Yes, our town will be in the path of totality for the next one, so we will definitely make an event of it! As for crowds, I loathe them, but we still drove to see the eclipse this week. We were at a campground a little bit outside of Nashville, TN, and even though the campground was full, it didn't feel crowded. Our campsite was too wooded to get a good view of the sky so we went to the boat ramp to watch it where there were maybe 4-5 other families spread out in a fairly large space. Afterwards we headed home taking state highways instead of interstates. The drive took us 6 hours instead of the usual 4, but we stopped for dinner, stopped later for ice cream, got gas, and stopped a couple of times to let our dogs potty/stretch their legs. It really wasn't bad at all.

If you were intimate, is there any chance he's calling to inform you of some sort of medical diagnosis you should know about?

He is on a recreational/non-competitive rock climbing team that is two evenings a week from 6pm-8pm. In addition he takes piano lessons one day a week after school and needs to practice daily. To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure since this is our first year with the school. My understanding is that the students have their regular math, art, and music classes, but when I asked his teacher responsed, "the classroom offers an integrated curriculum where the reading, writing, science and social studies content is presented in the context of a year long project."I do know that every year the year long project changes. Last year the kids designed and built yurts. The year before that they set up a large aquaponic system in the classroom in which they raised fish and vegetables together. This year they will be doing something with urban homesteading and while I don't know exactly what the project will entail the teacher said that they will likely learn about issues regarding immigration, farm labor, worker's rights, unionization, etc. within the context of the project. I did ask his teacher about the homework expectations and he said that they give as little homework as possible because they realize that many of the students have other activities outside of school and because parents have differing abilities to support their child in academic endeavors. SaveSave

My ds just started 7th grade a few weeks ago. (Here K-6 is elementary, middle is 7/8, and high school is 9-12.) His entire reason for wanting to go to school was for a larger social group. Despite being involved with several homeschool groups and classes over the years he had never really found a group of kids he clicked with very well within the homeschool community. He found "his group" on the very first day and has already made good friends. Every weekend since school has started he's had plans with his new classmates and several days a week he asks to walk with his friends to the public library for a couple of hours. Academically it's a little harder to say because I don't think they've started doing too much work yet, although I suspect that will change starting this week. (First couple of weeks were more team and community building exercises, a class camping trip, etc.) He did get a week's worth of math homework last week that isn't due until the end of this week, but he was insistent on getting it all done on the first night so he wouldn't have to worry about it. I miss having him home, but I can see now that my earlier worries about starting him starting school in middle school was for naught. He's going to be just fine.

We are headed for what would normally be a 5 hour drive south to the Nashville area ourselves, although I'm anticipating traffic. We're leaving tomorrow morning and have a campsite 20-30 miles outside of the city, but even though the traffic may be bad getting there, I'm more concerned about how long it will take us to get home. At least people have all weekend to travel there, but then everyone will hit the road at roughly the same time once the eclipse is over on Monday...yikes! We're taking plenty of supplies with us, and will keep the gas tank topped off, but I'm just hoping we don't run into any difficulties getting gas on the way home! We're taking our dogs with us, we can't leave them alone and it's supposed to be hot (not our favorite camping weather, but what can you do?), and I really hate crowds, so we won't be going into the city at all on this trip and plan on just hanging out at the campground all weekend.

No, but thank you for the link! ETA: And bingo! We have a winner! $3.95 Audible download that sounds exactly like the kind of book my kids would like, plus it takes place in a campground, and we'll be camping this weekend as well. https://www.amazon.com/Every-Soul-a-Star/dp/B0027USLUM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503070952&sr=1-1&keywords=every+soul+a+star

We're leaving tomorrow morning and driving to a campground 6 hours from here in the path of totality. My family always enjoys listening to audiobooks together on road trips and often they're one of the most memorable part of the trip, plus it's the only time that dh ever experiences reading/listening to a book along with us. I generally try to find a book that somehow has a connection with the place we will be visiting or the purpose of the trip. Does anyone know of any books that feature an eclipse as part of the storyline? Google has failed me so far, and I'd like to get something downloaded to my phone today in preparation. Thanks!

My son started school for the first time this year, and so far I've been packing his lunches as well simply because I enjoy doing it for him. He's perfectly capable of making a sandwich for himself if needed, but I think of it as a kind gesture and don't mind it at all. :001_smile:

My middle schooler carries this lunch bag: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UISANC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 We have a variety of different sized Tupperwear-type containers that he uses on a daily basis. On any given day he might have anywhere from 2-4 different containers with different food in them. Today he had one container with a sandwich, a second container that is split down the middle to hold two items (cottage cheese on one side, cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumbers on the other side), another plastic container of cherries, and a thermos for his drink. We also have a couple sets of these that are super handy as well: https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-LunchBox-Sandwich-Storage-Container/dp/B0078K416Y/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1503003075&sr=1-6&keywords=lunch+cube

The human trafficking thing sounds like hyperbolic fear-mongering, IMO. I would be inclined to roll my eyes at anyone who suggested that was a major concern.

