Thanks @quietgarden for the review. We've been using Scientific Connections through Inquiry, so it's good to know.

As a mother of 2, the first one was the hardest. I had mine close together and enough (1.5yrs) so that the two blur right together, but I had a constant helping hand (well he was inconsistent but always there). To me it seems like it would be hard to have a large age gap.

Whoa I thought dynamic pricing was just supply and demand not dependent on who you are?! That's even more outrageous than the strictly "Oh we discovered a lot of people are interested in this so we upped the price.

Also a warning about flowers, if the host has pets flowers can be an issue. Some flowers are toxic to pets, and in my case no matter what my cat will go through and behead all the flowers (which means I end up with a mess the next day). A lot of people do love flowers.

To me it would be a lot to do Explode the Code, Abeka and something else. So for me I actually beef up Explode the Code on my own. Even though it isn't meant to be a spelling list every week, I've noticed for every lesson in Explode the Code they have the rule but the activities repeat a lot of the same words. If left on his own in Explode the Code he can easily just memorize the few words in the lesson or flip back and forth in the pages to fill out the worksheets without actually internalizing the rule. So I add in a few extra spelling words using the rules that aren't in the lesson to have him spell. If he can't spell those I add in a supplemental activity relating to the rule. For a reference book where I can look up the rules and have some demonstrating words I use ABCs and All Their Tricks.

We completed the projects today. DD5 ended up being How Cat's Communicate and she even included an interview with our cat on there. DD7 has paper airplanes taped all over his poster. He put in a surprising amount of work in the project. He even did instructions for folding 2 of the types of paper airplanes (he just taped a bunch of partially folded planes). I guided them to relevant research materials, helped them stay focused on the testing (paper airplanes), scribed the headings and wrote their bibliographies. Grandma and daddy are both going to go see the kids present their projects tomorrow.

Sherwin Williams is my go to paint.

How would you snuggle? Plus that would ruin my plans for blanket domination!!

If they drink a bottle of wine.

MIL has been so much happier with the holidays since we started splitting up the cooking. It's been worth it to cook some of the dishes.

Smoked brisket, Sweet Potatoes, smashed potatoes, peas, fruit salad, apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. MIL and FIL are doing the sides and we are doing the meat.

I'm a little bit loving this thread because I've been a little worried about DS and the bedwetting. (I asked the pediatrician about it which was how I found the book.) It's so reassuring to hear others having the same experiences.

I'll make a fruit salad with honey drizzled on top. I've also made fruit with whipped cream but perhaps my fruit to whipped cream ratio is different, it's a dessert in my house. (Really ours is whipped cream sprinkled with fruit.) If you make your own whip cream you can add vanilla and other flavors to the whip cream which makes it seem pretty fancy.

I think Goodwill might accept it and they'll go through it to look for sellable stuff (?). They won't shred his stuff for you I think they'll just toss it.

When it occurs during socializing I just say no thanks. For a while I thought I might be allergic to alcohol, so I said that for a while (but that's not true so I don't say that anymore). For events I just ask for a Shirley Temple or look at their list for a non-alcoholic beverage. Some bars will have mocktails and those are yummy. That gets a beverage in my hand so people don't ask if I need. I've never been to an adult event (not college-age event) where me not drinking was a problem. I've heard some countries/places this is harder, but not where I live.

I'm a super lightweight when it comes to alcohol. Throwing up wasted with one wine cooler or super tipsy drunk off ice cream (flavored with alcohol). I don't drink. I'm religious but that's not why I don't drink, Drinking a full drink is just not that fun for me.

I think it can be both. There are parents out there who don't have the time to cultivate these relationships where paying a trustworthy person makes financial sense. Sometimes paying the "auntie" is nice too, because you don't just want to take advantage of people and you want to maintain a good relationships.

I get this 100%. I just want to give you a bit of encouragement, with my experience through my mom and some of her friends. Working this kind of "I don't really need it" job looks different than a job where you need it to put food on the table. Anytime the job starts being too much you can quit. If they give you hours you don't like, starts demanding too much of you, etc. quit or threaten quitting. It's OK to go ahead and get that job, then quit if it's not working.

So for us I'm hoping the non-absorbency actually helps. I don't use the night-time stuff for my bedwetter, I'm hoping helps him to start sensing the need or the wetness to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There's a few nights where I have to change the sheets but for the most part it's fine. There's a book on nighttime potty training (specifically for those where it doesn't just happen naturally at the age of potty training). https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Dry-Children-Overcome-Bedwetting/dp/1581109067/ref=asc_df_1581109067/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312177564685&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=154116675931817684&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032039&hvtargid=pla-492101194759&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60258870697&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312177564685&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=154116675931817684&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032039&hvtargid=pla-492101194759 I haven't tried the method. I don't think we are ready/need to do it just yet. The book showed what skills they need to make this happen and why it might be harder for some kids vs. others. I have a reusable pad (incontinence pad) in case of leaks. They hold a lot they are made for adults as well as children. We place them under the sheets so it looks better and muffles the plasticy sound a bit. Other people put them over.

I've got some books that I'm interested in.

You could offer these services to the families you know and go from there. I think word of mouth is how some of these niche childcare jobs come around. I had a friend who worked as a night nanny for a while and it was all word of mouth.

I'd think of it like a hobby that doesn't cost money. My mom happily worked for years where nearly all her salary went to taxes, direct monetary gain never really happened. There is something to be said about a person's general well-being (potential therapist savings right there) and not having the time/boredom to spend money.

No but I have wanted to try a quality anchovy on pizza. Sounds yummy, especially considering anchovies are the authentic magic ingredient for yummy Italian pasta sauce.

It was my aunt. She did speak English but not fluently and we normally conversed in Chinese. No expert but if I were to say why it's probably the brain's way of making conversation with people more streamlined. (Really helpful when there is a lot of speakers speaking multiple languages and not always speaking their most fluent language.) I never got over it with my aunt, but other people I have. 1) Maturity, understanding there is a reason for the other person to want me to speak to them in another language (aside from just wanting to test me). In high school, I did understand, so I could have gotten over it, but it didn't end up happening because of number 2. 2) The people whom I've gotten over speaking to them in "not their language" are the people where we began speaking to each other in the other language more often. Then the brain can make the connection at some point this person speaks these languages this is what I can expect.

We read through "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp. I put out our collection of Christmas books. I do plan to read Mr. Popper's Penguins and Heartwood Hotel: The Greatest Gift next.