Year 4 here. My oldest is 12. I can relate In many ways… next year, I plan to take on an overseer role with the help of streaming/self paced classes, particularly for my oldest.

I cannot even imagine doing 4 separate complete MP curriculums as I have four children--but what bothers me is I think each child could handle it; I just can't teach it, and then I feel like a failure. I do think the education one can receive can be outstanding, but this year I took a more eclectic approach and have felt as though we were not doing enough. And I have still felt overwhelmed and unhappy. I do want to stay the classical course somewhat, so I am trying to figure out what to do! I guess this is why online education exists. I wish there were more streaming videos for all subjects; it is hard to commit to a specific time and day---might as well go to a regular school!

Yea, I think it’s utterly nuts to send a job posting to a 12 year old. The way the ad looked made the job appear to be very enticing with minimal education. Meanwhile, they take fancy trips to various universities. I cannot say I’ve worked hard to sway any of my children in either direction, given their ages, so I don’t think she should, either. The family dynamics are at play. I personally think 12 is an impressionable age and that this is influencing him in one direction. My husband doesn’t think it’s a big deal. I always feel like an outsider, like why am I even their mom or his wife. Things get decided for me. And I would never do that to my 12 year old nephew.

Thank you all. She’s certainly not the worst person, but I haven’t had the best marriage because of their family dynamics and his loyalty to them over me. My thought is trade school is always an option. But if you do not prepare for college, it may not be as feasible of an option (scholarships). I don’t want him NOT taking school seriously because he thinks he can easily go to trade school. Meanwhile, my SIL takes trips touring colleges with her kids…I would never do this to her kids, it’s not my place. I am sure she can guess education is important to me. And actually… this was a job ad that said free training, so not even a school per se.

Homeschooling or after schooling sounds like the right choice. Many catholic schools want parents to volunteer; some religious schools take church attendance. My Catholic friend decided to pull her child from Catholic school to homeschool.

I think when a child is blessed with two parents, the two parents guide/lead. The aunts and uncles listen. They don’t take the lead or the first steps on discussing career paths.

I’d understand better if his path were decided/set. But he’s 12. I told him right now he is to worry about the education he receives now and explore all options for his life. I feel she overstepped, but everyone will just brush it off. I was made to go on their MN family vacation three weeks post partum and bleeding. My husband was having a good time and I got upset—they said I had had post partum depression! They’re that way. It will never change. His mom is ill with cancer so I matter even less.

His family constantly tries to undermine my influence. My husband never takes my side. I live nextdoor to my MIL and FIL, go in their family vacation, see them all the time. I feel It’s a parent’s job to discuss these things.

Thank you. Yep. It’s pretty tricky. I love the spam idea. I find this whole thing pretty bizarre. We all have opinions on each other and our families, but to go directly to the kid is weird. I do think I’ll respond to the message if he hasn’t.

I’d really like to be able to tell her that. I feel like responding to the text myself. I just thought of that! My husband is pretty defensive of his family.

Yes… that might work. The sad thing is that I don’t mind him texting with friends and giving him a little privacy. I have read the texts so far and find him trustworthy. How sad it’s her I do not trust. It’s either manipulative or… they look down on us.

I do like that thought. If there were an emergency, I’d like that he had their numbers…. But I never anticipated it being used this way. I asked my husband how she’d feel if I did this to her children, but that didn’t go over too well.

He’s very close to her son, his cousin. And so they do…But I feel she is overstepping with influence. I’m sorry you’ve experienced the same!

I had that thought. It will greatly upset my husband. He thinks I hate his sister and am overreacting. His family does this. If it’s anything I like or want for my kids, they suggest the opposite for them. ETA my husband got him the phone, snd it’s on their farm business plan as he farms with them. We pay for it by reconciling, but I have no access to that account. I have my own on my own.

