We have: Whites (bleach) Mediums Darks Stinky sports clothes (soccer and karate uniforms) There are 3 laundry baskets in my bedroom (right outside the bathroom door), so everyone puts their clothes in the appropriate basket when they change. When I notice a basket is full, I bring it downstairs with me in the AM and throw it in the washer. I give no regard to fabric, purpose of garment, etc. Only colors. Everything on medium heat (hot water seems wasteful, cold water doesn't seem strong enough). My ds's karate uniform is very thick and bulky, and stinky, so it needs to be washed without too many other clothes in the load in order to get clean. I just throw dh's soccer clothes in too while I'm at it.

Nope. I never encountered it outside of classic literature, never heard anyone use it in conversation, and don't really know when and why it should be used. To my ear, it is a British anachronism and therefore is not part of my modern American English vernacular.

I do a short, less cardio workout in the AM, 30 min or less, weights, pilates, yoga, or a walking video. Basically whatever I feel up to that day. Then I do the treadmill in the afternoon, when I feel like it and can fit it in. Some type of physical movement is a great way to start the day, but not if it throws your whole day off. If you can do something quick and not too taxing, that might be a good compromise. Then, if there's another point in the day when the kids are occupied with other things, you could do more. Lunch time, afternoon quiet time, after dinner or after the kids are in bed. See what works with your schedule and your body.

I bought my pots and pans set very cheaply at Wal-Mart over 20 years ago. They have worked well, but the non-stick coating has been wearing off over the years, and I'm concerned about the flakes entering our food. It's time for a new set, but I want it to be a good investment. Must be non-stick. My daughter liked a Rachel Ray set she saw at Wal-Mart, but I don't know how good they are. Any suggestions?

Kefir, an egg, steamed broccoli. The main entree for lunch and dinner changes every day.

I can believe it, my dh is like that. He has very black and white, logical thinking. If something needs to be done, you do it. If something causes a negative consequence, you don't do it. Period. He doesn't understand people knowing what they should or shouldn't do but not acting accordingly. I try to explain to him that the majority of people have varying degrees of disconnect between their intellectual understanding of an issue and practical follow-through, for a variety of personal reasons and issues, but he just can't grasp it.

Definitely talk to Fitbit, they might replace it. It's worth a try. If not, I would highly recommend a Fitbit Zip. It is quite accurate because it is worn at the hip (you know, where steps happen), and uses a watch battery which is replaced every 3-4 months. I've had mine for 2 years and love it!

I use Mathematical Reasoning as a fun supplement. I have gone through the age 3, just finished age 4 and about to start the K book. My dd enjoys it and it does a good job of touching on many different aspects of math reasoning in a spiral approach, keeping all of those skills fresh. I would not use it as a stand-alone, full curriculum, though (except for preschool). If the remediation she needs is in computation skills, I would look at Math Mammoth or CLE, because they are straight-forward, step-by-step skills based, and very inexpensive to try out. If she needs facts practice and enjoys card games, Right Start math games might be helpful. If you don't want to buy the full game set right off the bat, they sell tutor kits where you can buy only the games for certain operations (addition set, clock set, fractions set, etc.) Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what will work with each child.

I tutor ESL students after school. Several have told me the teacher writes the assignment on the board, without leaving enough time for the students to copy it down. They are expected to take a picture of the board with their phone. These kids don't have phones, so they have to try to get it from a friend, etc. These schools have online portals where assignments can be posted, but often the teachers don't bother to post them if they were already given out in class. Oh yes, and no hand outs either. All worksheets, etc. are on the portal and students are expected to print them themselves. These kids don't have a printer, so they often write out the questions by hand, or pay $0.10 per page at school or the library.

I've got 2 days of antibiotics left on my treatment. Had bronchitis, took amoxicillin for 8 days, was feeling a bit better, but my fever came back and I didn't feel enough better, you know? Went back to the Dr., took xrays, and was diagnosed with pneumonia in one lung. Now I'm on a stronger antibiotic, Avelox, and I'm functioning, but definitely not back to normal. Cut yourself a lot of slack, delegate whatever you can, call in reinforcements. I usually push myself and try to maintain my schedule when I'm sick, but this knocked me out. It was a good lesson for the whole family :)

Definitely watch Education Unboxed videos if you haven't already. Especially have her watch the one where the little girl is making a family with the rods, etc. If the Miquon worksheets aren't working, you could try some of the activities in the Gattegno book http://issuu.com/eswi/docs/gattegno-math-textbook-1 If after trying different approaches, she still has no interest in the rods, maybe she needs a different manipulative. I highly recommend the AL abacus from Right Start. Maybe in the end you'll discover, like some of the dc mentioned upthread, that she wants explicit instruction, not discovery. In that case, try MM.

