Epson Workforce. Love them.

Another option is Thinkwell. It's video based, but the videos are fairly brief. It's solid and very do-able. You should be able to try it out for some period of time before committing. I'd suggest doing a trial of the PreCalculus, and if you like it alright, then just do that. I don't know if your earlier classes covered trig, but if they didn't, then that's what I'd make sure you cover this year, for sure. For Life of Fred, you could just do trigonometry (it's a fairly short book, about a semester should cover it), and then call it a day. Either way, so long as you really mastered that Algebra and Geometry (and have trig under your belt), you should be "good to go" for a non math/science college curriculum.

One thing to try is to focus some SERIOUS work on learning proficiency with that calculator. He should be using the TI Graphing one. If he's not, fix that NOW. My 17 year old has decided to take his senior year at the local high school (GASP! First time not homeschooling for our family!) and the summer assignment for AB Calculus had about 10 hours of videos on using the graphing calculator. DS has had that calculator for several years and been using it exclusively for PSAT (NM expected!), SAT, APs, etc, and he apparently knew diddly squat about how to use it effectively (despite my urging to learn it and to use the Dummies book I bought, etc.) While he was using these videos, he kept coming to me and saying "LOOK AT THIS!!" My eldest who has completed lots of college math courses (and lots of Calculus, etc, etc) and was also a NM Scholar -- never learned this stuff. I will make sure my youngest does this series of videos well before she takes PSAT, etc. Here is the relevant portion of the summer assignment. (DS said there were really 28 videos and he did them all, FWIW.) Graphing Calculator Proficiency o Go to https://online.math.uh.edu/GraphCalc/index.html. Watch each video for Topics #1-22, and practice completing them on a graphing calculator.  WHAT WILL I TURN IN FOR A GRADE IN AUGUST?  Title your paper “Graphing Calculator Proficiency.†For each topic (Topics #1-22), list the topic itself and then provide the instructions (in your own words—plagiarism will result in a grade of a zero for the assignment) of how you would complete each operation on your graphing calculator. Be very clear—you will be graded based upon how well the teacher can follow your calculator steps to perform each of the topics reviewed. https://online.math.uh.edu/GraphCalc/index.html

If your child is a strong math student and ready for AoPS Pre-A, then I'd go ahead with Pre-A, and I'd plan to take 2 years to complete it. (It's a big book!) If your child is not super strong yet with the SM material and/or is really young and you want to wait for Pre-A, you can go ahead and do SM 6. You can always let the child go super fast if appropriate. Another thing I think is super cool to do before (or along side) Pre-A is Patty Paper Geometry. My youngest daughter was very precocious with math, and loved it, but I wasn't inclined for her to move into AoPS Algebra before age 11 or so, and one of the things we did to constructively learn math w/o accelerating further was to do Patty Paper Geometry sometime around when she was doing AoPS Pre-A. If you're happy to have multiple math things going on at the same time, then I personally advise doing PP Geometry along side either SM6 or AoPS Pre-A. PP Geo is very educational, provides a solid understanding of many geometry concepts, and is also very fun and low key and hands-on. You can do PP Geo one or two days a week for 20-30 min and do the other math on the other days, if desired. Worked great for my youngest.

I haven't used this level yet. I trust they will be excellent as have been all the MCT books I've used. I think both MCT vocab and the poetry books can stand alone, even though I think that is a tragic loss skipping the grammar and writing. :) Since I haven't used these books yet (but I'm familiar enough with MCT not to feel the need to spend a lot of time pre-reading), I can't guarantee that the poetry and vocab will stand alone nicely, but all the other levels of MCT I've used would certainly work that way, so I see no reason not to expect this level to do so as well.

Done. :) I hope these are helpful.

