I'd send it to myself in the mail. Or, I'd check a bag. Or, I'd stick it in the carry on and hope for the best, but be willing and ready to cheerfully apologize and let them discard it. (And be prepared for a full body search including a pat down of the genital area, which is very likely to happen if you get busted with it. So, put it in whoever's carryon is ready to risk that.)

Well, we're both small business owners, supporting our families and building our future with our businesses. Sorry, folks, but asking a business owner to risk 10s of thousands of dollars in legal fees and/or lost business and/or management time cleaning up after some crazy social media vendetta . . . or even losing their license and/or their entire business . . . that's not fair to ask someone to simply bust a couple of lazy teens. If we were talking reporting a violent crime, sure, I'd risk my business . . . but, for truancy? Uh, nope. Folks who are urging you and/or your husband to PURSUE this issue don't get it. I'm pretty sure none of them have owned a small business that relies on community goodwill for survival. Being a small business owner can be great, but it can also be hell, and getting in the middle of this mess could easily be hell. Run the other way, IMHO. Also, FTR, we often have interns/students through our business, and we treat them like employees insofar as expecting professionalism and good behavior. We learned quickly to tell them this at the outset. We're also really picky about who we let "volunteer" or "intern", as it DOES cost us money every hour they are there, and we're willing to invest that in good kids with good intentions, but we're not willing to invest it in lazy, entitled people.

OMG, that's insane. First, I'd never let those kids come into my workplace EVER, not for a minute, if the email is legit and/ OR if they actually no-showed for scheduled shifts. Personally, I'd 1) respond the email with, "Is this a joke? Please call me to discuss." 2) if the kid calls and confirms the email, I'd tell him, "No. I won't be lying to anyone. Also, you are not welcome to work here, under and circumstances. I suggest you have a discussion with your parents and/or principal to figure out what you should do next. Good bye." That'd be the very last time I communicated with the kid(s). If a parent and or school person called, I'd simply confirm that the kid(s) hadn't shown up, and that they were no longer welcome at your work place. Unless asked about the email, I wouldn't mention it. (Not my circus, not my monkeys.) (I.e., if a parent/administrator/teacher asked me about things, I'd answer truthfully and not hide anything. Likewise with any paperwork. I'd imagine the kids might plan to forge paperwork . . . That said, they're not my kids or my students, so their misbehavior is not my responsibility, and I simply wouldn't seek out the opportunity to bust them. They deserve it, for sure, but, personally, I'm more concerned about my business's reputation than I am about the laziness of a couple of teenagers. I would NOT put it past the teens or THEIR PARENTS to trash your business all over social media or even sue you . . . People are CRAZY.) 3) if the kid calls and it was a false email, then I'd see what they said about why they hadn't turned up and what they were doing about it. Then I'd decide if I'd let them in my workplace. Unless they'd been hospitalized and/or an immediate family member had been hospitalized, I would never give them a chance in MY workplace, so I am guessing this conversation would end with, "I'm sorry you had such difficulties, but I am not willing to have you in my workplace given the circumstances. You'll need to make other arrangements. Good bye." ..... no good deed goes unpunished .....

My older dd began using it within a year of her first period, and, FWIW, she was/still is very innocent in these sorts of things.

My girl loves the Diva cup, FWIW.

I absolutely believe that you can't hold back DD2 to protect DD1's (natural) competitive feelings. In fact, I think that'd be wrong of you on multiple levels. If you move DD2 into a different curriculum (probably very reasonable to do so, IMHO), that'd certainly ease the comparative factors. Consider Art of Problem Solving for DD2. She'd likely be a grade level or two back from where she'd be in CLE or most other, easier than AoPS curricula, FWIW.

