I'm so sorry she was separated from her sister. Right at the start of Covid (before they knew Covid was going to be a thing. They picked up the dogs at the same time they delivered my kids back to me at the end of the spring break when everything went down locally) my parents adopted a rescue dog -- well, really they adopted two. They intended to adopt one but when my dad called about it the rescue place let him know there was a second dog -- her sister and the two had never been separated and they were willing to do a special price for adopting both at once (not as much as 2 dogs separately) So they said yes to the second dog and have never regretted it. The two dogs lived outside in a dog hoarding situation and even though they have lived with my parents now as long as they had in that situation, they still grab their food and move it to another situation to eat. They both choose to go back to their crates to sleep and just to relax. I don't know if the rescue crate trained them or if they came to the rescue that way but they are much calmer dogs in their crates than when guarding the entire house.

Talking about Texas. I can find everyone's birth certificates except for my daughter (who was born right here in Austin) I go to order her one and see that "Lifetime limit" and get anxious about using one of them up!

If there is a parent portal, you probably want to get yourself a login for it. Then you can go in and check on grades, attendance, etc. Plus know who the teachers are and even see who the emergency contacts in the system are. It also might be good to print out next year's school calendar and keep it on hand. Then you will know the school holidays/early release days/etc ahead of time.

This is my daughter. She likes comfy. Horses is always a win. Princess awesome dresses (with sleeves) are a win here. Cowboy boots. Long shorts. (Our biggest problem is finding shorts that are long enough.)

You've been to Honduras? What part? That is where I am preparing to go next summer. Lempira department.

Everytime it storms outside, I am reminded how wealthy I am to be living in a secure house that does not leak and is temperature controlled.

This is what I had to do. I did not want my kids to have phones to young. We still keep phones in the front room just like other computers other than when in use (my daughter's metronome is on it. So she uses it for practicing her flute as well as talking to friends). And as the parent, I retain the right to go through her phone when necessary. Even with it being "Her" Phone that does not seem to be a problem.

Yes, all the kids in 6th grade have phones and the teachers pretty much assume they can take videos, etc using one. When my son was in 6th grade, he only had a flip phone. SOmetimes he looked over at more social stuff with a classmate. Sometimes his teachers gave him an alternate non-computer project to do. But he was definitely left out of band communication in 9th grade due to the lack of a phone that could do apps (We briefly tried a smart phone and had to go back to a flip phone as it was too much distraction). His squad leader was assigned the responsibility to make sure he got messages he needed -- but it never happened.

My daughter got a cell phone at 10 because she was coming home from school on her own and we no longer had a house phone at the house. Otherwise I usually get them when they started 6th grade and are getting on the bus/leaving the house after their dad and I leave for work. My daughter got Facebook Messenger (for kids) and had more social chat time (on a family ipad) starting in late 3rd grade because of the Pandemic. She needed a way to talk to a few friends she was no longer seeing in person.

Is there ANY way to do Cub Scouts or Trail Life? I don't homeschool. But my daughter's best friend is a homeschooler. They are both 6th graders. Her mom put her in AHG because she needed friends and that is where they met. And we both go out of our ways to find time for them to get together. She even picks my daughter up after school one day a week. (beause I work and that way they get time). When we have school holidays, we prioritize finding ways to get together, etc. They go to camp together in the summer. It's not perfect but we make the best of it. During the pandemic, they both got Facebook messenger accounts so they could talk to each other and we met outside at parks some. And now my daughter can contact her daughter when she gets off school and they will talk for an hour, making up shared worlds over Facebook messenger before my daughter has to get to her homework.

Excellent problem solving there!

That is absolutely amazing @Faith-manor

In this case it is other parents! Not school administrators (who I would at least understand. They are looking at the money the schools will lose if a lot of kids skip a day)

yes before 2017 the previous time we had one visible in the US was 1979! (which I think I remember learning to make a box with a pinhole, etc.... )38 years of none. So there can be long gaps. My son will be a 11th grader in AP Physics... so we'll see what they are doing that day.

I mentioned it on our local board and am being ROASTED because I'd consider taking my kids out of school for "A couple of minutes of sun watching" (Which says to me they just don't understand. It was several hours all told in 2017 and we never even got all the way to 100% gone -- both in the anticipation leading up, and then when it happened in our back yard and then the sun appeared again) A class MIGHT go outside for a little bit of that. But they won't experience the whole thing. AND it's a "Might" thing -- if I take my kids out of school I make sure they DO get the whole experience and that it is safe.

I just checked. April 8 is NOT a school district holiday That could be a massive oversight here.

Going out in my backyard. We live in the path. (I checked that website. 2min 11sec of 100% coverage)

That's a cute box -- looks a little like a very cozy TV. But I don't see how it will fix the problem. Couldn't the cat jump in and still pee out of the side by not turning around to cutely look out?

This seems like a BIG bonus to these homes since you are trying to better yourself.

Ugh. I just replaced my heater/AC unit in -- October? It was painful. (partially because it was on last legs and I did not want to end up having to go without AC this summer when it failed in the midst of heat!)

I don't need any OSHA for my job. It would make you more valuable as a prospect. But I know our company is working at getting the existing guys through the OSHA program for the skills they need as well. We work with two unions -- plumbing and sheetmetal (I don't know the "Proper" name for the union). Most of our guys start as apprentices and going to class at the same time they are working. (And some are even students until they actually start classes)

I work in administrative construction and LOVE it The forklift is one that I have occasionally wished I had -- so I could help with a delivery when the foremen, etc are not around. And I know our jobs are getting more and more insistent that we have OSHA-30 (And not just 10) out on the job sites. There may even be a longer one our safety manager has to have. Welders are in high demand. Don't know about carpentry-- I know my brother-in-law wanted to do that but could not really break into it. Despite the fact he has done it as a hobby for as long as I've known him (And even done cabinets as an independent project, etc) He's now a project manager/estimator at a company that does road projects. (He used to be a foreman and worked out on the roads themselves) Edited to change construction to carpentry

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I like the idea of dropping a day mid-week. If you are going away for the beach later this month, sounds like she needs to learn coping by then anyways.

We tried it briefly and it did nothing (except cause him to gain weight. He stopped taking it because of that) Also ADHD-inattentive male here.