25 Week Town Schedule/Plan (by StephanieZ) Note: Before beginning a book, be sure to look over the Teacher section at the back to note that there are exercises, activities, etc there that might be useful to you. They could be mixed in throughout the corresponding chapters/weeks or done later. It might also be useful to re-read the Teacher Sections a few weeks into the program when you might be more able to glean more insights. Week No. // #Grammar Town // CE1 // Paragraph Town // #Building Poems *1 // pretest (p.114) + GT p. 30 (first half ch1) *2 // GT through p. 62 (end of ch1) *3 // GT through p. 78 (end of ch2) *4 // GT through p. 87 (end of ch3) *5 // GT through p. 110 (end of ch4) + posttest (p.116) 6 // PT s.5 // CE1 ch1 // **PT 1 // BP pretest (pp. 142-143) + ch1 7 // PT s.10 // CE1 ch2 // PT 2 // BP ch2a 8 // PT s.15 // CE1 ch3 // PT 3 // BP ch2b 9 // PT s.20 // CE1 ch4 // PT 4 // BP Sound TTTA & TTD (pp. 140-141) 10 // PT s.25 // CE1 ch5 // PT 5 // BP 3a 11 // PT s.30 // CE1 ch6 // PT 6 // BP 3b 12 // PT s.35 // CE1 ch7 // PT 7 // BP Meter TTTA & TTD (pp. 140-141) 13 // PT s.40 // CE1 ch8 // PT 8 // BP 4a 14 // PT s.45 // CE1 ch9 // PT 9 // BP 4b 15 // PT s.50 // CE1 ch10 // PT 10 // BP Stanza TTTA & TTD (pp. 140-141) 16 // PT s.55 // CE1 ch11 // PT 11 // BP 5a 17 // PT s.60 // CE1 ch12 // PT 12 // BP 5b 18 // PT s.65 // CE1 ch13 // PT 13 // BP Figures of Speech TTTA & TTD (pp. 140-141) 19 // PT s.70 // CE1 ch14 // PT 14 // BP 6a 20 // PT s.75 // CE1 ch15 // PT 15 // BP 6b 21 // PT s.80 // CE1 ch16 // PT 16 // BP 7a 22 // PT s.85 // CE1 ch17 // PT 17 // BP 7b 23 // PT s.90 // CE1 ch18 // PT 18 // BP Practice Poems (pp. 152-160) 24 // PT s.95 // CE1 ch19 // PT 19 // BP Content Review (pp. 122-125) 25 // PT s.100 // CE1 ch20 // PT 20 // BP Post Test (pp 146-147) * The five weeks for Grammar Town should be easy for students who have had an earlier level of MCTLA (and could be condensed to 4 weeks if desired) and sufficient for students who have a strong background in grammar. Other students might benefit from taking 6 to 8 weeks to go through GT. Remember that mastery of GT content is not needed during the trip through GT. Mastery will come later through the constant reinforcement in Essay Voyage and Practice Voyage. ** Don’t just start reading Paragraph Town to the kids (like you did for Grammar Town) until you have previewed the Teacher Section in PT! The 20 PT Lessons are outlined in the Teacher Section and the first ten lessons include the reading of the PT text; the second ten lessons are ‘extended practice’ and also include planned review of the PT text. # Six of the seven Poetry chapters are each divided over two weeks. Divide them among the days/weeks as makes sense to you. *** Ideally, poetry study would also include 20-30 minutes each week reading poems from nice books. Ideally, the child would be involved in choosing the poetry books and would take turns reading aloud. Ideally, read for 5 to 10 minutes several times a week. . . and then, at least once a week take time to look for poetic devices. Don't analyze every poem unless it is child-led (so that reading poetry can be enjoyed for its own sake sometimes and not always be an ‘exercise’. Poetry memorization could also be included if appealing.

