I also wanted to add...in my full time day job, I have meetings throughout the day. It’s my responsibility to show up on time, regardless of how involved I am in another work task. Checking in for high school classes seems a lot like the real world.

When my higher schooler is virtual, he has to login for various classes as well. If he forgets or has a technology issue, I send an email to the teacher. We’ve only had an issue once or twice, and I have emailed his teachers immediately. His teachers have not marked him tardy or absent those times. He does have alarms on his phone so he checks in at the correct times, and I would expect him to figure out a method to check in as expected. I know the school is trying to provide structure and contact points for the kids. My kid doesn’t need it, but many of them do need it. I will say he is a straight-A varsity athlete in a small school. I do not know how or if that impacts his situation.

Explain to your kid what the process entails. No one explained to my 18yo what the procedures were, and she had a panic attack before sedation. Then, afterwards, she was crying and struggling and asking for me. They couldn't get her blood pressure under control, and they not only wouldn't come get me ,but they told her I was unavailable....for hours. I had absolutely no idea. I told the orthodontist she was traumatized, and he didn't seem to care because the surgery itself went well. I was in the waiting room the entire time, as they require. I am still very angry, and we won't be going back to that provider. I am glad she vomited in their recovery room right before we left. They deserved it.

The kids are loving playing together on the Switch, so clearly a hit. The best gift though, was a cameo from ds’s hero. Ds is losing huge opportunities during his junior year sports season which will likely change his college sporting options. All the states around us are open for sports, and we sit here watching his dreams go down the drain. Anyway, my straight-A, popular, state ranked, tough 16yo cried through the cameo. Just showed how much stress and loss our teens are carrying around even if they seem Ok on the surface.

We have been through all the combinations - SAHD, SAHM, PT work for dh, PT work for me, and FT work for both of us. I was a SAHM for eight years because I wanted to be home, not because it was a smart financial choice.

I saw this time regret playing out when my oldest left for college in the fall. I work FT and I would have dearly loved to be home with the kids FT, but I have the relationship that I wanted with her. Dh, however, would probably like a redo on some items. Having her home a lot more than expected this freshman year has been good for him.

I have a four year accounting degree, and I passed the CPA exam before college graduation but my CPA is not active Before I was a SAHM, I worked in accounting for a couple Fortune 100 companies. This career choice suites me perfectly, and I have always advanced quickly. All companies need accountants. While I have lived in large cities, I have also strategically chosen employment in rural locations which have divisions of large companies. This allows me to have the benefits of LCOL but with higher salary potential. We live in a rural community of 1400. I commute ~10 miles to a town of 14,000 - the largest city in our county. We did have to relocate for my current job, but my company paid all our relocation costs. I made $80k when they hired me as a senior accountant (a couple steps down from my previous career), and 7 years later I am well over $100k as a senior accounting manager. I love the work I do, and I enjoy the team I manage. My company and boss have provided me with a fantastic work/life balance, and I will not leave willingly. Lol

I snipped this comment, but I agree with your thoughts. I transitioned from homeschooling to FT career when my oldest was in 6th grade. It was a rough transition, and I believe we all prefer homeschooling. However, we also prefer the financial stability and luxuries two FT incomes provide. While our house is messier and our meals are simpler, my connection with my kids is no different than when I was at home FT. I have a very high need for financial security. I can't handle living paycheck-to-paycheck or underfunding retirement. I need a large emergency fund, and I want to pay for my kids' activities, first cars, and college educations. My dh wasn't able to make enough $ for me to be secure, and his need to job hop every 4-5 years made me nervous. My skills allowed me to jump back into the workforce after an 8 year absence, making more $ than dh. We didn't make the change blindly, though. We were mostly through the daycare years before making the change. We chose to live in a very small rural community so the kids do have a village. My employer is extremely family friendly, and I work from home as needed. I have rarely missed anything with my five active kids. While not everyone has the ability to balance a flexible work-life balance with a higher salary and I do dearly wish I could be home every day with my kids, I believe my kids are turning out great with two FT working parents. We all do the best we can with the circumstances in our control.

Anyone have suggestions on easy to use software to help plan a remodel? I want to play around with my ideas before having the contractor draw anything up. The remodel may be fairly extensive - new garage, new living room, moving kitchen, and landscaping. Thanks!

I agree with these sentiments. We are responsible for our own decisions and minimizing risk in the ways that make sense for us. Our decisions will be different than other family’s decisions. I cannot make decisions for other families, just like others cannot make my decisions. Seems like some people have the expectation that everyone in the country stays indoors 100% of the time for 1+ years. That’s the only way to be perfectly safe, right? Only then there would be no deliveries, no supplies, etc. A huge range of safe, safer, and safest activities are possible between 100% isolation and Covid parties. Most people I know are making decisions on the safer side of the equation even if those decisions are not the safest decisions. Look at our family - we could be 100% distance learning with me WFH and have dh quit his out-of-the home job. That would be the technical safest choice, but it’s not the best choice for us. While we try to avoid Covid, we also accept that we allow some risk into our family.

Since our state only allows two spectators/athlete at high school sporting events and masks are required at all times, I am certain protocols are being followed. winter sports haven’t been allowed to start yet, but many of our wrestlers are practicing in barns and garages. My son has a practice partner, and they practice in the same garage as another Practice partner set. It’s not a perfect situation, but this is the decision we made, given our specific situation.

To add to the health screenings, mats are disinfected after every practice and competition. Wrestlers shower immediately after every practice and competition. Our coaching staff washes the singlets after every match. I think Wrestling is the sport the other should emulate. I can tell who my kids have wrestled at every match since 7th grade (recorded on Trackwrestling for anyone to see), and our youth wrestling coaches tracked every match from PreK-6th grade. Wrestlers have dealt with communicable skin diseases since the beginning of time, so the sport has already put into place most of the public health safeguards recommended for Covid.

