My 18 yo dd has a facebook account and a Gaia account, my 13 yo ds only has a Gaia account. In the 5 years that my dd has had her Gaia account she never had any serious problems/safety issues. Ironically, the serious problem/safety issue encountered by my son was/is caused by a classmate he knows personally from school.

There are social networking sites designed for younger teens (Gaia is one) that may be a more appropriate starting point than Myspace. Either way, I agree with keeping the computer somewhere that allows you to view what the child is doing as you move about. I also told my kids that I had to have access to all their email/online accounts on request or they would lose that privelege and then at random intervals I'd tell them to log in and move away from the computer. They are/were allowed to watch what I was doing/explain questionable items as I encountered them and they'd watch what (usually) random emails/private messages I read/checked. If I found anything objectionable we'd discuss it and why it was objectionable and what they needed to do to correct it (if anything). If I found nothing objectionable then I'd thank the child for cooperating and either way we'd discuss any concerns the child had. Oh, and I always promptly responded when the child called with a concern about a message received or something similar.

If I remember correctly, at about 1.5 years, my kids were eating whatever the rest of the family was eating.

Also, around that age is when they wanted to feed themselves so I gave them toddler forks/spoons and let them feed themselves. I also allowed the use of fingers while they learned to manipulate the fork/spoon. They were more willing to try new foods if they could control how they ate it - the freedom to feel, smell, lick and then nibble at something new before having a whole mouthful did help.

One thing that many adults don't take into consideration is how much learning the kids (especially the younger ones) are doing while playing. Most children unschool themselves until they are placed in a school/preschool setting.

My daughter learned to identify colors before she could speak, she was reading, writing, and doing basic math at 4. She started kindergarten at a 1st grade level -- all on her own, I only answered her questions. She commented in Kindergarten that "you don't go to school to learn." Even today, at 18, she knows more about different historical time periods than I do simply from reading more books set in those time periods. She even researches people, events, and things that were mentioned in books and movies; so basically, even though she attended public schools, she unschooled herself in her free time. She is just one of those children who has a natural love of learning, she will freely chose reading over mindless television/video games. She was no where near the top of her graduating class partially because she only put in the minimal effort needed to pass the classes she was forced to take that she had no interest or aptitude in (like science).

My son on the other hand -- he wants nothing to do with learning. There is no way he could be taught using the unschooling style. He proved that even as a preschooler -- the things that most kids learn without much effort from the parents required more teaching effort with him.

Do they have IEPs in Kindergarten -- yes, my son had an IEP for speech problems when he was in kindergarten.

I have even heard of IEPs for children in head start type preschool programs -- it just depends on the disability of the child.

"But it goes south then you have to not just get pissed off but sue the school for non-compliance. It is amazing how compliant a school district will get when the state school officials and lawyers start getting involved." They also can get co-operative at just the possibility of being reported for violations when they know they are in the wrong. My daughter's school wrote a terrible and meaningless 504 for my daughter and end result was daughter's rights were violated....then after I pointed out a few violations, I got everything I thought she needed put on her new 504.

debating the wisdom of my son's wish -- he's wishing for lots of snow this winter as we now live next to the top of a popular sledding hill and his first experiences with snow last year was "disappointing." He's also been waiting to make a snow man that has a base bigger than a baseball.

When my son was in Kindergarten, he was running late one day and I told him to hurry up, shake a leg and get moving out the door. He stopped walking, shook his leg, and then asked how shaking his leg was going to help him get to school on time.

When my daughter was little, my brother told her to smile. She started sniffing around and then announced "I smell like a dog."