Island Schedule/Plan (by StephanieZ) The page #s are for the last page of the week. Note: Be sure to look over the Teacher section at the back of GI and the other books to note that there are exercises, etc there that might be useful to you if your child needs some reinforcement on various topics. They could be mixed in throughout the corresponding chapters/weeks or done later. As you can see, I spread out the practice sentences longer than the rest of the program. That is because I am doing it with a 2nd grader and I do not want her to go into Town this school year. . . so there will be a 4-6 month gap between finishing Island and starting Town and I would prefer to have some Practice Sentences to do during that time to keep her skills up. You could obviously do 5 sentences a week instead of 4 and thus get done all about the same time. Week # // Grammar // Vocab // Writing // Poetry 1 // GI p.43 2 // GI p.90 3 // GI p.114 4 // GI p.123 5 // GI end // BL to p.27 6 // PI s.4 // BL to p. 40 // SI l.1 // MoH to p.37 7 // PI s.8 // BL l.1 // SI l.2 // MoH pg.163 8 // PI s.12 // BL --- // SI l.3 // MoH to p.63 9 // PI s.16 // BL l.2 // SI l.4 // MoH pg.165 10 // PI s.20 // BL --- // SI l.5 // MoH to p.79 11 // PI s.24 // BL l.3 // SI l.6 // MoH pg. 167 12 // PI s.28 // BL --- // SI l.7 // MoH to p.116 13 // PI s.32 // BL l.4 // SI l.8 // MoH pg. 171 14 // PI s.36 // BL --- // SI l.9 // MoH to p. 138 15 // PI s. 40 // BL l.5 // SI l.10 // MoH pg. 173 16 // PI s. 44 // BL --- // SI l.11 // MoH to p. 144 17 // PI s.48 // BL l.6 // SI l.12 // MoH pg. 174 18 // PI s. 52 // BL --- // SI l.13 // MoH pg. 176 19 // PI s. 56 // BL l.7 // SI l.14 // *** See note 20 // PI s.60 // BL --- // SI l.15 21 // PI s.64 // BL l.8 // SI l.16 22 // PI s.68 // BL --- // SI l.17 23 // PI s.72 // BL l.9 // SI l.18 24 // PI s.76 // BL --- // SI l.19 25 // PI s.80 // BL l.10 // SI l.20 26 // PI s.84 // BL --- // ### 27 // PI s.88 28 // PI s.92 29 // PI s.96 30 // PI s. 100 *** Poetry for weeks 19 - onwards would include 20-30 minutes each week reading poems from nice books. Ideally, the child would be involved in choosing the poetry books and would take turns reading aloud if able. Ideally, read for 5 to 10 minutes several times a week. . . and then, at least once a week take time to look for poetic devices. Don't do this with every poem unless it is child led (so that reading poetry can be enjoyed for its own sake sometimes and not always be an "exercise". Poetry memorization could also be included if appealing. ### When SI is complete, I would just be sure to include some writing experience in each of the the remaining weeks of the school year by assigning SI-inspired writing each week as I am inspired by other subjects, etc.

