Sleeping Audiobooks with eyes closed Suggesting the driver use cruise control Long-standing driving habits are hard to change, even if the person is interested in changing.

My family is in the weird situation where we felt the trip was worth it for the family members who went, but is also okay with the fact that we left another family member at home and she completely missed everything, even the partial eclipse. I wish all of us could have seen totality, but if I had to choose again, I would probably make the same choice to split the family. Totality was amazing. But special effects in movies may have blunted how I feel about amazing.

Yikes! That is what I was worried about. But we were okay traffic wise. The blinding rain and hail at least held off until after the eclipse. I think if there had been clear skies instead of all the cloud cover, traffic would have been much worse. On Sunday evening, some friends were undecided about driving to totality, but they ultimately decided to stay home due to the weather.

We drove 4+ hours last night to get to friends in totality. Traffic was heavier than normal, but still moving at a reasonable pace. We’ll see what return traffic is like. It was worth it for me. Not life changing (I didn't expect it to be), but amazingly beautiful. The few minutes of totality were completely different from experiencing the partial eclipse. We had cloud cover most of the day, but there were enough gaps in the clouds to get occasional glimpses of the partial and total eclipse. It did not get as dark as I expected, and changes in wildlife were fairly minor.

I have had very bad luck with hotels in NYC. I recommend booking directly with the hotel. If an issue comes up, it is much less complicated if there is no middleman. I also agree that *where* is much more important than *which* hotel. If you will be using the subway, check the routes between the hotel and the destination to transit easier. If everything you want to see/do is in Manhatten, it may be worthwhile to stay in Manhatten, even though Manhatten hotels tend to be more expensive. When comparing prices, check if the hotel has a “resort fee” on top of the daily rate. If you like to have breakfast at the hotel, check if breakfast is included or not, and the quality of the breakfast. Some hotels have a decent breakfast included, some have on-site restaurants with expensive breakfasts, and some have a “bagged” breakfast that I didn't find worth eating.

For what it is worth, one of my in-person friends with a 13 year old son has similar concerns about leaving him home alone for extended periods of time on a regular basis. She has never had to do so until recently, and it causes her stress. It is okay to be anxious about things that are new for you, even if other people think those things are normal. Talking to other people about their experiences is a great way to get comfortable with new things.

I feel like there are several issues here. - Actual safety issues relating to being home alone. - Your comfort level at leaving him home alone. - His comfort level at being left home alone. - Expectations about him accomplishing academic work when home alone. The actual safety issues for a neurotypical tween staying home alone for a few hours are fairly small, even staying home alone on a regular basis. I’m guessing that you already know this. It sounds like you are not completely comfortable with the idea yet, but are getting there. Although anecdotes from other people can help alleviate concerns, I think that repeatedly leaving him home alone for gradually lenghtening periods of time is the easiest way to get comfortable with the idea. It sounds like your son either hasn’t thought about the idea or is not concerned. If he were uncomfortable with the idea, repeated practice will also help him get comfortable. That leaves the issue of him actually accomplishing meaningful work while home alone. If the time alone is infrequent, I wouldn't worry about him getting meaningful work done. On the other hand, if it will happen on a regular basis, it can be very worthwhile to build up the skill of getting work done when home alone, and he is old enough to start. - Start with small, specific tasks that you know that he could easily accomplish in the time allotted. Give a clear checklist and instructions. Make sure that all supplies are accessible. - Have periodic check-ins while you are gone with intermediate goalposts. For example, I had my daughter send me photos of worksheets as she completed them. This set up a pattern of communication that let me know that she was okay and that made it easier for her to ask if she had even a minor question. It also made it easier for her to keep on track versus leaving everything to the last minute and not having enough time. - Be really, really clear about any rules regarding leaving the house, having friends over, stove/oven usage, and cleaning up any messes before you get home. For what it’s worth, I was surprised by how much academic interaction I was able to have with my kid over a phone with texting, pictures, shared Google Docs, etc. I was able to grade worksheets (I kept answer keys on phone.) I could read drafts of paragraphs/essays/outlines. I could even explain mistakes in math problems and help her work through corrections. This was only possible when I had stretches of time when I wasn’t busy driving or otherwise occupied bt this happened often enough for us to stumble into this flow.

