I am wild about our basement flooring, which is vinyl plank flooring. I had no idea I'd like it as much as I do! I use area rugs to "warm" things up, but it's not especially cold underfoot--nothing like tile would be! Here's a photo of it--lots of people have mistaken it for hardwood.... http://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2014/10/dark-basement-before-and-after.html (The "after" pictures were before I mopped/cleaned it, when the workmen were all still stomping all over it with their dirty boots. in reality it is shinier and clean!) I like that the maintenance is so easy (vacuum/mop, no fussing around), that I don't have to worry about the washing machine leaking and ruining it (like I would with wood) and that's it not carpet, b/c we have a dog and live on a farm...there is no way I could ever keep carpet allergy-free!

Some of the most miserable people I know are wealthy. But I also know miserable poor people. And I know happy people across the economic spectrum..... But money can buy security, at least on a superficial level (can any of us ever claim to be 100% secure? no), and it can buy freedom from worry about financial concerns. In that sense, I think it contributes to happiness. So no, I do not believe money buys "happiness" in the sense of a generalized feeling of a contented, joyful life. But I think it can help.

I am very grateful to have an L-shaped configuration of built-in bookcases--with bookshelves on the top, and a row of cabinets below. That's probably my #1 thing in our house. Keeps the books in great order and keeps the papers, photo albums, preschool toys, DVDs, etc. all out of sight!! Another thing that helps a lot for us is that inside a closet in our school area I have a hanging over-the-door shoe organizer. I use it to store office supplies (binder clips, sharpies, glue sticks, post-its, pencils, erasers, rubber bands, paper clips, etc etc). Vertical storage is the best! I find that in reality we do school in several places, but having a centralized location for our supplies is really helpful. I remember reading about Joyce Swann's system (she had 10 children!) which was basically to school at the table, and then at the end of the day, each child put their school items back into a box, and took them to their bedroom closets for storage. We do so many things as a group that it wouldn't work for us (she used Calvert for each child), but I thought it was a nice, smart, simple approach if you have children working on different levels and limited space!

Probably for me, this would be: *waking up earlier than my children (but only now that everyone sleeps through the night! before that happened, I slept in b/c I was tired from nursing babies) *having a gentle daily routine each morning for my children: get up, eat breakfast, do basic chores/personal hygiene, and then we gather on the sofa to read together. After about an hour of that, we take a short break (I switch out laundry, return phone calls, drink another cup of tea/coffee) and then do table work together--math, copywork, etc. Then it's lunchtime. *remaining flexible and kind with my children so that we all get along!!! *using morning weekdays as "school-ish" time and then scheduling all lessons, outings, errands, activities, playdates, and appointments for afternoon. I am quite strict with keeping the time until about 1pm solely reserved for our family time, at home, doing school-related things.

He's about 60 lbs. I don't think he's close to puberty, but I could be wrong (geez! i hope I'm not wrong!!!). I will look into the amber nightlight. He needs a sufficient amount of light to not get freaked out (thus the room next door) but not total darkness. It's a delicate balance. He just finished a round of sleepwalking just now, too...literally JUST NOW. I don't know what is going on with this child!

No snoring and no asthma!

Can you expand upon this? I am curious as to why the automatic response. I had pediatric insomnia but no neurological issues. If there is something major or red flag here, I certainly need to know what it is. My son sees a ped neurologist already for his migraines. So a visit would be easy because we are already set up. But I would appreciate more information.

Isn't there a difference between being judgmental and enjoying some satire? The former is decreeing some sort of moralistic imperative on a choice; the latter is simply regarding choices with humor. I am all for freedom of choice. One of my best friends has a man bun. But I'm allowed to think it looks silly! That is my personal preference. Not a judgment on his personhood, value as a human, etc.

Our son sleeps well through the night a few nights a week. But for about 6 months or so (maybe more), he has been waking up in the middle of the night (generally to pee) several nights a week and then cannot get back to sleep. I sometimes crawl into bed with him; sometimes this helps, but last night it did not (I fell asleep and he woke me up every half hour to tell me he wasn't asleep :lol: ). I wouldn't care so much about this except that lack of sleep can trigger severe migraines for him, so I'm sort of paranoid about his sleep. We use a Dohm white noise machine. We keep a light in the next room on, b/c last year when we kept it mostly dark (but w/ a night light), he would wake up thinking he had "seen" something. Once we kept the hallway more lit, he didn't have that problem anymore. So I'm reluctant to get rid of the light--it doesn't shine directly on him, but rather lights the hallway. (We used to leave the hallway light on--but that was really too bright!) I suffered from some of this as a child, and can't remember how it resolved itself. Does anyone have any tips or thoughts on this sort of middle-of-the-night wakefulness? He just came out of his room and said "I was awake when you left this morning!" Which means he hasn't been asleep since about 4 am. FWIW, he goes to bed/sleep around 9:30pm, and he's 8.5 years old. When he doesn't suffer from insomnia, he sleeps from 9:30pm-8ish a.m.

