Kids in South Dakota are able to get their permits and drivers licenses at 14yo, and kids in my area are driving tractors and vehicles on farms as soon as they are tall enough to reach the pedals (same as when I was a kid).

My sensitive skin kid is on 100mg minocycline 2x/day + adapalene and benzoyl peroxide topical 3%/2.5% 1x/day. The minocycline does make his skin hurt, and he has chafing on some parts of his body. Wrestling was painful this year due to the pressure on his skin. The adapalene+benzoyl peroxide burned his face at first. He had to very slowly ramp that up, and he goes through periods where he has to reduce usage. He definitely moisturizes his skin. he hasn’t had to deal with the sun yet, but I am very worried about that. He’s naturally super light skinned and burns easily in the best of times. The current combo of drugs and skin care has definitely improved his acne. His skin isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better than when he started.

I’ve been telling my kids that they don’t owe others the truth if others are asking for personal information. Sometimes my kids don’t know how to sidestep nosey kid questions, so I tell them to lie. I am teaching my kids that they aren’t obligated to share information just because others ask, so I don’t consider these lies to be a moral failing. An example…..My kid has an appointment so he/she misses school, but kid doesn’t want classmates to know about about the appointment. We make up a lie to tell the classmates where he/she was during the missed school time.

I see jr high girls running the gamut. I know for my teens, I am investing a lot more $ in clothing, accessories, skin and hair care, etc than my parents ever would have invested for me. My kids have a lot more choice in those areas than I ever would have too! My teens also have liberal use of social media, so they have far more exposure to examples of how to not look awkward at younger ages. My teens are fortunate that they do look good in pretty much anything, but still, I wouldn’t say something generic like “that’s not flattering”. I make very specific comments about the item in question focusing on fit, cut, construction for their specific body. I also talk about how the piece in question will fit in their wardrobe - what will you wear this with and what occasions? We spend a shocking amount on clothing, but I want my kids to explore and learn what they like and what works for them. Sometimes I’m surprised at what they want to wear, and I do say I don’t like certain styles. I don’t understand why anyone wants to wear a shorter top in winter in MN! That being said, all my kids have athletic bodies dressing very mainstream, so this area of teen life has been very easy for us.

Kids have so many options. A visit to the family doctor is easy and results in basic acne meds. When I see kids with bad acne - and I do see them - I am so sad for those kids because there are so many options for acne now.

School time is not alone time. Teens need chunks of time where they can just exist without anyone else’s schedule or expectations placed on them. Teens need to start having control over their lives. The rules and schedules start dropping, and they need to start making their own decisions. You need to allow room for failure.

Why is she feeling the need to read in the bathroom? I think if you find her motivation and resolve that issue, then you will solve the misbehavior. My guess is she’s looking for privacy and space to do her own thing. Teens crave privacy and alone time. Does she have her space and time to just exist in that space? ETA: is she feeling constricted by too much scheduling? Teens need unscheduled time.

I don’t think gift giving really matters. My kids have three very different grandparents: 1) grandfather who gives nothing and does not recognize holidays 2) grandmother who gifts items from Christmas wish lists and money for birthdays 3) grandparents who gift $2 bills + crap My kids are closest to the grandparents who put the energy into having a true relationship with them. The quality of the gift giving is not part of that equation. For those who gift money, I like how we handled the money gifts. Grandma #2 gifted $100 + the kids age in years. Kid saved the $100 and spent the other. We called the $100 checks grandma money, and I invested it for the kids for when they were older. It will/has grown to $4k-$5k by the time the kids are in college. We’ve watched the money grow over the years, and it has been a great learning opportunity for the kids. ETA: My kids definitely remember the crap gifts. Not in a mean way, but more of a “grandparent obviously doesn’t know me” way, and those gifts go in the trash. I think a better path is to at least give something the kid would like. Consumable presents are awesome, and for little kids, great gifts are pretty easy. For a 3yo & 2yo, I would gift a bag of balloons and maybe some basic cookie decorating supplies. Blow up the balloons and make cookies together, and it would be a great, fun gift!

Do you have a family group chat? If so, are ds and the girlfriend included? My kids are a little younger, but our family group chat has helped my out-of-the-nest kids stay connected better.

I think a lot of boys grow out and then up. My kids haven’t gone through a chubby phase, but my lean boys do seem to average about 10lbs per inch of height.

By having his money in her account, she may have commingled her inheritance with marital funds. The inheritance may not be solely hers anymore legally.

We went to Puerto Rico last summer, but we took our kids. Not the most beautiful Caribbean beaches, but a completely fantastic vacation. Puerto Rico had so much to offer - beaches, snorkeling, rain forest, old San Juan, international flare while being domestic, etc.

Do you really need to both register your kids? I fill out my kids’ school stuff every year without dh’s assistance. If the kids continue in their current school, we don’t re-register them for the following year. I only have to register them when they switch schools. He may have as many legal rights as you, but no one in the legal system would force a change in schools, absent significant issues. The legal system would continue with the current school system by default. And…if you have the same legal rights…you don’t have to agree to register them in a different school either.

