At a similar age here, I filled (clean) small glass jars with colorful m & m's and labeled them with each kid's name. Every time I heard a complaint, I'd EAT one from that jar, and then stand there grinning with this goofy face "inviting" the kid to complain again. Any m & m's left at the end of the time period (I think it was 3 days??), the kids got to eat. It worked shockingly well (m & m's are not standard fare here, heh), and every now and again, we'd set the whole thing up again just to do a re-set. Sometimes I made my own jar, too. 😉

Also, the police (non-emergency line) often have a list of beekeepers willing to come relocate a honeybee hive (not wasps or yellow jackets). One way to identify them is to trap one in a jar, freeze it until dead, and then identify up close & without danger.

Something from your geographic region of the country, that the girls would associate with you?

The WisePhone II has maps without internet (it's just not yet released). I'm not tech savvy (obviously) but guessing it is locked to a database somehow? iPhone parental controls are an option, but looking for something more independent. (Person asking is not a child, but an independent adult.) I so appreciate the help of the hive mind!

Hi, I'm doing some research to find a phone that DOES HAVE calling, texting, maps, camera, calculator, (music or podcasts nice but optional), calendar, timer / alarms and reasonable monthly support charges, and also DOES NOT HAVE internet browsing (even on wifi). Does such a thing even exist? What I'm finding so far is . . . 1. Light Phone 2 (doesn't have gps / maps) 2. Wisephone II (not out yet, still in development; seems expensive) 3. Gabb Phone (hmm, maybe this is it? i like that the icons look like an android / normal) Anyone BTDT?

Yes, the museums are amazing! If you get / have an ASTC reciprocity pass, you can save yourself a whole bunch of cash, too. (Edited to add: well, "whole bunch" may depend on # of people. Apologies if I was misleading.)

Grammar is pretty important in this house, but it's a "mastery" goal, not a "spend all the time we can" goal. We start around 3rd / 4th grade, explain the end goal to the kids, let them take the WHOLE 6th grade year off, and then use 7th grade as an experiment to see how much they've retained. The end goal is 2-fold (from the kid's perspective): successfully complete the 8th grade level of our grammar series, and then be personally responsible for correct grammar / punctuation / usage / MLA formatting going forward. We're on Kid #4. 😉 Editing to add: Our reasons for teaching English grammar are 3-fold: 1 - Parsing a complex idea / sentence into its discrete parts is a skill that often transfers to other fields (even when the kid doesn't realize it's happening). (This is helpful in 2nd or 3rd languages, too, usually.) 2 - Yes, so kids can speak and write correctly, and to a level that their grammar and usage doesn't interfere with their content. 3 - So that when (if?) someone else tells them their grammar is incorrect, they have the tools and foundation to be able to assess if that's actually true or not. (This is an educational pet peeve of mine in math as well, that I fear I've passed down to my kids - oh, well. 😉 )

We did use Xtramath, with the added reward (bribe?) that AT THE VERY MINUTE a child completed an operation (example: "finished" the addition level), we piled into the car, drove across town, and that child got to choose a $3 carton of ice cream for the entire family to share that night. (Ice cream on a week night was a rare privilege, so that was high motivation for my crew.) And each child (eventually) got to choose 4 total ice cream options, and each child was comfortably competent in the basic arithmetic facts. 🙂

We have chickens and ducks, and eat the eggs of both types. I personally do not care for duck eggs scrambled or made into omelet, but our whole family prefers them for baking (richer). Many of my international friends dearly love the duck eggs, so that's where most of ours go. I understand the mental hesitation, but a fertilized egg (whether chicken OR duck) can only grow a chick / duckling if it has been incubated at *just right* conditions for 21 days (chicken) / 28-35 or so (duck). So if the eggs are being collected on the daily, they CANNOT grow a chick. If that helps. 🙂

You've seen the BabyLit series, right? And also . . . I just purchased this from a lovely local bookstore for a new baby.

You know, I often hear the comment that "it's better to do SOMETHING than nothing!" No, sometimes it's really not.

plain baking soda?

Meals you can make in advance and freeze? Someone (a home schooled teen girl?) who could come do light cleaning / re-set / meal prep every 3-4 days? Can you do a Plan A (everything goes perfectly / lean more on phone calls) and a Plan B (things don't go perfectly, so you call in a church friend on standby who could come stay at night, etc)? (Hugs! I'd be loading up with some good-for-ya treats, too - new movie, etc.)

Also, lilacs are tough and can endure cold pretty well, especially an established plant still in bud / not flowered out.

😞 https://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/ranking-member-cassidy-sounds-alarm-over-biden-admin-delaying-fafsa-information-harming-students-access-to-financial-aid “The Department of Education had three years to prepare the rollout of the updated FAFSA. Their inability to do their job has real consequences for students and families. These unacceptable delays from the Biden administration creates the real likelihood that many students will forgo college because they cannot choose a school without knowing their eligibility for student aid.” (Cassidy)