working mom of 3

My DD will be 20 in a couple of weeks. She lives at home, goes to school during the day (beauty school; no "homework") and works PT. We pay for everything - car, car insurance, gas most of the time, cellphone, etc., including her food for lunches. She thinks we should pay for everything because "we're her parents". Her BF - almost 21 - has just recently started working, and his parents have never made him pay for anything. He often tells her to "ride the gravy train" as long as she can.

We think she needs to start paying at least her cell and car insurance. What do you make your young adult pay?

My son is 17, will be 18 next October. He will be a senior in high school at that time.

He is telling his younger brother (11) that he is moving out when he turns 18. Now, at this point, he has no savings, no vehicle, no job, etc. I'm not saying that he couldn't obtain these things. I'm just pointing out that he is planning on a MAJOR change without any of the basics.

Has anybody out there moved out at 18, with your senior year to finish, and what were your experiences?

Thanks!

My son is 17, will be 18 next October. He will be a senior in high school at that time.

He is telling his younger brother (11) that he is moving out when he turns 18. Now, at this point, he has no savings, no vehicle, no job, etc. I'm not saying that he couldn't obtain these things. I'm just pointing out that he is planning on a MAJOR change without any of the basics.

Has anybody out there moved out at 18, with your senior year to finish, and what were your experiences?

Thanks!

Okay, my son has a summer job - he's a stocker at the local grocery store working 25-30 hours / week (3 evenings).

My husband & I have divided chores among the kids, & our son has to take out the trash two days a week, change the litter box once a week, and do the dishes / clean the kitchen twice a week. I don't think that is unreasonable. (Our other kids have similar responsibilities and our 14-year old daughter usually does way more!)

Our son is making about $90 / week. Half of that goes into his savings account. We take him to work & pick him up because he doesn't have his license or vehicle. He generally blows his money at fast food restaurants near the store on the days he works, plus those "monster" energy drinks.

Last night, my husband reminded him it was his night for dishes, & he informed his dad that he should not have to do the dishes because he "hardly ever eats at home since he's working". We have our thoughts. What are yours?

When I bought it, the cashier asked me if I needed any itunes cards because I can only use itunes to put songs on the ipod? Is that correct?

I'm very proud of my mom - she is graduating from college on May 3rd - she is 68 years old! She did it for herself - obviously? - there is no future employment or new job. Does anyone have any uinque gift ideas?

I've found several products on-line - didn't know if any of them were better than any others.

Was your colon cleanse sucessful?

I heard FedEx was going to take over the DHL domestic stuff because DHL lost almost 9 million last year here.

and it was immediately clear that he had altered it. He had traced over every single letter on the page, including - of course - his grades.

When he handed it to me, I questioned it right off. He claimed that he was "bored" and he just did it to have something to do. Well, of his 7 classes, he had one C+ and the rest were B's or B+'s. Despite being capable, he is very lazy and usually brings home C's, D's and F's, because he doesn't do homework.

We have not let him get his license because of his grades; he also cannot have a cell phone.

Despite having several opportunities to come clean, he remains adament that he did not change his grades. I have his report card with me and lightly erased his "tracing" and found he has two D's and one F. I have emailed the pricinpal and gotten confirmation that the D's and F are the correct grades.

He is unaware that I have this proof, and continues to lie. Does anyone have some suggestions on what I should do now?

My daughter has a ringworm spot (ring) on her shoulder. I noticed it and am treating it with an anti-fungal cream.

The next day at school, before I could notify the school, I was told that a student - my daughter's best friend - has ringworm and I need to watch because it is very contagious.

My question is, do I need to do anything else? Does the anti-fungal cream kill it? Or will it just move?

Thanks

it was a 7:40 show, we live about 20 minutes from the theater. I told him he needed to be home by 10:30. This gave him about an hour to get something to eat (if they wanted) or hang out or whatever and get home. (This was a group date.)

It's 10:44 and he isn't home. He does this every time. This is the first time in about 6 weeks he has been allowed to go out due to the last time he didn't come home on time.

