No. I am not sentimental and I would never put the expectation on my daughters to wear my dress. I sold it sometime during our 1st year of marriage for 1/2 to 3/4 of what I originally paid. (Can't remember exactly how much at this point.)

One neighbor gives out the small sized water bottles. It is perfect because we are always getting thirsty about the time we get to their house.

You know, people can just not have sex if they don't want to get pregnant. One possible consequence of sex is getting pregnant.

So it is okay to control the unwanted baby by taking away their life?

Exactly! Painting all pro-life people with such an extreme brush is unfair. I am also pro-life, but also disagree with the TX law and the linked case here. Many pro-life people are not extreme. I would really prefer to focus on birth control. Why oh why do we have so many unplanned pregnancies?

Yeah, in my state there are multiple colleges that don't care and don't want to even see a homeschool transcript. So not having a foreign language would not make difference.

My DS is doing Thinkwell Biology right now. He likes the format, but he has never been a hands on kind of kid. He is a workbook type loving kid. I have been watching the videos as well. The instructor is very entertaining, but very thorough. His explanations have made things click for me. The course is basically many 9-13 min videos with short quizzes to take after each one. There are also chapter tests. The course is pretty intense (at least for us). The schedule, if followed, is for 5 days a week for 37 weeks. My DS is spending 40-45 min a day. This is considerably more time than he has spent in the past on science. We just finished the BioChem chapter. I wouldn't say that chemistry is a prerequisite, but it would definitely help. The classes are college level, so previous basic knowledge definitely helps. There are no labs. We are using a separate lab book, The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments. We are not doing all of them. I think I picked 15-20ish. About one every other week.

I didn't have any instructions to limit activity either. My son, and all his teammates, continued Cross Country practice as normal. I think my son went to practice only an hour after he got his 2nd shot. My girls continued dance as normal. No reactions besides sore arms.

We use Tello mobile. $10 a month for unlimited talk and text with 1GB data. They recently switched from Sprint networks to T-Mobile. Not loving that the T-Mobile network doesn't work well in my home. Not a big deal, except for MMS. Annoying considering that it is supposed to be better coverage than the Sprint network was in my area.

Yes, my kid knows. But it becomes really hard for them not to know at some point. We never talked being "gifted" with him when he was young because we also liked to promote hard work and effort. But he did realize he was smart while he was elementary age. He knew he was better at many things than his older sister and friends. It is really hard to hide his math ability because even just playing games or something he could do the math so quickly and effortlessly compared to others. But none of us really knew how advanced he was until 7th grade. That year he did Mathcounts (as a single homeschool kid) and joined the Math Circle at the college. He was able to unofficially practice Mathcounts with the local school and go to some of their unofficial comps with other schools. When he got 1st at all these comps, won chapter in 7th and 8th and placed the highest anyone from our area has ever placed at State (5th), it was hard for him NOT to know he was gifted. Also, everyone was telling him how smart he was and how no one has ever done that well from our area, etc. We still never talk about being "gifted" but talk about how his natural abilities can give him the opportunity to do much in his life, if he works hard. And honestly, he has always been a very dedicated and hard worker (1st day of Kindergarten he got up and did his math page before the rest of us had even eaten breakfast). I am sure he has some natural abilities, but I really believe that his hard work has been a bigger factor in what he has accomplished. If he is gifted in something, it might be dedication.

Thank you for all the thoughtful replies. There are some good ideas. I do think she is lonely. I think her family members (based on what I see on SM) are all off doing their own things and not home much. I will discuss the ideas with my husband and see what he thinks.

A special needs adult has been wanting to have playdates with my preteen aged DD. This person has had a few playdates with my DD's friend and came to our house once when the friend was here. Ever since, the Special Needs Adult has been calling and texting regularly wanting to play. I am uncomfortable with it, but I can't really explain why. I have know this special needs adult since she was an early teen. She lives nearby and attended my church as a teen. When I first met her I didn't realize she had special needs. I at first thought was was just a bit odd. I did work with the youth at church when she was a teen, and I was never told of her having any particular special need, just anxiety. But if would have to guess, I would say she may have aspergers or something like that. She got along fine at all the teen activities back then. She is now in her early twenties and when I saw her a couple weeks ago it seemed like she had regressed a little. Anyway, I am uncomfortable with the playdates, but my husband doesn't seem to think it is a big deal. What does everyone else think? How would you handle it? And if we don't do playdates, how do I tell her kindly in a way she would understand?

I had a lost package and this morning used the chat to have them resend a new one. Only took a couple of minutes total to handle. I went through my orders page, we to the order that wasn't delivered, and there was a way to contact them there. Was the easiest and smoothest interaction I have ever had with a company.

Yeah, at the airport my kids saw and man and woman screaming and yelling and get physically abusive towards each other. So yeah, definitely going to see stuff much worse in really life.

Yes, I would allow this experiment. My kids have been in a few experiments before. Mostly just looking at pictures and stuff. My degree is in child development and this experiment is extremely helpful in knowing how and when kids become aware of others emotions. Also, I don't think it is at all healthy to expect a child to be happy all the time. Good luck with that.

