One year, I had everyone say what their favorite item was and we crossed everything else off the list. Maybe if there is overlap this could help? We all ate way too much of our favorites, but no one felt obligated to eat pearl onions or green bean casserole anymore. Also, have you looked into one of those turkey cookers? My dad found it made cooking the turkey so much easier and hands off, while freeing up the oven for other things. Stuffing is one of our favorite things. We have a batch in the oven and a batch in the crock pot every year!

I guess it depends on where OP is staying. It was always out of the way for me, but I never stayed near MIT. ETA: I always got off the MBTA near the Common and it always seemed a hike to get to the Science Museum since most of what we did was to the east, not the north. Emily

I was making sure someone mentioned Mike's Pastry! 🙂 The Museum of Science is nice, but sort of out-of-the-way. It has a great Eames-designed math display. We wanted to go to the MIT Museum last time we were in Boston (summer 2021), but it was closed for COVID. DH says it is great. A 15-year-old might love the glass flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, or not. You know your kid the best. When I took my kids the first time, they were little and found the flowers "boring" and got nightmares from the taxidermy. YMMV. The USS Constitution is neat, even though it is American. I think it is interesting just to think of naval technology of that time, and it doesn't feel very patriotic, just historical. Emily

Well, I've been wondering this, so thanks for the recommendation!

He applied early, so he'll know mid-December whether he needs to add another safety. And, yes, we won't let them know. 🙂

@Arcadia @Roadrunner It just seems like there must be some reason behind that which made sense to someone at some point... I know the CA legislature often puts requirements on the UCs without funding them. Any guess at a reason?

Thanks for reminding me about Duolingo! I was learning Hebrew with a tutor for quite a while but took a break when he raised his rates by 50% (and his slots are all still full a few weeks ahead!). Maybe I could use Duolingo now to keep up some of what I learned. Emily

My local Aldi has been out of chicken breast AND imposed a limit, but I've also seen it for $0.99/lb at Jewel and $1.29/lb at a nice regional chain in the past two weeks. Emily

We're visiting friends for Thanksgiving and are taking an official college tour on the way. We're touring a safety school for DS17 (CWRU); we've made the decision not to tour non-safeties until he's been accepted. He is actually pretty excited about this school as it has the best and most accessible birding of any school he's applying to, LOL. It also seems to fit his wish for being very studious, if you can believe Reddit. We'll all be there. DD16 is considering nursing in the future and CWRU has an amazing nursing program, so she'll be part of the tour, too. DH is a college professor and I work with undergrads, so DS has been immersed in college his whole life. It will be fun to see what he thinks. ETA: Two months ago, DH was totally skeptical of college tours because of the misinformation he hears from guides while walking around his campus. It turns out that he went to a presentation a month or so ago and completely changed his mind without telling me. Who knew? So, rather than dragging him along, he's coming happily and thinks it is useful! Emily

I wonder if it is a way to get fewer applicants. Another way would be to charge a higher fee to apply, but I would expect that the state legislature won't allow that.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

But that's different than needing to cancel appointments. My kids (go to a major, liberal high school district) just mask after close contact. Except when they swim in PE, when they are allowed to take the masks off, and in the cafeteria, when they are allowed to eat lunch with other kids (and now you know why I feel a little critical of masking requirements). ETA: My impression is that COVID vaccines were limited to a certain time after infection early on due to limited vaccines. Now you don't need to wait. Emily

We were gifted an elephant magnet that looks very much like that rhino. It is strong, sturdy, and good at keeping pictures on the fridge. 😃 I tried to find what we have, but found this Beaded Elephant Trophy-Style Head instead. ETA: I grew up going to a rustic cabin in the Sierras that had a bear-skin hanging on the wall from way-back when. One of the owners became vegetarian and wanted it out of there, so she replaced the bear-skin on the wall with a mounted teddy bear. I could see this serving a similar purpose!

Speaking of many things changing... My kids' high school just canceled their spring break trip to Spain because Spain is currently a Level 2 travel alert and the school's policy is to only go to Level 1 countries. Sigh.