If the buses and train options in the US were more like public transportation in big cities, I would love a bus/train option. I puffy heart love public transportation. Instead, I live in the middle of nowhere hours from public transportation. We own as many vehicles as we have drivers, and the vehicles are heavily used.

Buses take so long, and we live very rurally so buses aren’t an option anyway. We would have to drive pretty far to pick up college kids, so not worth it versus driving. We plan on our kids having vehicles at school whenever possible. Part of our paying for college plan includes funding a nice car for them. Our lives are far too busy to be driving college kids around, and I don’t want kids driving with cars that might break down. Our rural weather conditions get tough very quickly.

Sounds like the prairie where we live! My #1 driver training goal is to teach the kids when to stay put. Plans can and do change based on weather, especially surprise ground blizzards. An inch of snow can become very dangerous with our prairie winds. We have missed many family winter gatherings and our winter activities are constantly rescheduled. If I could go back in time, I would not choose to live here again.

I will admit that winter driving is stopping us from sending our kids to particular schools. We live on the MN/SD border, and we are not sending our kids to school beyond western MN border schools. We hope the kids go East, but Sioux Falls, Brookings, Fargo are as west and north as we would be comfortable. If they went into SD or ND, I think we would have to plan as though we would get stranded on every winter trip. It’s just a reality of winter here, so we would go into it with eyes wide open, extra travel funds, and contingency plans. ETA: We also make sure our kids start driving as much as possible at 15yo so they are as experienced drivers as possible when they graduate high school. Safe winter driving requires experience.

Everyone in our family is as vaccinated as they are going to be, and we don’t wear masks anymore. We do live rurally, so we aren’t generally in crowded situations when we are out and about. My kids are all in school. Dh goes to work every day. We are living “normally” because we need to figure out how to live with Covid. It’s here to stay, and our lives can’t stop forever.

I have a very basic bullet journal that I absolutely love. I don’t use any of the calendar features as my work and personal calendars are all electronic. my bullet journal is basically a never-ending task and notes list. I write in black ink and highlight headings. I use open boxes for tasks and dashes for notes. I start the next list/day/whatever right after the previous list/day/whatever. I use the first few pages of my book for a couple collections - passwords, key work data, etc. I don’t have set-ups, tape, stickers, multi-colors, etc.

I personally am a senior manager in corporate finance/accounting for a large international company. My company hires all kinds of grads - engineers, marketing, scientists, finance, logistics. I’ve been recruiting/interviewing for FT positions and internships. I agree an MS degree opens doors, but my company just doesn’t value it significantly more than a BS for new grads….right now, in today’s market. In fact, like I stated, we are moving toward hiring candidates with BS degrees with the expectation they will go back for the MS degree after getting some work experience. We do prefer new hires with intern experience, but we don’t pay them more just because they’ve had an internship. I expect new college grads to have had an internship in their field, so an internship doesn’t set them apart. We would pay more for enhanced skill sets or other value-add an candidate brings. This is my current experience at my current large international employer. Other experiences may be different.

If it’s union, are salaries negotiable? Usually unions have very strict parameters for pay. Perhaps the beginning tier may be negotiable? My dh’s last job was union. His starting pay and raises were dictated by the union pay schedules….even as an attorney.

I don’t think salaries scale between cost of living as much as people might think. I live in rural LCOL area and work for a larger company. We pay comparable to our metro competitors 3 hours away because we compete for the same talent. Remote work is further evening out salaries. It’ll be interesting to see where salaries and work locations land in 5-10 years.

I’m a hiring manager, and this is spot-on. I will negotiate more when I have a more desired candidate or am more desperate. Right now I would be desperate, so negotiating starting salaries would be highly recommended. My personal thoughts: An MS vs BS for an entry level position doesn’t super excite me as an employer. Both candidates come with no experience and I have to teach them what they need to know. Many programs/degrees are default MS degrees now anyway….kids come into college with credits so they graduate with an extra degree or an MS for the same four years. Also, schools are skinnying down their MS programs to be one year vs two. My company is moving toward desiring to hire kids with a BS and pass on the MS candidates. We are looking to get talent in the door sooner and then develop them ourselves. We will pay for them to get their MS as they work, which brings us more value. MS coursework without practical experience isn’t as valuable. I don’t know yet what I’m going to encourage my kids to do, but if they only need a couple more classes to get the MS, I will probably encourage them to do it. The MS may check off a future employment/promotion box, and a couple extra classes while still in school is easier than taking classes later.

Most places, including tshirt vendors. aren’t taking cash. We were just at our state football championship, and cash was nonexistent in the entire event. The kid needs to have a credit card. My kids travel with credit cards. They are authorized users on my account so they have a card with their name, but they could also just take one of my cards. Getting them added to the account and a physical card is super fast and easy, but not within three days. More like 4-5 days.

Agreed. What about a bigger investment with a mini-split unit? A/C is a nonnegotiable for me, but I’m too old to not be comfortable anymore.