Also, Spectrum people sell a "Bridge Math" mini course that is designed to prepare kids for the chemistry math. I've never used the math product, as my kids were all in advanced math by the time they got to spectrum (plus, I love math, so i can teach as needed). Main thing is that any decent chemistry requires a lot of basic algebra to solve equations. Unit conversions are critical -- that's the one math skill I really emphasize in my high school chem and physics classes -- gotta NAIL that. If your kid can manually (using a $3 calculator, no fancy calculators) convert, say 56 lb/sq inch to kg / sq mm . . . then you're pretty much ready for the chemistry in math. If trying to do that would make his head explode, then you need to spend the time on Bridge Math (or similar) this summer before the chemistry course.

Thank you! Very helpful! They redid the nomenclature for the levels of RCM exams in 2016, so now it's just Level 7 Performance and Level 7 Theory, nice and simple, lol, so we don't have to remember which thing to sign up for anymore. (Thank goodness! I was always so confused!) She has always scored 80+ on everything, generally 90+ on the performance and either 80+ or 90+ for theory, IIRC, she always gets honors with distinction or some other fancy sounding thing. The last two years, level 6 and level 4 before that (her teacher had her skip level 5, as her repertoire was too advanced for the earlier levels, so it made sense to skip a level), she was the top score in our state on performance, but I'm not sure if she got that for theory, or maybe it was combined last year (when theory was required? which it was at some point?). I don't pay a whole lot of attention or understand any of this very well, which is rather terrible, I know, lol. I just know she does great, and we do whatever her teacher says to do, lol. She does enjoy the theory, and, honestly, she spends very little time on it so far -- I think she just absorbs it really easily, as she's been playing instruments since she was 20 months old (really, lol) and sort of lives and breathes music. Her piano teacher's husband is a recently retired composition professor, and he actually taught her composition for a year or so (having her play her pieces for his grad students!) a couple years ago, because she was so into composing at that time. Between her teacher and the composer-professor, she has gotten a lot of theory just in lessons, etc. And then, of course, she does the RCM workbook and her teacher checks them (sometimes with help from her husband if she runs out of time and he's available). She's a singer, too, so I don't think the sight singing will be a problem, but thanks for the heads up. She'd definitely need to do targeted prep for the AP exam, presumably with some prep book or text/etc. (She's also an old time fiddler, plays banjo, mandolin, and guitar, and whatever else she picks up at a jam, lol.) So far as what level level 7 is, here is a link for the details . . . http://www.rcmusic.ca/celebrate-theory/theory-syllabus-2016 It looks like the old Intermediate Rudiments was new level 6 (last year), and now Level 7 (next week) is new and stuck between the old Intermediate Rudiments and Advanced Rudiments. Level 8 (what she'll do starting next month) is equivalent to the old Advanced Rudiments. Level 9, 10, and ARCT each have several components: Harmony, History, Keyboard Harmony, and for ARCT there is a 4th component: Analysis. So, I guess next year, when she does Level 8 (probably in the fall, as I think she's going to do theory in the fall and performance in the spring from here on out), she'll be done with the "Rudiments" stuff and then moving on to the multi-faceted Level 9 theory stuff . . . There's no rush for her to do the AP exam (she's just finishing 8th grade), so if you and your daughter think the RCM materials will continue to prepare her for the AP exam up through all the levels of RCM, then she can just wait until 11th or 12th grade when she's done with most or all the RCM theory stuff she's going to do and has time to do targeted prep for the AP exam. Or, if the RCM stuff stops overlapping with AP materials at some point (level 8?), then she can do the AP exam in 9th or 10th grade . . . or whenever! LOL, I don't even know if there's a testing center in my region that offers this exam. I might have to do some major sweet talking with the local high school . . . Any more thoughts?? What do you think? Did your daughter take a class for the Music Theory AP or did she self-study? Did she go on to study music in college? THANK YOU!!!!

I'd have it pulled and get an implant in its place.