26 Week Voyage Schedule/Plan (by StephanieZ) Note: Before beginning a book, be sure to look over the Teacher section at the back to note that there are exercises, activities, etc there that might be useful to you. They could be mixed in throughout the corresponding chapters/weeks or done later. It might also be useful to re-read the Teacher Sections a few weeks into the program when you might be more able to glean more insights. Week No. // #Grammar Voyage // CE2 // Essay Voyage // World of Poetry *1 // pretest + GV p. 33 (first half ch1) *2 // GV through p. 69 (end of ch1) *3 // GV through p. 87 (end of ch2) *4 // GV through p. 97 (end of ch3) *5 // GV through p. 112 (end of ch4) *6 // Analyze (together) the 13 sentences at end of TM + posttest 7 // PV s.5 // CE2 ch1 // EV 1a // WOP pretest (pp. 167-168) + ch1 8 // PI s.10 // CE2 ch2 // EV 1b // WOP ch2a 9 // PI s.15 // CE2 ch3 // EV 2a // WOP ch2b 10 // PI s.20 // CE2 ch4 // EV 2b // WOP Sound TTTA & TTD (pp. 165 & 166) 11 // PI s.25 // CE2 ch5 // EV 3a // WOP 3a 12 // PI s.30 // CE2 ch6 // EV 3b // WOP 3b 13 // PI s.35 // CE2 ch7 // EV 4a // WOP Meter TTTA & TTD (pp. 165 & 166) 14 // PI s.40 // CE2 ch8 // EV 4b // WOP 4a 15 // PI s.45 // CE2 ch9 // EV 5a // WOP 4b 16 // PI s.50 // CE2 ch10 // EV 5b // WOP Stanza TTTA & TTD (pp. 165 & 166) 17 // PI s.55 // CE2 ch11 // EV 6a // WOP 5a 18 // PI s.60 // CE2 ch12 // EV 6b // WOP 5b 19 // PI s.65 // CE2 ch13 // EV 7a // WOP Figures of Speech TTTA & TTD (pp. 165 & 166) 20 // PI s.70 // CE2 ch14 // EV 7b // WOP 6a 21 // PI s.75 // CE2 ch15 // EV 8a // WOP 6b 22 // PI s.80 // CE2 ch16 // EV 8b // WOP 7a 23 // PI s.85 // CE2 ch17 // EV 9a // WOP 7b 24 // PI s.90 // CE2 ch18 // EV 9b // WOP Practice Poems (pp. 175-184) 25 // PI s.95 // CE2 ch19 // EV 10a // WOP Content Review (pp. 249-256) 26 // PI s.100 // CE2 ch20 // EV 10b // WOP Post Test (pp 171-172) * The six weeks for Grammar Voyage should be easy for students who have had an earlier level of MCTLA (and could be condensed to 4 weeks if desired) and sufficient for students who have a strong background in grammar. Other students might benefit from taking 8 weeks to go through GV. Remember that mastery of GV content is not needed during the trip through GV. Mastery will come later through the constant reinforcement in Essay Voyage and Practice Voyage. # The 7 Poetry chapters and 10 Essay lessons are each divided over two weeks. Divide them among the days/weeks as makes sense to you. You could also alternate weeks (i.e., Poetry on A weeks and Essay on B weeks) if that makes more sense to you. *** Ideally, poetry study would also include 20-30 minutes each week reading poems from nice books. Ideally, the child would be involved in choosing the poetry books and would take turns reading aloud. Ideally, read for 5 to 10 minutes several times a week. . . and then, at least once a week take time to look for poetic devices. Don't analyze every poem unless it is child-led (so that reading poetry can be enjoyed for its own sake sometimes and not always be an "exercise". Poetry memorization could also be included if appealing.

I believe that these rights are being established at this very moment nationally . .. still very much in flux. I'd say, contact your local/national LGBQT rights organizations and ask for help. I've heard of schools being very helpful/cooperative, but obviously, that's gonna' depend on the individual you have in the office until/unless these rights are firmly established in case law . . . So, if you're running into trouble, then I'd definitely google up your various advocacy organizations and seek help there. Hopefully, there'll be a nice lawyer who will take the case pro-bono and make a few "friendly" inquiries with the school to help meet your needs. (((hugs)))

Huh WHAT? Where are earth are you? I've never had a car burglarized. Ever! In my life! And I've lived lots of places! I guess we've always had houses that were in pretty safe/nice areas, and we don't have show-y cars, but, gosh, really, that's AWFUL!! What did they take? Is it something you can hide or remove? Do you leave bank envelopes on your seat?? (Just kidding!)

Yup, go through the solutions after each problem, just as they are presented in the text.