Wrestling matches last a maximum of six minutes, with they are 1:1 contact, and every match is already contact traced. If one wrestler has an exposure during competition, only two people are Potentially impacted, assuming other precautions are taken...although the exposure period is far less than 15 minutes of close contact. At our practices, Wrestlers are separated into 2-man practice partners, and then two sets of 2-man practice partners are combined into 4-man pods. Both sets are predetermined by the coaches based on weight, skills, etc - so 100% traceability. An exposure at practice would impact four people, assuming other precautions are taken. Basketball is nearly an hour of heavy breathing over both teams. If one basketball player has exposure, both teams are potentially impacted. The kids aren’t separated at practice either. In fact, at our school, squads are combined since gym space is limited. Also, wrestling already has health screening protocols in place for every athlete at every practice and competition. Adding Covid protocols would just be a simple extension. My kids participate in both sports. I am far more worried about basketball than wrestling.

Somewhere a while ago I found my way to a site where the owner had book lists of quality books to read, and I forgot to bookmark it! Anyone have any suggestions on sites with premade reading lists?

Sorry, we do not have experience with the hairband.

Teleties are $10 and in demand by my 18yo and 12yo, so they span the age range for girls with long hair. My teen boys are all about food.

I think a lot of these caboose stories are the same as stories of younger children in larger families. My five are only 8.5 years apart, but I know my youngest does not have the same childhood and memories as my oldest. My #3 and #4 don’t have the same childhood and memories as #1 and #2. We have moved, we have changed schooling models, we have changed employment situations. All five kids also have different personalities, talents, and needs. I think the only way for my kids to have the same childhood would have been to only have two of them spaced 1-2 years apart (which is how I grew up with one brother 14 months younger than me). I was 37 with my youngest. Would I have had another 5+ years later? No, I wouldn’t. At that point my family and I needed to move into a different season of life. My dh is 50, and our youngest is 10yo. It was time for us to move past baby making.

I think one of my boys may have worn football cleats for a few baseball games one season, when we hadn’t gotten to a sports store before the season started. At 13yo, the social aspect of gear becomes important. Teammates and coaches know if you aren’t wearing the right shoes for the sport. If kids are still participating in a sport at 13yo, they are generally at a point where gear matters because the sport (and playing time) is competitive. The advantage of having the right gear + the appearance of coming ready to play are important. Having the appropriate shoes is a gear starting point.

My kids have needed new shoes every season, and we buy sport specific shoes for every sport. We have emphasized that having correct gear is a part of showing up ready to play. We do not buy sports gear as gifts, unless it’s a sport they don’t competitively play. We view sports gear the same as school supplies My five kids have participated in dance team, volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball, football, and wrestling - all through our public schools. We generally have not been able to utilize hand me down shoes, due to sizes or genders not lining up. I believe my 16yo will not need new wrestling shoes this year. This will be the first time he wears the same shoes for two seasons. My 14yo is still growing. He’s in a size 13, and the podiatrist said he’s not done yet.

The free lunch is offered to all kids as part of a pandemic government program. It’s the same program that was first put in place over the summer. The program is currently providing free lunches to every kid eating school lunch. I have three kids in parochial K-8 school and one public high schooler who eat free lunch every day. Income is not a consideration. Last summer our little parochial school principal called and asked my family to participate in the program. The more participants they had, the more funding they received. They needed a baseline amount of participants to receive enough funding for staff and supplies, so they could service the families who truly needed the meals. We didn’t want to participate, but we did to help out. This time, the schools didn’t even ask since the kids were already in the building, they automatically receive free lunch. If your school district is distance learning, they may be looking for participants

Thanks for the replies so far. I am certain I've overpaid since it looks like low supply is driving up prices, but I did buy two consoles today. If we change our minds, we can always send one back to Amazon or sell it on the black market. lol My 14yo wants to go 50-50 for a console for his Christmas gift, so I am moving forward with that plan. I also bought one carrying case, one screen protector, and one internet LAN adapter so we can plug one console directly into the router. If those seem like valuable items, I will have to buy a second set at a later date. Next on to games.......

All three boys will definitely use the Switch. I just don't know at what point an individual Switch is desired vs reluctantly sharing with the family. How did you know you were at the point where you wanted/needed an individual console? We will definitely buy the TV mode console vs the Lite handheld version.

I think this is the year we are finally buying the Nintendo Switch. Can anyone help me with a couple basic questions? First, is this an individual gaming platform like an xbox or is it a family platform like the wii? Are the games single use, meaning they are progressive so they can't really be shared between individual players? I am fairly certain my 14yo would get enough use out of his own Switch. I'm not sure about my 10yo and 16yo - the 10yo may be a little too young (spends less time on his xbox) and the 16yo a little to old (seems to have moved past the gaming intensive stage). All three have their own xboxes. I'm trying to decide if a family Switch would make sense, in addition to my 14yo getting his own, or if we should really buy three Switches. What have others done for your families? What lessons did you learn?

If I was in your position, I would definitely apply through a staffing agency, and I would not limit myself to legal positions. You need to get in the workforce, get current experience/new skills, and advance from there. I don’t know where you live, but unemployment is high across the United States, and we have had a glut of law school grads for quite a while. I’m guessing those law school grads or recently unemployed lawyers/paralegals are first in line for openings.

Kids in public school and college get a 0 on assignments that aren’t turned in in time. Wouldn’t that be the logical consequence for a homeschool student as well? If you don’t feel you can give a failing grade, then I would outsource all their classes to someone who can give the grades they have earned. ETA: Kids in public school must meet elibility requirements to participate in extracurriculars. Seems like that could be a logical policy for a homeschool student as well?