I agree with wintermom that the less rigid the boxed curriculum, the more likely it will work. You have to hit the sweet spot where convenience and customization intersect. This could be a "get 'er done" basic academic kit that you can then supplement with your own chosen projects, lit. and electives, or it could be a lit.-based program to which you add your own 3Rs. Expecting your box to cover absolutely everything so you and your dc can blindly follow the schedule like drones and magically be educated will lead to great disappointment. Personally, the best customizable box I have found is Timberdoodle. They have pre-set kits, but you can mix and match items all you want. They even have an online scheduler, where you enter in the items you are using, and it tells you how many pages/lessons for each book each week. Timberdoodle doesn't include lit., per se, so I customize there. I love MBTP, but doing their whole curriculum is overkill. I choose a few lit. units to supplement with and call it good. Finding your own personal boxed curriculum sweet spot depends on determining how much freedom you're willing to give up for convenience, and vice versa. This can change year by year and child to child.

We had this service once. DH had already begun his new job out of state, so I was alone with 2 small kids. They started packing in the afternoon and worked into the night. I didn't want to be alone in the house with 3 male movers, and it wouldn't have been practical with the kids anyway. So, I stayed with my SIL 4 doors down. Everything was packed very well with a ton of packing materials, all clearly labeled. Nothing lost, broken or stolen.

I'm not sure why you want a front loader (I'm in loooove with my new Speed Queen top loader), but aside from a front-loading Speed Queen, I would recommend a European model. Europeans have been making and using front loaders for decades, and they know how to do it right (as opposed to the HE junk we're typically sold over here). Fagor and Miele are a couple good brands off the top of my head.

Here is the free online copy: http://issuu.com/eswi/docs/gattegno-math-textbook-1 This is the publisher's website to purchase hard copies: http://www.educationalsolutions.com/math-sets/gattegno-math-book-set You're right, Gattegno's approach is not the opposite of Miquon, but the presentation is. For me, it explains what the lab sheets are trying to do, but without the lab sheets. I really hesitated to buy Miquon, because I'm not crazy about open-ended nebulous curriculum. I would have much preferred Gattegno's approach, where I can open the book, read the instructions to my dd, and she does it. I think she would enjoy that more too (sometimes she gets sick of a certain lab sheet, but I keep plugging along, because I don't want to leave any pages undone. ) Considering how many parents have expressed interest in Miquon, but were too intimidated by it, I am surprised it is not used and recommended more often.

Has anyone used this as an alternative or supplement to Miquon? I've been looking through the free copy of Book 1 online, and it seems to be the polar opposite of Miquon in presentation: scripted, with no worksheets. I like the way he walks the student through math discovery with Cuisenaire rods, but verbally rather than pictorially. Any insights, experience or reviews would be appreciated. Thanks!

My parents always fill their tanks when they reach half. I assumed the main reason was to not get ice in the tank, and because they live a fair distance (10-15 miles?) from gas stations with decent prices, and from civilization in general. I don't usually think about getting gas until it hits 1/4, but we mainly watch the prices and fill up when it's cheap. I never considered needing gas to travel somewhere far in an emergency. Good to keep in mind.

I've enjoyed following everyone's vents, but I guess it's finally my turn. Bronchitis and back pain. I don't have time for this! Bronchitis has knocked me out completely for almost 5 days now. I really thought the antibiotics would have kicked in and gotten me somewhat back to normal by now, but I'm still a mess with a 100 degree fever. Adding injury to illness, I pulled a back muscle a few days ago squatting to straighten some books that had fallen over on a shelf. I was on my way back to bed to rest, why didn't I just tell someone else to do it?! Now I have two reasons I can barely move. Grr. We need to get going on school, I need to finish the organizing I was in the middle of, and I need to schedule and begin my tutoring sessions so I can get back to making money. Now everything's on hold. Oh yes, and we were supposed to visit my parents this weekend, but since my mom is immune compromised, that has to wait until we are all perfectly healthy. Which of course probably won't happen until we are so busy we won't have time to go. Grr again. On the bright side, I've found tons of great K resources on Pinterest 😊.

