Hey, I don't know how many of you are communists, but what do you think of this Soviet children's book? Do any of you know where I can find a translation? And would any of you read this book to your children?

This is about to read like one of those "I walked nine miles to school, uphill both ways, barfoot in the dead of winter over broken glass" stories, but I swear to you, it's not. It's true.

By the time I was nine years old, I was expected to get up for school on my own. My alloted shower time slot was from 6:30-6:45 if I remember correctly. If I went over that, there were big problems. We had one tiny bathroom and four(theoretically, mom actually slept in more often then not at this stage in my life) people to get through it.

I made my own breakfast.

I made my own lunch.

I packed my bag myself and that included all the things I needed for special activities like skating, granted, I wasn't involved in much extra curricular, no one really supported me in it.

I had to motivate my sister to get moving and get her things ready. This normally ended in me doing everything for her too. She's two years younger.

I went to the bus stop alone, with my sister and waited with the neighbour kids for the bus that took us to school.

When we got home, I was the key carrier, I let us in and I made us a snack. I made sure we did our homework and kept things "safe" until someone came home from work. This was only about an hour.


N is Nine...

She doesn't get up on her own most days.
She doesn't pack her own lunch, most days.
She forgets *everything* and if I was to run things to her every time she did, I would be running up to the school on average one day per week.

I'm at a point where I've decided that if Natasha forgets something, if it's not an emergency and it's not some special day like her birthday, I won't run it to her, be she at school or at her dad's.

I'm trying to encourage her to get up on her own since she takes *forever* to get dressed and eat in the morning on the days I wake her up (go figure?) and I'm encouraging her to pack her own lunch so she gets something more like what she actually *wants* to eat.

I don't expect the level of independance that was expected from me at this age, but I expect her to not need me every second. I don't think I'm required to put toothpaste on her brush, turn the taps on in the tub or fetch her toilet paper from the cupboard right beside the toilet when the roll's done. (For that matter, I'm tired of replacing the roll--she's perfectly capable!)

The question is--AM I ASKING TOO MUCH? AM I BEING TOO HARSH WITH REMEMBER IT OR YOU DON'T GET IT?

Oppinions please!

Hi all! I just wanted to send out some *huge hugs* & CONGRATULATIONS!!! to eveille & steerpike on the birth of their daughter, Ellen, who was born yesterday afternoon. :)

Hope all is well with both of you & your new addition :)

Here's an interesting article for all the moms out there (particularly the stay at home moms):
http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Story/20060503-002/page.asp

Where do I begin? What do I do?
I've come to the shocking realization that potty training is the only thing I havn't read about a dozen books on and countless magazine articles about.
I'm pretty sure my daughter is ready. She's 18 months old and she's starting to acknowledge when she's going, not just when she's uncomfortable with a dirty or wet diaper.