I’ve never understood thongs. I’ve tried them, but I find them uncomfortable

My son just got his own phone. He shared a text with me from my SIL. She texted him an ad for tradesmen to start at $42/hour. This greatly upset me! I told my son it was not her place to do this. Though my son has expressed interest in being a truck driver, and I know trades pay well, I am still interested in him exploring his options, including college. Now, my SIL just returned from Florida and has taken her daughter to 3 states to tour colleges. My husband got angry with me because I was upset by this. My SIL was in town this weekend. How is this her place? It’d be nice if my husband would agree with me on something. My son is 12 and in the 6th grade. I have never privately texted my nephews or niece about anything let alone major life decisions.

I'm confused. I have bonds that have matured but are not cashed in. So I have to do something with these? They've been locked away and out of sight...

Has anyone found tights without a center seam or one that does not show through the leotard? We just received a new custom leotard, which is lined. My daughter wears dance briefs, tights, and a leotard in that order. The seam showed with her last costume, but the color of the costume was darker, so it wasn't very apparent. Her new costume is a bright/rich coral, and the center seam from the tights is showing like crazy. Tights are required, so is there anything I can do about this? I tried searching for seamless tights, but I can't seem to find any. They need to be flesh tone (nude). Thanks if you have any leads on a good pair of tights without an obvious seam...lol

There isn't a perfect math, you are correct. We found that my next in line enjoys the Strayer-Upton series, and my daughter is doing well with Singapore Dimensions. With my son, we've just really struggled. I think he'd rather be doing other things, quite frankly, than math. And I have tried to find something tolerable for him. I've been teaching from the LMF books, but I know we need something more in depth for next year. I still haven't decided what we are doing, so I have bought nothing just yet in case he does go back to regular school. I just find our local school to be a bad place. They were very anti Covid protocols, and I truly believe parents send their kids sick there...joking about how everyone is getting Covid anyway. So yes, I do worry about the germs there, moreso than I worry about germs in a group of 5 kids once or twice a week...or a first-in-a-lifetime taekwondo tournament.

Our local k-8 school has crumbling bathrooms missing faucets; kids are instructed to pile costs on top of each other on the floor for an easy grab after lunch before recess. We were never sicker than the time they went to that school. Our extracurriculars DO exist, and we do get exposed to germs, but I feel we have more control and less exposure than we might from school. If you look at the Academy I was looking at, it seems they do not want your children being involved in anything at all—there’s an evening study block time. It appears to be very strict. Kinda reminds me of the Catholic version of shiny, happy, people when I read the rules. I did look at a tiny bit of the actual curriculum, it looked somewhat good, sadly. But being enrolled seems to come with strict guidelines… anyway, I have not found the perfect math. Right now he’s doing the Learn Math Fast books. We are in the midst of Volume III pre-algebra book. I don’t think it’s a full curriculum, but at least he’s doing something now. I feel like we’re not doing enough, but I also feel like it is impossible to do enough for every child. The academy looked like an affordable solution, but then I came across some criticisms.

Thank you! I think they use books in the public domain, but we’re definitely an extracurricular family, lol. I was at a taekwondo tournament and master dance class this weekend… lol

Well… I didn’t pass their questionnaire, so it’s probably not a good fit. I want something good, affordable, and that could free me up, but this must not be it.

Though we are not practicing Catholics, I wondered if we could still use classes from this online academy. It looks affordable and intriguing. My concern is that posts from 15+ years ago claim the headmaster admitted to a belief system such as not sparing the rod— WTM posts state he admitted to using a leather belt on his children daily. So I have ethical concerns, but I need something affordable and good. The classes are $125/each and use public domain materials from what I can tell.

We’re using her chemistry course now. It was recorded during the Covid lockdowns, and a few errors occurred with worksheets/lessons, but my children enjoy it. It’s not a year long course. There are activities and experiments, but they can also just be watched. Overall, I like it. I feel they are learning, and it frees me up for 45 minutes.

Thank you so much. She went through breast cancer several years ago, and now it's been almost three years of this. Since we live nextdoor, I feel like I am constantly living on borrowed time---waiting for a tragedy between her and my father-in-law since they are also aging. We definitely do more than we did during Covid, but sometimes I still think I live differently. I'm still trying to figure out next year.