thought flowers were astupid way to spend money, but I told him that people LOVE getting flowers. No matter how bad things are, flowers make you temporarily forget. It Then I learned hownasty some brides-to-be can be and bailed, because I can Just dang. You are welcome to e-mail me anytime at kathy@perin.org Like I said before, I only post under Hayseed because there were, at the time, lots of Kathy I gots nothin Itfor another day I guess....

Aren't our babies fun?? [2008-02-27]
My Simon tries to put two toys in his mouth and throws them at my feet when I 80 degrees in Texas Monday - awesome.

I was feeling sad recently, when I took my 2 babies [2008-02-25]
to have them bathed (cats). One I had bathed before and he is the most outgoing. His brother (they are 2) is a very shy guy and runs and hides from most except me. The person at the shop picked him from the way his mother would carry him and he went without a whimper. They were there getting bathed from 8 until after 5. I am thinking of bathing them myself next time- I mostly took them because they have dry skin but still came home with dander. I can do it myself- those boys love the water and try to jump in the bathtub so I will run some in there for them. I always heard cats did not like water?

OMG - huge difference! Hope you aren't as naive about your kids....wow! lol [2008-02-11]
x

Get rid of the cat? Seriously, this is like having babies and asking how to keep poop off the diaper [2008-02-04]
f

My friends with babies all said the same thing....sm [2008-02-04]
--Disposable diapers, any size because they will all be used eventually and you never realize how many you'll use. --Onesies, because they're constantly dribbling and peeing on them (a few different sizes since they grow fast) --Pacifiers, because they get lost/left behind very easily and you always need one. They all say a lot of the gadgets look neat but aren't practical, espectially the Diaper Genie. I usually buy mostly practical stuff as above, and then 1 little cutesy thing that's more for mom, like the silver rattle, etc. But really, they need the boring stuff and those will get the most use. I like the other poster's idea of putting it in a baby tub...or a baby bag....

Squirrels are creative, aren't they? [2008-02-03]
They can figure out a way to get into most birdfeeders. True acrobats!

Aren't you nice thinking of me desperado! [2008-01-23]
No lupus...thank goodness. I have an appt to see a rheumatolgoist but have to wait several months and it I was prescribed something called Celebrex but my insurance doesn For now I More good days than bad right now thankfully. Iexercise per say, just stretching to keep things limber. I think it The dreaded fibromyalgia word was thrown around but I don I just think itrheumatisms of gettin' old, but everyone seems to want some high-falutin name to throw around. I Hey, I am what I am....give me someone with a degree earned here in the states. Plus, it So, I So there ya have it...way more than you wanted to know, as is my usual response to anything...even 'how's the weather.'

quitting smoking [2008-12-03]
You are correct to be afraid. Quitting smoking is excruciatingly painful. You have to re-train your brain to do every single daily activity without smoking. And the cravings never go away. Skullcap, Gingseng, and Valerian are extremely useful, so you don't have to suffer if you don't want to. The sore throat alone from the first week of quitting will scare you to death. You will need to eat and exercise to get the energy you get from cigarettes, and it will take awhile to learn how to take better care of yourself. Why is it worth it? You aren't a slave anymore, you can go anywhere, colors you see are more intense, all foods taste different, smells are different and more intense, (and sex is more intense also). You can quit anything if you can stand the pain. Don't be a wimp, you are worth it.

be thankful to have him around at Christmas time... [2008-12-03]
and try to overlook some of these things that bother you. My husband is in Iraq and I would give just about anything to have all of his annoying habits around for Christmas. Just a different perspective, but sometimes these things aren't as bad as we think. It is a little endearing that he is so excited at Christmas. Like a kid almost. :)

My point exactly. He can afford it [2008-12-02]
and he should afford it. All the CEOs of all of these companies that are begging for handouts...this is what they should have to do. All these CEOs for these companies that aren't doing good...I think they should jump on the bandwagon here. They cut our pay or pay us next to nothing, because they say the companies are not doing well...but they are not taking paycuts or cutting bonuses for upper management.

