My parents did this, so my perspective is a child's. It was not good. I would never suggest it, nor reccomend it. That was a true disaster. They did it week on/week off, until I asked them to please , please stop. Which they did , thankfully.

How old is she? Dragonbox is a big hit here, have you already done both of those? So are the Rube Goldberg machine type apps... I can't think of the names of them at the moment, but there are several that have puzzle solving type formats. Those are fun.

DSS much preferred week on/week off to the continual back and forth of every other school night/every other weekend. Sleeping more than one night in his bed (whichever bed) was preferred, there was time to settle in at each house and get into a better settled routine, etc. Less transition times - and those transitions are hard for kids. In a 50/50 scenario, I think it makes sense. We switched to that schedule when he was older... There are some studies showing that shorter periods/more transitions are better for younger kids, and as they get older, the times they spend with each household can increase, thus lessening the number of transitions, etc. I think our situation sounds similar to the one Tap described. I'm not saying that this schedule is easier for the parents - it's a lot of time to miss your kiddo. But it did seem better for our kid. I'm sure every child is different. And, of course, this wouldn't apply to those not in a 50/50 situation. :) (I didn't read all the replies here, just a heads up, just skimmed a few.)

We have a Bose, and love it!!!! It was a gift from DH for Xmas, and I adore it. :)

:grouphug: Sending some warm thoughts your way, and hoping to hear that you had a great time later.

I have Addison's, so YMMV, but yes - when I take prednisone to stress dose, I continue my adrenal supplements. However, I don't take the same adrenal supplements you listed - I take Adrenal Health by Gaia Herbs. So that may impact your answer, come to think of it. Not much help, but hoping you find the answer soon!

Best Italian in Gatlinburg is amazing. Great italian food. Their garlic rolls will make you swoon. For years, I would drive out of the way on our cross country trek to eat there. It's a place the locals go, and it's delicious. Try it. :) (Now I'm drooling, and Best Italian is not in my future, as I'm now gluten free. Sad loss!)

Oddly, I was waiting for DS at an appt today, and my cell phone died. So I was stuck with Better Homes and Gardens (will have to mention to the vision therapist that their magazine selection is lacking!)... Both the Jan and Feb issues this year had kitchens with dark cabinets on the bottom and light on the top. Sort of a dark painted gray on the bottom, white on the top. Both used the backsplash to coordinate the colors. I thought that was interesting, considering this thread. :) I am in the light kitchen camp, but would prefer dark on the bottom. Hadn't considered it till reading this thread, and then seeing it at the office today was inspiring!

Library or Goodwill. Or offer them on freecycle - a homeschooler would probably take them. I tend to freecycle our books and curriculum, but we have a dependable freecycle group here, so I know they'll pick up on time.

Frightening. My mother was just telling us about her childhood, and being sent to FL to escape a polio outbreak in her town. She and her siblings were quarantined in an aunt's house, and could not leave the house or yard. I never knew they were quarantined! I knew they often went to FL for summers, but thought it was just a fun trip. Apparently, it was more than that, on at least one occasion.

maize, in what region/country do you live? I am trying to figure it out, based on the pronunciations you've listed, but I just don't know. Are you comfortable sharing? Another one I used to hear, when I lived in the US south, was "pre-shate it" ... for "I appreciate it." I wonder if that caused spelling confusion for kids growing up there?

The shiners would not elicit a round of testing without other significant symptoms, for me. The itchy mouth reaction though - that's another story. I'd definitely consider testing for that.

So true! We have two invisible dogs here! How is it that only we can see our dogs??

Fun! We would love to do this, if anyone's interested in our town. :) We are in the Washington DC area.

I get tired just thinking of doing all three every day, but I'm with you - would prefer it done every day! No chance I have the energy though, so it's spot cleaning in between the weekly stuff for me. Still - hats off to you for getting it done every day when you did it! Great work!

Laze around eating bonbons that the kids bring me, of course. :D We have a weekly maid service. For 2 reasons: my health tends to be on the precarious side (long, chronic history); and DS has severe allergies, and we want to keep our dogs (he is allergic to dogs, but it's one among many allergies). But we had the maid service for the first reason even before the allergies, because DH takes the attitude that he would rather have me spend my *limited* energy on family time or homeschooling than on something like mopping floors or vacuuming. Yes, I know that I'm lucky to have him. So what do I do? Daily maintenance in kitchen and bathrooms, cooking, laundry, extra furniture care (weekly leather conditioning and monthly lemon oil on large pieces), and, for me, the hardest chore is pulling down and washing all curtains weekly in hot water, and rehanging (allergy issue, again). Yard care, which we have worked hard to minimize (again, due to my health issues). I'm sure there's other stuff, but that's what comes to mind. ETA: it really is easier to say what the maids do! They scour/sanitize bathrooms, kitchen. They do the floors. Dust. Change bed linens. They vacuum the stairs. They don't do spring cleaning or windows. They don't do the fridge or the oven or inside cabinets. HTH!