I need to use some of my Audible credits. Any suggestions for things you've listened to recently that were for yourself, not the kids? I already have a couple dozens books that the kids haven't listened to yet! A few adult Audible books I've listened to and enjoyed over the last few months include Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, Hillbilly Ellegy, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Lilac Girls.

We have $10k on each child. Dh and I have life insurance through State Farm, and the policy for the kids was added on at no additional cost to us. We just had to pay for a funeral for my MIL. Even choosing the most affordable casket/vault/viewing options available, it still cost us $11k, and that didn't even include a plot or a headstone. Yes, a cremation without a service at the funeral home would have been more affordable, but she very much wanted to be buried next to her husband and have a traditional funeral, so we honored that. So seeing how much it cost, I'm glad we have something. I hope to never need it, but if the unthinkable should happen, at least we'll be able to cover the expenses that will incur. In fact, I kinda think maybe we don't have enough, because the $10k won't cover enough for a plot and a headstone and the time off from work we would need... :(

The required writing and outlining is the entire reason I actually want him to take the course, not necessarily the content itself. We could cover the content in any number of other more relaxed ways.

We have homeschooled the last 6 years, but this year my middle schooler begged to go to school for social reasons. Despite our years of involvement with various homeschool groups and other local homeschooling resources/classes, he's just never found his niche socially. He's been at the new school for one week now, and from the very first day it was clear that he found what he had been looking for all along, and has immediately found "his people."

To be honest, I don't think they really do any history at all, but the school does do a lot with social justice and projects that tackle issues within the community, so any bias he's getting from there is probably the direction we tend to lean in our own homeschooling as well. My thought with the WTMA class is that it will help fill in the gaps from the lack of history taught at the school and more importantly, give him more practice at academic writing (the last two history classes he took were fairly writing intensive). I could be wrong seeing as we're still new to the school, but I get the impression that their writing is more free-flowing, "all that matters is you try your best," and not necessarily much emphasis put onto academic writing. In other words, they're very laid back.

My 7th grader decided that he really wanted to go to middle school this year, and he started last week after getting a spot at a local charter school with a long wait list. He wanted to go to school primarily for social reasons, and it was clear from day one that he had found his niche in this new school. Despite years of being heavily involved with homeschool groups and taking homeschool classes in the community, he just never really found his people until now. Socially he has found what he's been craving, and in many ways this school is the perfect fit for him with their emphasis on art, music, theater, community service and project based learning. However, I do slightly fear that maybe they aren't quite as academically strong as I would like. He has taken WTMA classes the last two years, including the ancient and middle ages history classes. Months ago I told him that if he chooses to go to school this year that's fine, but that I would still like him to finish the history cycle and take the next two classes in the series, so I signed him up for it this year. Now he's starting to give me an awful lot of pushback saying that he doesn't want to take it, that it isn't fair, it's too much work, etc. He's gone for school from 7:30-4:00 daily. In addition to whatever homework they give (homework hasn't started yet, so we don't know what to expect) we need to make time for a weekly piano lesson and daily practice plus his sport/physical activity is Mon/Wed nights for 2 hours each evening, plus the time necessary for the WTMA class if I don't pull him from it. I guess I do worry that it could be a little too much, but at the same time I really think the WTMA class is very beneficial for him academically. When homeschooling he also did online Skype sessions with his foreign language tutor, and I've already reluctantly let go of that, realizing that we just can't do it all, and I'm hoping he can pick the language back up again in high school. Thoughts? Where would you draw the line? How much is too much when trying to balance school vs. after schooling with having a social life (which is HUGE to him), music lessons, sports, etc?

1. I'm paranoid around water, so I would know where my kid was, but I could see myself saying about my son, "Oh, there are some teenage girls. He's probably with them." Fact of the matter is that for whatever reason my son tends to have more friends who are girls 1-3 years older than him than boys his own age. I wouldn't imply anything sexual about it, however. 2. I am overweight. I consider myself body positive too, but the fact of the matter is that I do need to lose some pounds for health reasons (no, not everyone who is carrying around some extra weight is unhealthy, but I do have some health concerns for myself personally.) I've been pretty open with my kids about that, and my ds was very proud of both me and his father when we dropped a few pounds, and he's a big encouragement when it comes to being active and living a healthy lifestyle. He's significantly underweight and wanting to gain some weight, so we talk about that too. There's no judgement call surrounding it, but we do talk about things openly and realistically. 3. I have had conversations with my son about other kids' bodies. As I said in #2, he's very underweight/small for his age, and he notices how most girls (remember that most of his friends are girls, not boys?) he knows have developed earlier. We talk very openly about puberty and what to expect with regards to physical development, so he'll comment to me that his friends are all nearly as tall as me and they have started their periods, have grown breasts, etc. (His female friends are very open in talking about their periods with him and have shared lots of info with him.) So anyhow, it wouldn't be unusual for him to say something to me like, "Wow, can you believe how much Sally grew over the summer! She shot up and is almost as tall as you, Mom, and she has breasts now! It's not fair that girls go through puberty so much earlier than boys. When do you think I'll hit a growth spurt?" FWIW, I do have a daughter as well, and she is also keenly aware that some of her friends are starting to develop. We aren't going to talk crudely about someone else's child, but we do discuss how bodies change during puberty, acknowledge differences, etc.