My college girl had 41 credits when she entered college. 11 CLEP Spanish credits and the rest were APs. Soon-to-be college boy will likely have around 45-49 IIRC, depending on his scores. 14 Spanish CLEP, and the remainder APs. Youngest kiddo, 8th grade, probably will get 4 for her 8th grade Env Sci AP exam and could likely already earn 8-14 Spanish in CLEP, but we'll wait for a while for that. I expect she'll end up with even more credits than her siblings because she's more focused on that sort of thing and also because I am more aware of more and more opportunities to earn college credits, plus, since she's my last homeschooler, I'll have more time to drive her to campus, etc, if she wants to take a couple DE courses. . . I won't graduate her early, but I might let her use DE very liberally by her last year. It's super cheap and could be a good jump start on college.

I'd highly recommend Spectrum Chemistry. I think it'd be just what you want.

My kid was taking an AP exam this morning (Env Sci), and she noticed that there is an AP Music Theory exam, and she suggested that since she already studies so much theory, maybe she could take this exam pretty easily at some point. So, here I am, the nonmusical mom, trying to figure that out. Please help! Does anyone have any idea how the Royal Conservatory of Music Theory tests compare to the AP Theory content? My kid is taking the RCM Theory Exam next week, level 7. She takes the RCM exams (performance and theory) each year, and always does well. She's loves her piano teacher and piano in general, so she's planning to keep at this RCM stuff through all the levels eventually. Level 8 next year (9th grade) and then maybe taking 18 months or so with levels 9 & 10 to be done by high school graduation. SO, anyway, that means that she'll be doing theory continuously through high school. I'm wondering how the RCM content compares to the AP content? Would it be advisable to do the AP exam the year she finishes level 8 or 9 or 10 or is the AP content way beyond all the RCM content? (Now THAT would blow me away, because the theory she already does in level 7 seems insanely complicated to me, lol.) Anyone have any idea?

Our general principle: one "need" and one "wish". Kiddo 1: She got a nice new computer of her choice (about $1000 or so) for college. My mom was still living, and she bought her a $1000 camera (kid's wish) as well, so we pretty much called it "done". Kiddo 2: He'll get a nice new computer for college, and also a $1000 budget towards another guitar (fun thing, not for school, guitarists collect guitars, lol), or if he chooses otherwise, some other "fun" thing. He's getting $1000 towards a computer from his college scholarship, which might end up totally paying for his computer, so that sort of evens out the kiddo 1 vs kiddo 2 spending . . . plus, Mom passed away just after Kiddo1 graduated, so ... anyway, whatever, that's what we're doing and all seem to feel great about it. We also throw a big party ($1000 or so all told) and bring in family/friends/etc. That's all we do for graduations. Kids seem to be happy, so we're happy. We foot all the bills for college, shopping for college, etc, so we don't feel any need or wish to spend a lot more on graduation stuff. Also, we don't expect/demand them to work for $$ during the summer after graduation, so we're footing summer bills, too, within reason. (We pretty much keep supporting them 100% while they are in college, so it's not like we're buying them a car for high school graduation and saying "see ya!". If that were the case, I'd feel like a much larger graduation gift was in order to help them on their way . . . but since they're staying on the family dole for a few more years, we're not buying extravagant gifts, lol)

NO NO NO for PAH with G.S. (only teacher). Have you considered Human Geography with PAH? I have signed my rising 9th grader up for it and am *very* excited about the teacher and materials. It'll be relatively light for an AP, but certainly a solid history/social studies course and covers a lot of very interesting ground. The teacher sounds really awesome and has been super sweet in pre-class correspondence. Reviews look good. I hadn't considered the course previously, as "geography" just wasn't on my radar, but it looks pretty awesome. (I really wanted to outsource history this year, as I've got my plate full enough with English and Biology this year . . . and did NOT want the World History at PAH due to prior experience . . . but wasn't ready for my 9th grader to take on Euro or APUSH, so I broadened my thinking, and now I'm really excited that I looked at something new.)