This thread is cracking me up. I thought of 1 or 2 things when I read the title, but then added many more as I read through the responses and was furiously nodding. Awesome Sauce? MUST GO (My sister uses it all the time. I love her. can't stand the phrase). My son, who is 8, is currently obsessed with man-buns. A friend of our family has one. I am So Not Into Them. But I put his hair in one anyhow (he never wears them out of the house), knowing full well that he'll one day look back on it the way I look back on my dreadful perm-with-mullet when I was 9. The beard on every male under the age of 30--definitely not a look I like. (Some look great with it. But in general it's too trendy for me.) Leggings under tunics/long shirts/dresses are fabulous, but leggings with a short shirt, where you can see all the bits and pieces?? Noooo. I totally agree about selfie sticks and the selfie-obsession in general. I get a little squirmy around guys wearing skinny jeans, rolled, over short boots or loafers w/out socks. To me, that just looks SO silly. Vera Bradley. There, I said it. (Maybe that trend has died, but around here it's still staggering around on its last legs.)

Thanks, this is helpful! I would probably skip building the village. I am a project-o-phobe, though my son loves stuff like that..... I am still pondering this. I feel the need to have some sort of backbone that we can use as we do our branching out and reading, particularly as my son gets older (we are pretty informal schoolers here).

A friend who uses the curriculum reports that there's a 20% off sale sometime around May!

Oh, I should add that I still use some oil on my cast iron when cooking things like eggs. But not greasy stuff like sausage!

I am content to not be a part of that culture. Just last night my husband came home with the observation that back before cell phones, when the people in the factory where he works were on break, they'd sit and talk to each other. Now he walks by during break time and they are all just looking at their phones. Insofar as kids go, I'm simply not interested in giving my children access or giving other people access to my children. When I was a kid we had the corded phone....and my mother let me talk on it, sometimes, for a brief amount of time (no HOURS on the phone in my household! she just thought that was silly). I'm not a paranoid person, but there are predators who are taking full advantage of parents' cluelessness about technology. But that's not the primary reason I'm not interested in my children having access to technology...the basic reason is because for us, real life happens away from a screen. (My husband knows how to turn his cell phone on and make a call--and that is literally all he knows--and it lives in the glove box of his car.) I find constant screen-looking annoying in an adult or a child, and just don't want to encourage that in my own kids! It's way too easy to just fall into it constantly (I know from experience) so I'm trying to be quite mindful of when I use my phone (I don't have an ipad) and computer, and when I don't.

We skipped. And I would not worry about his pronunciation of those letters, as long as he identifies them and generally knows how they are supposed to sound. I agree that all you need to do is model the sounds. We went through the book slowly, but I often skipped things, and never followed the instructions to a T. My son's pronunciation often lagged behind his ability to read and comprehend, and it was not an issue. (Now he's 8.5 and speaks perfectly and is a voracious book consumer.)

In my experience, just reading lots of books!

Yes yes yes....I think that must be the difference.

I use steel scrubbies every time (not to be confused with SOS pads!). I have never had an issue. There is a detailed linked essay about cast iron that is in that post and perhaps that will provide guidance. But yeah....never been an issue here.

I have my great-grandmother's cast iron pan and a couple pans I bought brand-new. Old pan is nice and smooth. The new ones have had the same rougher surface. My experience is that this rougher surface wears down over consistent use and cleaning....The rough surface doesn't make it less non-stick, either. My new pans are very nonstick!!! You may find this post helpful. I don't think you can go wrong w/ cast iron--in my opinion it's the best. And so funny that it's also so well-priced. And if you buy Lodge, generally made in the USA!

We use TracFone and I've never had any negative issues. My husband's costs about $8/month b/c he really never uses it (Just owns it in case of an emergency on his commute). I burn through my texts faster, but I still pay about $20/month. I've been pleased!

I think I posted about this elsewhere, but right now my plan for my son (who will be 9 in June) is to do math, copywork, and reading through our (extensive!) personal library. So, basically as close to unschooling as I can get without having a nervous breakdown. He will continue to attend a science school one afternoon a week, and will continue his art lessons, and he'll choose whether to continue piano. He's taking acting classes right now, too, which may lead to more of the same next year. I don't want to make any grand project plans because I'm going to let him decide all that. My daughter is 5. My only plans for her are math and reading books and copywork.

I will choose between Singapore and Beast, or maybe blend the two.

My son is 8, tall and slim. Tonight he ate three bowls of red lentil soup, several ounces of turkey, and what seemed like half a bag of black bean chips. And two brownies. Some mornings he has half a dozen buckwheat pancakes and several eggs. It Has Begun.

I don't think you can go wrong with at least trying Miquon. It is cheap and effective. If you dislike it, you can move on and there is no harm done. I will say that I start Miquon in first grade, so you will need to be sensitive to readiness. (For my daughter I am doing K math with Singapore and we will do Miquon once she is about 6). HTH!

Just my tiny tip: freewriting can help with that. Through it (morning pages, a la Julia Cameron, which I do NOT do everyday--I take them medicinally, as it were) I was able to determine WHAT, exactly, I wanted to do. Because it was a struggle to figure that out for a while! They helped hone my focus. I also feel comfortable switching back and forth between my passions, depending on the season, schedule, and so on. Everyone is different, but I found it useful!