Well, a bunch of you are saying they're paid minimum wage and a bunch of you are saying they aren't. So who's right? I don't tip and never thought I was supposed to and I don't carry cash of any kind, not even spare change. I mean, if one doesn't carry cash, then one never is given change, so one never has spare change. I have my Aldi-cart quarter but that's it. Oh, I do keep about 10 quarters in the car in case I have to park at a meter unexpectedly. I never touch the meter-quarters. This is a pickle. What to do, what to do? I go to Sonic twice a month before I do my twice-monthly grocery shopping.

Thin sheet of ice covering everything this morning so a bunch of schools were closed today. Got up in the 40's today and it all melted. Now rain.

My husband teaches meteorology as an adjunct at a local community college. He does this exact thing! It's not that the students are cheating on the test, of course. :) He just knows the secret: the actual act of writing down the facts teeny-tiny on the card is what helps you learn the material. Musing: I think I need to start using this technique in my own homeschool...hmm...

Usually my worries are kept well under control. But there are there and once in a while they like to pop up and yell "boo!" and give me a good scare. Worries might be too strong of a word, even. It's more "challenges that I'm stuck dealing with, because as the homeschool mom, the buck stops here."

In my twenties, I sat with a coworker in our communal lunchroom. We'd have loooong discussions about how to raise kids. I used to cite how in Amish churches, the kids would sit on wooden benches, quietly listening for hours and hours and if the Amish could do it, then what the heck was wrong with everyone else? I have no clue where I got the idea that Amish kids sat on benches for hours. I don't know if they do that or not, but I was sure of it back then. Our coworkers would wander through the lunchroom to heat up their food and eat it and we'd catch some raised eyebrows when they overheard our smug conversations, but we were confident. Then my son was born. With ADHD. All I can say is thank goodness we're not Amish. My son wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in an Amish church. :)

Sooooo much this. So much. In some ways, college is what a high school diploma used to be, so it's not necessarily the track to financial security that it used to be. In fact, the debt of college can end up being someone's financial downfall. But without college, it's hard to get a decent job. Sure, I'd love the kids to "do what they love" but my kids don't "love" anything. So, they'll have to find something to do that earns them enough money to live off of. So that means college...but that means debt... I don't know how to prepare them for a world I no longer understand. It's impossible to predict what jobs will be obsolete in the next few years.

Hang on...when I say to yell at them, I don't meant to reprimand them. I just mean to say it loud and clear, hollering across the ice, "Hey, guys! That ice is THIN and the water is DEEP! You need to get off there, carefully! Now! It's not safe!"

Well, you were taken off guard and didn't know what to do, so it's good you're planning ahead now. I'd plan on going out and yelling at them that it's thin ice and a deep pond. ETA: Even if it's the part not on your property. They might smirk and be embarrassed, but chances are they'll leave.

It is with great, heavy sadness that we received the news that Nathaniel Thomas passed from this world this morning. Last night, I received a PM from a WTMer asking if I knew of a fund to help Happypamama's family pay for expenses, since Happypamama and I know each other IRL. This morning, Happypamama's co-op group set up a fund to help her family to care for Nathaniel Thomas' expenses. If you would like to donate to the fund to help the family, you can keep your name and amount donated hidden to stay anonymous. Here is the link: Baby Nathaniel's Fund I will probably bump this thread for a day or two to give everyone a chance to see it, if they are wishing to help.

So much this!! It wasn't as big a deal until 9th grade. But now, the grades count and there is a transcript of the grade. I find myself doinng school at home more than ever and I don't like it.

Happypamama and I belong to the same co-op. I have been able to see pictures online of Nathaniel. I think everyone should know that he's sooo beautiful. Just the sweetest thing you ever saw. He has tiny, perfect, little fingers and a sweet, sweet face. A complete darling. You just want to scoop him up and give him little kisses on his sweet little head. A darling.