Hi y'all! I'm a long time MCT lover who took the last couple years away from it waiting for my rising 8th grader to be ready for the upper levels, because there is such a big leap between level 3 and the OLD level 4. The other day I saw on another thread that MCT had a new level 4 stuck right where it should be, between levels! Woot!! Anyway, I bought it right away and now have it scheduled for the year. Yippee!! I've shared my other MCT schedules previously and thought I'd post this one here, too, for posterity. Feel free to use/change/adapt or ignore. :) I haven't used it yet, obviously, but I've modeled it after the schedules I've used successfully with the other MCT levels. Note that I scheduled the Literature trilogy as well, separately, following the main MCT program schedule. I happen to own that already (MCT groupie, yes, I admit it), so I'm going ahead and doing it this year since it goes with it and dd hasn't done it yet. So excited to be doing MCT again! Oh, and, FWIW, for anyone who hasn't used MCT or waffles about whether to try it . . . ALL my kids agree that MCT is "the bomb" for English. Both my eldest scored top marks in PSAT/SAT tests and even the AP English tests. My 11th grader got a 4 on AP Language last year after pretty much totally ignoring his PA Homeschoolers class all year (another story, lol). He saw me with the MCT stuff today and that prompted an unsolicited RAVE from him about how much he learned from MCT. My eldest has repeatedly told me how her MCT grammar mad-skilz have made her (by far) the strongest grammarian/editor she knows at college and through her two AP English courses (and she TA'ed for a year, too). Anyway, I love MCT, and I wanted to share this if it's helpful to anyone. Happy MCT'ing! 33 Week MCT Level 4 (Literature) Schedule Week No. // #Grammar of Literature; then 4 Practice // Vocabulary of Literature // Writing of Literature // Poetry of Literature Weeks 1-5: Only Grammar of Literature 1 // GoL p. 14 (first half ch1) 2 // GoL through p. 20 (end of ch1) 3 // GoL through p. 38 (end of ch2) 4 // GoL through p. 58 (end of ch3) 5 // GoL through p. 77 (end of ch4) Weeks 6 - 23: All 4 Texts (4 Practice instead of Grammar of Literature) 6 // 4P s.4 // VoL ch1 through Parts of Speech// WoL p10 // PoL p16 7 // 4P s.8 // VoL ch1 through Quiz // PoL p26 // 8 // 4P s.12 // VoL ch2 through Parts of Speech // WoL p31 // PoL p46 9 // 4P s.16 // VoL ch2 through Quiz // WoL p38 // PoL p64 10 // 4P s.20 // VoL ch3 through Parts of Speech // EWoL p46 // PoL p72 11 // 4P s.24 // VoL ch3 through Quiz // WoL p57 // WOP 3b 12 // 4P s.28 // VoL ch4 through Parts of Speech // WoL p67 // PoL p86 13 // 4P s.32 // VoL ch4 through Quiz // WoL p67 // PoL p92 14 // 4P s.36 // VoL ch5 through Parts of Speech // WoL p69 // PoL p94 15 // 4P s.40 // VoL ch5 through Quiz // WoL p74 // WoL p95 16 // 4P s.44 // VoL Review & Review Quiz 1-5 // WoL p82 // PoL p96 17 // 4P s.48 // VoL ch6 through Parts of Speech // WoL p93 // PoL p97 18 // 4P s.52 // VoL ch6 through Quiz // WoL p103 // PoL p98 19 // 4P s.56 // VoL ch7 through Parts of Speech // WoL p106 // PoL p99 20 // 4P s.60 // VoL ch7 through Quiz // WoL p119 // PoL p100 21 // 4P s.64 // VoL ch8 through Parts of Speech // WoL p121 // PoL p101 22 // 4P s.68 // VoL ch8 through Quiz // WoL p123 // PoL p102 23 // 4P s.72 // VoL ch9 through Parts of Speech // WoL p127 // PoL p103 Weeks 24 - 27: Done with Poetry, so no more PoL 24 // 4P s.76 // VoL ch9 through Quiz // WoL p137 // — 25 // 4P s.80 // VoL ch10 through Parts of Speech // WoL p141 // — 26 // 4P s.84 // VoL ch10 through Quiz // WoL p145 // — 27 // 4P s.88 // VoL Review & Review Quiz 1-10 // WoL p 151 // — Weeks 28 - 30: Also done with Vocabulary, so no more VoL; only 4P & WoL 28 4P s.92 // — // WoL p 169 // — 29 4P s.96 // — // WoL p 179 // — 30 4P s.8100 // — // WoL p184 // — Weeks 31-33: Also done with 4Practice, so no more 4P; only WoL 31 — // WoL p185 32 — // WoL p189 33 — // WoL p190 ++++++++++ 23 Week Time Trilogy Literature Plan Background Study: 4-6PP descriptive essay (or power point oral presentation) about the author:: who, when, where, political situation/influence? war(s)? most important works? 4-6PP descriptive essay (or power point oral presentation) about the text: who wrote, when, what is the setting (where, when, politics, etc), why is it important? why do we still read it? was it important and/or popular at the time it was published? While Reading: Quote Quiz each week Book discussion/talk each week When Complete: Essay Test — 1 week prepare; 1 week take test MLA paper 1 // Essay/Presentation on background of HG Wells 2 // Essay/Presentation on background of Time Machine 3 // Time Machine Ch 1-6 & QQ 4 // Time Machine Ch 7-end & QQ 5 // Essay Test Preparation 6 // Essay Test 7 // MLA Paper 8 // Essay/Presentation on background of Mark Twain 9 // Essay/Presentation on background of CT Yankee 10 // CT Yankee Ch 1-11 & QQ 11 // CT Yankee Ch 12-22 & QQ 12 // CT Yankee Ch 23-33 & QQ 13 // CT Yankee Ch 34 - End & QQ 14 // Essay Test Preparation 15 // Essay Test 16 // MLA Paper 17 // Essay/Presentation on background of Charles Dickens 18 // Essay/Presentation on background of A Christmas Carol 19 // C Carol Ch 1-2 & QQ 20 // C Carol Ch 3-end & QQ 21 // Essay Test Preparation 22 // Essay Test 23 // MLA Paper Time Machine: 12 ch; 187 pp Connecticut Yankee: 44 ch; 540 pp A Christmas Carol: 5 ch; 172 pp

