[Does calculus count too much for admissions?]

My experience with public high school is that every class that isn't seen as a pre-req for something else gets watered down over time until it is a shadow of its former, possibly excellent, self. My kids have stopped taking classes that aren't AP or pre-reqs. So, an interesting general chemistry class that is seen as the final chemistry class students might take will be made easier and easier until it ceases to be interesting or useful. Hence the draw to the rigor of calculus that is taken by future engineers instead of financial math taken by humanities majors.

Goodness, my science/math CS/bio major kid is taking AP Lit next year because his other English classes have been such a disappointment. This is my kid who doesn't even like fiction. It was his choice. To quote him, "If I take AP Lit, I'll learn something. I don't think I'll learn anything in English 4; I haven't in English 3." This is at a top-5 in state public high school.

Emily

[What would you send to someone who is dying?]

Maybe Hello Fresh, because it is practical, takes some pressure off the whole family, and fills a need. 

I know families who have had Hello Fresh subscriptions during family crises and even used it as a way to help their older kids learn some cooking skills they had previously neglected to teach. 

Emily

[~~~~~~~~~~~ February 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~]

I finished taxes yesterday and submitted them last night. The money will go into house upkeep and car replacement funds, I think. Maybe some will go towards a few outside classes for the kids.

I got my second paycheck and am putting half directly into my IRA. I do need to be careful about the feeling of having extra money, so I am trying to budget my pay towards one-time purchases or special savings (new windows for the house? fixing up the siding?).  

I prepped four more freezer meals last week. I get home from work between 5:30 and 6:45, depending on the day, and dinner is a mess if I don't have it prepped. I can drop a freezer meal in the crock pot or instant pot before I leave for work and then just need to prep veggies, which I actually like doing, when I get home. DD13 has been making a salad of some sort most nights. I don't really feel like eating out, though, because I now calculate the cost in my hours worked! I didn't go back to work so that we could eat out; that isn't what I value!

Emily

[How to drink less alcohol?]

11 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I replaced my relaxation drink with hot milky decaff tea. I wanted something relaxing to mark the end of the day, but I discovered it didn't really matter whether it was alcohol or not.

This. I am signing up for a tea subscription to give me something special to replace a different bad habit with. But for me, that habit is about the ritual and relaxation (as well as about being an adult), but I see that the habit is not helpful. 

[AOPS Math]

WRT school transferring - they never transfer perfectly. Both my kids were tested when they went to high school and got placed based on tests, not lists of classes they had done. This required reviewing first, though, because they were basically given finals for every class, starting at Algebra, until they got less than 80%.

With this process, there are kids who are taking Algebra for the second time because they didn't learn it well enough in middle school. It makes a lot more sense than the process my school had when I was a student, that placed you based on transcript and not actual learning!

Emily

[So frustrated...]

On 2/9/2022 at 6:07 PM, BookMamaLade said:

He likes doing math and looking at/watching science stuff. He's not enthusiastic about handwriting, but that's not a high priority. It's really just the phonics. It doesn't come as easy for him as math does. That's probably the real issue - teaching him to stick with something that isn't so easy. 

I'll try changing the scenery/scaling back. 

With my oldest, we did a full year of math (play-based) before any reading. 

The last thing you want is to teach your kid to associate reading with misery. I totally agree with all those who said to wait. Be like the Finns; wait until he's seven. 🙂 

Another thing you could do if you want to keep going is choose a couple reading things, ie flashcards, Bob-style books, phonics book (my favorite is Bear Necessities), and then let the child choose one task to do every day. My daughter (turning 6 this weekend) only reads maybe 6 words a day, but she is making progress and starting to build the habit of turning letters into words. I don't work with her on reading for more than about 2-5 minutes per day. But she's my fifth, so I'm pretty confident. I don't know if I would have had the confidence to be so relaxed with kid #1, when I felt like I needed to prove I could homeschool.

Emily

[UPDATE 1st and Last: Calling Dr. Hive - kid put toilet paper in ear]

UPDATE: I think it is out. She says everything feels normal.

She took a long bath, put some shampoo around her ears (to loosen it), and put her ears under water for multiple long periods. After that, she seemed back to normal. 

Before bed, though, I also did ear wax drops and had her let it sit in her ear for ten minutes. Then she laid with the ear facing down for another ten. There was a bit of white foam, so many there were still some small particles that came out.

[UPDATE 1st and Last: Calling Dr. Hive - kid put toilet paper in ear]

1 minute ago, Katy said:

Have you tried wiping it with a q-tip?

