Vanilla high heels or flats

This happened to a friend of mine from high school........sm [2008-12-01]
He had mono after we graduated from high school and was off work for about 5 weeks. He went back to work too early and, while driving home from work one day, his spleen just burst and he crashed into an oncoming log truck, killing him instantly. It was really a double tragedy because the first people on the scene to find him were his mom and dad, who had a bad heart anyway. His dad suffered a major MI on the spot and had to be taken to the ER. His poor mom lost her son that day and almost lost her husband.

I knew some ladies from my church when I was in high school [2008-11-23]
that used to meet at the church to quilt. They would auction off the quilts when they were done with them and actually used the money to help in the community with families in need and they used some of it for a scholarship for their high schoolers going off to college. I have seen some sell them at craft fairs and stuff. I never really got into that much of it though I used to help the church ladies once in a while.

The only sure thing about having a High IQ [2008-11-11]
is that you can score high on an IQ test. My mother had an IQ of 150 and she was a data entry clerk all of her life.

French fries and vanilla ice cream! nm [2008-10-30]
x

Our first cold front in Miami. High 50's. It hasn't [2008-10-28]
nm

A "Gay Friendly" high school [2008-10-15]
Chicago may get 'gay-friendly' high school. Gay students bullied so much by classmates that their grades suffer are set to get a school more friendly to them in Chicago, Illinois. Local officials say the proposed Pride Campus will not be a gay school but is likely to include children who have been victimized for their sexual orientation or perceived orientation. Gay students who are harassed have lower grades and higher dropout rates than classmates who are heterosexual, a national study found last week. Link below...

Maybe, but do they have to be that tough even in high school? sm [2008-10-15]
There are so many stories of homosexual high-schoolers being bullied and some even killed. I agree that they have to learn to live in the world as it is, but as high-schoolers, I am inclined to say they deserve some protection.

Has anyone else noticed food prices going SKY HIGH??? [2008-10-11]
Seems like everything is outrageous anymore!!

Lower it - 21 is too high [2008-08-19]
1. Three years is not a huge difference. 2. Most kids are drinking earlier than 21 anyway and nobody is enforcing the law when they get caught drinking under age. 3. It was 18 when I was 18 and there was not a high incidence of drunk driving or whatever reason they have for a drinking age. 4. Germany there is no drinking age and they do not have a high rate of drunk drivers (they have one of the lowest rates of any country). 5. If they are not going to lower the drinking age they should then raise the age of joining the military. Someone tell me that it makes sense that they can't drink til their 21, but at 18 years old in the military they are given guns and can use them. Some kids will be responsible and some kids won't. I know a lot of people who are in their 20s and 30s and older who are very irresponsible when it comes to drinking - btw, I am 48 years old, not 18, 19, or 20 (and just want the age lowered) :-)

I was on a high protein, low carb diet some years ago and [2008-08-18]
actually felt great. I lost 27 pounds and looked better than I had in many years. I keep wanting to discipline myself enough to do that again. As far as low carb, I cut out almostall breads, cereal, pasta, etc., but ate fruit (which I think is high in carbs) and ate a lot of nuts. I really felt very good and my self esteem was so much better than now. Good luck to you!

You must live in a high pizza delivery paying [2008-08-16]
area that they get $7-8/hr. Most make minimum, if that, but keep their tips. Oh, add in gas to save you the trip of lugging it home yourself, then yes $2 is insulting.

EXACTLY and that's why your health care premiums are so high [2008-07-30]
I think I do more obese/morbidly obese patient reports than not