Well, the best case would typically be a 45 day closing, so that means they are "only" asking an extra 45 days, right? I'd counter, covering their closing costs, with the higher earnest money. And, I'd make sure that all inspection windows, etc, are SHORT (say 10 business days) so their "outs" go away quickly. If you've had it on the market for a while, then you are aware that other buyers aren't busting down the door to make offers. Selling season is coming to a close. Renting is NOT risk free. This house is a huge investment, and you could lose much of it if you end up with non-paying or damage-causing renters . . . I would only rent a home out that wasn't a big part of my net worth, except in extreme circumstances in which that's the only option you have. We once had to rent out our primary residence for a year before selling it, because we had to move (only option) and our home was slated for highway construction/eminent domain taking which made it un-saleable. A year later, the highway department had shelved their plans and we were able to sell. The day we closed on that house was the biggest relief I've EVER felt. Carrying it was so stressful. We are now landlords on other properties, but only ones that we can "afford to lose" and carrying those mortgages is painless for us if there is a vacancy, etc. I'd never want to have a rental in which I was truly dependent on the rental income to cover my costs. One year was enough; never again!! So, in essence, I'd make the best of the deal and I'd try to make it work. Unless you can stay in the house and aren't already committed to a move. In that case, fine, wait.

My mom was a divorce lawyer and also a mediator. One thing I learned was that mediators are not generally tasked with finding a FAIR settlement. They are tasked with finding a settlement agreeable to both parties. Another thing I learned was that if I ever needed a lawyer, I'd hire the best one I could find, period, no matter the cost. You *do* get a better outcome if you have a better attorney. Period. End stop. Personally, no matter how positive the interactions around the divorce, I'd just STRONGLY advise hiring your own, personal attorney to consult with and represent your interests before signing off on anything. So long as things go smoothly, you won't need lots of hours, but you DO need an attorney. And, for SURE, I'd get your 401k money split into your own account immediately. Anything else is just crazy. You need to be able to control the investment, rely on it, and not have it vulnerable to a new wife, new will, judgements, etc. So, go get a great personal attorney, and then carry on. Let the attorney look out for your interests and all these details. (((hugs)))

One bowl! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 36" farmhouse sink. It's AWESOME. I'd never go back to a double bowl.

ps. You can get free credit reports (more than the one free per year) to check on this because of the identity theft. Be sure to tell the agencies what has happened, so you don't needlessly pay for credit reports.

