I saw this same deal elsewhere a few days ago as brads-deals something or other. And decided not to take advantage for the same reason -- it felt like a scam somehow.

Enh. Didn't bother me when strangers thought my son was a girl. It really could be hard to tell sometimes. Maybe you just remember the ones that get upset and not the ones that just -- don't?

Absolutely Maize. It happened last night! I called my son by my daughter's name -- then immediately changed to his. I always feel a little bad when I call my kids by the wrong name -- but it happens to BOTH of them. When we were growing up, I used to be Ra-Sarah to my dad and my sister was Sa-RAchel. I don't catch it as fast 😞 But it has NOTHING to do with not valuing/caring for my kids.

I'm sorry your daughter is making this so difficult. Currently our younger child has a smartphone and our older child does not -- because we are treating each kid according to their own individual needs. We are looking into getting our older child one this year -- but it will be monitored more closely because he needs that. I have emphasized to each kid that we are doing what we can for their individual best. And it won't always look equal because they are different kids with different needs.

YES! One of the things I miss about being in school is being pushed to read stuff I would not otherwise read

Colored pens and a notebook. Maybe the frixion eraseable type. Seem to appeal to lots.

If 3 happened, they will not get the chance to watch the kids again. I don't care if they don't like my judgement about what movies (books) I allow my kid. If they are undermining me, they are gone.

Chromebook here. But yes

Cash in hand. If you decide to take electronic payments be wary of ANYONE wanting to/"overpaying" you and wanting a refund. No matter what excuse they give.

Mostly just dirty but yes. THe hole in the ceiling would have me not using it.

My son has a custom size bed in his room (Antique) We use full size everything and just make do. I know I COULD sew stuff to be exact. But--I have never gotten around to it and he's now 16 years old.

Yes I would consider reading ebooks reading I pulled my daughter off screens last night because it was too close to bedtime and she got into pajamas and curled up on the couch with Harry Potter on her kindle. I thought that was great!

I wouldn't try to put the water bottle in the bag with the laptop bag. It makes the bag a LOT bigger and water and electronics together is not a good idea My daughter uses this to carry her water bottle at a public middle school: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F8HQC3D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My kids get most of their pleasure reading books during the school year from their school library. It's more convenient to access.

This reminds me of my daughter. She goes into library and wants to know what are the longest books they have. Because she reads so fast. Thankfully our library has not pointed her to adult books in response!

Dont read them to your kids. Let your kids read them for themselves. Around here, the kids are all taking about them in 4th and 5th grades. And they have divided my daughter's middle school up into "teams" that are VERY reminescent of the Harry Potter houses. -- the colors are even the same. Though they are named different type of cats since their mascot is a puma.

We've had a lot of smaller poodle mixes (my birth family) and love them. I'm not sure what poodle mix my parents have now (They were rescues) but we'll be dogsitting later in August.

Look at their website. I joined BECU back when I was a employee at Boeing. But evidently any Washington resident can now join: https://www.becu.org/members-matter/about-membership/Membership

One more thing. If you have any family members in the military you can join the gold standard credit union. Navy Federal Credit Union https://www.navyfederal.org/membership/eligibility.html?intcmp=nav|mbrspmenu|||eligibility|10/19/2017||| My Grandfather was in the military so if I can get certain information from my mom about him I've thought about applying. My sister can now join even easier because her daughter enlisted.

You might see if you can sneak in. I joined the local credit union by joining a coop that could be members. (one year, one time $20 fee I think when we first joined the credit union years ago) and it was the best decision.

post10's declogging of storm pipes

V.C. Andrews is the author I read in High School (despite my dad advising me not to) that I REALLY wish I had not read.

Oh my I can't imagine Clan of the Cave Bear at age 12! The girls in HS were reading that and though I did read some stuff I wish I had not put into my head, that one I was completely uninterested in just from the other girls' talking about it!

I've never heard of the movie. Interesting parallels yes

We want to take our kids to the Grand Canyon one day We do a lot of vacations to see relatives We also want to get to Washington D.C. and see the museums again now the kids are old enough to appreciate it Personally I want to go tot he Ark again.