Those of you who sweep, mop, and vacuum everything daily... Wow. Just... Wow. Hat's off to you! We do once a week, and anything more than that as needed, but not daily. Our kitchen stays clean. We clean as we go. We have regular "tidy up" times for toy and craft pick up (twice a day). Bathrooms get swiped as they are used (fully cleaned weekly). Trash is taken out daily. Laundry is done as needed, dusting is once a week. Actually, most everything is once a week, and everything else is as needed. :) And, of course, there are days when personal hygiene and the very basics are all that happens. When my health tumbles, for one. The kitchen falls into the "basics" but there's always ordering out, so sometimes that gets really simple, too! Long ago, DH and I read about the concept of the "magic minimum" and figured out our magic minimum to keep the house running smoothly. Our minimum might be different for a bigger/smaller family, or one with a different number of pets.

:grouphug: I'm glad your sister and DN have you in their lives, and lots of people who love them and will support them.

Love that movie here, too. Wrote my undergrad honors thesis on it. :)

Ooooh, someone mentioned St. Martin. We love St. Martin! Great place. I would have one caution - one of the beaches, I can't remember which right now, but semi close to the airport, has biting black flies. Skip that one. :) Everything else is fabulous. We like the French side the best. We were just in FL a few weeks ago, and it was 84 degrees. We flew Jet Blue, and it was $89 from DC.

Great game!!!! Eta: I loved seeing them all with their flowers. :)

I think DH and I stayed at the same place in CO! And this post reminded me of something slightly off topic, but still weird... In the early 2000s, we spent a lot of time in Sedona, and one of our visits we kept running into the same guy over and over - dressed all in black in flowy robes, carrying a samurai sword and a little voodoo doll type thing. I know, I know, it was Sedona... But still, the sword freaked me out, and we were always bumping into him. Ooooh, and another time, we were driving cross country and there was a severe weather situation, so we just stopped for the night early - at the only place for miles around. They gave us the "special" room with the hot tub. We checked in, and peeked at the hot tub, and there were dozens of silverfish swarming out of it. Ewwww! We switched rooms. :)

No diagnoses here, but I just wanted to throw out a few more thoughts. If your DH is resistant to reading the excellent book recommendations, or they just don't seem to fit him... He might get into reading some productivity blogs. I can't name, other than Tim Ferris, any off the top of my head, but my DH is very into all of those guys. He's gotten some great ideas, good advice, and made some life altering changes. His life is organized, he is ahead of the game, and things just don't fall through the cracks - maybe he's grown up, but I attribute a lot to the techniques he's learned. I think the source of those ideas has been more motivating somehow, when they are coming from these places. We notice that he's generally several years ahead (in ideas, techniques, etc) of the "higher up" in his company who prides himself on being cutting edge, following trends. He's taken some classes, too, so maybe a coach is a great idea - but even if you can't find a real life coach, following some blogs about this topic might sort of feel like having a coach. (Too bad your DH doesn't work with mine, he seems to find himself coaching people on this topic a lot lately, for free!) We use a ton of reminders on our cell phones (we use iphones, so DH is always telling Seri to remind him to xyz at such and such an hour, or to add something to a list). We use timers and sync calendars. He does a lot more than this, plus all the zero inbox type stuff, but I can't name it all - being the unorganized, fly by the seat of my pants type. :) "Backtiming" is a joke in our house because of DH's colleagues, who are obsessive about this ... but we do it without thinking now - what time do I need to be at the airport? When do I leave the house? What do I do first, etc? But it is a technique he had to learn, really, and thankfully I learned from him. Hmmmm. I will have to tell him about this post. A few years ago, I was so sick of Tim Ferris that the merest whisper of his name induced inward eye rolls and polite tuning out. But man, do I see the changes that happened over time! Anyway, not sure this is at all helpful, since it's not specifically dyslexia related, but this stuff did make changes happen here. And if your DH is resistant, you could just find some cool blog posts and forward them mentioning that they sounded interesting and you were intrigued by [whatever topic seems pertinent]. :)

Healthy snacks? Or when I just don't care and need a snack that calls from the fridge? Cheese. Seriously aged, yummy cheese. Plus something salty and crunchy with it. Or honeycrisp apples and cheese, mmm... Lately all the Olympic commercials for Smokehouse Almonds are making me crave those, too, because I loved them way back before we had nut allergies in the house... please, someone eat some so I can live vicariously through you!

Burned out here, too. Everyone's been sick, I'm tired of taking care of people and myself, and we've basically been slogging through the only very basics this month, and yet ... I feel inexplicably proud of just getting that much done. We planned a Feb vacation this year, to offset the Feb blues - but it backfired. I forgot that Disney vacations leave me exhausted (we are the go, go, go type), and now that we're home the last thing I want to do is ... work. Having overdone the sugar trying to get some energy, I can't even get excited about cake! Now that's sad!