Gwen

ok so a song was mentioned in another topic..... collin raye's "love, me" http://www.collinraye.com/music/lyrics/dir...its/love-me.htm the corus: If you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through; I don't know how long I'll be. But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see. And between now and then, till I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me. i absolutely love this song but it always makes me ask a question. so i'm gonna ask where i can maybe get some answers for a change. lol there are so many songs and poems and things out there about eternal marriage. i think it is a concept that ppl of all religious backgrounds feel and somewhat believe in their hearts. if not then why do such songs become #1 hits for such long leangths of time? yet i've had conversations with many ppl (in person not here) that do not hesitate to say that there is no marriage in heaven. that it is till death do you part. that it will not go beyond the grave. i think we all here know that lds do not believe that, that there is a way to have marriage be eternal. so i really don't want to beat that horse. my question or wondering i guess is more for those that do not believe that marriage can be eternal, what is the feeling and thinking behind that? how do you balance the emotion of songs like this one and your belief? my personal explaination as to why songs like this become #1 hits while so few religions (i haven't actually researched this, just from my preception there are few) profess eternal marriage, is that our spirits that obtained a body at birth know the truth. reguardless of the veil that is there, it feels and rejoyces at hearing truth. the idea that marriage can be eternal is a truth so ours souls jump with emotion when we hear such songs and it strikes a cord with us. thus becoming a #1 hit, even when our thinking trys to tell us that marriage ends at death. however, having grown up with the understanding of the possibility of eternal marriage, i have a hard time understanding how one does this. can someone help me understand how you balance, the emotion of eternal marriage and the belief that it can not be, in your own hearts and understanding?

here is one i think should be played daily on the radio. with all the divorce topics in forum it's come to mind several times. Anderson Lynn I Don't Want to Play House Today, I sat alone at the window And I watched our little girl outside at play, With the little boy next door like so many times before But something didn't seem quite right today So I went outside to see what they were doing And then the teardrops made my eyes go dim, 'Cause I heard him name a game, and I hung my head in shame When I heard our little girl say to him: CHORUS: I don't want to play house I know it can't be fun I've watched Mommy and Daddy And if that's the way it's done I don't want to play house It makes my Mommy cry 'Cause when she played house My Daddy said "Goodbye" CHORUS AGAIN

ok, so i'm not sure that i'd say i disagree with some of the above, but i would say it quite differently, it feels like there is something missing from it. lol did that surprise you SF? so excluding toxic friends and the manipulation side, those are kinda no brainers. all friendships will end........by this i mean they will change. they will change in nature, in function, in intamacy, they will grow (closer or further) but are always fluid. there are three kinds of healthy friends (that i can think of right now lol).....those that you are their friend, they are your friend, and you are eachothers friend (which sometimes has the greatest fluidity of all). you are their friend = you meet a need for them, you are there for them, you care, you like being there for them but your emotional investment with them is not as great as their investment into you. ever had someone say "you are my best friend" and you are thinking "what?!" that would be this kind of friendship. they are your friend = turn the previous around, you invest into them more than they invest into you these aren't bad friendships. the one that isn't as emotionaly invested does care, and they don't feel put upon or used by the more emotionaly invested friend. i personaly think there is a very vital need these kinds of friendships supply, they fill a role in our lives and we need them. and we need to experiance both ends of them. the fewer and further between friendships are that when both ppl invest, when a friendship is created that the fluidity matters not, you adjust, you deal, you grow and change, it never really "ends" (not to say they can't but very hard to push it to that point) just changes. sometimes those changes take you very far apart and it just kinda fades. do you have one of those friends that you talk to maybe once a year, but everytime it's like you saw eachother yesterday? those friends you look back on things you did or conversations you've had and just smile? those are the true friendships, for me they are very very few and far between, and we need a few of those as much if not more than we need the other kinds of friends. the hardest part of friendship is dealing with the changes. in equaly invested friendships, there is still a lot of give and take, sometimes you need an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on, your friend can be that for you, but further down the road you may change places, it's your turn to be the shoulder and the ear. can you trade places? can you give as well as you take? not everyone can be that for everyone, it's not about willingness to be there for your friend, it's more of a matter of can you be what they need at that time. the hardest part of a friendship can be recognising that and when it's time to let them take. not resenting that taking, remembering that their being healthy and happy, that change in the friendship is more important than maintaining the past nature of the friendship, doing it out of love and service........ lol funny i used that word, service. whole new thought comes to mind; but not really. that is "how" you become someone's friend; you serve them. you can serve someone and not be served by them....you become their friend, but they never really become yours. or what they need may not be something you can have the ability to give. you may have many friends that fill many needs, all at different levels of intamacy. sometimes the question isn't how good of friends do i have but how good of a friend am i? so the question i'm now asking myself... Jesus, he is my friend, he served/serves me. he is there, always that ear and shoulder i need. he will take care of me, he knows me because he serves me, he is my friend. am i his friend? do i know him? do i serve him? do i listen when he needs me to? if he comes back not looking as i expect will i know him? how long will it take me to recognize him? if i am a true friend to him i will see him imeadiatly, reguardless of if he looks like the pictures i've seen. will he call me his friend? so just some of my thoughts, not sure if anyone is compleatly confused now. lol