There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to not uses a locker even if one is available. My kids were required to use lockers, and even so they would try to avoid using their lockers at times. Sometimes the kids themselves are not aware of the subtle reasons. If a teenager thinks that schlepping books and bags around is easier than using a locker, and the kids friends are using lockers, I suspect that there is more at play than simply not knowing how to unlock the locker.

I think saying “figure it out” can mean a lot of things, depending on who is saying it, to whom it is said, if the thing is actually being done in the near future, was done in the past, or might never be done, etc. “I can figure it out” said to oneself can be empowering. It can be a statement of self-knowledge. It can be a way to motivate oneself. “I can figure it out” said to someone else can mean I don't want your help right now, please leave me alone. I may or may not actually do the task. “You can figure it out” can mean that I refuse to help you, or I don't have the knowledge/time/resources to help you. Or it can mean that I have more confidence in your abilities than you have in yourself and I want you to grow from the experience. It can also mean that you do not need to tackle this right now and do not need to stress about it now. “He/she can figure it out” said to oneself can be a way of calming fears and letting go. Said to someone else, it can be a way for the speaker to tell the listener to let go.

One of the reasons why I prefer to not be surprised is because I enjoy anticipating nice things. For example, DD is very good at picking out gifts for me. Of the gift that I use regularly, some were surprises and some were not. The gifts that were surprises, I’ve enjoyed since I got them. The gifts that were not surprises, I enjoyed anticipating *before* I got them. So I got more enjoyment from the gifts that were not surprises. I like spoilers in movies and books because I like to see how all the pieces of the story fit together. It is easier to see that if I know what is going to happen versus being surprised. Surprise activities, acts of service, and gifts tend to be problematic because I am very picky and I don’t like having my plans changed at the last minute. Because I am picky, I would rather be consulted first to ensure I get something I Iike versus being surprised with something I don’t. Because I dislike having to change plans, I would rather be consulted first so I can fit the thing into my plan for the day versus having to rearrange my schedule. The main time when I like being “surprised” is when the end result doesn't really matter and someone else takes on the physical or mental load. In this case, it’s not that I like being surprised by the end result as that I like being relieved of the effort of doing it myself. But even in this case, I would have preferred to know in advance that things would be taken care of without me.

Just to be clear, these types of medical cost sharing programs are NOT insurance. If you have (or will soon have) young adult children (ages 18-26), whether or not they can be included in a “family” plan is different from insurance. For most insurance plans, these young adults can be on their parents’ family insurance plan. However, health care cost sharing plans are more likely to have requirements like the young adult attending college, living with parents, being single, etc.

Taking an uber from an airport can be a little different from other places. Normally you choose your pickup location (such as your current location). However, at an airport you will have to go to the specific area for ride sharing services. Depending on your airport, this location might be at a different terminal. You may also get assigned to a specific “lane” at the ride share area, depending on how big the airport is. You can watch where your Uber is in the app so you know when it is getting close.

When I was younger knee pushups were called “girlie pushups”. I never heard the term “lady pushups”. I now prefer the gender neutral (and more descriptive) term “knee pushups”. Knee pushups are just another regression of full pushups. They have health benefits over not doing any sort of pushing exercise at all, and many men and women cannot do full pushups. The inability to do full pushups is not laziness. As for whether or not knee pushups “count” as pushups, it depends on the context. For example, when talking to a personal trainer about my push-up ability, knee pushups and full pushups are different. In casual conversation outside of a fitness context, both full and knee pushups are pushups, but not wall pushups. During daily exercise, any appropriate push-up regression/progression (including wall pushups) count as pushups. I have worked up to full pushups twice in my adult life. The first time was with a personal trainer in a gym who started me with incline pushups. Then I had many sedentary years when I lost the ability to do full push-ups. The second time, I built back up to doing pushups on my own at home. Both times, it took me a few months. For those of you who want to do push-ups, but have wrist issues, have you tried using parallettes or other hand supports/grips?

If I knew neither the sender nor the intended recipient, I would not reply and just ignore the message. I would not post to social media. I get too many phishing attempts. If I knew either the sender of the intended recipient, I would let the person know.

Swan Lake. My daughter will be swan corps.