There are so many undertones to the different white paints!! The color nerd in me can't begin to understand picking one white paint color out of thin air, when there are so many factors to take into consideration: lighting, wall paint, furniture tones, etc., etc., etc.! :willy_nilly: LOL In every home and rental we've owned, we use Sherwin Williams. One of our most used whites is Snowbound. It's crisp, very white. We did a kitchen (cabinets) with it, and it was way too stark for all that surface area (IMO). We had to re-do those! LOL But as a trim that's part of its appeal - fresh, and it's a cooler white so it pairs nicely with the current trend of cooler paint colors - especially grays. It could look lovely with your robin egg's blue walls!

I didn't want to be a SAHM when I was younger, and frankly I'm not all that thrilled to be one now. But it's best for my family, so that's my priority. Where I'm from, grandparents raise the kids while parents work. So I always envisioned being a SAHgrandM, but never a SAHMother. When I was working outside of the home, my parents and my inlaws were our caregivers. I think that is part of my difficulty adjusting to being a SAHM, because I never had to pay for child care so that's not a benefit to me staying home. My reality now is being a SAHM with two sets of (retired) SAHgrandparents over here up in my craw every day while we figure out how to ignore generations of cultural conditioning. LOL :willy_nilly:

When I fly, I bring along a mini-flask. Mine holds the equivalent of a shot, and sounds like the perfect size for your needs. It has a screw top lid, is stainless steel, and is designed to be poured. Mine also has a key chain attachment, which I use to hook to my the key ring in my purse - never gets lost in the bottom of my bag! I'm sure they can be found on Amazon, but mine have always come from World Market for under $5. ETA: another idea. Container Store (anywhere really) sells the travel-size containers for you to use with your own shampoo and conditioner. If you get a flip-top lid attached to a screw top, it should be pretty leak-proof. As an extra safety barrier, a flight attendant trick is to put a small piece of plastic wrap over the top of the bottle before you screw on the lid. It won't leak. You'll just have an extra step of removing it or breaking that seal with a toothpick or something before using. Not a huge deal :) Come to think of it, Container Store probably has salad dressing containers designed for lunches on the go. I'm sure they'd run under $5 and you could find a size you like.

I try to meet people where they are and hope that will carry us through the awkward silences. LOL In your situation, I'd flip through a People magazine in the checkout line or the library to get a general idea of what's going on the entertainment world. I'd spend 10-15 minutes poking around yahoo or something to figure out what the current movies are, see if I recognize any actors (I probably don't!) and can use that little tidbit as a launching point. Movies and entertainment news can be good segues into a conversation you're both "into" - discussing plots (maybe you can relate or recommend a similar book), relating to characters (or not), delve into locations (travel plans, travel desires), etc. I used to work in customer service. I could flip through a gossip rag and get enough info to jump start a conversation. Hopefully she's a talker and can carry her weight of the conversation!

Pajamas are the worst!! In addition to being almost exclusively polyester, the fire retardant properties can add another layer of invisible and irritating discomfort. This is especially true if he's the first kid to use the pajamas (as opposed to the pajamas being hand-me-downs that have been washed a lot.) :hurray: for optimism! My parents never figured out what my "problem" was, or would even acknowledge that there legitimately WAS one!

:w00t: It's like Christmas came early!! Say it ain't so!! (so long as that creepy Elf on the Shelf doesn't come early. Or at all. LOL)

This is a real thing?!?! :drool5: I feel like you've just rode into my life on a unicorn. This gives me hope. One day, .... perhaps .... {sigh} .....

I think so. When I was employed, I had to wear a uniform. I had a cotton-poly blend shirt that was uncomfortable, but tolerable. Then they switched to a 100% poly shirt that I just couldn't stand. Like, I'd get restless (twitchy) when it touched me directly. I wore a shirt two sizes too big in an effort to keep it from being fitted (and touching me directly), which worked until I kept getting written up. So I started wearing a cotton tee underneath a correctly-sized uniform shirt. Night and day difference. But I never had any rashes or anything. And I could wear it if I had to, but it always felt like a little spider crawling over me. Like a light irritation but nothing itchy or obvious, just ... irritating.

