HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: miller@b-mrda.ca.boeing.com (Mark Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Re: Homeschooling?
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:36:07 GMT
Organization: Boeing Commercial Airplanes MR&D

lynnef@tekig1.PEN.TEK.COM (Lynne Axel Fitzsimmons)  writes:

> First, a caveat - my children are not homeschooled.  However, in my position
> as Girl Scout leader, and through my husband's involvement in youth
> soccer, I know of many children that are.  These children are soccer
> players, Girl Scouts, gymnasts, whatever.  They aren't kept in little
> cages with their parents every day.  While they may not do sports or
> drama or band in a public school setting, there are many such outlets
> available in the community.
> --
> Lynne Fitzsimmons		lynnef@tekig1.pen.tek.com
> 
> "On the contrary, I have created a subroutine specifically
> for you, a program within a program" - Data
> ----------

Thank you, Lynne. My kids are homeschooled, and we have found that
in our community, (Kent, WA - in the Seattle area) there are at least as
many avenues open to us for socialization (homeschool groups, church groups,
Scouts, Kent Parks, etc. etc.) as in the public schools. We have the extra
added benefit of being able to pick and choose from a much wider variety
than the schools offer. My daughter starts piano lessons next week,
and my son is signing up for soccer. We're also looking at a recreational
jump-rope class held at Kent Commons. There are craft and music classes
galore through the homeschool groups, and ours meets once a week
(formally, generally more informally) for a group activity. This can
include tours, picnics, crafts, movies, speakers, cooking lessons, 
and on and on. We even have a retired college science teacher teaching
a class for our junior-high kids.

I don't mean to imply that parents who don't homeschool are somehow
inferior. I just wanted to point out that it is a viable alternative
for many families. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark R. Miller                     | 
Boeing Commercial Airplane Company | 
Seattle, WA                        | 
Internet: miller@b-mrda.boeing.com | 
Voicenet: (206) 237-0960           |  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com (Buffy Hyler)
Subject: Re: Tax-deductible Childcare Expenses?
Reply-To: hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com
Organization: SAIC
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 22:57:40 GMT

In article 20343@nwnexus.WA.COM, jbrindle@halcyon.com (Jennifer Brindle) writes:
>In article <1992Aug26.185918.13996@cbnewse.cb.att.com> elonich@cbnewse.cb.att.com (diane.e.pedersen) writes:
>>One woman I'd talked to had her som get seriously ill, so his grandma
>>came to care for him for two months.  And she wasn't allowed to 
>>break out of the plan, so she had to pay for 2 months of unused daycare.
>>-- 
>But couldn't you use the money to "pay" for his grandma to care for him?
>I thought that housekeeper services for medical care was one of the things
>that qualified...

Yup, I had the same thought since my mother wanted to daycare my son on
occasion and I would have liked to have paid her...but, these plans
explicitly state that the day care person can not be a relative.  I
suspect if the relative was running a state licensed day care there
might be an exception, but in the case of the above (emergency
situation) and my mother this was not true.  I think the real point is
that the daycare giver (eg. grandma) must report this income since I
know that a tax number for the caretaker is required on the forms we
turn in each month.

In our case it wasn't a constant enough thing to go through all the
paperwork.


---
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy Hyler (hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com)
SAIC, Campus Point
San Diego, California
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: grant@panhed.psc.edu (Shirl Grant)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Girls?
Date: 3 Sep 1992 09:48:19 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu



	I want 3 boys, have one alreday, but have decided that if the
3rd one was a girl, I'd keep her :-) ;-)

	I hope this one isn't a girl, though, because I don't want 2
girls and therefore won't take that chance (we really want 3 kids, but
will stop at 2 if it's a girl).  It's not as much because I stereotype
them as it is that I could never get along with girls/women very well
until I was 25.  Society breeds too many mind games, fashion
conciousness, and bosy shape issue that I could never
understand/play/deal with very well.  I think 2 girls is beyond my
realm of comfort.  I hope I find out the sex at my sonogram in a few
weeks.  That should give me time to prepare and/or celebrate.  I think
if the 3rd was a girl, that I would probably be ecstatic.

