cpartist: Their current bedroom is about 14x16 and they share it just fine. This is where that small dining table that barely seats 4 would go to be used as a game table. The food storage wouldn't be in their bedroom. I did state that what is CURRENTLY their bedroom would be changed into a multi-purpose room for pantry, play and school. It wouldn't exactly be a bedroom then, right? Overnight guests? They haven't had a sleepover yet and if they do want one in the future (post-remodel) the kids can all sleep in the school/playroom in the wide open floor space, or in the living room which is about 1/4 the square footage of our 1400 square foot house. There's also plenty of space outside for campouts if they wanted to sleep outside with their friends. Yes, a 5x8 space will easily fit a dresser and even a vanity. A bedroom door is only 2 feet wide which still leaves up to 3 feet on either side of the door. Not too many dressers come wider than 5 feet long or 20 inches deep and a vanity table can easily be something that folds up on the wall kind of like the top part of an old fashioned secretary desk. Their rooms are mainly for sleeping, changing and the rare bit of alone time they need. Our kids prefer to be with other family members most of the time. If you walk through any Ikea store or look at tiny house plans you'll see how easily space can be maximized, especially when you have high ceilings. For us, more space means less family time and that's what we enjoy the most. Our favorite people to be with are each other. Growing up, I NEVER had my own room. Neither did any of my siblings. Try 8 kids in a 3 bedroom house and neither of those kid rooms larger than 10x12. It is actually doable. We don't want our kids to feel they can hibernate in their rooms all the time as they get older. I watched my nieces and nephews do that during their teen years. Not okay with us as it disrupts the family unity. Occasional alone or study time in their rooms is fine but not spending their entire day in there every day. No, we're not controlling. We just show our kids that THEY are the priority, not other things in our lives. They give their input with any planned projects, especially one that is for them. I know a room without a closet can't legally be called a bedroom and that's another reason for no closets. Not legally a bedroom and it's not as expensive to build and it can be customized with modular storage systems tailored to each child's interests and changed as they grow. Once they move out, the rooms can more easily be repurposed if we want since there won't be built-in closets to work around.

This reminds me of Accelerated Reading and sending kids to the AR store for earning points in reading. In my opinion, this awful program has single handedly caused more kids to dislike reading than just about any other factor at our school. Is rewarding a child for good grades similar to rewarding a child for reading? I don't know. Red lover, I'm laughing because Accelerated Reader was a big fat pain in the neck here at our house. Both my kids and I love to read. Accelerated Reader and another program the school had where kids kept track of the pages they read were nothing but a drag most of the time. For us it was like telling people they could eat all the ice cream they want, but they have to count the number of bites and be tested about the flavor. The teachers told me Accelerated Reader helped some of the kids, although clearly not mine. The program was just an inconvenience to my kids, though; if it dinged my kids' desire to read, they had plenty of reading love to spare. I think paying for reading and paying for grades are essentially the same thing. And I say if paying for reading helps some kids, and if their parents and teachers think that's a useful tool and want to use it, then go for it. I didn't pay my kids for reading because they read without it. Instead, I had to look at motivation to get them to occasionally put down a book and interact with the rest of the world. I think parents have to take a look at what motivates their kid and what works for their family and make the decision they feel is best. This post was edited by daisyinga on Wed, Nov 20, 13 at 12:49

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness I tried to begin this book last year and didn't like the idea of vampires.....however after reading the reviews on her trilogy I gave it another try and am enjoying it. I'm not a lover of vampire stories at all and have to admit that I skipped the sections describing how he kills the stag . But the general story line is interesting. I've also read and really enjoyed the Angelus trilogy ( although the third book is not out yet) by Jon Steele . THE WATCHERS ANGEL CITY

Rouan, I would be interested to know if the Vicks works on your particular black fly bites. This morning I found a cluster of bites on my chest and no idea what made them. I did try rubbing on a Dettol cream but that did no good for the painful itch so went back to my arthritis heat cream Dencorub and that has taken away the itch. WARNING .....Don't read this next part if you get queasy.....I find that heat cream raises a blister containing the poison so I pop it and then put on an anti-septic cream so the open sore doesn't get infected. This speeds up the healing from a mozzie bite by a couple of days I have found. Back to books! I have a couple I have started but can't get into them. They were both library requests of authors I like but I have failed to get interested in the plots. I blame this unseasonal weather. It is supposed to be summer but days go from humid to cool and back again. My daughter had a storm in her suburb which has ripped off roofs! The winds were rated at a Category 2 cyclone strength.