My MIL died last week, so we have dealt with this very recently. I would encourage them to go visit her. Funerals are for the living, and it will be too late to say goodbye once she's already gone. In our family, going to see MIL was never in doubt. It's simply what we do. We spent her final 2-3 weeks sitting with her in the ER (kids too), talking to her on the phone several times a day, visiting daily when she had to be hospitalized, bringing her hamburgers and milkshakes when she refused to eat anything else. She was released from the hospital last Saturday, dh and the kids brought her a chocolate milkshake even though they reported that she was kind of out of it and didn't take more than a sip (I was at work), and she died Sunday morning a couple of hours before we had told her we'd be back to bring her another milkshake. Everyone is different, of course, but my kids would have been MUCH more traumatized had they skipped that last visit and they didn't get a chance to see her again. The guilt would have been more than they could bear, I suspect. Now granted, dh and my two kids were MIL's only living family, and the kids were pretty much her sole reason for fighting to live these last few years. As for camp- I don't know. My ds was supposed to go to camp this summer for 2 weeks, and the camp is a 15 hour drive from home. Finances didn't work out and we couldn't send him, but during all of this I realized that he would've been at camp last week and this week had things worked out, and I don't know what on earth we would have done. Having a funeral without him here would be unthinkable (again, we're her ONLY family) but we would not have had the money to buy him a last minute ticket home and the logistics of driving 15 hours to get him, 15 hours home, then repeat that round trip to take him BACK to camp and then repeat it again to pick him up from camp would have been daunting while trying to plan a funeral. As long as your daughter's camp isn't so terribly far from home, however, I would still plan on sending her but with the caveat that you will come pick her up for the funeral if anything should happen while she's gone.

My kids and I really enjoy a Japanese style cucumber salad: http://www.japanesecooking101.com/sunomono-cucumber-salad-recipe/

My 9 year old enjoys reciting poetry. Her grandmother just passed away unexpectedly and I'd like to help her find a poem to read/recite at the services. Any suggestions? A short reading from literature would be appropriate as well. We would prefer something that isn't too heavy-handed with religious overtones and appropriate for a child, of course.

Hanna Andersson is expensive, but my super scrawny daughter whose waist hasn't increased in circumference in years can has been wearing the same ones I bought her when she potty trained at age 2 and she's 9 now!

We live in one of the 30 states with filial responsibility laws that mean we could be held liable for her medical debt. I'm sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I just read an article about it last week (which I can't find the link to now) in which a court has recently upheld the law requiring an adult child to pay for his mother's nursing home bill.

Unfortunately, there's no way around it. We have precisely $0 available to spend on a funeral right now, so even funds for most modest funeral possible is going to have to be borrowed from someone. :sad:

My MIL died this morning. She was an only child, my dh's father who died many years ago was also an only child, and my husband is an only child, therefore it's just us. No other family to help- no aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, no one. We have to meet with a funeral director tomorrow. Can anyone who has had to plan a funeral recently tell me very roughly how much $$$ we are going to need? MIL has zero savings and massive medical debt due to her declining health over the last few years, and no life insurance, so I am trying not to freak out, but we don't know how on earth we are going to pay for this. I'm also scared the the nursing home where she spent the end of her life is going to come after us for her outstanding balance that is in the $20k range. She does already have a gravesite next to her husband and a headstone, so that's a relief, but otherwise she had nothing else pre-planned. She wanted to have a traditional funeral- embalming, a viewing, being buried next to her husband, no cremation. Neither she nor my husband or I believe in having to have the best, most expensive Cadillac of coffins. We want as simple as we can get, but there isn't time to get anything special made or ordered, so I suspect we'll be stuck with whatever the funeral home offers. We will not be upsold or guilted into getting her the "best." We know we'll have to pay the basic funeral home fees for the embalming and services, plus the hearse to the cemetery along with a casket, vault, and opening/closing the grave. Can anyone who has gone through this recently give me a rough idea of what we might expect? Is this something that can generally be done for $5k or are we looking more like $10k+? And what do funeral homes do if you have no way of paying upfront? Do they offer payments generally speaking or are we going to have to beg my mother for a loan? Thanks in advance for any information you can give us.

Good pencils- Ticonderoga, MIrado Black Warrior, Mitsubishi A nice sharpener- CARL Angle-5 A box of cap erasers- Papermate Arrowhead Pink Pearl Erasers- Pink Pearl High quality colored pencils- Lyra or Prismacolor Scissors- Fiskars Must-have school supplies (for us) in which brand doesn't really matter: Yard stick Meter stick Tape measure Poly folders Laser printer Post it notes Post it tabs Individual sized dry erase boards