This sounds horrible. I'm sorry!

Yes, as a kid, I definitely did not understand, and maybe I still wouldn’t if I had never left home or made the choice to learn. At some point as an adult everyone can choose to get out of whatever bubble they may be in, especially today when there are more opportunities than ever to do so, whatever your physical surroundings may be.

I didn’t grow up in a diverse area at all but also had minimal exposure to racist attitudes and comments and that was a very positive thing IMO. I remember one time in middle school that a girl moved to our neighborhood from NYC and she said something about being glad it was all white people in the neighborhood. I was SHOCKED and horrified. I had never heard anything like that before in my life. I went home and told my mom and she said I guess her family is racist. As a kid who never heard those kinds of comments from my parents or even from other kids (before this girl) I was really disgusted by what she said and quite baffled honestly. Fast forward to college when I went out to ASU and suddenly I started hearing a lot of horrible comments about Mexican people. Again I was shocked and disgusted. Maybe I was too sheltered growing up where I did and in a very affluent area but the lack of diversity in my childhood did nothing negative for me. I’m also not saying that diversity would have been bad. But it was the attitudes at home that shaped my thinking the most and I’m very thankful for my parents in that regard. Later on as an adult, I started to see the bigger picture and complexity of these issues. I will admit that I don’t know the best way to discuss this stuff with my kids. Maybe that is a negative of my upbringing, I don’t know. But all that to say, I see where you are coming from and the heart behind it, but do what is convenient and safe and best for you and the kids.

@Farrar @maize Super helpful, thank you!

Ok I have a million questions! (I don't expect you to answer all of this but in case you know ... 😃) Is it self paced? There is an option for Semester 1 or Semester 2 or both, what does that mean? About how many hours of instruction is each level? I'm wondering if she could move through German 1 quickly as a review and then start German 2 with teacher support but I can't tell how much work each course contains.

Thank you! I was looking at this, but I can't find any information about it and I can't find who to contact for a sample or trial. I can't tell what it is like at all from the website. OSU lists BYU Independent Study as an option on the page where they announce that German Online is closing. That's intriguing as well but I need to look into it. I showed DD Rocket German today and she wasn't too thrilled because there is no video component.

I can’t stand MLMs. But I do really love my Pampered Chef can opener.

I am lactose intolerant as is DS. It has improved for me as I've gotten older but I still have a hard time with large amounts of dairy at one time or an extreme amount in one day. Like I would never just drink a glass of milk but I can have a small ice cream without a problem now and I use half and half in my coffee regularly. DS also seems to follow the same pattern, although his eating habits are terrible in general. But he can have a Lactaid with cheese on a sandwich or even with ice cream and be ok but he avoids dairy altogether on days where he is going to Taekwondo that evening just to be safe. There is no reason not to use Lactaid and there are no side effects or problems with long term use. It is just the enzyme that helps digest lactose. In general, he feels better when he avoids dairy but if he has a little of it in a meal and has Lactaid, he's fine.

Thanks so much everyone!! My vet from "back home" sent an RX for Metronidazole to the pharmacy for her. I'm also going to strictly do the chicken and rice without her regular kibble. If she is not improving in a day, I will find somewhere to take her in to be seen. And I'm going to get established with a local vet ASAP to prevent this from happening again.

Ok so after talking to our previous vet (two hours away) I did call two local vets and they are both booking out a few weeks for new patients. I guess i will wait a little longer and taker her to an emergency place if need be.

Ok. Thanks everyone. I think I might give it one more day but call tomorrow if she hasn't improved. Only because she did seem totally better yesterday and she is not acting weird and is eating and drinking normally. And, garbage pick up already came so I don't have a stool sample. It's currently a new bag, but it was before I opened this one that she started with diarrhea.

@ktgrok @Spy Car Update and more advice needed. Saturday night I just added the rice to her food because I didn't have plain chicken or pumpkin. That night she pooped in the house 🤦‍♀️ I think she was coming to find me because it was right outside my door. It was normal, followed by extremely loose/liquid stool. No mucus. Sunday night I gave her only plain chicken, white rice, and pumpkin. No accidents. Monday there was much improvement! Much firmer, no mucus. Monday night I gave her the same meal. Tuesday she was back to normal and possibly even constipated. Very firm stool and not much of it. So last night I mixed in half of her regular food (Fromm Adult Gold) with white rice, chicken, and pumpkin. This morning when she pooped on her walk it was pretty loose, but not diarrhea. Then when we got back she definitely had diarrhea in the yard. So I'm still wondering if I need to call the vet. She did improve with the chicken/rice/pumpkin meal only. Should I just do that for several days? Then how long do I wait before giving her back her regular food if she goes back to normal? TIA