it's nice when ppl care and come visit and invite you to things........but do you really want to put your salvation in their hands? get active again and then become the one who seeks the lost sheep, become the inspiration for the others in your ward. become a leader instead of a follower.

i've loved that one from the first time i heard it. but it didn't bring tears to my eyes.....i wonder what that says about me. lol now this one, i've only just gotten to where i can listen to it without crying, but there are moments when it still hits me. http://www.hit-country-music-lyrics.com/Jo...ome-Lyrics.html

though frustraiting, i've been fairly well at accepting that a person can run their house the way they want. when it was just me or hubby and me it was very easy, smoking was more difficult cause that is in my face, but it's their house, if i don't like it.....leave. all my family have been very respectful the other direction and when they are in my house they do not even pretend to ask to break my standards. we've done well to keep that mutual respect as a family. i can only imagine the frustration that would come without that. the struggles for me have come with having children. children can be brutally honest at times. in trying to teach them what is right and wrong, but also teach love and respect for family, why i don't say anything in their home if it's wrong. children see it as right and wrong, they don't understand agency and personal residence. my family however, has been great at helping me teach my kids these principles. even in public places or their home they do not smoke around my children, the kids may see them out in the yard smoking, but it's not in their face. never have i left a family members home with me or my children smelling like smoke. we've also had to make some hard decisions on whose homes the kids can visit, and where they can spend the night, and if the can do that with or without us. it's all been very stressful. right now i think we have come to some understandings, and like i said i have a great family, who have been understanding and helpful. i think we are being sucessfull at teaching our children about agency, and loving the person not the action, and how to balance all of that. the greatest lesson i hope they learn from if is if aunt/uncle......did X and mom still loved them then i can make mistakes (or different choices from them) too....i'll never be disowned, mom and dad will always love me. as far as divorced parents....mine are divorced, i've learned i can no long express frustration for what one parent does with the other parent. lol always goes bad. ok, so funny story (i think) about all the above. one of my brothers has a very alternative lifestyle and is one of the ones we do not go to his home with the kids. he is great to always come and visit us when we are at my mom's but with work schedule and all it is very little time compared to the time spent with the rest of the family. which makes me sad. but anyway, when one of my boys was about 3, he would see him off in the corner of the yard smoking durring these visits. my son had a hard time remembering uncle's name. at the time he called cigeretts (lol i can't even spell it) hot buts, because one day i said something about having to wear shoes to the store cause he could step on a hot but in the parking lot. so anyway, when he would ask or say something about my brother he would say, you know the one with the hot but. lol amusingly enough my brother was thrilled to hear that he was the uncle with the hot butt.