christmas gift exchange again sm [2008-12-02]
Our family has always picked names for Christmas and bought only for that person. The limit is supposed to be $25. You know how hard it is to just spend $25 especially on someone that basically has everything. In the past this had just included the adults in their 40s and 50s. Of course one felt obligated to buy the teenagers and younger children something. I Last year I spent close to $200 on Christmas. I really couldn This year my SIL presented the idea of a low cost gift or gift card (my mother hates gift cards) and playing the game of picking a number, then picking a gift, etc. Well my otherbrother and his wife, who are well off, and my mother decided they didn I told my mom I don I can Its only $25 they say. Arenmoney?Well its never just $25 and what can I buy a teenager that has everything for $25? They turned up their noses on the small gifts I gave them in the past.I also donspend more than $25 on me when I could only afford $25. I already feel inferior about my financial status in comparison to my siblings and I feel the best thing for me is to not participate. What I really loathe Christmas anymore. No one really appreciates any gifts they are given and I donI guess IWhy can Thanks for letting me vent.

These 10 things definitely ain't right: [2008-12-01]
1) MTSOs who want people with top-notch skills and experience, but don't want to pay them what that skill is worth. 2) HMO's: So-called *health-maintenance-organizations* --yet they spend every minute and every dime of their far-too-large profits on denying healthcare, meds and procedures to their patients. These organizations have ruined American healthcare, and many American lives. HMO's have been a con-game since their inception. 3) The Bailouts: Giving money to companies who can too bad for the rest of you.* Then the Big Three show up in DC to beg for a handout, and fly there in private Lear jets. My answer to them would be, *I too bad for the rest of you.* 4) Apartment managers that won't allow even a single quiet, well-behaved pet, but will rent to people with continually screaming small children, and out-of-control older children and teens. Give me the pets for neighbors, ANY day. 5) Businesses that give an age-discount to absolutely everything that walks, runs or flies, but not to the middle-aged middle-class, who need it the most. Take the ski-industry: Young children ski for next-to-nothing, and sometimes nothing. There is a Teen Discount. There is a Student Discount for college kids. There I'll probably never be old enough - it's a carrot-on-a-stick, always just out of reach.) There are even corporate (UGH) discounts. But for those in my age group, who barely make ends meet but like to go up once a year for a couple days of bliss, there is NOTHING. 6) Travel-lodging deals that are always based on double or quadruple occupancy. What about singles? NOTHING. 7) TV commercials that are about a million decibels louder than the regular shows. Why can't it all be the same volume? Same with online newscasts. THEIR commercials will blow your eardrums out if you aren't quick enough turning down the volume before they start. 8) Surround-sound: Everything is too loud, already! Why do we need it coming at us from 4 directions? Why do people living in tiny apartments feel they need it? I've lost count of how many fights I've had with neighbors over this issue. Same with movies and music concerts. Why do they feel we need to feel the music in our SPLEENS? I went to Universal Amphitheater last week. (Now named something else). There is actually a sign outside warning that the decibel level inside might damage your hearing! (?!?!?!) Why do they need this? (To avoid lawsuits, obviously). If it's so loud you have to post a warning sign outside the entrance, then DUH.... it's TOO LOUD! 9) Banks that charge you a fee to use their ATM. They (I haven't actually been INSIDE a bank in YEARS).... and they want to charge US for using the machines instead of the tellers? Forget it. I won't give those banks my business. 10) The Post Office: Talk about rewarding slow, inept performance! The worse their employees are, the longer they seem to stay there. I'd rather have a root canal than go to a P.O. during the holiday season.

Is she actually dirty or does she have an odor problem? [2008-11-30]
Who told you she needs a bath? Can I ask why you aren't able to brush her? There are a lot of new products and tools that can help if you have a problem with your hands or arms. I have clients who get their dogs bathed every week but I really don't recommend that, especially for a collie type of coat. Unless your groomer missed something she should be good for quite awhile in that department.