My guess is that the *best* time to take it is after Spanish 4 (or perhaps Galore Park's level 3). That's when you can generally hope/expect to get a score high enough for "Level 2", i.e., 4 semesters of college Spanish. (One year of high school Spanish is generally equivalent to one semester at college.) At the colleges I've looked at (U Alabama and WVU), various scores on the Spanish CLEP earn the student credit for either 2 semesters, 3, or a maximum of 4 semesters. So, if your kid has a strong Spanish background with at least 2 years of solid high school level Spanish, and is "done" and not going to continue studying in high school, then it's worth trying for a score to get 2 semesters of credit (or more if they are particularly adept). So, essentially, take the CLEP whenever you're done with Spanish so long as you've taken 2 or more years of high school level Spanish, IMHO.

Ahh, now THAT's great news. Yes, just call, get the payoff amount, and make it so. Like many debts, if you've got the cash in hand, then paying it off is awesome and nearly always a great idea. You are guaranteed a great return on your pay off . . . (no more interest accruing!). They'll walk you through it. I did it by phone. I did it about 20 months ago, and it's awesome to no longer have those loans.

If you owe more than you can reasonably pay off in 10-15 years, then you should definitely research IBR, PAYE, REPAYE, etc. These are helpful for folks with loans in the range of 2-4x or more of their annual salary. I have read a lot about these sorts of programs and it is VERY complicated figuring out which one is best for your situation and planning the strategy. How much do you owe? How much does your dh owe? What are your annual incomes? (Do you expect those incomes to increase or decrease by a lot in the next 10 years?) If you owe more than 2x your annual income (and your income isn't going up by a lot in the next few years), you should probably be on PAYE or REPAYE -- and essentially be assuming you'll eventually get a big loan forgiveness that will be TAXABLE, and so you have to plan for THAT tax (save monthly), as well. If you owe less than your annual income, then, just pay it off as quick as reasonably you can like any other debt. If you owe between 1 and 2 times your annual income, you need to do a lot of number crunching. Can you manage your current monthly payments? What's the interest rates? How many more years do you have left? It's VERY important to thoroughly understand your options and the requirements, documentation requirements, deadlines, etc. One small error or late paperwork can cost 10s of thousands of dollars or more. BE VERY WARY OF PRIVATE LENDERS/consolidations!! Obviously, you might not want to answer all these questions here in a public forum . . . but I'm just throwing out the questions that are pertinent to figuring out what the right approach is . . . It's VERY complicated!

Have you tried others? A family member tried prozac -- and within days it was clear it was NOT good. Switched to Zoloft, and it was helpful quickly, with none of the adverse effects of the Prozac. Point being, it is common to have to try multiple SSRIs to find the right one!

I *highly* recommend Galore Park's So You Really Want to Learn Spanish. Level 1, obviously. (Buy the student book, teacher book, and the audio CD.) It'd be easy to get done in a year, with a high school student, IMHO. (My kids did it much younger, and we did a level each year, NO problem, very modest time investment.) Worked great for my kiddos, through all the levels (3). Oldest two CLEP'ed out of Spanish in college. After years of Spanish, based on Galore Park's books, my 2nd kid went to the public high school this year for his senior year, and he jumped into Spanish 4 Honors and was easily the strongest student in the class, super easy As all year, and just scored high enough on his CLEP to get 14 credit hours (all 4 semesters) of Spanish at his intended university. So, clearly, it was a solid preparation. You can supplement with italki one-on-one tutoring/conversation if you like. Not necessary, but easy enough. Duolingo is another great, FREE, resource, and definitely is a super supplement, IMHO. Personally, based on my experience, I'd guess that Level 1 is easily equivalent to Spanish 1 in high school. All 3 levels might get you through Spanish 4 (based on what I saw with my kid being clearly over-prepared for Spanish 4 in high school -- if he's worked at it more than 2 hours a week all year, I'd be SHOCKED, lol ), but I wouldn't assume that. (We did do supplemental conversation with native speakers here and there over many years, so GP wasn't 100% of my kids' Spanish studies.) I would safely assume that each level of SYRWTLS is a solid year of high school Spanish, though. Now, if anyone has a suggestion for what to do NEXT for my rising 9th grader who finishes Level 3 this year, please advise. LOL, I'm trying to avoid going to college classes at our local uni just yet. ETA: I know no Spanish, so our experience was based on being able to use the GP materials to check work, etc. Occasionally, an older kid would check and/or assist a younger kid with more advanced exercises, but that wasn't frequent or necessary, especially with Spanish 1, and especially if you have any knowledge of the language yourself. We have one Spanish speaking friend and we paid tutors over the years, and if you can get access to a native speaker on some regular basis, that'd be great, but not really required to use GP, IME.