My great aunt did just that. Her only child had died tragically in his 20s, and when her husband died, she sold her house and most of its contents and moved into an apartment in a senior community. She didn't want her nieces and nephews to be burdened with cleaning out her house. That was 15 years ago. My dc have been blessed with some of her son's toys, and when she recently moved to a new complex (dementia starting to set in), she gave her complete china set to my dd. She also went through old family photos years ago and gave them to the descendants of those in the photos to make sure they went to those who would appreciate them, rather than being tossed unrecognized. A very strong, smart woman.

My parents have always been great about homeschooling. In their eyes, I'm smart, educated and capable, and are proud that I am investing this much time and energy into my kids. It is also fairly common where they live. My ILs, who live overseas and had never heard of homeschooling, thought it was weird, but OK, because I'm a teacher. I had to coach the kids how to respond to people when we lived over there for a year: "My mom is a teacher, she teaches me at home, and I'll do my exams when I go back to the US." Somehow, since I was a teacher, and they would be doing exams (just at-home standardized tests for our own records, but whatever), they could then wrap their heads around it. At middle school age, I got the feeling MIL thought they should be in real school by now. I went through a long explanation of how, in the area we had now moved to, schools are used as instruments of social engineering, to assimilate immigrants and alienate them from their culture and religion of origin. That changed her mind. Now that they're in HS, she really is perplexed by them not being in school, but she has chalked it up to just a thing that a lot of us crazy Americans do (I try to make it seem like a fairly common choice). It doesn't help that she personally was over - burdened raising her dc, and most women in her country start sending their dc to "school" at age 2 to give them an academic head start, but mainly to get the little devils out of their hair. The idea of wanting and choosing to keep my kids home when there are other options is an anomaly for her. But, she's kind and respectful and doesn't bring it up.

Us too! It makes life so much easier and is a good transition to independence.

I can see how you could take their comments the wrong way, but gently, I would try to take them in the spirit they were offered. Sure they could have simply sent a generic anniversary message as they would have to anyone else, but I'm sure they thought some special words addressing your unique situation were in order. They probably felt congrats weren't quite appropriate and instead chose to honor your strength and perseverance during this difficult time. People don't often find the right words when trying to offer support in trying circumstances. Congrats, BTW!

I was never called in my home state (where I lived until I was 30). Ironically, dh was, before he was even a citizen, so obviously he didn't qualify and didn't serve. Within a year, probably less, of moving to and getting a driver's license in a new state, I was summoned. In that state, there are no automatic exemptions. You still have to show up and explain why you should be exempted. My dc were 4 and 7, and we were 4 hours away from anyone we knew. Fortunately, my mom happened to be visitng for a couple of weeks at that time, so I went. It was a huge room full of potential jurors, maybe 200, and they asked general questions to weed people out, such as whether you or a family member had had a negative experience with a healthcare provider that could have resulted in malpractice. When I raised my hand truthfully in the affirmative, I was sent home. First and last time I was ever called, 11 years ago.( I no longer live in that state).

I spend $900 per year for my high schoolers. We use American School, which simply charges my credit card $75 per month until our balance is paid off, which takes about 2 1/2 years. So, half-way through junior year, we're done paying! Since ds is a senior, he's paid up so this year's $900 is for dd in 10th. I posted in the elementary thread that I spent about $350 for my dd in K ($500 minus what I sold in used curriculum), so I guess we're looking at about $1250 for the year total. I have always budgeted about $1500 for homeschool materials, so I'm doing well.

I spent close to $500 this year for my Ker, and that was with buying a couple of pricey programs used (LOE Foundations and RS Math). Of course, I sold at least $150 worth of used curriculum, so I guess that brings me in closer to $350. There is a 10 year age gap between my youngest and the next oldest child, so no, I had not kept any K materials hanging around to reuse. Even with my elder 2 who are only 3 years apart, I didn't end up reusing much, other than literature and history resources, because they were such different learners. So, I usually plan to sell my used stuff and buy new materials for each dc.