DISQUS

yomama,
learn how to spell, dumbass

First, anyone who leaves my house a disaster and/or sits and checks email (without permission), doesn\'t step foot back in my house. On top of that, their mom or dad is going to get a call from me.

I, agree, there is some variance depending on the situation. Keep in mind what the job is. If you are worried about how much it cost, then stay home. Good babysitters are really hard to find but that doesn\'t mean you should automatically buckle to unreasonable requests either. Only you can know what the value of your kids , your peace of mind and your babysitter are to you.

Both of my daughters babysit now and both do pretty well with it. Their mother and I are just as involved in the process from this side as we were from the other. My oldest has a job and babysits to pay for the insurance on the car she now drives to and from her various jobs.

WHY!?
No matter which camp you fall into, the point is moot. No one, that I have heard, is planning on making a gobots movie.....

Just post a review of how awesome the movie was, and oh yes, it was. Be done with it.
Then let all the weird little fanbois pathetically cry about The GM sell out, Primes flames and my personal favorite... waaaaaa Bumble is suppose to be a VW instead they made him a sweet looking camero waaaaaa

I understand the point but I disagree with the blame. I think it is crazy to consider this anything other than a parents responsibility. This is complete BS, People need to take care of their own business and stop looking for excuses for their mistakes and/or stupidity. Kids need to learn personal responsibility from their parents, not the blame game which is what you are preaching imo, come on.

I didn\'t mean for you to have to define the context of your comments, my sarcasm was directed at those who actually do think they are hurting their children. More likely doing what\'s easiest for them.

I treat it as a behavior problem. It wasn\'t as much about eating as it was about who was in charge. That is not to say that you force everything down their throat, it not just about the food. It\'s teaching the difference between a request and a demand.

Mine are teens now and around 10 or 11 I started teaching them to cook. The requirement is one night a week. They can prepare whatever they want as long as there is variety and they are making an effort to learn new things.

What exactly are the pro\'s to catering to a picky eater? Then tell me what cons are having your child eat a varied diet. I\'m giddy with anticipation.

Just to lay it out, I don\'t \"torture\" my children with food. Funny what passes for torture these days. If gagging down a brussel sprout is the worst thing that happens to my child, then I will die a happy man. I do require my children to eat what is cooked for dinner. I do keep in mind their likes and dislikes but no more so than I do for my wife and myself. Everyone will have to eat something that is not their favorite at some point which includes me, the cook. The requirement is that you eat a portion. You don\'t have to heap it on or get seconds but you have to eat it.

For the record I think it\'s weird as hell. I had a neighbor that did this, but I never had to see it. I am wondering, if you don\'t have to see it , then what\'s the big deal?

Foo, I agree with you. I have been on that same soapbox several times. Unfortunately it has become more okay and acceptable everyday for kids to blur that line.

Those shoes are super cool..... :roll

I was trying to think if I had anything to add because the transformers were really after my time by a little. I mean I do like transformers but didn\'t really have any exposure to them except through younger cousins. Then it struck me, what the hell is a GoBot? I don\'t even remember them at all.

I mean really.. :p

Just like everything else, if you abuse it, you lose it. Putting a time limit on it will force them to adhere to the rules but it doesn\'t teach them to act responsibly, imo. I\'m a videogamer, there are computers, consoles and games all over my house. Well my wife keeps them out of sight for the most part, but trust me , they\'re there. I have been at it quite awhile and know the pitfalls. However, we could be talking about any number of activities that kids engage in that can become a distraction or worse. I do believe that there are some games that should not be played by children. Grand theft auto for one.

What we do is draw the lines and hold them to it. Teach them as best we can to use common sense and prioritize.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my brother sometime in the last few months. The short version. It comes up during the conversation that he and his wife are staying up kinda late. I ask why and I get the standard, by the time they are fed, bathed and put to bed there is no \"me/us\" time. Then he asks me, when am I suppose to? (have me time) I told him after you get them out of college and start them on their own path you should start so see some free time in your schedule.

Suck it up, stop whining.

I don\'t care to see it.

I really don\'t think it matters either way. Kids seem to try things for themselves anyway. Whatever the outcome they will weigh that outcome against how much they like(d) it, how mad it makes you, what the bulk of their friends are doing. etc... any combination of a million reasons.

Sure, if you get a die hard bone gnawer and a tofu freak going at it you might stir something up. I just don\'t believe a veggie head is forcing their kids to eat leaves any more than I am forcing my kids to eat a burger. They eat what\'s put before them until they are old enough to set their own table and serve what they want.

My 2 are teens now but I spanked them on occassion. When they they got a little older and I gave them a choice between having something taken away, a day in their rooms or a couple of whacks on the behind, they chose spanking everytime. That\\\\\\\'s when I stopped spanking them.

Why would you automatically associate spanking with anger Rupertz? You don\\\\\\\'t have to be angry to spank a child. I\\\\\\\'ve seen folks handling children way too rough just sitting them in a corner for time out or dragging them away from something. Some folks just shouldn\\\\\\\'t be disciplining children and that has nothing to do with spanking.

I also don\\\\\\\'t agree with you on the double standard statment. There are things I do and have done as an adult around my children, other than spanking them, that is not okay for them do. We are not peers and I am not their friend. We can be friends when they are grown, for now I am going to be their dad and teach them what I hope is what they need to be good people and take care of themselves. ....so I can sleep at night in a couple of years when my first moves on to do her own thing. ...Yeah I know, that\\\\\\\'ll never happen but one can hope.