What do I do this time? I mean, I can understand running a few minutes late, but he doesn't even call.

My husband and I were watching the Biggest Loser Couples last night, and I was shocked to realize that my husband is as big or bigger than some of the men on there. He is six feet tall and weighs 295 pounds. He has said for a good couple of years that he is going to cut back and lose weight - I'm especially worried because he has a very large stomach, and they say that is the worst place to carry your extra weight. His Dr. has him on cholesterol meds and has suggested that he lose some weight.

He all but refuses to exercise, and he gets out of breath doing ordinary things. He grunts if he has to bend over to tie his shoes, and I just can't believe he's gotten this far.

My question? How can I help him? I don't want to nag - really. But when I realized he was as big / bigger than the people on the show trying to lose - he completely denied. Said he's not that big. I ask him to walk with me - always get "later". I eat salads, he gets double 1/4 pounders. HELP?!

I'm just interested in learning what your beliefs are and why. If there is anyone out there, please email me! Thanks!

Yesterday, my 14-year old sent me a text message, asking if she and her friend could trim my youngest daughter's (5 yrs) bangs. I texted back: TRIM only. DO NOT cut her hair.

Now, a little history, this summer she and her friend cut their own hair, my middle daughter's and youngest daughter's hair. Cut it SHORT. It has taken months for my middle daughter's hair to reach the top of her shoulders.

I came home, and my middle daughter (7 yrs) is in tears because they cut her hair and are calling her coconut head. I think it was supposed to be the short in the back, tapering longer to the face, but they cut WAY too much off. I'm going to have to take her somewhere for it to be fixed the best they can.

Anyway, I decided that for her punishment (the 14 year old), I was going to have her hair cut the exact same way.

My mother says too harsh? What do you think?

Does anybody know who the "official" photographer was?

Thanks!

because he had three F's on his mid-terms. He has been historically lazy, but claims that he isn't missing any assignments (the usual). I simply wanted to know if he personally had any missing assignments during that grading period for those classes. I'm not asking for any lenience, special treatment, etc. I just want to know for my own information. It's now Thursday afternoon, and none of the teachers have answered me. I left both my work and personal e-mail addresses, in addition to my work, home, and cell phone numbers. Is this odd?

because he had three F's on his mid-terms. He has been historically lazy, but claims that he isn't missing any assignments (the usual). I simply wanted to know if he personally had any missing assignments during that grading period for those classes. I'm not asking for any lenience, special treatment, etc. I just want to know for my own information. It's now Thursday afternoon, and none of the teachers have answered me. I left both my work and personal e-mail addresses, in addition to my work, home, and cell phone numbers. Is this odd?

last year, my husband and I were going thru some very hard financial problems. I was working two jobs, day and night. I couldn't attend any of my kids events - they were in boy scouts and brownies, and soccer. Well, now this year is much better, and I recently went to the first Brownie meeting of the year, and the "leader" was discussing things and she kept saying, "I'll get with you two later and we'll decide", meaning the other two mothers that were there. Now, this was the first meeting, parents were invited, and I thought she was very rude. Is there some sort of unwritten rule that if you don't help / participate / etc from the beginning, you can't later? This happened at my daughter's school "Meet the Teacher" night, as well. I volunteered to help with parties and stuff throughout the year, and the mothers that did it last year talked among themselves and left me out. Any advice?

My relative owned some commericial-type real estate in New York, and the members are going to buy the property from us heirs. They are going to make a down payment, then quarterly "mortgage" payments, with a 10-year balloon payment. I live in a different state. Will I have to pay New York, also? Thanks.

in the next couple of months. My husband and I have a new mortgage ($150k), one vehicle loan ($22k) and credit card debt of approx $8k. The credit card debt is entirely from 2004/2005 when my husband had his own over the road trucking company, we don't use credit cards in our household.

How should I invest / pay debts? Obviously, I don't think I should use all the money to pay the debts? Should I? What should we do?

Thanks for any help.