I still love giving gifts and have a solution with my family. sm [2008-11-30]
We all buy gifts for our parents (there are 4 of us, all married) but we wrap them all in the same paper and they are from everyone. That way, if someone is having a tough year, then it still looks even. Over the years, all of us have had a year that extra money just was not there during 1st babies, 1st homes, high gas prices, unexpected bills, lay-offs, new jobs etc. This way, our parents don't know who did what and they can't turn them down or worry about one family when they don't want to share with them their troubles. We treat the kids similarly. We all buy for all the kids (7 total) but no set limit. Some years, when having a good financial year, they get big presents, some years they don't. They all get to open at least 5 presents (counting Grandma and Grandpa) and we torture them until after dinner before they can open gifts! There have been years of Dollar Store gifts and years of video games. We all look for things during the year that we can give to all equally. Last year, I found pajama bottoms at Old Navy for $2 in the summer and bought a pair for everyone, including the adults. One year, my sister got them all Uno decks which were $3 each because that's all she could do and they are still the favorite gift and go everywhere. Uno tournaments, using all the cards are a family tradition and we make up different rules all the time! I am fortunate to be in a good position the last few yeas and have bought more extravagant presents. Not to show anyone up, but because I can. Not to make up for the very lean years, which were many, but because it is easy for me to do right now. We don't have jealousy and I don't expect anything in return because if I need something or want something, I usually buy it for myself. I just like to give gifts and can, and everyone is fine with that. But I have to tell you, my best gifts from the others are from years when there was no money and have now become tradition ... strawberry jam from my SIL, fudge from my brother. Christmas is what you make it. We are loud and loving and crazy and if we exchanged soup cans, the kids would still love it. It is what you make of it and how fun you make it for them.

Men [2008-11-30]
I think his quality of life would go up if he'd be willing to see an audiologist and have his hearing evaluated. There are a lot of new technologies on the market these days. They will usually allow a person to take a device home for a trial before purchase. But it sounds like he doesn't want to admit his body is aging. He still wants to act like a kid and spend money on toys instead of health. My hubby is 50, and is just now realizing sometimes expensive electronics just aren't in a real-world budget. I haven't cared about gifts since I was a kid. I found gifts very disappointing and giving them a lot of work, so thank goodness we only buy for nieces and nephews now and all the adults go without. It had just become a silly exchange of gift cards anyway.

Gift Giving [2008-11-29]
I just got married in July 2008, bought a new home, and am now expecting my third child in April 2009 so we ourselves have had many blessings this year but our financial situation is also pretty tight. We will not be buying gifts for anyone but our children. Our family will receive homemade treats this year. We still like to do something nice for them because they have done so much for us this year and every year but we don't have a lot of money to play with. In my case, we take care of our obligations (bills, our children, etc.) before we worry about gifts. We feel that providing our children with things that need and the love that they deserve is more important than any material gift will ever be. Our family understands our situation and is very happy just to spend the holidays with us without the expectation of a gift because honestly the quality time with family is the biggest gift we could give each other. In my opinion, you should just explain the situation to them and let them know that you will not be giving gifts this year. They may take it hard but they will get over it. You have to do what you have to do. Gifts aren't the real reason for the Christmas season anyhow. Good luck to you!

Boy men are such children - sm [2008-11-26]
my DH is a j*e*r*k like that too sometimes. He refuses to stay at my dad's house because he re-married so quickly after my mom died. (he wants to stay in hotel--which is very expensive where they live--....though we have not done it yet because as yet he has refused to go, so I go w/o him and the kids and I have lots of fun--he did go once 2 years ago though he made us stay at a friends apartment, very silly). There is more to it than that but that is a big part of it, and he thinks my stepmom's family thinks he is a loser. He is hung up on what people think about him and imagines slights, looks, etc. all the time, very hard to live with. But he know I will leave him in the dust and do what I want as he is acting like a 2-year-old. I would just go and not worry about him acting like a baby. If you stay home with him you will be mad, resent him for making you miss out spending time with your mom (which you will regret if something happened to her any time soon), and probably have a boring day at home while he watched football all day and you cook or twiddle your thumbs. He will probably never be the bigger person and bite his tongue and go, though he should. Men really are babies though at times.

Depends on who's bringing the desserts. [2008-11-26]
In my family some of us are cooks and some aren So it depends on who brings what. If it If Ibringing dessert, I usually make the pies.I have a sister who does not cook, so she always buys them. BUT she buys really good ones from local pie shop.For the first time, this year my 12 yo niece has been put in charge of dessert for Thanksgiving, with my SIL overseeing it. She I P.S. I do have a pumpkin pie stashed here at the house for later tomorrow night though!