I love to have leftover water on my hands to flick at whichever kid is hovering when I'm at the sink. I love to have leftover cookie batter to lick off of the spoon. I love to have leftover change to play an impromptu game of heads or tails. I have a record to beat LOL. ETA: I'm not a food person other than the aforementioned cookie dough! But here's an answer more in line with the thread: I love to have leftover bread to sop up the juices from my meal. :thumbup:

I helped the friend of my son with this. His "retired army, no college" father passed away the student's sophomore year; his mother was a very Type-A "vice president of a Forbes 500" type who didn't connect at all with her son and didn't understand his style of grieving (to withdraw, versus her style which was to throw herself into more work.) So I helped him alongside my own son - we did major testing, college tours, applications, career planning, CLEP, and more. My son was homeschooled. His friend attended a small, classical Christian school nearby. In the three years since, I've been approached by four other families at this school to walk them through the same process. And I don't even know what I'm doing, really, I just ask people IRL and re-read old threads in the High School forum here. It's too much time and pressure for me to do for anyone who I'm not emotionally attached to. But I use these opportunities to promote myself as a tutor. The school is very WTM-ish, so it's a great fit. I charge $50/hour which is on the low side of normal for this area. I can't believe people even pay that, but they don't even blink and they keep referring me out. For someone who is truly confident in these skills, I do believe there is a market for this work! Even more, if you tap into the private school market then you've got families who are willing - and more important, USED TO - paying for this type of service. They may be irritated to be paying you above their tuition costs, but that's a problem for the school .. not for you. I think you can totally do this, and a key component will be to find that niche market. And also, maybe, a type a networking specialist like my son's friend's mom who will open more doors than you can handle!

This is exactly what I first thought, too - what ages/genders are the kids, and is room-sharing going to work. LOL So, it's too early for me to say if I'd take the house described, but I wouldn't automatically rule it out on its description alone.

I LOVED that series - fascinating, and fun to predict outcomes for each (and to actually get to see if you guessed correctly!) I wish someone would repeat a documentary like it now. The movie Boy, or Boyhood, whatever it was called, came close. I liked that one, too, other than it was fictional. I'm glad you mentioned this! I watched it years ago in a sociology class. If I can find it online, it'd make a great winter viewing this January, with the kids. :)

I wash mine with my diapers. If I'm in a diaper-free season of life, I still wash them this way: COLD CYCLE without detergent followed immediately by a HOT CYCLE with detergent.

I'm not sure if it matters, that's a good question. I know someone here will be able to answer it better than I can. I have to go off of my ADD meds when I'm pregnant, so my doctor has me on a slow-drip of caffeine throughout the afternoon. I usually add the Natural Calm to a soda pop and sip on it for several hours.

I request that they eat a few bites - it's been awhile since I had any this age, but I think it was one bite per age of their life. Food is a huge cultural thing for our family and community. I have one picky eater who is now 19 and still, out of habit from childhood, will eat the bare minimum in order to not appear rude. We consider it "good faith effort" to get through a social situation. But reason matters, too. My nephew has texture issues, so I'd be more lenient on him. My son was just picky and chose to dig his heels in, so we came up with the "good faith effort" rule. My daughter has a different metabolism than my sons, so she's hungry way less often than they are. She's an eat-once-a-day person, with a snack thrown in for good measure. If she's not hungry, I have her eat a few bites but remain at the table to be social. If she's hungry later, I'd offer a simple after-dinner option like a sandwich or fruit/veggies or crackers and cheese.

I get this when I'm pregnant. Epsom bath at bedtime, and added magnesium during the day (I add Natural Calm to a beverage at lunch), ... and ... if I wake up in the middle of the night, some satisfying sexercise usually relaxes me enough to sleep until morning.

Oh I hate that! How frustrating! This kind of thing has happened to me enough that I now just make the full purchases if I can swing it. Because Murphy's Law is for real. :glare:

:sad: What ugly people!! You're a great wife for tolerating it as long as you did, and the best daughter ever for refusing to any longer.

