We have been using dishes from Williams Sonoma's Open Kitchen line for about 3 years. I think I got the recommendation from another dishes thread on this site! We've broken some (into large pieces!) and chipped a few, but overall I think they have held up well. None of the breakages or chips were unwarranted. 🙂 I'd rather have hunted around for china because I love eating off china, but it was 2020 and I was trying to replace my old dishes quickly because of lead concerns. I like how lightweight the WS dishes are, and, if you have a store nearby, you can buy the dishes individually instead of in a set.

The How to Train Your Dragon series was my son's favorite at that age. He also loved Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven series. There's crude humor in Dragons and some dated stereotypes in Blyton, just fyi. Other series that might suit are Childhood of Famous Americans, Encyclopedia Brown, Henry Huggins, and Boxcar Childen. At that age, my kids have also liked reading nonfiction or historical fiction from the top level of leveled readers. My daughter is enjoying the Random House Stepping Stones books right now. She also really likes the Usborne Illustrated Stories series (you can find some in the series here, but there are quite a few more)-- younger-child-friendly retellings, lots of illustrations.

I think about this all the time, even though we've already done what we've done with our older two (at 10 and 8). It hasn't been an easy balance for us to figure out. Our two older children do 1 sport each, and we are still out of the house at dinner time at least half of the week right now. Others have expressed the pros and cons that I also see, so the only thing I'd add is that I would consider your child's personality along with what you want your family life to look like. In my ideal world, I'd like my kids to run around outside with the neighborhood kids every afternoon when they are little. But, there are no neighborhood kids where we are; they are at sports and activities. I hate that 8-10 is considered "old" to start certain activities, but I can't change that for my entire area. The barrier to entry is very low when you are 5! Does your child need a low barrier? My oldest did, so I don't regret signing him up for a team sport at that age. He is not naturally a super athlete, but he works hard and has had success in his primary sport. He has also been happy to try other sports and classes in the off season without too much anxiety. He would not be the kind of child who had the passion and confidence to start activities/sports for the first time at 10 and find that experience enjoyable (or even tolerable). Yet being a decent player in a team sport has been a huge positive in his life. On the other hand, my middle is a Covid kid who didn't have the opportunity to start anything at age 5, and she is totally different. She just discovered that she adores a sport, and she is the oldest in the beginner class. She is simply irritated by the 5 year olds who cry or don't pay attention, and I don't think it would ever occur to her to be embarrassed being in the beginner class while many 8 year olds are 2 or 3 levels above her. She loves whatever she is interested in at the moment. Just something else to think about!

Not as classic as some of those recommended here, but there is a lot of poetry referenced in the Incorrigible Children books. When my son first read them, I remember I used up a lot of printer ink printing out all the poems he wanted to read!

My kiddo throws up a lot. Not every day or anything, but nausea is definitely his body's default response to anything unusual (stress, excitement, pain, sickness, overstimulation...). As he is older elementary age now, he's doing a lot more things with low-level stress (for him) like camps, sports, and travel, and the throwing up is becoming more of a regular problem. Other than throwing up, he seems fine and able to deal with the situations well. For example, he was really excited about a special sports camp this week, but he felt sick before it started and then threw up 3 times in the car afterwards (from overstimulation/exhaustion maybe?). During the camp, he was happy and engaged. Any tips for helping break this pattern? I just hate that it is ruining things that he enjoys and looks forward to.

Yes! Loves it and the Seterra quizzes too. I'm pretty sure I heard about both thanks to people here! 🙂

Thanks for the ideas! Some of these I hadn't heard of, and it is nice to have new options to explore. When I was looking into the National Geography Bee, I found out that it has been permanently canceled. That was disappointing for my son, as random geographic facts are his favorite!

I enjoyed participating in Math Olympiad and the National Geographic Geography Bee when I was a kid, and I was just thinking how much my child (4th grade next academic year) would enjoy both. He likes a little friendly competition. Has anyone organized something like that for a small group? Are there other competitions in a similar vein that are more popular now?

We loved visiting Assateague with our horse loving girl! I hope you can go! Next she wants to visit Mankato, MN for Betsy-Tacy-Tib, and I've always wanted to visit Maine just based on Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, and Days of Wonder. Others I can think of: Lake District for Beatrix Potter's house London/Edinburgh for Harry Potter Paddington Station for Paddington There was a lot of Alice in Wonderland stuff in Oxford, but I am not sure if there is any particular place to visit. Paris for Madeline NYC/Central Park for Stuart Little NYC/Met for From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Prince Edward Island for Anne of Green Gables

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes popped into my mind because that is one of my all time favorites! My children like Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven series. 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

I usually find Ambleside Online's folk song selections to be too difficult/wordy for my young kids, but this year they suggested a few sea shanties that we loved. Really fun to sing and suitable for our enthusiastic but unskilled singing. We learned Wellerman, Fish in the Sea, Haul on the Bowline, and Blow the Man down so far this year, but there are many more options.

Our house is covered in post its of all sizes (and this particular child uses post its like crazy), and I have never seen clear ones! A great stocking stuffer! 🙂 Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far!

Does anyone have a recommendation for enjoyable phonics readers? I have a 6 year old who hasn't made the leap to fluent reading. She is halfway through AAR2 and would love to read books other than the AAR readers, but I am finding it difficult to find any that introduce phonograms in a similar way. Most "easy reader" books include a lot of words she can't yet decode (vowel teams, -le words, and words ending in -y come to mind). She has been introduced to the vowel team ee, and we just started words with -er. I think it would help boost her confidence if I could find some other readers for her. The AAR stories are long and interesting (unlike a lot of phonics readers!), but I think she views them as part of the reading program and so not "real reading".

Gray is a family name for me, so the color is spelled grey!

I have the Haden Heritage kettle and like it a lot. I went back and forth on it vs a cheaper one, but I also keep mine on the counter and wanted to enjoy looking at it. I've had it for about a year and every time I go into the kitchen, I'm glad I spent the extra money. I also went back and forth because it has mixed reviews, but mine has worked well. It is not super fast, but I don't notice the slowness unless I'm boiling the whole 1.7 L. The handle doesn't get hot for regular pouring, but it can get hot if you immediately take the whole top off. I really don't know why I've done that, but I have and can confirm it gets a little warm. https://www.target.com/p/haden-heritage-electric-kettle-ivory-white/-/A-81471279