Trying to figure out what materials are really at the right level. Worrying that the curric I pick will be a dud and we'll waste a whole year of learning with nothing to show for it Wondering how to pay for college Wondering how to apply to college Wondering if I've missed something that's obvious to everyone else. My son is in 9th, and I only heard about the ACT test about 1.5 years ago. That's a pretty big thing for me not to know anything about when we were that close to high school. I hope there are no more surprises like that! I worry that I don't know what I don't know and so I don't even know what questions to ask. I *think* I'm ok, because I read almost every single high school post on this board and have been obsessively for the past year. Wondering if I'm not the best teacher for my student in writing (and someone else might have a different subject.) I can teach the hows, but he just sits there staring at the wall and can't come up with the simplest of ideas. Why? Am I doing something wrong? Is it developmental? How do I know if something is developmental and expected for each age, or something is wrong with my particular student or me as a teacher? Cost. It was fine until the water started backing up in the sewer pipe and my car needed to be fixed and we have to pay for braces, etc. It's starting to be tougher to pay for things. And I'm outsourcing 3 classes next year. Two of them are a steal at under $450 each, but the other is about $700, which is average. It's expensive to outsource. That's $1600 right there and there are still 4 more classes to go, plus a younger brother. Worrying that my son will do badly on tests. I get chills when people post "My kid got a 5 billion on the SAT and didn't study." I had my kid take the PSAT this year, just for kicks so he would see what it's like to take the test (it doesn't count at all in 9th) and he did NOT get 5 billion on it without studying. He got exactly what I think a 9th grader who hadn't studied and had never, ever taken a test in that environment would get--a meh score! Yeah, sure I expected the meh score and honestly only had him take it so he'd know what the environment is like, but at the same time, I worry that he won't be ready in 2 years. Why couldn't he have been one of those kids who takes it in 9th grade and gets an amazing score? Have I been doing something wrong? Who are these kids who do that?? I worry that I'll think I've taught him, but didn't incorporate enough review and so all the knowledge has gone in one ear and out the other, which wouldn't be a super, duper big deal (the old 'use it or lose it' idea) except for the SATs and ACTs. You can't just forget about Algebra as soon as you learn it or you bomb the tests and then lose all shots at merit money (See above about paying for college.) Um...I think that's it. And isn't that more than enough!?!

I've had that sort of thing happen with people I thought were going to be good friends. It turned out to be a matter of unrequited friendship. I thought the three of us would be such great friends (we all met on the same day at a Mom's group), and then I found out that the other two completely bonded and thought of me as the acquaintance and not the real friend. It was jarring and painful to realize I was just the third wheel, when I thought we were all equally invested with each other. I had really, really liked these women. And they were really nice, too. But they clicked with each other in a way that I didn't. It took me a full 3 years to figure out that I was the third wheel! It took a while to be able to be around them without feeling rejected, but I finally got past it. One of them wished the other a heartfelt birthday the other day on FB, too, and even though it's been 10 years and I'm past it, I still felt that funny little tug. I scrolled past the picture really fast. (scroll, scroll, scroll!)

Two thoughts: First, the one conversation you had with her isn't enough. It's such a part of who she is that she can't just turn it off in a snap. It'll take some enforcing of boundaries for it to sink in. It's really hard to break a bad habit and this is a bad habit. Second, I recently realized that I can think any thoughts in my head that I want to. I mean, I always knew this, but if there is someone prattling on and on and on, I don't *have* to listen. They won't even know that I'm thinking about something else. I can just ignore them and think whatever I wish and they can't stop me. So, I would approach this two ways: 1. When she's talking and you just don't want to listen to her anymore, but are stuck in the room with her, ignore her and think your own thoughts. Tune her out. Give an occassional uh-huh. No one will even know. Daydream about winning the lottery. 2. When you're talking and she interrupts, hold up a finger and keep talking overtop of her. Don't stop. Just hold up the finger and keep talking until you're done, quietly, but firmly. That finger advice is something I read somewhere in a book about exactly how to deal with an over-talker. Don't talk about how they're over-talking. Just hold up the finger and keep on going.

Been thinking about you non-stop for the past day and last night. Thought and prayed for you when I was falling asleep last night and you were my first thought this morning. It was wonderful to wake up and read that Nathaniel was snuggling with you guys.