sometimes we do have to further study out the answer or possibilities and take them to the lord for further conformation. i try to remember that sometimes it's not the answer that is wrong, but the question we ask. if you get answers that seem impossible then try asking a new question. why assume that your father can't do the impossible? if it's his will then it will be. just cause you can't see the answer doesn't mean it's not there, or won't be very shortly. study out ways to make that answer happen and then return with different questions. for me personal revelation has never been short and sweet. i have conversations with my heavenly father. granted i do most of the talking, sometimes i'm venting, and on occasion i've simply cried and accused my father of abandoning me. but when i finally get it all out (lol i love that he knows me so well and is pacient with my comunincation style), then when i'm done, the thoughts come to mind, clear moments when i know the thoughts were not my own. within these thoughts i've even "heard" the statments using the word "I" and not in reference to me. does not always mean it makes since to me at that moment, but the revelation is undeniable. not all my experiances are that strong, but when i need them most they are there. i just recalled the temple dedication of the temple here, pres hinckley did the dedication of this one. not sure if he has shared this elsewhere but that is where i heard this. he was talking about when he first received the revelation to build the smaller temples. that he could not see how it was going to work, how the church could afford it, none of it made since. but when he questioned it in prayer the only revelation that came was he should go to work. so he did, not knowing what would happen, and a bit nervous about it all. (i recall being astonished, the prophet was a bit nervous in following revelation!) it wasn't untill after a couple of them had been built and were in operation that he could see how it all came together and that it indeed could and would work. i just remember walking away thinking, if the prophet is asked to walk by faith and set about a plan without all the answers, then who am i to be any more important or better than him.

preferably the class is conducted in which the person asking others to pray and such takes care of that privately before hand so the person declines to the one and not in front of everyone. although that rarely happens. however, just cause someone declines to pray does not mean they have been disfellowshipped. sometimes our branch pres will, while doing the conducting, choose someone (not done ahead of time), which is not normaly a problem seeing as he knows who should be able to or not. one particular sunday i was very depressed and was not feeling worthy of much, i was fasting and had decided that i would not be partaking of the sacrament. he stood up and after announcing the song and such anounced that i would give the opening prayer. i did not feel worthy to do this and honesty did not know if i could make it though without breaking down. i just wispered to my husband that i couldn't and asked if he would. so when it came time he simply went up as though he had been the one announced. in turn i've also done that for others, it was announced before the song and the sis next to me (the one asked) got this look on her face, so i asked durring the song if she would like me to do it for her. she said yes, and we made the change. i've never had anyone question me or to my knowledge gossip as to why i did not say the prayer or why i did it instead of someone else. i never asked this sis why she didn't want to. honestly i was a bit surprised that the branch pres didn't talk to me after church when hubby did it instead of me. lol i've always seen such situations handled very respectfully.

some of a talk from the most recent conference (sorry if the link doesn't work, not one of my talents lol), http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display...-690-36,00.html Point of Safe Return Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness. During my training to become an airline captain, I had to learn how to navigate an airplane over long distances. Flights over huge oceans, crossing extensive deserts, and connecting continents need careful planning to ensure a safe arrival at the planned destination. Some of these nonstop flights can last up to 14 hours and cover almost 9,000 miles. There is an important decision point during such long flights commonly known as the point of safe return. Up to this point the aircraft has enough fuel to turn around and return safely to the airport of departure. Having passed the point of safe return, the captain has lost this option and has to continue on. That is why this point is often referred to as the point of no return. Are There Points of No Return in Our Lives? Satan, "the father of all lies" (2 Nephi 2:18), "the father of contention" (3 Nephi 11:29), "the author of all sin" (Helaman 6:30), and the "enemy unto God" (Moroni 7:12), uses the forces of evil to convince us that this concept applies whenever we have sinned. The scriptures call him the "accuser" because he wants us to feel that we are beyond forgiveness (see Revelation 12:10). Satan wants us to think that when we have sinned we have gone past a "point of no return"—that it is too late to change our course. In our beautiful but also troubled world, it is a sad reality that this attitude is the source of great sorrow, grief, and distress to families, marriages, and individual lives. Satan tries to counterfeit the work of God, and by doing this he may deceive many. To make us lose hope, feel miserable like himself, and believe that we are beyond forgiveness, Satan might even misuse words from the scriptures that emphasize the justice of God, in order to imply that there is no mercy. What Is the Lord's Plan for Our Safe Return? Protection against the influence of the devil comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that Jesus Christ has made a perfect Atonement for mankind. It is the message of love, hope, and mercy that there is a reconciliation of man with God. Sin is the willful transgression of divine law. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the gift of God to His children to correct and overcome the consequences of sin. God loves all of His children, and He will never cease to love and to hope for us. The plan of our Heavenly Father is clear, and His promises are great: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world . . . might be saved" (John 3:17). Christ came to save us. If we have taken a wrong course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us the assurance that sin is not a point of no return. A safe return is possible if we will follow God's plan for our salvation...... My dear brothers and sisters, my dear young friends, when the captain of a long-range jet passes the point of safe return, and the headwinds are too strong or the cruising altitudes too low, he might be forced to divert to an airport other than his planned destination. This is not so in our journey through life back to our heavenly home. Wherever you find yourselves on this journey through life, whatever trials you may face, there is always a point of safe return; there is always hope. You are the captain of your life, and God has prepared a plan to bring you safely back to Him, to your divine destination. The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness. Because of this gift, the opportunity to make a safe return from the disastrous course of sin is available to all of us. For this I give thanks to our Heavenly Father, and of this I bear testimony with all my heart and soul in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