Try to work an earlier shift. Your [2008-11-26]
daughter should be able to keep herself busy with homework, chores, etc, until you get done working. Then when you aren You don She will just have to understand. But I would let her have her time with her friends when you are off. It will be less distracting for you and you won't have to jump up to see what is going on.

nobody plays anything anymore, apparently [2008-11-25]
Wow, it was like you were reciting a chapter from our life. We've had the hardest time around other parents and their kids. You should have seen the confused look we got the other day when someone asked us if our kids liked Diego, and we said that ours don't really watch TV. It was the politest thing to say, because there was the show up on their enormous expensive flat-screen TV, and the animation was so awful, and nothing at all was happening, and the kids were just itching to *do* something instead of being sung at by dead-eyed drawings, but how do you tell people that? ''I might let her watch TV if there were anything on that wasn't a hypnotic half-hour commercial for some crappy toy.'' If you say that, people think *you're* judgmental and weird, no matter how much they look down on you for not having the Latest and Greatest. What can you do? Here's all I can do: Trust myself, trust my instincts that there's a mistake those people are making. My goal is to raise morally good kids. Make them good, make them smart. Rich, snobbish and overstimulated aren't virtues.

My sister's kids play video games [2008-11-25]
constantly and have for a decade.They always have to have the latest game. She has 4 kids - 3 are obese and one is overweight. We don I I know my husband has wanted to get one. I have 3 kids and they are all very slender. They aren It's a health issue to me, and also a mental health issue, because they are addictive.

Well, at least they're working to [2008-11-24]
support their children. Raising kids in this generation isn The pressure are on parents these days isn In addition to making sure our kids are well taken care of and that we attend the all important PTO meetings, baseball meetings, wrestling club meetings, soccer meetings, football meetings, dance recitals, cheerleading practice, on and on, we also must make sure our 1st and 2nd graders are doing their 1 hour worth of homework each evening and in addition to that make sure we are reading a book to them every night. These are the requirements now set by the schools. The parents must also deal with sex, drugs, and peer pressure at a much younger age than you probably did. Just last week, I had to explain to my second grader what a virgin was. Did he learn that word at home? No, he learned it on the bus because our school district decided to save money by busing all the kids together, high school through kindergarten. The meals you mention your GKs eating, that More than likely, your GKs won You seem very harsh on your kids, and IIs either one ofthe parents involved in their children Do you have any idea how much time that takes? Arethey struggling with finances? Were you a stay-at-home mom or work-at-home mom? Having to get kids ready in the morning and get yourself ready, then spend 8 hours a day working, only to come home and pick up the same kids and do homework with them is not an easy chore. More than likely, your DS and DDIL are tired. Instead of criticizing, why not ask where you can help? Maybe you could offer to make them dinner once a week after work. Give them an evening out without kids to just relax a little bit. I As for the kids But aren Maybe he Maybe mom and dad didn I, myself, grew up in a home where I had frozen pizza at least 2 or 3 times a week for supper. My mom worked nights and my dad didn If my mom could make us a meal before she left, she did. Frozen pizza didn I graduated high school at 140 pounds, normal for 5 tall. My mom and dad were there for everything for me, though, and it It Your words are so harsh and I just have to wonder, if you think they Is it because you know the children are well taken care of, just not up to your standards? Perhaps you should have a conversation with your DS and see what his impressions of your child-rearing of him were. Perhaps there were areas you could have improved on.

Alton Brown's "The Chewy" [2008-11-24]
I've tried all of the chewy chocolate chip recipes out there, and this is the best by far. The recipe calls for giant cookies, but for Christmas, I make them mini-sized, using about 1 heaping teaspoon of dough per cookie. They bake faster, so watch them carefully. I also add pecans to the recipe. I've made them with bittersweet chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, too, and those were INCREDIBLE. Be sure, however, to really take your time creaming the butter and sugars. And let the melted butter cool to room temperature before mixing with the sugar. The creamed butter and sugar should be thick and fluffy and smooth, almost but not quite peanut butter consistency. If it's not, the cookies will go flop when they come out of the oven, and they don't look as pretty. They still taste great, but they aren't high and pretty. I can't get the link to post, so here's the URL: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html