My kitties were sitting on the wrong side of the box, like Chocolate-Chip's. I bought a box with taller sides and they couldn't perch on them, so now everything is inside the box. Have you been able to catch what she's doing? Hanging off the wrong side, or not perching inside the box at all?

I've recently been pulling the tiniest bit of hair from the sides of my face to the back and then making a teeny, little braid in the back. The hair is straight on the sides where it's pulled back, and the braid is only about 5 twists (?) long in the back. Most of my hair is free, but that little braid pulls the hair from the sides of my face where it normally likes to blow around and get in my way. Sometimes I don't bother with the braid and just pull a bit from the sides back and tie them together in the back with a tie or with bobby pins. Very simple, but keeps the hair from flopping around.

My dh has started doing this, too: asking me questions where the answer is pretty obvious or I know for a fact that he can figure it out for himself. It's a new habit and throws me for a loop because at first I think he's joking since the answer is often so obvious or easy to figure out. I thought of something: I know someone who interrupts literally every single sentence I try to say. Every. Single. Sentence. I find myself trying to rush my sentences to get my thoughts out, but no matter how fast or slowly I speak, I'm interrupted. Every. Single. Sentence. It's someone I can't just cut out of my life, so I think I'll have to confront them about it. Another thing I greatly dislike: confrontation. :)

Praying.

I haven't used it, but what about something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Workbook-Kim-Mosley/dp/0966321537 It's a workbook to go with this text: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Manual-Henry-Horenstein/dp/0316020745/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Y1G0STTT0G2BSPAPR4Q2

Oh, the yell-sneeze! My dh does that, too. Sets my teeth on edge, yet how can you say, "Stop sneezing!" to a sick person? My dh gets his Man Cold and then still tries to putter around the house, too. I prefer if he just stays in bed like a proper sick person should. Much easier on the care giver. P.S. I've been known to moan over a bad fever, when my eyes hurt too much to read or watch tv...but I do stay in one spot and don't yell-sneeze at the family. :) They're free to flee my moans.

Yes, I think I've been barking up the wrong tree. This thread has made me uneasy. I have felt like my posts weren't hitting the mark and wasn't sure why. I've felt at odds with you and was wondering why. I can see now that I was coming at the issue with an incorrect assumption and so the things I was saying weren't applicable to what's actually going on. I think I'll stop posting now! :)

I re-read the original post because I thought it did say that--that your dh wanted to go down the road of his NYC friends. I see that you have a parentheses explaining that while your dh referred to the NYC friends, he didn't want to go that far. I totally didn't see that part. I only saw the part where he was referring to how his NYC friends handle things and thought he did want to go that far. I am sorry for misreading.

Yes, but the OP's husband is pushing for the Palo Alto, 14 hour workday model. That's what people are responding to on this particular thread. My ds14 does 2 hours of biology and 2 hours of history every day, plus 4 other classes that are about an hour each every day. I insist on As or at least high Bs on everything he does. If he doesn't get them, we start over until he does. He also works a small job (under 10 hours a week) at McDonalds and bakes cookies for a homeless outreach at our church about 4 hours during the week. He takes karate classes twice a week. So obviously, I don't believe in letting him slack off. He spent 4 hours today on some homework on a Saturday. In another thread the other day I tallied up his school, work, karate, and cookie baking and he puts in a good 60 hour week, some weeks more, some weeks less. Plus he gets 10-11 hours of sleep a night. I believe in pushing kids a reasonable amount, but alarms went off when I read what the OP's DH is pushing for.

For a good zoom and for fast moving shots, I don't think $150 will cut it. I don't know a lot about camera models, but for your needs and price range, I'd be looking for used or refurbished rather than new. You'll be able to get a better quality camera with the power for the fast shots that you'll need. Refurbished would be better than used (because someone will have made sure the camera actually works), but I don't know where you get it. My dh is the Finder of Refurbished Things in our house. He's always finding awesome deals on refurbished electronics.