We like the Basics of Critical Thinking from Critical Thinking Co

We did Primary Math with all my kids. Then one did Jacob's, one did AOPS, and one did Dimensions. I like all of them and think they are all great programs. Each of my kids has been successfully with their chosen program. It was really just about their preferences. If what you have is working then there is no reason to change.

We stopped tucking them in to bed forever ago. Maybe around 4-6 years of age. But like others said, we just transitioned to the living room for scriptures, prayers, hugs, etc.

Thanks. That's what I keep telling myself. It is just that all the teachers she has worked with do have great resumes. But definitely many of the other studios in town have less skilled teachers. Really, she mostly wants to be a mother and raise her kids, so a small simple studio is more what she wants anyway.

She has done some other training. Mostly the local dance festival and Master Classes. She has also done some virtual classes. The year before Covid she auditioned and was in a ballet production at a studio an hour away, but we did not want to make that a long term thing Plus they don't do other styles. She also did competitions one year because our studio thought it would be a good experience for the girls her age. She planned on doing a SI at one of the colleges she wants to go to, but the year she planned on going they cancelled the program. Then there was Covid. And this year we looked around but none of the colleges she wants to go to do a SI and she doesn't want to be a professional ballerina so I didn't really look at the professional companies that are a reasonable distance away. In this area not very many dancers go to SI. Height could definitely be a factor. She is almost 5'11". It has definitely hurt her abilities to get parts in some theater productions. But her height was an asset in one production. We are thinking of just doing the other ballet focused studio in town. They have some good teachers she has done other stuff with. And they teach a variety of styles. We just have avoided them for years because of their large classes sizes and the school/factory like environment. Levels are determined more by age then by skill level. But at her age now it probably won't matter.

My DD has been dancing for 10 years at dance conservatory in many styles. Around age 9-10 she started taking multiple ballet classes a week and dancing 8-10 hours a week. (This is a common amount of studio time here. There are not pre-professional programs in town). She does not plan on becoming a professional dancer, but would like to dance in college and own a studio one day. She has been talking about owning a studio since she was like 8. Besides dancing on companies and teams at our studio, she has never auditioned for a dance company/team outside of our studio. She has however done many dance auditions for children's and community theater, and has been praised by many chorographers, although she has not always been cast. (Maybe that means she is a good dancer for a theater kid, but not a good dancer for a dancer?) Our dance studio has been going downhill for a few years now and the pandemic has basically killed it. So we need a new dance studio or option, but only for 1 year before she leaves for college. Because of the decline in the studio, most of the girls my DD grew up dancing with are now on high school cheer, drill, and dance teams with there schools, which are not a option for my DD. Recently, we were happy to here that the local Adult company decided to start a high school company along with extra classes focused on ballet and contemporary, my DD best styles. Also, her main ballet teacher from our studio teaches for the Adult company, so she would still get to see her. The company is starting in conjunction with a local charter school, but it is not officially associated with the school, just using some of their teachers and space. A few of my DD studio friends (along with most of the girls who auditioned for the company) grew up going to that charter school and auditioned for the company with my DD. My DD was excited about the option to still dance with her friends. Well, my DD thought she did great at auditions, especially compared to others' ballet technique. Also, they were taking 80% of those who auditioned. They were also told that availability would be important. DD's schedule is wide open and most, if not all, other girls who auditioned are on high school drill teams that limit their availability. We really thought DD would make it. Well, she was shocked to not make it. DD's main ballet teacher was very surprised she didn't make the team. And now it is making us question her life plan! She is planning on an open enrollment dance college program, but she would like to audition for college companies and shows. But now we wonder if she is really not very good. And if she can't make any of the college shows/companies than she wonders if she really wants to pursue this path. We know she shouldn't change her dream because of one failed audition, but it is hard to feel positive right now. So, she now has no where to dance, and no friends who aren't busy with other stuff. The company she didn't make did say she could take all the technique classes with the company, just not the company class or be in the shows. But, because of all the conflicts the drill team girls have (and what we know of the girls' past attendance at our studio) they are likely to miss a number of classes and my DD will be there every day. It just seems like setting her up for hurt feelings. Most other studios in town are competition focused and don't have good ballet technique, so it really only leaves her with one other studio option. So I guess she will probably go there or not at all? We are feeling really negative here right now. So any positive thoughts would help.

This! We have been doing various 4-H things for 8 years and I still don't get or understand it! In our county they basically let us do whatever we want, and I really need more direction. We really only do it so our kids can put stuff in the fair and earn higher premiums than the regular entries. We have been in clubs organized by friends, the county, and now our neighborhood has a club. But we don't really meet much. We really just do it for the fair and to participate in some of the county activities.

My DD loved Generation Genius. We did all the middle school videos this year. Yes, it does lack a bit of structure, but it was just what we needed this year. I am not sure about the younger grades, but in the 6-8 section there was a DIY activity, quiz, and teacher lesson plans with more activities for each video. We did add in some reading too.

Thanks.

I second Critical Thinking Company's stuff. They have some fun supplements. Also, Challenge Math and other books from Edward Zaccaro.