I know that's the way it is for regular posts, but I assumed that for a closed group, you would actually have had to open it to have it marked 'seen'. Apparently not. I did some research: "There is a slight catch with the read receipts in Facebook groups: they do not work exactly like they do when you send a private message. In the messenger, a recipient needs to click on the message to read it. The sender then knows the message was actually read. In a group, however, a group member does not need to read the post or click on a link. The post is marked as ‘seen’ as the group member scrolls through the page." It just makes me frustrated with communication, or lack thereof. I really do want to stay connected with my relatives and it seems as if they want that as well when we speak in person, but it's hard to keep up with people if they don't respond to any electronic communication. It makes me sad. But, I guess I feel better knowing that they're not purposely ignoring me.

If you're in a private, closed group, FB will tell you who has seen the post. I assume that people have to actually go to the group page and open the post to be marked as having seen it. I can tell that there are some people in the group who are never on FB, but if people have seen the post, my opinion is that it's polite to at least acknowledge it. If I've taken the time to share something, and they've taken the time to read it, why not just hit the like or leave a one-word comment. So, I guess my question is if there's any reason other than purposely ignoring me.

Thanks for the replies. So, what is the best way to communicate with people then? Or, do we just not communicate anymore? I agree that FB isn't what it used to be, but people often don't respond to email either. I cannot keep up with all these people either by phone or in person. Mass, written communication is so much easier. Then, at least I know that I've conveyed all the pertinent information to everyone.

Facebook related: I'm trying to figure out if I should take this personally or if there's a good reason for it. I'm in a small private group on FB -- all people who are related to each other. I don't post often, maybe every 6 weeks or so, but when I do I can see all the people who saw the post, but hardly anyone responds. Is there any possible reason for that other than that people are trying to purposely ignore me? Most people do respond when others post. I certainly don't respond to every post I see on FB, but when it's part of a small private group,and everyone can see that I 'saw' the post, it seems polite to me to at least click the like icon. How hard is that? Should I ask what's going on or is this typical and I should let it go?

One big tent. That's what we did when we had kids those ages and I loved how cozy it was to be all together. Our big tent can hold four queen-sized air mattresses, and we never have an issue finding a spot for it. We've also never had an issue with any place not allowing us to put up more than one tent since we're all in the same family. I think that the 'just one tent' rule applies more to having multiple families on the same site.

I would stay right where I am. I love the community that we're part of and want to continue to be in the lives of these people. I would buy my neighbor's house though and tear it down and add that to our property just to give us more privacy. Traveling 3-4 times a year to interesting places appeals to me more than uprooting again.

We have a few names that are quite similar in our family and I do know other families who do as well. It is a bit confusing at first, especially for people who don't know you well. It took me a long time to sort out the names of one of my friend's children because they all seemed so similar to me, but now that I know them well, it's not an issue at all. Two of our kids' names are very similar, but they are opposite genders and 17 years apart in age. We liked the names well enough to go with it anyway. There's really only a short amount of their lives when they're both living in your house where this might be a bit confusing. Then, they have the rest of their lives where they will presumably not be living in the same house. The name you give them will last longer than the time they are actually living together.

I can't even imagine going to a church where people don't stay and talk. That's sad, imo.

Are they working now?

We have several rentals and used to manage them personally, which means we would interviews tenants, show them the property, clean and fix up properties between tenants, collect rents, listen to sob stories, etc. etc. It was gut-wrenching. We felt a huge responsibility towards those people, especially the ones who were struggling; and many of them were. We did our very best for all these people and we got trampled on and lied to over and over and over. I'm thankful that we have good property managers now, but I hear 'ya.

Sad, sad, sad.

Yes.

I would often stay at practices until they were about middle school age. Not to cheer, or even to watch; it was just more convenient to stay than to go and come back given the location of the practices. Also, my kids play mostly soccer, so sometimes there could be a sudden storm and then they'd have nowhere to hide. :) Spending the time chatting with other parents was nice as well, especially if there were parents who were new to the program. My kids play on homeschool teams, so it's a nice way of building community to stay and talk. But, to interfere in the practices or cheer them on? Nope, nope, nope. Coach's job.

My dd taught in South Korea and often mentioned the incredible pressure that the kids were under. No time to play. Ever.

My longest has been from Minneapolis to Toyko; 12-14 hours, if I remember correctly. It's all perspective though. On the way there, I was by myself. On the way back, I had a toddler who didn't like me, didn't speak English and I was already exhausted from wrangling the international adoption process by myself in a foreign country for two weeks with the aforementioned toddler. Then the trip by yourself seems like a piece of cake.

This has not been my experience -- that the Chinese exchange students want to go home. ALL of the ones we have invited to our home for a meal would like to stay here. They do acknowledge that they are not at liberty to express honest opinions. My youngest five children are from China, and my dh has taught there extensively, so perhaps Chinese students feel freer to express honesty with us. Also, every guide who I spent time with in China longed to come to the US, but said it was an impossible dream.

Agreeing with this.

Scrolling through and haven't read the other replies. I was at an event one time -- no idea what it was, but there was someone there from the National Egg Council or some such place and she taught us all how to make omelettes correctly. This technique works well for me. Mix 2 eggs in a small bowl. Take one of the half now empty egg shells and fill it with water to add to your eggs. Water is best because it evaporates during the cooking making your omelettes fluffier. I use a pan that is anywhere from 5-7 inches in diameter, spray it with cooking spray and set the heat on medium high. Make sure your pan is hot before you add the eggs. Put the eggs in, wait about 10-15 seconds and then using a spatula, push the eggs from the side of the pan while simultaneously tilting the pan to allow uncooked eggs to run to the side. Keep doing this - lifting the eggs, tilting the pan -- just keep that up until there are no more liquid eggs to run to the sides. The middle will still be a little runny. Lower the heat on your stove and let it set for about 30 seconds and then put your fillings on one side. Flip the other side onto it, let it set for about a minute and slide onto your plate. Works perfectly every time.

Did that. Still no responses. To clarify: this is an event that I do on a fairly regular basis and usually at least 50 people show up. Most of the time, i get about a 50% response rate. At this point, I have about a 5% response rate.

It sounds as if I'm not the only one with this problem. :( At least my frustration over it should impress on my kids the necessity of a timely and polite response. I think that my main issue is feeling unappreciated. It's my intention to be a blessing to these people. I want to give them a relaxing evening. I want to feed them good food that they don't have to prepare. If I spend two days cooking, they could at least spend 30 seconds responding. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. We won't cancel it, and I hope I'm able to be cheerful to my guests.

Yes, they do. My family doesn't mind leftovers, but I do like to make sure I have enough. One time we had a group of college kids over. We got rsvps from about 5 of them and over 25 showed up. Some of them showed up at least two hours after the stated dinner hour. There was nothing left. I was embarrassed and furious simultaneously. It makes it difficult to enjoy the event when I'm fuming at my guests.

Bummer. At least surplus candy has a long shelf life.

Have you ever just pulled the plug on a planned event because people just can't seem to manage to rsvp? So tempting..... I have offered to make all the food. All they have to do is text me. But, nope. I am sure that at least 50 people will be showing up. Vent over, but there's still steam rising from my head. JAWM.

We're using RTD for Year 2 and we do enjoy it.

Praying for your son!