Yes, now is the time to scoop up all that gently used curriculum that "isn't working", lol.

Yes, I've seen this. It makes me laugh when they are posting their go-fund-my-homeschool posts in a homeschool group. Like, lady, we're all in the same boat as you. All extra dollars in my budget are going towards funding our own wishes and dreams before I start "donating" funds toward someone else's wishes and dreams. There was a homeschool mom near me that got onto one of those public school teacher wish list things, and was spamming groups to donate so her kid could have all sorts of extra goodies (Smart board at home! Computer systems! Furniture to furnish her "school"!).

To be honest, I'd really love to find a "homeschool cult" today, because all of the recent posts on my local group are about "What is the cheapest option I can sign my kid up for homeschooling?" and "Is there anyone who'll homeschool my special needs kid for me while I go to work?", and the responses are "Oh, you don't have to do anything. Just tell people you are unschooling for now and then sign up for Acellus or Outschool later". So far, the recommendations are Acellus, Outschool, Khan, and IXL. NO ONE has recommended buying some books and sitting down with their kids to read and talk to them. It's not even that people are looking for a la carte class options or co-ops to add to what they are already doing at home. They're looking for some other thing entirely, something that is free/dirt cheap private school without any oversight, accountability, or expectation that they kids and/or parents will do work. I feel really sad and angry about this. And yes, I know it's judgmental. I don't care.

I turn those commercials off. I deeply, deeply appreciate and respect people doing any sort of animal rescue or shelter work. They are made of far tougher stuff than I am. I saw enough really sad cases working veterinary er, and I can't handle seeing any more of it. 😞 Facebook is terrible with this sort of thing, too. People post and repost horrible animal abuse case info and pics, and it breaks my heart.

Leave all the littles at home. It's not a vacation, it's a college tour. It's like a business trip or an out-of-town job interview. The kids don't need to be there. It's a shame if they feel disappointed, but sometimes we feel disappointed in life?

I kind of have. It's one of husband's relatives, so I've taken to saying "I'll let you work that out with husband!" when events with his relatives come up. It doesn't really fix anything, but it takes responsibility for it off my plate.

You could call it "unsupportive", depending on the motives/disposition of the person doing it. I have a relation that does it, and it's frustrating. I feel like I"m always having to chase them down because "They don't want to bother me". 😕

Oh, I know. It's some combo of "They don't like me" and "I'll never make them happy". I'm just feeling sour about it tonight.

My mother used "the good stuff" for every holiday dinner. I use it on holidays, too, which bothers my inlaws for some reason. Whenever they've come over, I get "Miss Lemon, are you suuuuuuuure you don't want to use paper plates instead? Are you suuuuuuuure you want to use those crystal iced tea glasses? Are you suuuuuuuure you want to use this silverware?" Yes, I'm sure. That's why I put it on the table. 🙄 Tried to switch it up and used paper plates when they came by this last Christmas, since "the good stuff" gives them anxiety. They still didn't like it. 🤷‍♂️

Hanlon's razor at work: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".

I'm having a hard time finding one for under $250 in this part of Texas. People have been snatching them up and painting them all. 😕 I don't want a turquoise cedar chest! I just want an old-lady, wood colored cedar chest! lol It really is! I am happy to scoop it all up! We've spent hardly anything to furnish the whole house. It will all come back around in style again. Just wait.

A lot of estate sales/auctions. No one is interested in brown wood furniture anymore, so we've been scooping pieces up for almost nothing. There are a lot of antique/junk shops around here, and we've gotten nice pieces from there, too. It's taken a few years, but we've finally got enough furniture for the house. The only thing I want now is a cedar chest for the foot of the bed and a new sofa.

I once had a cat that shredded every paper he could get his mitts on. He once shredded a $1 bill, a bunch of letters from my grandma, and my USAF discharge paperwork. 😠

No flu here, knock wood. I tend to keep a low-profile during flu season because I don't want to deal with everyone else's cooties. Online grocery ordering and pick up is my new best friend. My son's art teacher has had many kids out sick this year, with flu, some sort of awful stomach bug, and strep. Thankfully, she is really diligent about cleaning between classes and making sure the kids wash their hands. Kiddo is getting pretty tired of hearing me remind him "wash your hands. Wash your hands. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!"

I'm guessing the passenger is like most people with a layover: on a mission to find a bathroom and get something to eat. If they didn't wash their hands after using the toilet, that would be a fast path to exposure.

Wash your hands frequently Avoid touching your face Get plenty of sleep Stay hydrated and eat nutritious foods Take a Vitamin D supplement Avoid crowded, indoor events as much as possible during flu season (like plane trips or the children's museum) Get a flu shot

The local Dollar General marked all their Christmas stuff down to 10 cents per item. They had a pile of plain white tissue paper -92 packs of 25 sheets each! I bought the whole pile. I use tissue paper all the time for my eBay business. When I was checking out, the manager came up and gave me a 2 pack of pine-scented air freshener for 10 cents. Woo hoo! We did an eat-at-home challenge for January. Only ate out one time the whole month! I've done really well using what we have on hand, using up what is about to go bad, and sticking to a plan. I'm going to try for zero food waste in February.

Praying for everyone's safety.

First thing you can do to feel better and get clarity about your homeschooling/flex-schooling choices is to unfollow (or better yet, leave), all those facebook groups. They can be very militant in their perspective on homeschooling. No matter what you do, there is a fb group to tell you in great detail how you are doing it wrong.

We've done the toothpick trick, but with wood dowels. Worked fine!

OP, I think that you should do what is right for your family, and anyone that says you aren't doing things the "right" way can go pound sand. At some point, I will outsource math, because my son's math skills will surpass mine. He understands math intuitively, in a way that I do not. I also plan to outsource some writing instruction when we get closer to college. I am not a great teacher, but I am really good at finding appropriate resources for my son, and asking for help from more talented people than myself.

It varies by area. I have lived in a lot of places, both north and south. Texas is mostly fine. I have friends here and generally like it here. Alabama and Georgia (not including Atlanta), were tough, socially. But then again, New Englanders can be pretty tough on outsiders, too.

Yep, I am a Yankee from NY, and I have learned how to "play the game", as you say. I know which ladies are interested in friendship and which ladies are the "Bless your heart" type. There are some people here that will never, ever accept me because I am not from here and I don't attend their Church. I don't bother with those ladies, if I can help it. The behavior happens everywhere, (technicians in veterinary hospitals are horribly cliquish, men included), but I have found it to be more extreme in small, southern towns. It's baked into certain communities. #NotAllTexans #NotAllSoutherners #NotAllWomen

If you live in a small Texas town and want your children to have friends, there are social conventions you have to adhere to, otherwise your kids will be shunned. There are certain organizations in town that my child would have zero hope of ever making any kind of achievement in, because we aren't in the "in" crowd. The same kids from the same families win all the awards and get their names in the newspaper every.single.year. There families have been here for generations and there is a lot of social clout in being able to say you are an Xth generation Texan. Like, you can go to whatever public event the mean girls might be attending, but no one will talk to you. Book club, community choir, exercise classes, library programs, PTA, church groups, homeschool groups (THE WORST FOR THIS BEHAVIOR!!!)...you are technically a member, but you won't get info on upcoming meetings, collaborations for projects, etc. There is also a debutante ball at a local venue, which I find hilarious because this is fecking ranch country. There's a cattle auction every Wednesday in town and a chicken processing plant not far from here, but yes, let's all pretend to be society ladies in fancy ball gowns and tiaras. 🙄 There was a similar dynamic in Alabama.

There is so much wisdom in this. ❤️