I had a thing for talk shows in my college days when I was new to the US. But these were trashy talk shows, not respectable night time ones! (And they showed everything, and then some. Most episodes were things I never want to see or hear on a talk show, and yet ... I couldn't NOT tune in!) :ack2:

:lol: But there are days I think my children should drop to their knees and pray for the miracIe of my immediate conversion to veganism.

No, guilt trips totally work on me so I won't be boycotting. But my reasons for not going are probably more superficial than the reasons other people choose to skip the family (or)deal. And there are enough of us that I can manage to avoid the people I want to avoid, and even slip out for hours at a time without too much notice. I usually show my face for the meal and the late night card games, and then I hang out with friends or see a movie during most the socializing part. I'm also the mom/aunt who offers to run the kids to the park when they start getting rowdy or bored at the house, so that gives me another out. :grouphug: It must feel empowering to just own the decision to not go! Maybe I'll be ready to join your boycott another year.

I knew at 11 what I wanted to be, and I did it for many years! So did my second oldest son, who is still on the path he set at age 10. It's definitely a personality quirk to be hyper-focused on a goal and to work towards it relentlessly. It's nuts to think that this should be the norm. I wonder if My other kids are still figuring it out. My 12 year old is currently torn between the desire to be a religious sister or mom to 10 kids. Worlds apart. :lol: She'll probably end up living paycheck to paycheck doing something artistic and creative and gratifying in a way that a regular, respectable paycheck could never be (for her.) When it comes up, and in our home it comes up often because she has older teen and adult siblings, we talk about what her strengths and weaknesses and interests are and suggest ideas that work well with those. I'm always quick to point out that there are jobs out there that we (our family) has no clue even exist just because they're not part of our life - like, we don't know anyone who has them or they're not local to us so it's basic unfamiliarity with what's out there. When I was 17 I read an article in Vogue about someone whose job it was to name lipstick. Who knew?? I mean, duh, someone had to do the naming, but that it was an actual job for someone? I was jealous. I'd have loved that job!

One of our favorite stocking stuffers are the Lush lip scrubs, which are about $10-ish. They're great for winter! A magazine subscription might be a nice treat, too. They can be had in the $10-20 range. Is there a hobby magazine you'd like? You can't go wrong with a great tea, either - she can add fancy sugar rocks and a strainer for a special touch. I loved the suggestion of some fuzzy socks. And also for consumables - a treat you wouldn't make for yourself. Is there a hobby or interest of hers that she can share with you? E.g., my BIL is very very very into music. His music collection rivals my book collection (I envy that his shelving needs are far less than mine!) A few years ago I gave him a few names of artists and genres I liked, and he burned me some CDs. Platonic, grown-up mix tapes! :) Like, does she knit? (Hat.) Does she read? (Recommend book.) Craft? (Holiday decoration.) Play an instrument? (Burn a CD.) Garden? (Plant.) Etc. Or maybe give her a hint, and let her hunt for something fun. Ask for something "musical" (could be a CD, wind chimes, whoopee cushion LOL), for example. Or "something for the kitchen" (could be specialty tea, pot holders, apron.)

How's your blood pressure? :grouphug:

I want to be available to help care for grandchildren and our parents as they age, so that limits me more to JOBS versus CAREER. That alone narrowed the field! I quit my career a few years ago. The company was being restructured and they offered my work group an out. I took it, but regret it. It was the right decision at the time due to family issues, and I'd make it again if I had to ... but I miss working and company-paid insurance, and time off the mommy/family clock. Oh, and my paycheck. Lord I miss my paycheck! I could re-enter this career at any time, but would have to start at the bottom again. Seniority dictates everything, and I'm not sure it's worth it as a "dinosaur" the way it was as a 20 year old! But it's very flexible and could work well with my ultimate family goals. It was flexible enough to allow me to work F/T while homeschooling and maximizing my time at home with nurslings and toddlers. I will likely find a job that mimics my former career - probably bartending or waitressing, which I did prior to my career, and occasionally on my FMLA/maternity leaves. I love the service industry and I've always been able to clear a lot in tips.