I agree CLEP aren't "easy". :) Just easier than the AP exams, in general, IME, and certainly easier to schedule since you can retake them every 3 months and can schedule at your convenience vs. once-a-year AP testing and having to schedule through a local school. :) I have multiple degrees in biology, and I teach a *very* solid honors level high school bio to my kids (all 35 chapters of Miller & Levine, plus extras, lab, etc, and I'm competent to teach any missed items when we do targeted CLEP prep . . .). I doubt a typical high school level bio course would prepare for the CLEP . . . (most cover maybe half the text, if that, and don't do it nearly as thoroughly as I do), but the way *I* teach it, it's close to AP level, and I'm pretty comfortable my students could do well on the CLEP and certainly on the subject test. I should have been more clear . . . I don't want to mislead folks into thinking a typical high school bio (or other subject) course could properly prepare for the CLEP (or even the subject test! Half the book! For reals!? What the heck?) . . . but the way I do it, I think we'd be in good shape.

FWIW, if there's any chance she'd "use" her AP/CLEP credits towards meeting requirements for med schools later, then I'd suggest doing the AP exams. Some med schools accept AP credits (say, for English) to count towards their own admission requirements, but I've never read of them accepting CLEP Credits. Personally, I use CLEP with my kids for Spanish, but haven't yet used it for other classes. We've used AP a lot, though. For my youngest, I plan to have her take CLEP whenever she might score well enough to get credit . . . AP whenever she's taken a class that could prepare her well enough to score high on the exam . . . and SAT Subject tests whenever she's ready for those, too. Each serves a unique purpose, some overlap . . . but for various purposes, one is stronger than another. I.e., I'll have her CLEP out of Spanish once she's ready. After biology this coming year, I'll have her take the BIO Subject test AND the BIO CLEP. I won't have her take the AP exam, as I don't use a college level text (but I am betting it'll be good enough for the CLEP, which is easier than AP) . . . Subject tests don't get kids credit, but they do help with admissions to very selective schools and/or competitive scholarships . . . Also, CLEP is meaningless to elite schools, but (strong) AP scores are very helpful, might get placement credit and/or help with admissions/scholarships . . . Subject tests don't get credit anywhere, but do help with admission/competitive scholarships . . . SO, since my goal is to keep options open as long as possible, we'll do all applicable testing . . . (I regretted not doing a bio CLEP and the subject test after I taught it to my two older kids. I know they'd have done well on the testing, and it would have been helpful in several ways . . . Could have probably CLEP'ed out a a full year of bio -- knocking out a year's science requirement for my comp. sci kid -- and the subject test would have also benefited her for admission to one school that we had to take off her list when we found out they required a science subject test for homeschooled students . . . But I didn't realize those things until years too late . . . I know better now with kid#3, so we'll CLEP and Subject test after this year's biology.)