those are neat, could cause some problems. some look pretty real, ppl expect a step down and there isn't one. lol

am i missing some sarcasm here??? i'm not predisposed to think anything about you. i read through it very quickly and misunderstood. didn't think anything about you as a person (other than maybe in a bad mood or a personal tiff between you and traveler). i figured if traveler had a problem with it he would say something. i was just admitting my foolish mistake. thought it might help you understand why the clarification was needed, for me at least. i still can't speak for susie. not trying to start something, just thought my misunderstanding was humorous and shared. if anything it speaks poorly of me, that i could miss something that seems so obvious now. lol at the minimum confirms to those who suspected i was a blonde.

I am a little confused at to why you posted this here in a topic that has nothing to do with that #1- Go to the indicated website. #2- Navigate to the top section in forums, the one labeled "there must needs be rules". #3- Click on the second subject labeled "announcement: please read". #4- Read rule #2 in the list, where it says "Please do not spell God as such: G-d. To refer to the Savior, Jesus Christ, by his given name, Jehovah, in less than a reverent manner will not be tolerated. To do so will result in one formal warning. A repeat offense will result in a lifetime ban. " #5- Now, come back to this site and look up Traveler in our members list. read his postings. When he refers to deity, he does not spell them out in full, specifically, he uses the exact spelling G-d to refer to God. He has his reasons for doing this, and he can explain it to you if he wishes to do so. #6- My post was an observation that if Traveler were to post on that website, he would have to change his posting style or risk being banned by their administrators. I feel that kind of punishment would be a harsh sentence for someone who would otherwise be a model poster on that board. Are you less confused by my posting yet? How can I make it more clear to you? i can't speak for susie, but i'm laughing a bit right now. john doe, when first read your post i misunderstood and thought the it in this sentence "While I'm not a fan of his particular style of writing, it seems a little harsh to me." refered to traveler's writing being harsh not the rule in response to it. so i viewed your statment as being rather critical to traveler (rather than the rules of the site) which seemed a little out of place and uncalled for. with the further explaination i do understand what you are saying now. lol

there is a time to be a friend and a time to teach. money is obviously a problem when such a big move takes place. has your wife thought about contacting some members in the area (i live in AL lol), try to build friendships without pressuring? how is your wifes friend adjusting to the move, is she active in a chruch, made friends, that kind of thing? there are many ways to share without losing a friend, but it sounds like, as others have pointed out, that she may do just that.

those words were miss spelled? i can read it fine.

yes they can. not sure the rules if you have already been to the temple and then get tattoos and such, but there is always repentance. i know many ppl that had tattoos before joining the church, i've never seen them be restricted from anything. that's what i've seen anyway.

xhenli, thank you for sharing those. i enjoyed reading them.

i think it only matters if you were supposed to and don't. if you get revelation that you are to bring a child into the world and you deny that revelation i think it will come into account in judgement. but i guess if that is the case you are being judged on obediance not number of children. lol

the name of the topic is "are our inflictions mental and phsyical chosen by us in the premortal" but then the question is asked..... there is nothing wrong with discussing life experiance and your interpretation of the scriptures and doctrine. that is how our meetings are set up, we don't have trained preachers that have all the answers and simply preach those answers in a well rehearsed sermon. we take turns teaching lessons, giving talks in sacrament meeting, sharing our testamonies. we have been asked to seek truth in all good places, we are told to think things out for ourselves and then go to the lord for confirmation, we are told to share and to listen to others testamonies. when i share opinion i try to make sure i state that it's my opinion and i don't get offended if no one else agrees, and i will listen to others experiances, and if my thinking needs adjustment then i set about to make that adjustment. this life is about learning wisdom and gaining experiance, not memorization of principles. that being said if there is set out, plain spoken, no doubt about the answer to a question statment from the prophets and scripture out there, we should seek it and rely upon it, while still seeking confirmation and personal testamony of the principle. line upon line.