You can contact the credit agencies and talk to them about freezing your credit and making it harder to steal. I did that once as a precautionary measure. It made it hard (impossible, lol) to spur-of-the-moment apply for a store credit card, but it for sure is worth it. I'd pull all 3 credit agencies reports, contact all 3 agencies to "freeze" your credit and report the breach of security and ask how they can help you, and contact OF COURSE those creditors who you already know about . . . It's gonna' be a PT job for weeks/months. The more you do right NOW the less work you'll have later . . . Change ALL your passwords, shut down any non-essential accounts, only use very secure computers to access online accounts. Start checking your accounts daily (credit, bank, etc.) Many accounts allow multiple levels of security . . . I have a thing with my investment bank that they text me a code every time I try to log in, and I have to enter that code to log in . . . While changing all your passwords, do everything you can to double/triple secure each account. Change all those passwords each week for a while until you have figured this out.

I assume she has an ER inhaler with her all the time, right? If that's the case, then FOR ME and MY asthma, I've never had anything that the "emergency" (albuterol) inhaler couldn't handle. Anyway, if that's the case with your daughter, then she'll probably be fine. But, truly, if it were me, I'd get her to go to your friend's place away from the fires and see an allergy/asthma DR ASAP -- before getting on a plane. They can assess her and let her know if she's OK to fly, or, if not, what to do to get OK to fly. Meanwhile, she'll have a couple days of good air and relaxing lungs before she travels onwards. If you haven't had asthma, you can't really understand how traumatic it is "not to have enough air". Even if she were safe to fly physically, she may well panic even if her life is not in danger. Even when my PulseOx is acceptable, if I *feel* like I'm not getting enough air, it makes me *very* frightened. I wouldn't want to risk my child experiencing that on a plane away from access to medical care. That could set her up for many years (or a lifetime) of serious anxiety issues.

OMG, I was paid around 10/day in the late 1970s . . . And that was for neighbors within 200 yards of my house, 2-3 15 min walks/day . . . Even for the pet-less house where I just opened/closed blinds/lights and brought in the mail, I think I got close to 10/day. Minimum wage in the late 70s was around $2.90/hr, so I was getting about 3 hours minimum wage pay just to show up for the most simple house sitting jobs, as a 10 year old . . . You must live in a very low wage area and/or an area where kids are desperate for paid work. I think that is part of why pay is low in my area (I thought 50/day was generous, lol). Our area is a real mix of upper-middle class professional families (who can afford to take fancy vacations and pay housesitters fairly) and people of much more limited means who can barely afford to go away for a week to visit family, etc . . . I do know that my 19 yo family friend who I pay the 50/day for our pets (probably about 1 hr actual work per day, but she has to stay here overnight and be available throughout much of the day -- essentially can't leave for more than 8 hours at a time on a routine basis or else the dogs will crap in the house), anyway, I know there are other families of more modest means who pay much less, and she still works for them . . . I think she does that partially for the money and partially just to be of service/good works. For me, I figure if I can afford to have all these animals and go on all these trips, I can afford to pay her fairly to help, so I do. Also, our home, while far out of town, happens to be closer to her college (and boyfriend) where she commutes than her own family's home, so staying here doesn't add a lot of driving to her schedule. Anyway, I think the 20/20/20/20 example above is a good way to think of it. Seems fair to me.