Bomb threat at son's high school....what would you do?sm [2008-05-09]
Sorry this is going to be long. I tried to keep it short but....too many details. There was a bomb threat at my son My sonetc. I spoke to this boy and several of my son.....all n**gers should die.....I hope everyone else is okay but a bomb is going to go off at 12:30...... He said the note looked like itwas actually written to someone else and not left behind for the school to find.Like it might have just fell out of someones pocket or something.Beingthe overprotective mother thatI am, I think of everything bad. That being said,the note didnNow, Ison to school. Also, who knows what this kid is capable of? What if he brings a gun to school today? Or sets off a bomb today knowing the schoolnow thinks it was just ascare? We are a small town and don't have a lot of trouble so we don't have metal detectors and stuff in the school and we aren't really prepared for any type of situation of that magnitude. Now, to get to why the kids think they know who it is. There is a new kid in school who has been homeschooled all his life(not that it matters but I have to wonder if the reason is because his parents are also racist and didnn**gers. The boys also say this kid is a little weird and seems like he might have some mental problems. So, all that being said, I believe I have a moral responsibility to talk to the principal about my conversation with the boys. I hate to make accusations and insinuations (I really, really, really hate it when people insinuate things) but this is very serious. Back in my day in high school (the samehigh school as my son) we had a bomb threat via phone, we were evacuated for a short while,dogs were brought inand we went right back to class. But today, after Columbine and everywhere else, you just absolutely cannot be too careful. And since the boys thought this kidseems have some mental probs, it automatically brought to mind the guy who shot up Virginia Tech. After the fact, people said there were warning signs. I am however, a teeny, tiny bit hesitant because if this boy really did not write the note,(and the racial remarks justcoincidentlywere made at thesame time)I feel a little bit bad for what he will have to go through. But my love for my child and his friends is far greater than my feelings ofsorriness (couldnword)for that boy (especially since I have no love whatsoever for racists) so I definitely will be talking to the principal this morning. Besides, if this boy did end up doing something tragic in the future, I would not be able to live with myself knowing that I should have said something. Not to mention if my son were hurt or killed by him. I was just wondering whatothers would do in this situation and if anyone has had any similar experiences.

Guess what......it still goes on in high school too.....sm [2008-05-09]
I have a 16 year old in 10th grade, and some girls are just cruel....

Yay! Give him a high-5 or chest bump (whatever young people do these days) for me..nm [2008-05-05]

isn't the interest on that pretty high? [2008-04-28]
:(

New high school cell phone policy [2008-04-22]
Friends of our work at a local high school. That school has become fed up with cell phone usage in their school, so they have become rather devious.If a cell phone is caught ringing, the teacher takes it and sends it to the office. The only way the student can get their phone back is if the parent come to pick it up. Even if the student is 18.But the nifty thing? The V.P. scrolls through the address book and tries to identify some of the other students. Then she goes to their classroom, stands outside the door and calls their phone from the confiscated phone. If she catches the student answering the phone - automatic Saturday school.Sounds almost like entrapment.

Meridian, MS ---today low 3.41 ----high 3.49 [2008-04-22]
xx

Our high schools here all have a no cell [2008-04-22]
phone policy. First time, the parent comes to pick it up. After that the school keeps it until the end of the year. No reason for them to have cell phones turned on during classes is the way I see it. Before and after school is fine, but not during. My daughter's middle school also has no cell phone policy. Even if they are in their lockers and ring, they are taken away. One school in a neighboring county was confiscating them and giving them away. The parents there filed a law suit and they now keep them, but the student loses it until the end of the year.

I graduated the bottom of my high school class (#136 out of 137), but [2008-04-22]
I have an IQ of 160.

sorry. forgot to mention Linda Chavez is in refernce to threads about high food prices. [2008-04-19]
nm

The reason is high gas prices. [2008-04-18]
All that stuff is transported by truck... they run on gas... Did you check out the profits the oil companies made last quarter?

You are a bit high with the "hundreds of thousands." [2008-04-09]
x

High school - sm [2008-04-08]
We were both in JROTC and I ended up being his information officer one year. That was in 1979. Been together ever since!

Would you wear high heels even if they made your feet hurt? [2008-04-07]
A survey conducted by the American Podiatric Medical Association showed some 42 percent of women admitted they 73 percent admitted already having a shoe-related foot issue.http://www.oprah.com/beauty/webmd/200802/beauty_highheels_b1.jhtml?promocode=CNNheelsDL?cnn =yesYou can read tips on how to avoid hurting feet at that link.

When I was a teenager my mother had mono [2008-12-01]
My dad and the doctor (IMO) ingored the problem until she had such a high fever that she was halucinating. At that point I informed my dad that he had two choices, take her to the hospital or call 911. He took her in and they were all amazed at how bad she was. I know they gave her some kind of antibiotic. I could have shot my dad. He is a total hypochondriac and yet he would let her go that far.