i believe there are three kinds of events in life. all are subject to be changed by our agency, willingness or unwillingness to follow the father. they fall into things we knew and chose in the prexistance (forordained), things we do to ourselves (agency), and then stuff happens this is an imperfect world. the first things we knew and accepted would be things like our family, birth order, spouse. these things can be changed by our actions. i beleive my husband and i chose eachother before we came here and asked our father for his blessing. he said yes, if you follow me i will bring you together. of course agency here could have changed that, does it mean that if one chose to not follow that the other would spend life alone, no. or if we chose not to have kids that our kids wouldn't get a home, no. we are not important enough to change the plan of salvation, the father can handle our stupid mistakes. i see all great events that way, joseph smith was given and accepted his assignment before he came. he could have said no. he could have said, hey i just wanted to know which church, not start one, find another man. and the church would have still come forth, he did not have the power to thwart the plan of god. and neither do we. the second things we do, that is just choice. we head into the world and make decisions, we may ask the father for his blessing on things and he may give it but it was still our choice to do it. what degree to obtain, career, activities and friends you choose, how you drive your car, what you wear. some of these things will go well for us, others will not, we made the choice we are accountable for it. can't blame or give credit to anyone but ourselves. however if things go bad we can ask the father for help to fix it, that is repentance, but that does not mean the consequenses will be removed compleatly. the first two may not be the same for everyone, what was forordained for me may not be for you, what is choice for me may not be for you. that was between you and the father. and the third, things just happen. sometimes we stub our toe, wasn't a choice we made, wasn't forordained, just happens. someone else makes a bad choice and sends their car into ours. tornados and storms come out of no where. that is the nature of this life, no one, good or bad can be exempt from it. however, even in these things i believe that the father is still in control. if we are righteous and listening he can help us avoid some of these things. others he can use to make us stronger, to teach us, to make good come of bad. again for that to happen we must be listening and following our father. i also believe that god never helps one child at the expense of another, all parties involved can gain and grow from all situations. i very much see my heavenly father as my children see their daddy. he can fix anything, he knows all, if daddy says it will be ok then it will be, he is superman, a mountain of strength, safety, security, has all answers. i look forward to the day when i can walk through the door of my heavenly home as my children do when they come home, looking exctedly for daddy, running through the room, "daddy, daddy, guess what i did today" as we embrace in a hug of true familial reunion and joy. and yes i believe i will be looking for mommy too. all my opinion

increase his fiber. there is the fiber powder you can add if he won't eat things with fiber in it. but don't add to much or he will get to ...... and then you will have other problems on your hands lol

