parenting conference introductions

Oops! I'll have to redo the response later, have to check on the daughter. WER

Terry, is it o.k. if us Austen Ladies spill over into here to talk serious stuff? If so, can we create our own topics?

OK course. Of course. Absolutely. Feel free about creating anything anywhere on the whole Spring. It is my most fervent dream.

Hi Terry, this is now on my hotlist too.. I'm a fellow Austen/ Drool person with 2 kids.. What am I doing in drool??... Need a break from reality and having a great time at it there!! My previous babies : the boy's turning 4 in June and Ashleigh is 16 months young. Just when I thought I'll recover from the terrible three's, I see myself heading right back into it, second time round will be easier..fingers crossed. Glad to have found this site.

Hi. I'm Amy, another Austen addict. Two kids, both boys, Adam, 12 and Aaron 8. I am a single mom. I'm going to start a topic about gifted kids and invite some of our Austen teachers and former teachers to help sort something out with my oldest.

Hi, another Austen person here. I have 4 children---Katie, 16, Diana, 14, James, 11, and Scotty who will be 2 on May 1(all with the same husband). That breaks down to 2 in high school, 1 in elementary school, and 1 in diapers. I am definitely not looking forward to potty-training again!

Hi all, yet another Austen person :) As some already know, have only one daughter Laurence Astrid now age 3 1/2. Terrible 2 was not so terrible, seems at 3 to refine what she learned earlier. Daycare professional told me to watch out for 4, another ground breaking time while 5 another refining period. Very early on can we see some strong points or skills, whether in arts, sports etc. Any comments on how and when should we "help" in developing their skills, and to what extent.

Hi Meggin, that's quite a brood. Aren't teenagers a trip? I have two, both of whom live primarily with their father, though we have joint custody. We've been divorced about three years now. My daughter is 14, my son will be 16 in Dec. Both of them think they're grown up, just as I was sure I had mature understanding at that age. Bet you did too. They're forever testing boundaries. Johanne-my daughter displayed an early musical talent. By the time she was three she couldn't walk by the piano without stopping to plunk at it. When she was still doing it at 5yrs old, I asked if she'd like to take lessons. Her enthusiastic grin was all I needed to get her started. For the next few years she took lessons, until I couldn't afford it anymore. By then she was in school music programs. By 7th grade she was doing well in band, the youngest vibrophone player they've ever had. (This was elped along because we had a set of vibes set up at home along with all the other instruments available). She taught herself to play recorder and guitar. Now in 9th grade she sings in chorus, plays piano for the stage band, and drums in the other band. She also loves to read, having had all manner of books and literature around her from the beginning. At 7yrs old she would read OMNI magazine on the toilet. Her artistic abilities flowered because there were always paints, crayons, paper, glue, etc. in a box under the coffee table. I guess my point is, if a kid shows interest and ability, make available the tools they need. If they ask for help, give it and then stand back. Let them see YOU engaged in those activities too. Gotta run now. Time to take her to karate.

OK. Here's the deal. I got smacked upside the head earlier this week by the Wife's biological clock. She recently turned 35 and her ovaries took over her body/mind/whatever-the-Hell-else-is-there... If anyone out there has any words or encouragement, I'd love to hear them. I guess spawning iswn't that bad of an idea, I'm just (more than) a little still freaked-out by the whole mess... (ask kitchen_manager/WER) I'm also more than a little drunk at the moment, but you can ask WER(red letters) about that als .

There was supposed to be an 'o' and a '.'(period) at the end of my previous response, but as I said I'm more that a litle drunk/stressed-out/typing-impaired at the moment...once again, my apologies...

a friend of mind referred to that today as a "biological clock moment"; referring to an experience she had. A bcm.

I'll be sure to remind him that he posted here...

No need to remind me. The Wife's been doing a fine job of that here of late. WER saw her Friday night and told me she was the happiest he'd seen her in months -- BEFORE I told him about the biological time bomb thingy. Estrogen poisoning is a terrible thing...

Depends upon who you are...

Or who I'm not, I guess... Man, I don't think I'm anybody today. The Valerian/Melatonin combo knocked me out so quick that I forgot to set the alarm, then I had dreams about walking on water (it felt like Jell-o) while ten-year-old skateboard punks shot at me with paintball guns from the shores of Lake Tahoe (the water on which I was walking) and I ruminated on the fact that it was all just TOO much fun... then the sun began to set and the jellyfish started to surface to dine on the damselfly hatch, and t en I woke up. I TOLD you you should try this V/M combo before retiring!

Sorry... lost an 'h' fifteen words back... still getting the hang of this yapp thingy... Vision unstable as water... perfectly interchangeable...

Hey! How about a conference/group/topic devoted to inside jokes? WER & I could moderate/modulate...

You want I should start a jokes conference?

Only inside jokes, please.

Hi. I'm a great perpetrator of the biological clock ambush. I have a 20-month-old son who was born when I was 36. I had actually given up hoping for the right circumstances and then...boom...he surprised us all. It's by far the best thing that's ever happened to me...and to my partner, too, I'm quite sure. He was scared, restless and uncomunicative at first, but a friend told me that "as soon as he feels the baby kick--just watch, he'll turn into the mighty hunter/gatherer and he'll never look back." Th t's pretty much what happened, too. He's a great dad (he was scared because he didn't have great parents) and we're both abjectly in love with our boy.

This sounds familiar. I'm gonna be 37 next Thursday (The Wife's 35). By the way, that's what she goes by ("The Wife", it's a long story...). Anyway, we're a'gonna start tryin' next month -- ya know, three days before she's supposed to ovulate lots an lots o sex cause we're trying for a daughter. I'm also concerned about the last of your parenthetical remarks as I don't want her/him/it/them to grow up with as crappy of a father and thus as crappy of a father/child relationship as did I. Anyway, we shall see...

I think you're way ahead, just by knowing what kind of dad you want to be--or at least what kind you don't want to be. Don is so patient and kind with our son--and so intuitive! I can read books and books and books about parenting, and when I'm done, I realize that he's been parenting the whole time and doing a great job. I think age is an advantage, too--both you and The Wife have seen and done a lot since you were significantly influenced by your parents, I bet. Good luck, and have fun trying!

Thanks for the encouraging words. Send The Wife some Ovulation-at-the-right-time-to-conceive-a-girl karma, if you would be so kind, although I know it's up to my poor chromosome-damaged (by the '70's) spermies to make the final decision. I'll have to have a stern pep talk with my boys... ta.

Hello? Any of y'all still out there?...

at times...what's the tomandsharembryo update?

(btw...Deborah's preggo again, and Les and Wife adopted...)

We go in for the next Sonogram this coming Monday. I'll bring the tape in here to work, capture the good parts, and e-mail you a clip or two. Well, let's hope Deborah has better luck this time.

I hope so...there's still problems, but she's made it far enough to show...

Hello! Sonogram--sounds exciting! Let us know what it revealed!

Once again, time for the semi-annual post to this topic. My, how tempus fugits...

Anybody else feeling temporally fidgetty?

I'm here, Tommy...

Anyone round these parts still? Or are all the kiddos grown up?

We ain't seen Lummox in these parts for a pretty fair spell.

And, the last I knew, he was no longer at his former phone number. Have no idea where he is these days.

Anyone heard from Autumn in the last couple of years?? Her kids must be big too!

I haven't. She's missed.