Candy making [2008-12-01]
I use chocolate bark to dip with. I do know you have to watch the humidity outside. If the humidity is high, the chocolate will not set, but you can put it in the refrigerator to get it to set. Have fun!!

This happened to a friend of mine from high school........sm [2008-12-01]
He had mono after we graduated from high school and was off work for about 5 weeks. He went back to work too early and, while driving home from work one day, his spleen just burst and he crashed into an oncoming log truck, killing him instantly. It was really a double tragedy because the first people on the scene to find him were his mom and dad, who had a bad heart anyway. His dad suffered a major MI on the spot and had to be taken to the ER. His poor mom lost her son that day and almost lost her husband.

Montgomery Wards [2008-11-30]
I always thought I was upscale when I went there with my g'ma. And we always got to eat at their lunch counter (sandwiches with the best potato chips) while sitting on those high stools that were silver with red vinyl. I miss those days - and my g'ma!

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.

Do you have any [2008-11-30]
Secrets about your past or family that your spouse does not know about or found out that your spouse was keeping one from you? Things tend to slip when family spends a lot of time together around the holidays. Do we need to know everything about our spouses or should bad decisions from high school and childhoodbe left in the past? I firmly believe nothing should be deliberately kept from a spouse. My spouse knows everything about me but I have nothing to hide from my past. I recently found out thatsomething has beenkept from me. Deliberately I He does not know that I now know this secret. Not sure if I should keep the secret and pretend I don A part of me wants to hear from him that he believes it was a mistake and would never encourage our children to do the same.

Times gone by......... sm [2008-11-30]
I remember when I was a child the dime store in our town. It had everything from pencils to yard goods to toys to old medicinal remedies. They had a wonderful candy counter where you bought your candy by weight. You made your selection from the glass-fronted counter that was juuuuust above eye level for a small child. The clerk would scoop out the desired amount of candy with an old brass candy scoop and weigh it on an old balance scale. Then she would put the candy in a little white paper sack. There were all kinds, jelly beans, butterscotch that melted in your mouth, peppermint that really cleared the sinuses, and wonderful little maple goodies to name but a few. It tasted so much better than candy tastes these days. And yes, they had Evening in Paris and Old Spice and hankies for both mom and dad. I even held my very first job there in high school where I helped take inventory every year right after Christmas. We had to count each and every item (well, probably not the jelly beans) by hand. I remember counting boxes and boxes of pens and pencils and rulers. I miss that store as it closed down many years ago when the big discount houses started opening up in the nearby big town.

We got our tree today [2008-11-29]
We went to a tree farm, took a tractor ride and cut down our tree. We have 12 foot high ceilings and usually get a 12 foot tree, but this year we put it at the other end of the family room, and we got an 8-1/2 footer. We used to have a fake Christmas tree up until about 8 years ago or so when our cat began eating all the fake pine needles. Long story short she ate so many she had to have emergency surgery to remove them (she wasnt' able to pass them) and $1,500 later we decided no more fake trees. She's no longer with us, but when she was younger she would climb in the tree and actually knocked it over one year. We had to anchor it to the wall. Our other cat never really bothered the tree except batting around ornaments at the bottom. He's been over sniffing it today, but hasn't paid much attention to it over the past few years.

Just remember that as they get s/m [2008-11-26]
more frail and need help and have to depend on you, you have kept your head up high, making you one ahead of them.

English Toffee--super easy [2008-11-26]
You can put down any kind of nuts you want--if you want in a raised-sided cookie sheet. Cook 1# of butter and 1# of brown sugar plus a little vanilla to hardball stage (I put a little in a cup of cold water and if it is crunchy, it is done). Quickly pour into cookie sheet because it is easy to burn. Scatter one bag of chocolate chips on top and wait to melt a little before speading across the top. Everyone loves it and it is pretty easy to make. Once it cools, you break it into pieces.