Yoikes. What a sad, sad outcome from the grandparents generosity! I'm sad to say I've seen similar bad outcomes from families who have too much given to them. The way my family did it was that the older generation "smoothed the way" by paying for our 4 year undergrads and modest other un-expected/un-promised but occasional helps after that . . . For instance, Mom gave my brother her 7 year old Volvo when he graduated college, and when I graduated, she gave me $2k (approx the value of that old Volvo she'd given my big brother) as the down payment on my "starter car" -- a compact basic car that I took a loan on . . . They gave us money here and there -- Dad gave us 10k worth of stock when he sold a big stake of stock -- etc . . . And they co-signed house loans as needed and gave low interest or even short-term-interest-free loans here and there for houses, vehicles, businesses . . . Anyway, the way my folks did it was in such a way that beyond that 4 year degree, no help was EXPECTED or demanded . . . Our work ethics weren't impaired because we had no big money to count on, ever. We had a safety net . . . I knew my mom would never let us go hungry or homeless . . . But, we wanted more than that for ourselves and we wanted independence, too. I hope I can figure out how to do what Mom did for us without handicapping my kids like I've seen in other families where the kids are just lazy asses . . . For now, I'm following Mom's footsteps in guaranteeing (within reason) that 4 year degree and "small helps" afterwards . . . but those "small helps" are dependent on them making good choices and working hard towards good goals. I don't know how Mom did it. She (and Dad) spoiled my brother in so many ways, but I slept on a futon mattress in college on the floor, with one and only one set of bedding . . . and the only other furniture in my apartments were *very* cheap hand-me-downs gotten when various acquaintances moved . . . I never thought I deserved more or that I was somehow not having my needs met. I was a college kid, and that just seemed right and normal to me. Now as my oldest is moving into her first non-dorm housing at college, I am SO TEMPTED to go out and buy her a nice sofa, etc . . . because I want her to have nice things. I could afford it . . . BUT, I keep trying to remind myself that my mom could have afforded that, too! But, she didn't do it! And I didn't expect it! And neither does my daughter! I moved to grad school (on my own dime) with a sofa that I had been re-upholstering and was only half done, so it was half green, and half white . . . I didn't think anything of it! I never got around to finishing it! I had old random furniture scrounged from random people and yard sales . .. and it was ALL JUST FINE. When we bought new furniture for the first time -- it was a baby set for our first baby. We bought it ourselves, and we were proud of it. It was simple, our lives were simple, but we worked hard for it and appreciated it all. I think that if Mom had made things TOO easy for us, we would have been cheated out of that pride of ownership -- seeing what our own work and effort could achieve. Anyway, it's something I struggle with now, and I wish Mom were alive to talk to about how she decided when and how much to help . . . She did it just right, and I really don't know how she figured that out. (Her own family was poor, so it wasn't by example.)

Excellent. Just keep in communication with her and an estate attorney in coming years. Be aware that there is at least a 5 year "look back" on Medicaid claims . . . So, in general, you'd want her to have at least enough assets to 6 or more years of nursing home/etc care, as you'd need/want to transfer assets at least 5 years before running out of funds . . . Nursing home or similar level care can easily cost 100k/yr. So, anyway, just be careful and keep things in mind in the future. I think we spent at least 400k in my Mom's last 18 months of life, FWIW . . . When you have relatively lots of assets, it's easy to spend a LOT on private nursing, home modifications, etc. -- as the last thing you want to do is cut corners with someone you love's money when their time is short. So, for my personal estate plan, I'd want to have at least $1 million (per person) in cash not to feel the need to protect my children from sharing assets, etc. (As in, if they were living in a home with me, I'd want it titled in their name . . .) Just something to keep in mind as time goes on. Meet with your mom's financial planner/estate attorney every few years (or when circumstances change) to make sure you're all doing what is best for all.

IMHO, parents and kids never charge for things for each other. (Well, if one or the other is in financial dire straights, then payment is OK, but only in those circumstances . . .)

I pay $50/night but we have several dogs and cats. etc (although we do have a fenced yard, so no actual pet walking is needed). Having a dog to care for is a big restriction on the free/easy life of an 18 year old, lol. If you didn't have a dog (or chickens assuming they require at least AM/PM care), I'd say 20/night would be OK, but with a dog, I'd go with no less than 40/night. Boarding just the dog would surely cost at least 20-30/night. My theory on hiring folks for these sorts of things is that I want to pay generously enough that they WANT to work for you in the future. So, if you can afford it, I'd say 40-50/night, depending on the COL in your area . . . If money is very tight, then maybe 20-30/night.

If you'll be contributing substantially to the house, I suggest co-tilting it with your mom (joint tile with rights of survivorship) just to protect your interests in the future. In fact, if your mom's assets are modest (and she might eventually need Medicaid), then actually, it'd be smarter to simply title it in your name. You could have a lawyer write up something to protect HER rights (lifetime tenancy, etc) as well -- that's a good technique to protect both of you and maximize her access to wealth/income limited assistance if needed someday. Otherwise, if she gets ill and poor someday, Medicaid will TAKE that house . . .Talk to an estate/real estate attorney!