The years I've gotten the flu, I've always gotten it late March/early April. I've had really bad cases where the doctor has chided me for not getting a shot, even when I did. So, I'm waiting until the end of this month to get the shot so that the immunity doesn't wear off as much by spring. On TWIV, they were saying the shot seemed to be about 50% effective in the southern hemisphere this year. It isn't great, but there isn't another option. Emily

I'm always cold, so I looked around for me... A giant hoodie (these were listed last year but they are still good!) Yes, I'm cold sweatshirt Hot water bottle with hand pockets Microwavable Slippers Heated Mouse Pad

I think with kids 5, 2, and baby you can't cook while they are awake with books on tape, but you can save all clean up until they are in bed and then do books on tape. I always listen to podcasts or Audible when I cook now that my kids are bigger. Right now it is 3+ hours per day, but it shouldn't be that in a few years. Kids can help more and you can find ways to become better at streamlining. I kept some journals early on and wrote about how hard meal prep and cooking was. I'm 19.5 years into marriage and nearly 18 into parenting, and it is SO EASY now. I'm very good at it. Ask me to cook for 14 at the list minute when I haven't been shopping in 10 days? Easy! It didn't seem like this would be the way, but I put my back into it, read books to get better, enlisted my kids and hubby to help as needed, and now excellent large family cooking is simple. Don't catastrophize; unless you WANT to cook for 3+ hours per day for the next twenty years, learn how to get faster, streamline, and enlist help. Emily

I like prepping freezer meals to use a few days per week. I also use The Dinner Daily, which sends me weekly meal plans and lists so that I have a lot less decision making to do. Between the two of these, enough of the load is taken off me that I enjoy when I do cook. DS10 makes dinner most Friday nights; he usually makes pizza or pancakes. Also, I don't cook all meals. DH preps oatmeal for the morning, but the kids eat cereal when he is traveling. By the time kids are 6, they make their own lunch. DD6 makes herself a tuna fish sandwich almost every single week day, though she switches it up with grilled cheese or a bagel every once in a while. For a while, my middle school and up kids were each making dinner once a week. I think a lot of parents don't realize how capable their kids are and get burnt out doing things the kids can do for themselves. Kids also delight in knowing they are capable, so giving them the opportunity to make their own food gives them a chance to see themselves as successful. ETA: With 5, 2, and 18 months, you need a plan like crock pot or freezer meals. I referred to dinner time as the "witching hour" when my kids were that age because they were hungry and cranky and needy. 30-minute meals are the WORST when kids are that old. Also, it'll get better soon. At 6, your oldest can start making her own lunch without you there if you start training her soon! 🙂 Emily

Only one of the four schools requested documents, if that makes you feel better.

Finally finished the CSS and uploaded IDOCs. Whew, that was rough. I tried doing it at the end of October and the website was super laggy. Yesterday, it was quick. Emily

I misread it the same way! Beeswax candles sound great. Emily

Please listen to the podcast even if you already know a lot about phonics and history of teaching reading. I commented upthread, but just recently started listening and it is SO WORTH IT. I am able to talk about the issue much more coherently now, and the personal stories are worth it. Emily

I think this is what we had growing up, and I hope what we have now. I never felt like the holidays were stressful for me or my parents. We all looked forward to the extended family around, and left when we were tired. Now, I think my kids and I feel the same way. My maternal grandmother lived alone and did not like a lot of hubbub. My paternal grandparents were the life of the party and had a huge extended friend network that my parents stayed friends with until that generation died off. So, we spent Christmas with the paternal grandparents, in our home town, with them and their large friend set and New Year's with the maternal grandmother. She lived in Pasadena, so we went to the Rose Parade every year after staying at her house. (There were many essays I wrote on the 6-hour drive home in the backseat of the car!) It was hard for me when I got married to not have the large family gatherings, but we did things with local friends. We didn't go visit my parents much at holidays because we knew holiday travel was the worst, but we spent time with them when it made sense. Now they live within driving distance, and the kids (as well as the parents) eagerly look forward to holidays and any other time we can make it to their house. We're visiting other friends for Thanksgiving and my parents said, "That sounds like a great trip!" I think they would say they love having us, but they have lots of friends and connections and are fine if we're not there. Emily

Re: stockings We have some old stockings that my grandmother made in the 1950s and they are about half the size of modern stockings. So, not only are people putting expensive stuff in stockings, the stockings are much larger.

DS17 got COVID in September and went running 6 miles on the day after testing positive. He had quite a runny nose and was a bit more tired than normal. He was glad to stay home from school a few days and write college essays. ETA: He tested because another XC team member had tested positive and the coach asked everyone to test. Emily