Don't give up! [2008-11-26]
Iso easy, even a child can do it! I learned to sew before I even went to school! He even had some antique machines with foot pedals that we kids used to play with. I have all sorts of machines, from antique hand-crank Singers to cheap Wal-Mart plastic machines, and high-end Pfaff and Viking sewing machines and sergers. Check out local sewing and fabric stores for classes. You can also try visiting Meetup.com, which is a really cool place to find all sorts of people who get together to pursue their interests. I don't know where you live, but I checked in my area, and there are several groups for beginning sewing listed. Maybe there are in yours, too. With that said, I really have to tell you that Singer machines are not the best. Since the company was sold many, many years ago the quality has gone downhill. They are not built to last and have many parts that break very easily. In my experience, a simple mistake in threading some Singers will place a lot of tension on a weak part in the thread line. Something will snap or break, and once it's broken, you can't get the machine to feed thread properly as you sew. Unfortunately, a really good machine can cost hundreds of dollars, and it's hard for a beginning sewer to make that sort of investment not knowing if it's something they'll be doing for a long while. I always recommend going to a store that deals in higher end machines. (Pfaff happens to be my favorite.) Then ask to try machines or take classes with their display machines. You learn basic sewing techniques and you learn what makes one machine better than another. I suggest that if your machine is brand new, you return it for a refund. Take some sewing classes first, and try different machines. Then you can make a better, more informed purchase, which in turn, should result in successful and fun sewing! I'm sorry. You probably didn't want to hear that, but I can't say that I'm a fan of Singer machines. Even if you get it to work, it's likely to fail not long down the road, which will only frustrate you. I'm willing to bet it's the machine and not you.

My oldest daughter had nothing but "boy" [2008-11-26]
friends throughout high school. Really, guys are a lot nicer than boys most of hte time. She has a couple of good girl friends, but I actually liked the guys hanging around the house. Now that she is in college, all she brings home are her guy friends and they all hang out with her and her boyfriend. I really would not worry if her friends are guys, at least she has friends she feels comfortable with having hang out at your house.

My family's traditional Christmas mints [2008-11-25]
Again, really easy but time-consuming. The base is just two egg whites whipped up to stiff peaks and fold in about a pound of confectioner across, then flatten them with a fork. Put them on waxed paper - they stick on everything else. Get your kids busy stirring and rolling and it'll go quickly. I also use the same for frosting for Christmas cookies. Couldn't have a Christmas without them!

Chocolate-Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Yum-Yums [2008-11-25]
Melt 1 stick butter. Add: 2 c. sugar 3 Tbsp. cocoa 1/2 c. milk Bring to a boil and then boil for 1 minute. 1/2 c. chunky peanut butter (I use creamy) 2 c. quick oats 1 tsp. vanilla Stir in peanut butter until melted. Stir in vanilla and quick oats. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto waxed paper and let sit until cool and then refrigerate.

You didn't do anything wrong sm [2008-11-25]
Some people never leave the high school mentality. Donvideo games, as long as theyare age-appropriate. They help build hand-eye coordination. I think there was even astory about surgeons playing them because of how much remote-assisted surgeries arebeing done now.As far as board games here, we just got the game of Life and have been playing it lately -- the kids absolutely love it! They also love Uno, Monopoly, and SkipBo. I told them the best thing about these games is that we can play them even if the lights go out (this was during hurricane season).

100% ban on all video games [2008-11-25]
For the last five years there has been a ban of video games in my house. My husband and my son were turning into flippin zombies. We started going on hikes in the mountains instead and now participate in extracurricular activities at the high school and volunteer. TV has not been banned yet,as I think there would be a mutiny....

About tatting sm [2008-11-24]
I tried to learn as kid and I just didn't get it. The gal who tried to teach me was very good and got me interested, but I could not get it. It is very like making a fishing net. Those little knots have to be just so or you end up with a knot. I have done that more times than I can tell you. I had a neighbor who handed me a can before she moved. In the can was a shuttle and some tatting thread. She says to me TO ME! LOL I'll bet you don't know what that is. As it happens, she didn't know what it was! I picked it up and said bet I do...and started to tat. By the time I was in high school, I could TAT pretty well. I made a couple of blouses for work that had Peter Pan collars. One was baby pink, the other baby blue. I embroidered on the collar and then tatted enough matching lace for the edges. I loved those and wore them a very long time. I wish I had time to make another one in white, but most of my efforts going into sewing for others. I have 15 pr of boxers on my sewing table for my son who won't wear anything else...as in he hates store bought boxers. He is married and should grow up, but he won't until I am gone and can't do it for him any longer. Right now, I have a soft sheer crepe that I am making into a wedding dress for my daughter. They are going to the JP in January before he deploys and we'll do the first ceremony. When he returns they will get married by a lake in Minnesota. He wants to build a pontoon with his dad and get married on the pontoon at sunset. We'll do her wedding gown next summer. Both dresses have to be baby pink and please don't ask! She gets what she wants, it is her day(s).