	So this message is a 2-sided sword.  I also do not want "one of
each", but tend to put too much into gender differences.  I hope that
is we do stop at 2, that I don't harbor any resentment - but at least I
am aware and can work on that.  But  I know I'll be happy either way.

-Shirl

BTW: here's some preparedness advice - When people see that you're
pregnant, and find out that you already have a boy, they will say
things like "Oh, you must be wanting a girl this time!".  And when I
used to say that I really didn't want any girls, they, these perfect
strangers would argue with me!  they would say, "Oh, you *know* you
want a girl!"  It used to infuriate me to no end.  I felt like asking
them what I had for breakfast, since they were SOOoo sure that they knew me so well!
From: reid@metis.tti.com (Reid Kneeland)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Baby's Last Name
Date: 26 Aug 92 15:26:05 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Transaction Technology Inc.

In article <1992Aug25.151045.24026@src.honeywell.com> jgelhaus@src.honeywell.com (Jennifer Gelhaus) writes:
>
>My name is Jennifer Gelhaus, I'm nineteen, a sophomore in college,
>single but living with my boyfriend, and due on November 14.

Congratualations.

>My boyfriend and I plan to marry "someday" (probably after school)
>so I wanted to give the baby his last name. However, I've heard 
>that because I'm still going to be a "single mother" and the baby
>will be on my insurance (well, my father's actually), that it has
>to have my last name. Is this true? And if so, how much trouble/$
>will it involve to get it changed when we get married?

This is a matter of state law in the US.  Call your city hall records
department; they should know.  If you don't like their answer, talk
to a lawyer.  I'd be surprised if you weren't able to give your
child whatever last name you want.  Also call the insurance company,
but I doubt they care what the kid's last name is; what matters is
that it's your father's dependent.

=====================================================================
Reid Kneeland
reid@ttidca.tti.com  (that's MISTER reid@ttidca.tti.com to you!)
{philabs,psivax,pyramid,quad1,rdlvax,retix,rutgers}!ttidca!reid
Transaction Technology Inc., Santa Monica, CA, USA (310) 450-9111 x2499
The opinions expressed above do not necessarily etc etc...

Never trust a man who can count to 1,023 on his fingers.
From: sg@tredysvr.Tredydev.Unisys.COM (Susanne Gilliam)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Sand under Swings?
Date: 2 Sep 92 11:42:57 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization

In article <jimpt.715365762@bucket> jimpt@bucket.rain.com (Jim Peterson) writes:
>olney@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Doug Olney) writes:
>    
>We framed the area around our swing set with landscaping timbers, placed
>landscape fabric down in the framed area and put several inches of
>pea gravel on top of the landscape fabric.
>
> [rest deleted...]
>
>Carolyn

  But make sure that the "frame" formed by the timbers encloses a large
enough area, so that your child would indeed land on the gravel, not the
timbers or the area outside the timbers.  It is *amazing* how far a child
can go if they fall from the highest point on a swing's trajectory.  My
son fell backwards off a swing at the peak of its "back swing", and hit
his head right across the edge of the timbers at day care, *even though
they'd been built following the latest "expert" advice*.   He was only
2, though big for his age, but the play area had been laid out for up
to 5 year olds.  He fortunately was ok after 2 very worrying days of
concussion related side effects.  The play area was revised after that,
and no further incidents have occurred.        
  If I were laying it out, I'd hang the swings as low as I could, then
pull them back to the full extent of their chains, then add a good chunk
past that in determining where to put the timbers.

					Susanne Gilliam
From: amy@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Amy McNulty)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Ultrasounds
Date: 4 Sep 92 12:53:37 GMT

In article <1992Sep4.081514.22574@rdg.dec.com>  
frenchs@forsan.enet.dec.com writes:
> 
> I don't know how relevent this is but I have been having ultrasound  
therapy
> for an back trouble. The therapist did say to tell her if it started  
to feel hot as it was possible to sustain a burn from the ultra sound. 
> 
> Not wanting to scare monger so I'll explain that this is Diathermic  
ultrasound and each treatment did last for several minutes. Somewhat  
longer I believe than the ultrasound used for monitoring.