To lead by example is an awesome way to teach. Be aware that it is not enough, you will have to constantly reinforce. Your kids are growing up in a society that will tell them that they are overreacting, to loosen up and that it is no longer cool to be the good guy. wtf. I would laugh if it weren\'t so sad.
Relating to bad behavior, one of my favorites, the idea that it\'s okay to do something because if you didn\'t someone else would which makes it okay. This so assanine it makes me want to break something.... and I\'m the asshole?!?

I think those are all good examples Wahhoodad with the exception of #4. It is never ok to be an ass or drive crazy because even when you don\'t have your kids, chances are there are others around you that have theirs.

Stopped driving trucks and bought small to mid-sized suvs and my wife gave up the sports cars for sedans. Vans came up but wasn\'t something that we really gave much thought other than neither of us really cared to have one. We\'ve occasionally rented something bigger if we needed it but those times have been few and far between. We are about to buy a freestyle which as about as close to a van as we will get. Even with one of mine starting to drive, it seems like that we are always trying to cram one more kid into the car to go somewhere.

One other thing to consider, that may or may not apply to you, is cousins. I am the oldest of 3. The youngest of the other 2 lives close by and has 4 children. Ready for this? They are 11mo, 2, 4, 5. At any given time I may have 2 of that bunch and that was just another reason for the larger vehicle.

If you screw up, own up and don\'t make excuses. Learn from your mistakes and by example teach your kid the same. Nice one bro.

Actually the only time I back off is when I am actually wrong. I handled it with kid gloves when they were toddlers but they were corrected and if they were disrespectful they were disciplined.

When deciding on edging or not and bedding, I would also consider weather and drainage. Also if you have wild and crazy kids like mine were when they were younger, the edging will allow at least some barrier to keep a portion of the substrate in the area it is suppose to be in.
:)

I bought one of those huge playset kits. One that you buy the hardware kit and directions, then the lumber and put them together. First let me say that it was well worth it, between the 2 girls, I got about 9 years use out of it and it helped sell that house when we moved. I learned a couple of things while building it.

One thing I learned is that no matter how handy you are with a hammer, bring a friend. Being a good carpenter has nothing to do with handling large pieces of wood. A project that should take a few hours becomes handicraft night from hell. Tomorrow is a birthday and you can\'t put it off. heh
The second more for comedy than anything else, when you put 2- 2x8x16 pressure treated pieces of lumber together you get a fairly formidable beam. Add to that a ton of hardware fastened to and drilled through the entire 16\' length. Now you have a fairly formidable beam that weighs a bajillion pounds. Finally imagine the moment just after I finished assembling this monster beam........in my garage.....because it would be quicker than carrying 2 saw horses, a saw, a drill and a box of screws all the way to the back yard.
:eek

I am more a of a packrat than a collector though. I didn\'t work at it like you, it just happened. Everybody has their thing and mine is video games, it\'s what I do. However, I have always liked reading comics. I am an X-men fan as a rule but I read many others as well. From the early 80\'s through the late 90\'s I bought every x-men comic, including spin-offs, and cross-overs. If a x-man was in it, I bought it. In the early 90\'s when Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane and company formed Image comics I bought every title. Liefield\'s Youngblood #1 the first image comic and yes, I have Spawn #1 as well. I stopped buying them when I became too busy to read them. I don\'t recall how many titles I subscribed to in the end but I know it was about 50 bucks a week most of the time. I told the girls that would be something for them after I am gone.

I can\'t speak too much on barbies, I just don\'t know and I ain\'t making it up. :P I know there are about 75 because I got mad and counted them one time. I know that most of them ended up naked in the bath tub and from that, they are all just plastic dolls with different color hair without the clothes. However, I did force them to leave some in the box. For example, Scarlet O\'Hare Barbie and the most important Alabama Crimson Roll Tide Roll Cheerleader Barbie. They will thank me later. Heh

I try not to let my geek show too much. But while we are on the subject, I think I am getting a 17\" macbook pro next month. yippy

because we don\'t do gifts on these types of holidays. There is an occassional gift, flowers, candy etc... but as a rule we don\'t typically give gifts. What we do is make sure that the entire day is devoted to family. We spend the entire day together starting with a big breakfast prepared by my 2 girls. The girls then have an entire day planned doing things I like to do and eating foods (eating is my favorite) I like to eat. Sometimes we do a lot like take a day trip somewhere or maybe we just hang out together in the backyard and swim. Then they end it with a feast of my favorites. This, my friends, is a good day.

Showing your noo again. You can apply the [b]mo[/b] to many things, all being practice for the the ultimate [b]mo[/b], [b]mo[/b]ney. [b]Mo[/b]re coming in a close second and often used in conjuction with [b]mo[/b]ney. For example, \"Dad can I have some [b]mo[/b]ney to go to a show with my friends?\" You reply, \"Sure son, here ya go.\" Then he says, \"Dad, I\'m gonna need [b]mo[/b]re [b]mo[/b]ney than that.\" To which you reply, \"Son, that is [b]mo[/b]re than enough, [b]mo[/b]ney doesn\'t grow on trees you know.\" Then with no other recourse, he pulls out his [b]mo[/b] in the hole when he yells, \"[b]MO[/b]M!!!\"

Having a bit of fun with you bro, yet so true. heh

Seriously, I can remember telling my wife on more than one occassion how heartbroken I was when one of my 2 were sick and couldn\'t tell us what was wrong.

My youngest brother used the word \"ane\" pronounced like Jane without the J for everything. To this day the middle brother and I give him crap about it. If he askes us if we want something we both say \"ANE!\" heh