I think the friendship indeed is still there... but [2008-11-24]
That is all there is to it. I am sure in her heart your friend loves you as much as you love her. It is just that, unfortunately in my experience, it is difficult to keep a friendship life-long to the same degree it was when you knew each other and lived closeby. The same thing happened to me and my best friend. We were BFF through first grade until after high school. I lost touch, but eventually visited her at an event after college, but we barely talked. I thought after we did not have the same friendship anymore, or she did not feel the way I did as in BFF. But, looking back, I realized we just grew apart and grew up. I still think of her often, and we have indeed lost touch, but I know to each other we will always be each other's best friend in memory and in our heart. Just let go a little bit and please don't blame her or you. Please don't dwell on if you gave each other material items or not or if she did not think enough to give you something up to your expectations. The fact is you have given each other something priceless, a memory in your heart and mind which will last forever and you can't put a price on that. If she is moving away in life, or by the things she does, please don't feel bad. It is not you. It is life. Enjoy the fact that you have not lost touch. And even if you do, after you let go of any expectations, still continue to love her as you always have. Because you and she I am sure will always have what you had and nothing can change that. Now go and enjoy your baby, and your marriage and your life, and keep your feelings the same tucked away in your heart. Don't let time moving on ever ruin that! Just my 2c. All the best to you!

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.

How dare you say I resent my children [2008-11-24]
I do spend every night reading to my children. I also tuck them in and rub their backs every night. I get up every morning to prepare them a warm breakfast before driving them to school so they don My kids are all on the high honor roll because my husband and I help them with their homework. I volunteer at their school once a week. My husband and I attends every sporting event with them, be it practice or a match, to make sure no harm comes to them. I make sure they have a hot meal on the table when they come home from school. I worked extra all summer to afford a trumpet for my son who wanted to join the elementary band. I don I love them very much. But I do resent others critiquing my parenting abilities. I It She Where are your scruples? It Why is that so hard to understand? Do parents not deserve a break? So many GPs have the mentality, you made and that No one said GPs should be raising their GKs, but is it that wrong to think that GPs could give the parents a break evenjust once a year? Maybe they

My kids and I are chocoholics [2008-11-24]
and one of the recipes that we love and is really simple is the No-Bake Cookies. That's what we called them when I made them (all the time!) as a kid. Also called Refrigerator Cookies, and the recipe I use today, from a cookbook my Mamama gave me that her church put together, calls them Quick Fudge, I believe. I call them Chocolate-Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Yum-Yums. They are made with sugar, butter, and cocoa boiled, then add the peanut butter, quick oats, and vanilla, dropped on waxed paper and cooled, then chilled in the fridge. If you want to make them post here and I'll grab the recipe tomorrow to give the quantities. Also, I absolutely love Pine Bark, and it is very easy to make as well. Lots of recipes for that on-line. Have fun!

The slips were called petticoats, [2008-11-23]
and some girls wore more than one (extremists everywhere). They wore bobbie socks they could roll down (almost anklet), some wore flats and some in the 50's wore oxford loafers or just plain loafers. If you wore loafers, you had to put a coin in each shoe on the top. You would also note a lot of scarves worn rolled over into a band and tied with a knot on the back under the ponytail or the knot pulled to one side - and don't forget the bubblegum. The scarf should also have colors more or less from the skirt with a white cotton button down shirt, short sleeves. I was there, but too young for sock hops, could not wait, and then they did not have them anymore. Story of my life.

I knew some ladies from my church when I was in high school [2008-11-23]
that used to meet at the church to quilt. They would auction off the quilts when they were done with them and actually used the money to help in the community with families in need and they used some of it for a scholarship for their high schoolers going off to college. I have seen some sell them at craft fairs and stuff. I never really got into that much of it though I used to help the church ladies once in a while.