Before anyone panics about this, let me add a clarification.

I've been having physical therapy (including ultrasound) for
neck and back problems during the past several years. As soon 
as I even suspected that I was pregnant, my physical
therapist stopped all ultrasound treatments on my back,
because of its proximity to the uterus. She said that the
dosage used in physical therapy ultrasound treatments is
MUCH higher than the one used for ultrasound exams, as
evidenced by the fact that the treated area often does
get quite warm during the physical therapy treatments.


______________________________________________________________
amy_mcnulty@vos.stratus.com  OR  amy@vineland.pubs.stratus.com
Amy McNulty -- Stratus Computer, Marlboro, MA
Stratus pays me to write, but not to write this!
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: jbrindle@halcyon.com (Jennifer Brindle)
Subject: Re: Tax-deductible Childcare Expenses?
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 02:04:51 GMT

In article <1992Aug21.162747.9606@nwra.com> mark@nwra.com (Mark) writes:
>I've heard that it's possible to (legally) not pay income tax on
>the cost of child care. My understanding is that it must be done
>through one's employer with "pretax dollars" - like a 401k. You don't
>fill out your tax return with childcare deducted. You just never see
>the money in your taxable pay.
>
>Does anyone know the details of how this is done, if it really is
>possible?

Yes, it's possible, if your employer offers the service.  We do it.
Motorola calls it a Dependant Care Account (I guess that's a pretty
standard name) and what you do is set it up to deduct, say, $100 per
paycheck (there is a max).  (OF course, if your daycare is $100/week, then
you'd want to deduct whatever that is per paycheck.)  The money comes
from pre-tax dollars, like the funds that pay for your insurance, etc,
and goes into a special account.  All you do then is turn in receipts from
your day care (they have to have a tax number) and get a refund for whatever
you have in the account.  We turn in a month's worth at a time.
You save whatever your tax bracket is.  If you're in the 28% bracket,
then you save 28%/week.

You can also use a DCA to pay for care for an elderly parent (who lives
with you) or other things.  Check it out.  IT's legal and wonderful.  I
don't understand why so many people don't take advantage of it.  When my
husband and I were both working at MOtorola, we one of TWO couples who
both worked there and did it.  Think of all the folks out there who
are paying day care from post-tax dollars.  A shame.


Jennifer



Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: elonich@cbnewse.cb.att.com (diane.e.pedersen)
Subject: Re: Sand under Swings?
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville IL
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 16:19:32 GMT

In article <1992Sep1.001057.23690@nwra.com>, mark@nwra.com (Mark) writes:
> 
> Doug Olney writes:
> 
> >> We've decided to replace the weeds under the kid's swing set with
> >> something more appropriate.
> 
> If safety under playground equipment is a concern, you should consider
> using 4"-6" of ~1" rocks (often called washed drainrock).
> 
> At the U. Washington there is an artificial climbing wall surrounded by
> this stuff. You can fall from a moderate height, say 10-12', and the
> energy of your fall is dissipated as your feet "splash" into the rocks.
> I've done it many times.
> 
> The downside is that the kids would have a huge supply of "ammo" to
> throw at each other!


Wouldn't there be an additional downside that the rocks would get
scattered into the grass, thus increasing the danger of the 
lawn mower catapulting rocks across the yard?  You'd have to make sure
nobody was within a yards-width when the lawn was mowed.
-- 
Diane Pedersen
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Naperville, Illinois
att!ihlpe!elonich
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Subject: Re: prenatal testing - ultra sounds
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 92 17:50:40 GMT
Reply-To: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation, Herndon, VA

At least around here, the threshold for full/not full bladder is 16 weeks I 
think.  After 16 weeks, no nasty water stuff.  Which is great, because it's 
hard to think of anything but having to pee when they do them will full 
bladders.


Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: judy@locus.com (Judy Leedom Tyrer)
Subject: Re: Child's Education
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Los Angeles, California
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1992 22:34:37 GMT

In article <21489@optima.cs.arizona.edu> bweiss@cs.arizona.edu (Beth Weiss) writes:
>
>Absolutely.  With savings bonds, you aren't likely to do much better
>than inflation.  While they're perfectly safe, they're not going to
>compound at the same kind of rates that stocks historically have.

However, stocks are NOT safe investments.  Even mutual funds have no guarantee.
So while I don't mind risking my own personal investments (for use in my
retirement) I prefer something infinitely safer for my children's education.
US Savings Bonds are AAA rated and as safe as the US Treasury.  

> Kathy Wilk (?)
>|>   Diversification and all that good investment advice you read apply to
>|> the task of saving for a child's college tuition.  Most important of all,
>|> and absolutely the hardest for me, is to save REGULARLY (every week
>|> or month). 
>

Yes, and, IMHO, part of diversifying is having some money in a safe spot lest
you lose everything on a Black Someday.  Mutual Funds are not guaranteed.
However, since the government has the power to print money to cover their
bonds, the likelihood of them getting zapped is extremely slim.  I imagine
that we'd be broke as a nation and unable to cover insured savings before the
savings bonds would become worthless.

>The more automated this process is, the easier it is to save.  Set up
>the account so that money is automatically deposited, but you have to
>go to a bank and get a signature guarantee to take it out.  You want
>it to be _difficult_ to withdraw, since you dont' want to touch it for
>years.
>

Yes, but beware.  The more automated the process, the less control you will 
have.  One of the 401K funds has lost 10% this year.  So, money automatically
going into that fund is automatically going into a black hole.  

Now, all this is moot if you can only save for college or retirement and not
both (or if you can't save for either).  But if you can save for both, I'd
recommend putting at least some of the moneys somewhere safe where it will
earn more than in your mattress ;-)


-- 
Judy Leedom Tyrer

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"	- William Blake
Organization: Bar-Ilan University Computing Center, Israel
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 12:06:49 IST
From: Gershon Kunin <GERSHON@BARILVM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Vegetarian Lunch - Suggestions?
Distribution: world


     I seem to have missed an article someone posted about a week ago
about the Feingold diet for hyperactive kids.  I'd be most grateful if
they could post it again.

Thanks -
-Gershon
From: dsegelho@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Diane Segelhorst)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Thomas the Tank Engine
Date: 28 Aug 92 18:54:09 GMT
Reply-To: dsegelho@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Diane Segelhorst)
Organization: Annapolis Detachment, CDNSWC

In misc.kids, jbrindle@halcyon.com (Jennifer Brindle) writes:
>Are any of your kids into Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends?  My 3YO
>just LOVES Thomas and Percy and Gordon and James and Mavis and Toby
>and Henry and Edward and Henrietta and Annie and Clarabel and.....

When we visited friends in England about three years ago, their little
boy had dozens of Thomas books.  They were great!  They were in every
book store there.  Of course, then we didn't have kids, so I didn't
buy any.  Now, I can't find anything similar.  I've seen one or two
pop up type books (our son just tears those up), but none of the thirty
or so I saw in England.  Does anyone know if these are distributed in
the US, or where I might be able to find them?

Diane Segelhorst
dsegelho@oasys.dt.navy.mil
Mom to Brad, 2.1 years, and Carrie, 2 months
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: ishizaki@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com (Audrey Ishizaki)
Subject: Re: Walkers: should I get one?
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 23:23:52 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Palo Alto,CA


re: walkers

I used a walker for my (now 1 year old) son.  We have a one-story home that
has no steps whatsoever indoors.  He loved it.  We started using it when he
was about 5 months old (when he started to sit up).  He loved having that
different perspective and he loved being mobile.  We limited his time in
the walker to 20 minutes at a time.  I usually waited a couple of hours
before I let him have another walker-session.  My son, Dale, was always
supervised while in his walker.

Once he learned to creep/scoot, I didn't allow him to use the walker in our
house again.  He did use the walker while in his grandma's backyard, though
(I didn't want him creeping on the cement patio, as he was also in the "put
everything in his mouth stage", too).