Wow! Was a nerve hit??? [2008-11-24]
I didnLeave it to Beaver. That's just not the case. By the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s the pendulum had started to swing so far toward women having careers that we were often belittled for choosing to be home with the children. Remember Hillary Clinton's cookie baking comment during her husband's first campaign? In fact, stay-at-home moms were the norm for only one brief period in our history right after WW II in the post war boom times. There was a pretty awful recession in the 1970s, and I remember gas rationing and long lines at the pumps. My mother had to work two jobs, and my father, who was in construction, was often one of the first to feel economic ups and downs in his paycheck. But we had dinner together every night at the kitchen table. Before the stay-at-home mothers of 1950's t.v. fame, most mothers worked. They had to. Only the very privileged stayed home and waited for Ward Cleaver to come home from the office. My grandmother, who lived to be 94, God bless her soul, was born in 1908. Her mother died during the great Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. My grandmother was the eldest of four children, and at the age of 10 she became the woman of the house. She stopped going to school so that she could cook and clean and took care of her father and siblings. And no one thought that was wrong. It was expected because there really weren't any government social services -- no welfare, no foster care. Eventually, when her father's depression over the loss of his wife became so great that he couldn't manage to bring home an income, people in the neighborhood just took over. The two eldest children went to live with other families. The two youngest went to an orphanage. My grandmother's father just drifted away and his children never saw him again. My grandmother married at age 20 and had four children during the depression. Talk about having it hard. When I was a young mother trying to make ends meet and I'd cry to my grandmother, she brought me around to reality. She told me what it was like for her to raise children during that time. Many a night she cried over whether or not she could even feed her children or if they would have a roof over their heads. And she wasn't alone. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, was in the same boat. The Great Depression was enormous. She and my grandfather worked wherever and whenever they could. They brought home a dollar or two at a time and fed their children buttermilk and potatoes. They didn't sleep, they worried all the time. Today, my grandmother's washboard hangs in my kitchen on the wall next to my dishwasher. It reminds me that I have no right to ever say that things are harder on us today. They aren't. Generally speaking, most Americans have so many more advantages, choices and opportunities than those who came before us. Yet many in my generation and the one or two generations behind me are just whiners and crybabies who don't think about the big picture. They even dare to say they have a harder time as parents today. Please. Not even close! Every generation seems to believe that, but just a short trip through a history book proves otherwise. I'm not that very old. But I've raised my children and I raised them well. I know what it takes to do that. It takes self-discipline, sacrifice and consistency. And you know what? That's exhausting. Parents today are tired. So what? All parents are tired. Offer it up, as the old nuns used to say. The kids have homework an hour a night. So what? They should have homework, and parents should make sure that it gets done, because education is important. There are parent-teacher meetings to attend, coaches association meetings, scout meetings, dance lessons, school recitals, etc. etc. etc. So what? Balance it out, quit what can't be done, do what can. Work because you have to. The kids have to be fed. It's still easier than it was a generation ago, two generations ago, three and on and on. We're parents to young ones for only a short time. Which reminds me, let's not forget about birth control. Most of us have 2-point-whatever children these days. I'm the youngest of 7. Most of the families in my neighborhood when I was growing up had 4 or more children. Today women can choose to have as many or as few children as they want. That means that we parent for far fewer years than the generations before us. I'm done with day-to-day parenting after just 20 years, and in fact, it got much easier on my day-to-day schedule once my boys were in high school. But my mother had children at home for 34 years. Imagine the number of cloth diapers for 7 children for year after year after year. Yes. I had it far easier, and I know it. So when I was exhausted raising my two boys, I just sucked it up and kept at it. The OP, I think, probably didn't want to be as blunt as I'm willing to be. She IS helping by babysitting her grandchildren while her children work. I'm sure she loves her children and grandkids, but I'm willing to bet that if she dared to say to her children the things I've posted, her children would react just as you did and she'd end up cut off from her family. To the OP: I hope it helped to vent a little, and I want you to know that I understand.

I do very little on the way of beading actually... [2008-11-22]
I do for my own personal uses mostly. I do some drawing, painting, a few crafts. I took a lot of art in high school, but no college level, though I have been considering it. I have this thing I do every year for halloween and I make my decorations myself. People always tell me I should sell my stuff, but I have no idea where to even start. Some of my creations are my babies so I have a hard time parting with them. I was just wondering if anyone had any pointers on how to get over that?

