You people are so wonderful and I hope that nobody ever has to search for this information, but I’m glad it’s compiled. Emotionally, we are obviously drained, but the house is fine, our neighborhood is fine, our cats are angry that I had them on standby but they’ll get over it. We have some extra people in the house who came after midnight who should be cleared to go home soon and we have a couple of friends who no longer have homes to go to soon and it’s... Devastating is an understatement even though it’s just stuff. I know some of you have been there and I would never want anybody to go through this. Thank you again for coming together and always being there for people!!

Any tips on what to take or what to leave? Do I turn off the power? Fill up the bathtubs? they have evacuated all the way to the highway about a mile away, so we are packing (like we have been for a couple of hours) and I know y’all always have such excellent advice ❤️ If I forget to reply for a while, I apologize.

Absolutely best to avoid it. ... But if you HAD to get it, had no choice, Omicron seems like a good time. In a perfect world, I would want to wait until the hospitals weren’t full, treatments were widely available, and I wasn’t worried I would die. you can hate me, I’m just musing

both of these places have soft-sole winter boots. I bought ds some from Canada when he was 2 and I cannot remember the name, but they were great! We had to waterproof them and they were only good for about 30 minutes of snow play, but they worked! Soft star shoes https://www.softstarshoes.com/kids-shoes/child-sizes.html Roolee https://roolee.com/products/roan-leather-chelsea-soft-sole-boot I also want to mention pediped because their soles are very flexible!

Everybody else is offering the best advice, I just want to say I’ve been following this and I am absolutely furious and heartbroken for you. I hate that literally every family member makes you feel like you’re paranoid or rolls their eyes (however internally) for doing the right thing to protect them. The emotional toll that it takes to be in your position is tremendous and very real and I just... I don’t even know what I want to do exactly, I just want to acknowledge your difficult position because your family may never do that.

For the first time in ages, the day that felt like a Sunday was actually a Sunday 😊

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one? How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside? Can you sniff out a nest? (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry) I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

I’m dying for that double sit and spin but I’m suddenly thinking of all the things that could go wrong with two kids spinning 😝 My 6yo still runs for the sit and spin and his cousins’ house, so that’s my vote, too! however, pp is right about them being able to use a basketball hoop together.

When I was growing up, my parents were - no exaggeration - 30 minutes early everywhere. It drove me batty. Nowadays, however, I try to be 5-10 minutes early and we are almost always the first ones there, regardless of the situation. Yes, I have anxiety, but it’s more like I want to give ds time to hit the loo and get prepared before class (or whatever) starts whereas other people don’t even want to hit the parking lot until class time.

Mole rats in space, The fox and the forest, outfoxed, Mouse Trap, set, battleship, operation, I hate ticket to ride but everybody else loves it, gamewright games, shadows in the forest, forbidden sky, and I wish I was sitting in front of my game shelves right now

All of you who are saying you would want a negative PCR, did you know you can test positive on them for up to three months? Even with a case that had no symptoms? As for OP, as long as I was fully vaccinated and that person was willing to wear masks, be cautious with what they handle, had zero symptoms, I could mostly stay away from them, everybody knows they’re positive, and it was an extremely vital event, I may be fine at day 9 or 10.

A magnet! I bought a fancy one, once but I always use a magnet now!

I threw things in cardboard boxes and never even gave thanks that I live in a crazy dry climate. I don’t exactly recommend that.

I hated doing that when dd was younger, but now I don’t mind too much. I have $10 nowadays and I like our coaches - they dedicate a fair amount of time and mental energy to coaching - especially when they’re volunteer. Your coach doesn’t receive direct money from the fundraiser, raise in tuition, or end-of-year events, so I wouldn’t generally blame the coach for those things, even if they’re required.

I would consider thinking that he told her to do that so you would see yourself in her and like her, but I’m suspicious like that 😉

Do you order straight from thrift books? I most often aim for them when buying on Amazon and the books are always in fantastic condition - even when they say good. Just an interesting observation.

Stalk pottery barn kids for sale sheets! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have gotten all of our Queen sheet sets from PBK for $45-55. Right now, I only see Chanukah sheets for that low, but I have some normal prints and some plain sheets. They seem to be lasting forever with no issues and now I’m spoiled 😞

In our state, college-level classes that take place at the high school are often taught by high school faculty, are not eligible for transfer credit, and the prospective college student will have to test out of Comp 1/2 and will not receive actual credit for it. Most community colleges here specifically state that if the course is taught by a community college professor, the child is officially dual enrolled in that college, and tuition is paid to the community college then it will count towards credit at the CC. This is because in some rural areas, the outreach campus shares with the high school. From what I’ve heard, the classes taught at the high school vary wildly but tend towards less difficult than on-campus and much less involved than AP courses. If you think they’re ready to bump up, but not quite to AP-level and you don’t care about actual college credit but want a competitive transcript, I say go for it!

Take them ice skating! Or give them their own cards with cash? I am also overwhelmed this year and I just don’t want anybody to buy anything, so I understand her point of view. Of course, now I also understand yours and I’m sorry 😞

I think it’s a good place to start and if that person continues having interest, they can find a different method of learning if this one doesn’t work! It took me a long time to find the right tutorial that clicked with me 🙄😔

I came here to say this, too. I tried so. Many. Brands from $5-50 and they all were meh and rubbed off after a few hours making me look like a dead raccoon. the primer fixed that and now I can use most good and better mascaras. Too faced is my go-to rn, but I also found a L’Oréal manga mascara that’s working. Anyway, primer 😉

I can’t anymore, I don’t have the energy. If you are that picky about what I’m making then you’d better help me plan a damned menu because that alone takes longer than making the food.

I know we are all picky about sound, but there’s a respected music school near us that uses the 25-key Schoenhut for their intro to piano for 3-4 year olds. We took that class just before ds turned 3 and it was a fun intro to piano with a tiny child and a tiny piano. I know there are fully functioning mini pianos with 64 or 66 keys because I saw one on Craigslist recently for $80 and wanted to buy it for no reason, at all 😛 I say buy the schoenhut!

Found it; target was right! https://www.target.com/p/b-toys-wooden-toy-piano-mini-maestro/-/A-79499974 a mini piano is a thing, you can find them used for $50-80 (or $200)and they sound pretty good!

Can this thread please have title of the year? 😂😂