8-10/hr seems good to me, assuming that's at or above your area's minimum wage. I'd add $10/day (so 2/hr?) to cover her gas/wear and tear on her car -- assuming it's less than 30 min total driving time -- if she is driving the children places. (If she's driving more than a half hour total, I'd up that rate by about 20/hr to compensate for the added miles/gas/stress). If you go with a daily wage, be sure it's clear that the wage is for up to X number of hours. So, for instance, $50/day for up to 5 hours and up to 20 miles / 30 min driving, and $10/hr for any additional time. And clarify that wages are paid at least weekly on a specific day. This way, if the parents start adding hours onto the day ("Can you stay until 3 on Friday . . . I have a DR appointment . . . etc) , there's a mechanism in place to easily charge for added hours. If you live in a super high COL area, I could see charging more, but, honestly, 10/hr is pretty great for a babysitting gig, IMHO.

Let me get this straight . . . Your kid has been in horrible, terrible, life altering pain. Her health has been in severe jeopardy for a long time now. . . She's (understandably) been on God-knows-which narcotics, many of which are prone to abuse and/or addiction. Her doctor recommends cannabis oil. You hesitate? Please, DO IT! For goodness sake, of course you should try it. Whichever formulations he prescribes and/or you can get your hands on at a dispensary, try them. I doubt it matters all that much which formulation, and, in your shoes, I'd just try one, then another, then another, until I found which one(s) worked best for my kid. Cannabis is a very safe and very long used plant. It's a ZILLION times safer than narcotics and the vast majority of even OTC medications, let alone narcotics. It's very safe. It's not addictive. You can't overdose. What's not to love? (Take too many tylenol, and say good bye to your liver . . . Use too much cannabis, and, um, you might fall asleep or eat too many cheetos.) (Caveat: presumably, with edibles and extracts, it'd be easier to over do it vs using it in its traditional state by smoking cannabis. I certainly wouldn't advise eating 100 cannabis cookies, etc. ) I'm so frustrated that our nation's deranged drug policies have caused you (and presumably many other loving, wise people) to hesitate from using this potent and very safe medicinal plant that could well be life-changing for your kid. It's not YOUR fault, it's our crazy drug-company/government/drug-cartel crazy system that has warped our views of this plant.

I'm so very sorry for your suffering. It is natural and normal that you are devastated and suffering after losing your husband less than a year ago. The first entire year after losing each of my parents were blurs. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to lose my husband, let alone so young and with children at home still needing your parenting. Of course you are having a very hard time!! Personally, if I had a magic wand . . . I'd suggest . . . + stuffing that fitbit far far away, along with the rest of your monitoring equipment (unless your doctor has advised you to monitor something specifically). + adding at least 200 calories a day to your diet, since you count, and since you've lost a couple pounds in a couple months while on your current diet. Make sure as many calories as possible are healthy fats (Omega 3s, avocado, fish, nuts, coconut oil, etc), healthy proteins, along with lots of nutritious vegetables. If you can stand something like green juicing, I'd try to add a glass of green juice (kale or spinach or other nutrient dense greens plus some yummy stuff like apple and banana) each day for the nutrient boost. Your body needs high quality nutrition to heal all the ugly things that happen from stress, so I'd want to bump up your nutrient quality for at least a year, to help you heal and recover. + try to get outside in the fresh air and sunshine for at least an hour or two each day, ideally walking, running, paddling, or biking. I personally find that "moving on the earth" by my own energy output, hearing the outside wind and water and leaves rustling, is the most effective anti-depressant and anti-anxiety treatment I've tried, even compared to medications. + be kind to yourself. Do things you enjoy. Say no to things that drain your energy or make you miserable. Accept offers of help. Ask for help. + See a therapist if you want to. If you can't take active responsibility for working towards feeling better, then this is critical. If you are able to take active steps (exercise, talking to friends, nutrition, etc), then you may not *need* professional help, but if you feel you are drowning and don't see ways to feel better, then it is past time to go ahead and get help. (((hugs))))

You express your complicated emotions so eloquently and clearly in post 9. I think if you could just put that into a letter into your parents, they'd likely be able to understand. What you wrote is sad and beautiful and strong. Save it somewhere. (((hugs)))