According to DH, our budget is $1,000 [2008-11-20]
But more likely I We have 3 kids. We usually get them 1 big gift to share and then round it out with smaller gifts. This year, they It The breakdown of the other $350: Parents $150, Grandma $25, Gift Exchange $60, Siblings (from my kids $20, Niece/nephew: $40, Teacher Gifts $30, Student Gifts: $15. The remaining $30 will go to Toys for Tots! Each of my kids like to pick out a $10 gift to put in. I have 3 siblings and 1 that My brother that Of course, my 2 unmarried siblings also buy small gifts for my children, so we always get them a little something from them -- usually lottery tickets or a gas card for Sheetz. $10 used to fill We do our exchange party on Christmas Eve. It keeps the kids entertained and gives them a little preview of what I have to say I enjoy Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. It Teacher gifts kill me. It I usually go for a coffee mug with a Christmas scene or teacher saying on it and fill it with candy. Of course, DH thinks I do all this for Christmas for $1000, but why tell him and spoil it? We do a Christmas Club for $1000 every year and I just buy the other stuff here and there. We already got our Christmas gifts for ourselves -- a 46-inch LCD TV for DHand a Dooney Bourke purse with matching wallet for me. Now you all got me excited again about shopping next week. I I always wait until the day before Thanksgiving to do that so I know I won For those of you below who posted that you don Let me just say that I don I sometimes snag a deal or 2, but I learned a long time ago not to wait until Black Friday to get the most sought after items. Best to get them in Sept or Oct.

My husband can't say no to people either...sm [2008-11-20]
Unless he gets mad about something. We don't really work it out. I am usually just stuck as you say being the bad guy or give in. Find comfort in the fact that you aren't the only one who struggles with bills. I bought my son a Playstation 3 for X-mas this year for $400 but the only way I was able to do that was to put back money all year and hide it. It seems just typical man, most anyway, that you tell them and tell them but they don't pay you any mind or they don't want to hear it. Just sit him down and talk and tell him it isnno. Throw in some tears, which shouldn't be hard to do, for more effect. Maybe he will feel bad.

I think you are right. [2008-11-20]
I have had most of the day to think things over and cry. I did talk to him a bit and realize that it is mostly his pride (man-ness) that is the problem. I just have to stand my ground and not feel guilty for it, although I will anyway...I think that is just the female (or pregnant hormonal lol) way with feelings, etc. I have also been thinking today that even though things are getting really tough, we have been able to pay our bills so far. It's really going to suck with the holidays especially but it will be past in a couple months and life will resume as normal. Who knows where we will be by then but for now things could be much worse. Even with all the headaches, stress, tears, etc. it could be much worse if we lost a job or...well I don't even want to think about the other horrible things that people go through. Thanks for your support and understanding. Some times women just need to know that they aren't alone in their struggles.

My family is hurting :( [2008-11-19]
Some of you may remember the recent pet picture postings here. I posted a picture of my baby girl, Daisy, nursing her three babies who arenow nearly two years old. My husbandcame home about an hour and a half ago and went to let them inside, and the only boy (besides the dad), Chewy,did not come with the others. They all always come up on the deck when they hear his car, so he knew something was going on. He came into my office and asked if we had Chewy with us, and then went to see if he had gotten out of the fence. A few minutes later he came in and said that he found him still in the backyard, lying under the trees on a pile of leaves, and that he wasdead. We are all so sad . We do not know what happenedto our baby .. . he had been fine just a couple of hours before, when my son got home from school and went to see the dogs. He said that Chewy was acting no differently than usual and seemed fine. I am just beside myself not knowing what happened to this sweet little guy. He was the SWEETEST EVER and we will miss him dearly. WE LOVE YOU,CHEWY!!! May you rest in peace.

I would use coupons more if FL doubled them sm [2008-11-18]
As it is, I will use them if it is something I normally buy, but most of the stuff I get is not stuff they have coupons for, or it is for a different brand that I don't like. Florida doesn't charge sales tax on groceries and we don't have state income tax, but we pay higher grocery prices on a lot of things for that reason. And as much as people hate Wal-Mart, that is where I do my shopping because it is affordable and the prices don't change from week to week because of sales ads, which is mostly bumping up prices on stuff so that you really aren't getting that much of a deal anyway.

Last month I spent $321 for 3 of us. [2008-11-18]
It's just DH, 18 year-old son, and I. We live in the Philadelphia area. We generally eat far less meat than most American families, but we aren't vegetarian. My son commutes to a nearby university and works there, as well. He provides his own lunches, and probably only eats breakfast at home half of the time. Now, if you want to factor in what we pay for the meal plan for our son who lives away at college, well then... that's a whole other story! KA-CHING!

When I was in school, it was 85 cents for [2008-11-18]
lunch and 15 cents for milk. All 3 of my kids do go to the same school. The discounted meals aren It We make too much to qualify for any of the state-funded programs (not that I