bad things do happen, we chose not to follow heavenly father we bring some of them upon ourselves. he can help us out when we are ready to turn to him, but he did not bring it upon us. those are the trials of this life, however i do beleive there are things we chose or at least agreed to, before we got here. some of our afflictions we did know about, may not have fully understood, (how can one understand a physical body not having had one?), but we did agree to it. haveing all trust in our father why wouldn't we. examples my son had to have some imunizations to start school, i told him he needed them, that it would hurt, that i'd be there to help him through it. he couldn't remember the last ones so he didn't know what it would feel like. i prepared him and things went fine. he trusted me, compleate faith. he still talks about how it hurt, and about how he was a big boy and what a good job he did, he sees it as an accomplishment. i also see it as such and praise him for the job well done. my mom has sever learning disabilities, she dropped out of school at a very young age. went through many hard times, having many tell her how stupid she was, that she would never make it, on and on. not till after all her childern were in school did she decide to do something about that. she went back to school, got her GED. durring that time her disabilities were diagnosed. she went on to community college, and then to university. graduated with honors from all. she started a tutoring business to help kids with learning disabilities, so they could learn what it took a life time for her to learn, that she wasn't stupid. she was given a blessing arround that time, she was told she had learned what she was to learn from her disabilities and if she would but ask in faith they would be removed from her. she has never made that request. she now has turned her tutoring business into a private school, and she struggles every day to learn more and stay ahead of the game, but she will not relenquish what got her there, she will not say that prayer and be healed. i understand her compleatly, i know many who do not and would critisize such an action. my parents told me of an experiance they had just after my little brother was born. my mom had cancer, everyone wanted her to abort the baby and take the treatments imeadiatly. after a very hard pregnancy and delivery, my brother was healthier than any of the dr's expected. he does have his problems, but nothing compared to what he should have. shortly after his birth my parents had an experiance, i honestly don't have all the details of it, but it came down to they knew without a doubt my brother and i discussed and decided who would come first, him or me. the facts were laid out, mom would have the cancer, about each of our births, all of it. we, my brother and i, decided that he would be stronger and could handle it better, that i would most likely not have survived the birth. he took that for me, his learning disabilities are greater, and many other reprocussions from that circumstance. he chose to have that, he loved me that much. he took a harder life so that i could have one. some things we create for ourselves and can simply do nothing save, repent and ask god to save us from ourselves. other things we knew, we discussed, and in some cases we chose on our own. we had trust in our father, if he said this will be what is best for you, i will help you, all will be well, your reward when you return home will be all you can imagine and more, why wouldn't we listen. that is what becoming as a child is about, trust in our parents. the hard question for me is; did i bring this upon myself, or is this something i must endure as part of this life? being honest with that one can be hard, accepting accountability for my own stupidity, not trying to scape goat it by saying that god cast this upon me. that's my two cents anyway.

we will see the neuro in feb. it's on my list of things to discuss. that another behivor issue i'm concerned about. he is getting better though. trying to control when and where, more pants accidents, less carpet and furniture. lol so i consider it improvement.

take what little info you have, search it if you need to, but call the local (for the number if you know it) police. it may be a family that has gotten calls on them before, they may know exactly who they are. and if they don't at least in your heart you know you did all you could. trust your gut. if you can't find the info or can't do anything you did the best you could. pray for the child, for someone to find him if he needs it and use this experiance to give you streangth and courage if there is a next time you ever find yourself in such a situation, as much as i hope you don't. also remember after all you can do if you still worry you can ask the lord to guide you to what needs doing that hasn't been done or to comfort your heart if you have.

i'm not sure we ought to be blurring these lines. i do beleive that a parent who inapproprately teaches their child, and girls tend to get it more, that their body is bad, or dirty, or ugly by the way they handle modesty is wrong. the swim party or atheletics things is on the verge of silliness and send very bad messages to the girls, and i would ask those parents if they allow their boys to also partake of these things. if the daughter shouldn't be in an normal chruch approved swim suit then should the boy be swimming with no shirt? anyway, not really important since i think the answer is obvious. i think we can encourage our children to be modest, to wear and be covered as much as possible and reasonable for the activity, and to love and apreciate their bodies all at the same time. covering the body is not the same as saying there is something wrong with it. my concern is with the desire to dispell some of the inappropriate views some have that we may go to far the other way. look at the society we live in, everything is sexual, i don't think anyone is going to forget the parts or the desire exist. rice and tires are sold with sex on everyday tv comercials, my children are bombarded with messages that the body is for sexual gratification and nothing else. do i really want to help them rationalize inapropriate behavior? not that i would be doing so but by making the argument i present them with the ideas and the kids will take that a step further and create their own rational. is it really that big of a deal? just correct those that are so off base that few quotes from the general authorities will show the truth, and let the rest of it go. sometimes looking for the line turns into how far can i go, what can i get away with. that can be very dangerous. so what is the motive here, are we just looking for the line?

Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, he's had me worried on more than one occasion. but he remindes me daily, "mommy, i'm superman; or mommy, i'm strong" when he is playing of carying things (i usually don't want him to carry). he is tough and as soon as i can get him to understand proper social protocol he will concor the world. lol lol, the nudist thing is wonderful, we barely have him staying clothed all day and i think really that was cause it got cold so i don't really know what to expect come this summer. lol well, i didn't have to pull the buying toys, but i did over christmas holidays get him to pee in the bathroom. notice i didn't say toilet. lol he tries, but suddenly somone with great aim to hit things in the living room now has none and is all over the bathroom. but at least we are focused on tile rather than fabric. so i'll take what i can get. thanks for the support and good luck to you Lindsay