Yes. No success. (I had her laying down and was holding her still.)

[UPDATE 1st and Last: Calling Dr. Hive - kid put toilet paper in ear]

Hi all,

DD5 came out of the bathroom very distraught. She put a small (about the size of oatmeal) piece of paper up her ear to "dry it out" and it got stuck up her ear. I can just barely see it, but can't get it out. It is definitely wet.

She seems distraught, but says it doesn't hurt, just feels weird. 

What should I do? (We just had the big talk about never putting anything up your eyes or ears.)

Emily

UPDATE: I think it is out. She says everything feels normal.

She took a long bath, put some shampoo around her ears (to loosen it), and put her ears under water for multiple long periods. After that, she seemed back to normal. 

Before bed, though, I also did ear wax drops and had her let it sit in her ear for ten minutes. Then she laid with the ear facing down for another ten. There was a bit of white foam, so many there were still some small particles that came out.

[Looking for Online Precalculus AND the text you use at home]

2 hours ago, Kendall said:

Do you think a student who has not done much AoPS (just prealg) would be okay in that? He has used Foerster texts for Alg 1 and 2. 

I wouldn't, unless your student recreates in math. DS17 did AoPS precalc, but I didn't have DD15 do it. I might have her take it later this year, but only after she has finished a regular precalc, to help her go deeper before calculus.

[Washington DC trip with teens]

Our best trip was when we had the kids research and plan where to go. They became passionate about the places they researched! One guide even overheard my daughter talking and gave us a free hour-long tour because it was so exciting for him to hear such an excited kid.

When we did that, I made a long list of things I thought might be interesting and told each kid to research a few and decide one that we should do.

My cousins loved the Spy Museum, though it is a bit pricey. We went to the Air and Space by Dulles to see the shuttle last summer, but decided to skip downtown DC until this or next summer.

[~~~~~~~~~~~ February 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~]

14 minutes ago, Soror said:

I would feel no qualms telling my kids to have popcorn instead of fruit if that is what we needed to do to make ends meet. But I'd feel like a cheap tight ass to do it just because I wanted to save a dime. That is the line to walk. I primarily shop at Aldi's- not just because they are generally cheaper but I vastly prefer shopping there over any other place. It is smaller, there are less people. But I get some things at Wal-Mart and Kroger's b/c things are limited at Aldi's. If I happen to be at Walmart and need milk or whatever I buy it there- before I wouldn't do that.

Absolutely. But when you see really low grocery budgets online (not necessarily here), it may reflect people who have really changed their diets to be cheap. I have friends who are absolute tightwads who spend next to nothing on groceries, neither of whom has or wants a full-time job, but I would never eat like they do unless things got really dire. I am glad to have me/DH work a bit more so that we can eat food that is more varied and so that I can enjoy cooking more. 

Emily

[~~~~~~~~~~~ February 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~]

I spend about $1200-$1400/month in a VHCOL area on groceries and household goods. I effectively feed six adults and one child.

My philosophy on groceries is that I will only spend minimal extra time to get the cheapest thing. So, if I'm stocking up on two weeks' worth of meat and canned goods at Aldi, I'll buy the Aldi produce even though it is more expensive than produce at the local market. Then, on the week I don't go to Aldi, I may buy some dairy or bread at the produce market even though it is more expensive than at Aldi.

People like Amy Dacyzyn make major changes to their diet that I'm not willing to make. I've made shifts: I never cook only meat as the main course, except on a birthday, and I usually double the beans in recipes. So, I make chili with 1 lb meat and 2 lbs pinto beans. Amy D. told her kids to stop eating fruit, it was too expensive, and eat popcorn. I tell my kids they can eat fruit and veggies whenever they want.

I found it really really stressful when I was trying to absolutely minimize our grocery budget. I started hating cooking and shopping, and I even began resenting my kids when they got seconds. 

Emily

[~~~~~~~~~~~ February 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Turned down the heat a few degrees. The bills have skyrocketed and I don't think the few degrees have made that much of a difference. 🙂

Looking to do some cleaning and redecorating in my bedroom. I am going to focus on cleaning and decluttering this week and see what sort of difference that makes. 

I almost finished my taxes but then found an error in the TurboTax software. After spending 30 minutes on the phone with help, they suggested I clear everything and start over (!!! - and who knows but the software won't do it again) or pay an extra $$$ to get higher level help. I may just pay a professional to do it. I got into an endless, undeletable, loop for foreign tax exclusion and even found a discussion about the problem online. Argh.

We're doing well on groceries.