We first did it one summer for the two weeks. At that time, DS was 2.5 and DD was 4.5. DS learned how to get on his back immediately and swim to the side, which was my goal for him since we were living in a house with an in-ground pool. I was amazed at how well he could do this at the end of the two weeks when they did a simulated fall (i.e. pushed him in when he wasn't expecting it 😮) and it gave me great peace of mind. DD learned to swim independently but still couldn't reach the bottom of the low end and didn't have a ton of endurance so she still preferred to swim with a foam block on her back. But if she had fallen in, she could definitely tread water and/or get to the side. The next summer, I did two, two week, back-to-back sessions. DD was 5.5 by then and learned to swim really well and dive. DS was only 3.5 and he did learn to swim on his back well and across the pool freestyle but it didn't benefit him much more because he still didn't have the endurance to swim that long on his own. And he definitely couldn't reach in the low end. So, again, he was "pool safe" if he had ever fallen in without someone around but couldn't play in the pool on his own without some type of flotation device.

While real clothes are nice and sturdy, they are harder to put on and take off over clothes. Dress-up dresses usually have a lot of elastic that makes it easy to pull on over the head. Also easier to be one-size-fits-most than a real dress. I had several in different colors that were not branded but sort of themed, probably what you are referring to, and they were always a huge hit with DD and her friends and my nieces are using them now. Also cloaks and capes and plastic knight armor. Career dress-up has always been a big hit here as well and those often have vests or jackets that are easy to put on/take off.

@Lawyer&Mom Thank you so much for this info. I want to be sure that we will go with this before I subscribe because I have to outline a plan for her studies that will equal a full credit of foreign language. Does everyone start at the beginning and progress through at their own pace? I'm wondering how I will know if I can call it German 2. Maybe I can have her work with a tutor as well that can assess her progress.

@Lawyer&Mom Does Rocket have any sort of assessment or grading feature?

I took my kids to a survival swim course which was 20 min/day for two weeks straight (M-F). It was incredibly efficient, worth every penny and worth the two week commitment.

My mom is one of 12 and both of my parents have a huge extended family of cousins. I grew up going to really big parties for every occasion, holiday, party, and funeral. Like 30 people at Thanksgiving would have been considered a small crowd. But now when it’s my immediate family and our families, there are just 14 of us. And when we’re not all together because some are with their in-laws, it’s weird and sad and boring. DH’s side is totally different. The extended family is smaller to begin with and there is a lot of dysfunction. Anyway. I do wish my kids could experience what I did with huge parties and so many cousins that you don’t even know who is a first cousin or a second or several times removed cousin. But everyone is so spread out now and no one takes up the task of hosting anything super big anymore.

I have this foundation by Anastasia and I love it. It is light but has good coverage. I also love this concealer by Nars. I'm not 50 but I have a neutral eye shadow set that I also really love by Two Faced. It is similar to this one but has a few more colors. Correction - I have this one it's matte, not sparkly.

At that age, I did have to give them tasks, but I didn't have to be in the room with them.

My daughter’s immunologist told me to give her ibuprofen 4 hours after her covid vaccines.

She's been using Duolingo as a supplement. I need a plan for her that will equal a high school credit of German and hopefully get her through a German 2 equivalent.

@Doodlebug Thanks for your reply. I've been researching a lot and what I think I am leaning towards is Rocket German and an Outschool conversation group. These reviews have been helpful for me.

@ktgrokThank you! Should I get plain chicken and do that with the rice or do what I did yesterday, mostly rice with some of her food mixed in?

Warning - poop description below. Our 7 year old beagle has had an upset stomach since yesterday morning. She pooped a large amount normally and then a large amount very, very loose and wet. Normal color. I didn't feed her until the evening when I gave her white rice with a little of her food mixed in (Fromm Adult Gold) which she ate pretty quickly. This morning she again pooped a good amount which started normal (solid) but then turned very loose, although not as loose as yesterday, but also had some mucous. Just the end of her poop had mucous if that makes sense. None of these were accidents, they were outside when I let her out. She is otherwise acting normal and drinking water. If it matters, she goes out in the yard on her own and it is possible that she ate something without me knowing. But there is not much for her to eat out there except grass and weeds. Last Tuesday for the first time I gave her Trazodone for a long car ride because she has been exhibiting very high anxiety and stress lately with noise and long car rides. She was sleepy on Tuesday but otherwise fine. Wednesday she was back to normal and seemed to be eating and pooping normally until yesterday. We are living in a new area and not established with a vet here yet. I will call someone if I need to, but if this is normal and nothing to worry about, I would really rather not.