It was wonderful to put him in his walker and be able to eat dinner with
my husband like "the old days".  Though, in the old days, we didn't spend
dinner laughing over what Dale was doing in his walker!

audrey ishizaki
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: lauraf@classy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Laura Floom)
Subject: Re: Sushi during pregnancy - is it bad?
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 17:33:41 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.164821.4436@unlinfo.unl.edu> mpaul@unlinfo.unl.edu (marxhausen paul) writes:
>judy@locus.com (Judy Leedom Tyrer) writes:
>
>
>>A little education on salmonella (and something everyone should know and do
>>because I've had the disease and you DO NOT WANT IT).  Salmonella is found
>>in raw chicken.  Cooking the chicken removes the salmonella.  However, it
>
>Amen!  Since I've seen the percentages on how much chicken in the market
>gets there with salmonella, I treat raw chicken like pure plutonium or
>raw dioxin: scrub hands, scrub cutting board, wash out the sink, don't
>wash other dishes with same sink of soapy water used to clean up the
>chicken utensils...major paranoia!  But the alternative is worse.

At the grocery store the other day I bought some chicken. I carfully picked
it up with a plastic bag, and then put it in the plactic bag without touching
the package. At the checkout stand the clerk removed the bag, so she could
scan it, then put it back in the bag. No precautions! She then proceeded to 
touch all my other groceries. Wash those fruit and veggies too!

Laura Floom

>
>--
>===============================================================================
>paul marxhausen                              \/               grace 
>university of nebraska - lincoln             /\              happens           
>===============================================================================
From: gordonb@mcil.comm.mot.com (Gordon Berkley)
Subject: Re: Freak thine elders! (was: differences between boys and girls?)
Organization: Motorola Communications Israel Ltd., Tel Aviv
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 08:09:55 GMT

In article <1992Aug28.174908.13419@ttinews.tti.com>, reid@metis.tti.com (Reid Kneeland) writes:
|> This reminds me of a story I read many years ago, ...
[ cute joke skipped ]

OH!!!  So That's why Azriel (my 20mo son) wears diapers:  He's identifying
the fertilized garden!  (and let me assure you it is working... just look at
him grow!  :-)

-- 
[  Gordon D. Berkley    INTERNET: gordonb@mcil.comm.mot.com   POST: cgb001   ]
[  PHONE: +972 (3) 565-8727      FAX: +972 (3) 565-8754      (UTC-2)         ]
From: alanj@endeavor18.tek.com (Alan Jeddeloh)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: prenatal testing - ultra sounds
Date: 2 Sep 92 17:39:27 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Tektronix, Inc.

In article <1992Sep2.162419.17261@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> zippy@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (steven.s.albert) writes:
+I told this story a few years ago, but it's amusing enough to repeat.  When
+my SIL was pregnant with her first, they told her to drink a lot for the
+ultrasound.  When she got there, they started and told her there was too much
+fluid and could she let out about 8 oz.  Luckily, she's not a violent
+person!

Same thing with one of Jan's ultrasounds.  "Let out about a cup" they said.
Jan, however, did't feel violent, just simply relieved.

--
    Alan Jeddeloh      W:(503) 685-2991  H:(503) 292-9740
    Tektronix, Inc.  D/S 60-850; PO Box 1000; Wilsonville, OR 97070
    Alan.Jeddeloh@tek.com          Let sleeping dogs^H^H^H^Hbabies lie
    You can put the children to bed, but you can't make them sleep!
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: birth announcement
From: <LIBEMC@BYUVM.BITNET>
Date: Wednesday, 26 Aug 1992 07:04:01 MDT
Organization: Brigham Young University

David and Ellen Copley are very proud to announce the birth of their
first child:

Emily Marie Copley
August 14, 1992   8:51 pm
4 pounds 15 ounces
18 inches long

Mother, Dad and baby are all doing well (despite an emergency c-section).
Mom is back to work today for a half day, but otherwise is taking sick
leave for another week before returning to work part-time for two months,
then back to work full-time.
Emily was one month early (due to toxemia), hence her low birth weight.

I am writing her birth story and will post it as soon as it is finished.