Emily

[AP / DE Biology question]

DS took AP Chem as a sophomore without a prior chemistry class. He needed to show algebra competence. He got a 5 on the AP test. It is typical in his public school for top students to take AP classes starting their sophomore year without having taken the class before. There are multiple sessions of each AP science offered.

This is very different than 20+ years ago when I was in school. At my school then, there was only one period each of AP bio/chem/physics and priority was given to seniors. This was in a very well-educated affluent suburb with a top-100 public high school today. Times have changed!

Emily

[Help-- I have 3 days to get DH a birthday present]

Two weird presents my husband liked a lot - a SpaceX hat (they have all sorts of gear on their website and a Dr. Cheese T-shirt that commemorated a 1982 Cal football game when the band went out on the field before the game was over. 

[2022 summer plans for public high schoolers?]

I just talked with my two high schoolers about looking for jobs. We didn't plan around jobs last summer and went on vacation at the beginning of the summer. In retrospect, that made it so they couldn't find jobs. I told my oldest one (almost 17) that we won't be planning vacation until after he finds a job, or at least until after he makes an excellent attempt. 

Both will take a class or two this summer unless they have demanding enough jobs to make that impossible. Dd15 will take AOPS Python and something through the community college or her school. Ds17 might take a guitar class for fine arts credit for high school. The performing arts department is a shadow of its former self due to COVID and he isn't excited about having to take a fine arts class for a whole year.

Emily

[AOPS Calculus - how is it?]

1 hour ago, SeaConquest said:

Emily, did your DS take the AP Calc BC exam?

My DS has always taken AoPS math, but he is leaning towards taking SOHS for AP Calc BC (if they will let him in) because he feels like he prefers a live video-based class at this point. But, as with Blue Tent, he's concerned about the workload, since he's so used to the AoPS style of doing a few really hard problems each week. He's only 13 and does all of his math online with Latex. I have no idea how. 

No, not yet. He finished the class in August (took it from Jan-August, I think) and is taking the exam this spring. He's a really good studier and test taker, though, and will review with a Princeton Review book beforehand. 

He actually prefers the style of AOPS classes to live video classes.

[AOPS Calculus - how is it?]

So, my kid (ds16) really liked AOPS Calculus and was well-prepared for the Mulivariable Calculus class he's taking now. 

There were definitely problems my son didn't solve, especially because there were multiple free-response questions that could be turned in until the end of class. He's got pretty good time management skills and is a self-starter, but when he got really frustrated, he sometimes didn't finish those. Then, being a perfectionist, he got really overwhelmed and frustrated by the end of the class. Some questions he finished quickly, some he took multiple hours on. (We were on a road trip when the class was ending, and he'd sit in the middle seat, talking out his solution to me and DH as we drove up the east coast!)

That said, he's got an amazingly intuitive understanding of calculus and limits and derivatives. BTW, none of us love delta-epsilon proofs, and the first few weeks cover those. DS almost quit during those. OTOH, I first hit delta-epsilon proofs as a freshman at Caltech. It was a rigorous and rich class.

Just like other AOPS classes, Calculus gave something like ten problems a week. A normal class would give a lot more, but less deep, problems. I think the work is more because the problems require a more complete theoretical understanding and a student can take rabbit trails that end up being wrong. 

Still, while dd15 has mused about taking it next fall, I am encouraging her not to. She doesn't like working on long problems the way DS does. She got annoyed by her last AOPS class. She recreates in math because it will look good on her college app, but ds recreates in math because he loves the puzzle. She'll probably take normal Calculus BC, and that'll be fine. 

Emily

[~~~~~~~~~~~ February 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~]

I am hopeful that DS's braces are paid off. I still need to pester the insurance, but this month's bill was for our remaining $0.06! That was exciting.

I did a major grocery run and plan to put some meals in the freezer tonight. That way I can easily toss something in the Instant Pot before I go to work on busy days. 

Emily

[~~~~~ January 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~]

On 1/27/2022 at 2:07 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

I'm cheering you all on!

I'm spending a lot of time considering doing something, and then looking at the finances and saying, "Nope!" 😂  I feel a bit like Harry Potter, when he's explaining to Vernon Dursley that he will be up in his room, making no noise----I'm staying at home, spending no unnecessary money. It looks like we may be putting off our lawn sprinkler and HVAC projects for another year....trying to shake money free in the budget, and nothing is budging.  The money we had allocated to those things got spent when we had to replace our wooden trim on the house last year a few years ahead of the plan.

In the meantime, I'm getting my spring cleaning and maintenance items done or scheduled. I've been cleaning out cabinets and closets. I need to replace some caulking, and I need to watch some videos to figure out how to do some home plumbing projects.

I'm three weeks into my new job and this is how I feel - I just don't have the same amount of time to be out of the house and spend money as I did beforehand. I am still cooking like a full-time SAHM, though, so the grocery bill hasn't gone up. Actually, it has gone down because I am going to the store less and buying fewer extras. 

I just entered my YNAB purchases and I need to make it a priority to do it earlier. I do not carry a smart phone, though, so I do need to do so after-the-fact. Maybe I should enter things every Saturday morning, and teach DH to enter his purchases on his own. 

Emily

[Oh boy, I am crashing hard today.]

I felt that way last winter and don't feel that way this winter. One really important change for me was changing the people I was friends with. I no longer spend time with local stay-at-home-moms. We never clicked and it turns out that spending time with them was making me feel hopeless, like I'd never have good friends again.

Instead, I reached out to native Californians and people who studied math/science. I have three good friends now. One is a 70-something OB-Gyn, another is an analyst, and the third is a Californian who teaches college writing. Our kids don't play together and we spend time together on evenings or weekends. It was a paradigm shift to drop at my SAHM activities. But it made a huge difference.

That might not be at all helpful for you, but I hope the fact that last winter seemed hopeless and this one doesn't is encouraging.

Emily

[~~~~~ January 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~]

7 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Being stuck at home makes not spending money easy. But I am starting to see all the household projects that I feel need to be done. So, next week dh and I will be sealing up some drafts and weatherproofing the house a bit better. Budget for that is $50.

Next project is closet organization in the girls room because what was there when we moved in doesn't utilize the space well enough. We'll also be painting their room (as birthday present for both girls) getting a desk in there for dd11 so she has a dedicated place to draw. And if possible find a way to fit our youngest in that room. Budget for that $300 unless we pull up the carpet and laying hardwood then who knows haven't priced that out.

Next is reorganizing the boys room and I guess painting it if they want to. They have two small closets that has great hanging space but needs something better for personal items storage on the bottom. They also have under the bed space that is not utilized at all, which I think I want to make the Lego storage area. Budget $300.

Project after that is painting the homeschool room. It is an awful maroon color that make the room so dark even though it gets great natural light. Budget is $0 for that since we already have the paint from when we painted my parents house to sell it.

I think that will keep me occupied through the rest of winter. Because spring and summer are dedicated to exterior projects like the garden, painting the deck, and potentially converting pool to saltwater pool. We'll see.

Oh my goodness yes. We repainted the living room, have a new-to-us couch and set of easy chairs, a new-to-us table and eight chairs downstairs, and a new rug. There is danger in staying home and noticing. 

I don't think we can repaint the homeschool room until most of my kids move out. There is just too much really heavy and big furniture. And by then it'll need a new carpet. And the bathroom to be redone. Uhoh. 

Started week three at work today. This is the first January in years that I haven't felt like a total slug. I like what I'm doing, I feel like it is making a difference, and I am learning something. So far the afternoons are working out alright with the kids. 

[Venous Insufficiency / Compression Socks ?s]

6 hours ago, ***** said:

I was under the impression that by this number, you could only get them through a prescription and have always purchased through the doctor or other medical place. Maybe things have changed over the years? You should not be in pain. Try thigh high toeless for sure, but seems like your doctor should have recommended that. 

That used to be the case, but not anymore. I had to get my first pair with a prescription through a service, but now I buy them online. discountsurgical.com is my goto.

[~~~~~ January 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~]

I sold something on ebay earlier this month for next to nothing. I mailed it the next day and THE POST OFFICE DIDN'T SCAN IT! Argh. I've been emailing with the purchaser for a week and the post office scanned yesterday. It looks (to the buyer) like I was lying and dragging my feet, but I wasn't. I remember now why I stopped selling on ebay (USPS issues). Argh. DH says I should just refund the money and tell the lady to keep it because it isn't worth the headache, but I'm too annoyed to think straight.

I'm on day 10 of my job and they finally got me in the system. Our new systems seem to be working well, so far, and it feels really good to know there is a second paycheck coming in! I also like what I'm doing and feel busy and useful day-to-day. I got to sit in on a talk about early math education and research into the origins of math anxiety in young children as part of my job earlier this week. 🙂 The kids are doing well and being super creative in the afternoon. I wonder if I was over-scheduling them. I wouldn't be surprised; I'm a pretty intense person.

Emily