"Fafsa Error Means Less Financial Aid From Families" (I'm working very hard to follow the principle that "if you can't say something nice, just say nothing at all." #fafsaFAIL 😞 I'm) mostly irritated for some very hard-working students I'm close to who are actually significantly affected by the "small" differences in aid. 😞 WHY are we rushing to roll out a program that is obviously NOT ready for prime time? . . . Oh, wait, never mind. )

Our ratty old (and dearly loved) street rescue had the same problem. Our vet told us that dog food allergies are much more frequently connected to protein than to other categories (I had been feeding him bread as a treat which he ADORES, and thought I had caused the issue, but we had also switched his protein from salmon to chicken - yep, switching the protein back (and an abx round) cleared it right up for good, and he occasionally still does get his beloved bread snacks, LOL).

It says "Planned Maintenance" when I log in and is not available.

Fitness? (weights? maybe with glow stripe tape?) Rowing machine / indoor "trainer" for bicycle / punching bag? (things that don't require light / vision) Hand tools / work - knife sharpening? a ukelele? a close (female) friend w/vision impairment knits. Time spenders . . . raised dot Rubik's cube? (that might be mildly offensive; please ignore ANY of these that are wrong) those chain link games (separate the 2 metal pieces)? wooden puzzles / like the complicated Montessori binomial cube style?

(When we did this several years ago, with a child, it helped all of us to re-frame our thinking from "wish we were home" to "so glad we DO get to celebrate Christmas at all" . . . helping each other re-frame was the magic sauce that made the "ordinary" suggestions actually turn out pretty special. ❤️ Wishing the same to you and yours!) and my practical suggestion: make a list in order of dh's priority so if he gets tired / wants to sleep, he still got to do the items at top of list. A list can also help build anticipation. battery lights for wheelchair wheels / IV poles and . . . there are tiny laptop-style projectors that can put a movie onto the wall . . . I don't know the right terms, etc, but maybe the hospital even has one (our Child Life had one), or a friend could source / loan one, even maybe from a church?

Wow.

Some YA's on my list are receiving Mop Slippers (though they were $10 when I bought them!). *GRIN

Would I *SERVE it? No. Would I let a ravenous teenager reheat it and eat it? Sure. 😉

(Not sure if Tello is an option where you are, but if you own your phone outright (my current one was $200ish), unlimited text / unlimited data / unlimited minutes are $25 / month total. We've had excellent customer service with them for a few years now. )

This may be why your talk is aimed at PARENTS of gifted kids, and not the kids themselves. ❤️

I sit on a conservation commission (nowhere near WV, sadly) that would LOVE to have that land for wildlife corridors. 🙂 (When we purchase land for conservation, it usually involves a much lower price than market rate, comes with "no development" covenants (sometimes; these aren't necessary at all), and is often not legally accessible except to neighboring landowners. I don't know if there's a conservation commission near this property? Or even a statewide one?

^ Echoing 8's angle . . . I personally struggled with "trusting the kid" . . . because, Valid Reasons. So my advice to younger moms now is to "work WITH the kid" (yes, kid must allow this). Example: Kid wanted to skip "all English" one year and study game theory instead . . . I was fine with no "literature" because kid read real books all the time, but was concerned that this was an elaborate ploy to avoid any type of language arts / writing skills, which kid still did need. Kid independently came up with a Great Courses video series that he proposed to watch & take notes on (while learning different styles of note-taking), write summaries of the lectures to include small graphs & MLA documentation, and designed a "big fun project, Mama!" at the end. -----> Yep. He sold the idea, and it was SPLENDID. (If I had REQUIRED kid to do that level of work at that age, there would have been a rebellion.) This kind of example is helpful for parents who don't yet have the experience / confidence to "trust the child."

- eat enough Korean food before going that she'll recognize / know ahead of time some foods she enjoys - ask Korean friends or acquaintances what THEY would recommend she see / learn about their country - know ahead of time just a brief outline of Korean history within the last century (especially as it relates to China and Japan) - interesting tidbit: If she knows American Sign Language, by chance, she'll be able to communicate words with Korean signers, but not the alphabet (and hence, no finger-spelling of unusual words . . . or place names) Editing to Add: The physical touching / petting can also happen to people with curly hair and / or blue eyes. It's usually meant as a compliment. Personal space is totally different in Korea vs. USA.

Yes. Though when leaders repeatedly and clearly refuse to admit that calling for actual genocide is bullying and harassment, it's easier to understand the students' confusion. Thankfully, there ARE young people who can see past the hate. May their voices be heard.

So many countries on this list are actually smaller than even 1 state in the USA - it's always given me skepticism as to the usefulness or validity of the entire test.

This link sells the part for $48, but if you type in the Frigidaire Part #131873301 to Amazon, they sell a Lifetime compatible part (with lots of good reviews) for $12. (There's also one for $9.95, but with only 2 reviews - too suspicious for me.) We are a line drying family here (95%), and after we got used to it, it truly is no biggie. (Just throwing that out there if it becomes a helpful idea in the future; we have a collapsible drying rack but also a retractable wall line.) Landlord should replace the part, but . . . maybe he likes $12 better than $48?

^Adding to the idea of self-training to recognize time intervals, something that was helpful for one of my young men around the same age was to break down (almost to the micro level) of the long goal (ex: chemistry) and how that relates to a daily schedule (in chemistry example, if I want to finish chemistry in 9 months, I have to do 1.5 chapters a month, which "x" pages per week, which means "y" pages TODAY. Plus I have to build in a buffer day, because . . . life. And (in my young man's case) it's really hard to do focused school work on Beloved Extracurricular Day, so that means "2y" pages the day before. It sounds ridiculous to those who pick up EF skills intuitively, but was SUPER helpful for my young man for me to really hand-hold the time break-down, at least for a while. And we'd describe it like . . . "We're so happy to be able to help you with this and show you, and one way you'll know you're ready for the next step is when you're able to break down these big goals like this for yourself." ----> forgive me if the example sounds overly literal; for years, I mistakenly conflated high intelligence + natural curiosity = smooth EF skills. That equation DID hold true for some, but NOT for all, and was a surprise to me.)

Where I live, a new law has been passed that all new playgrounds must have that smooth rubber-y surface over them (no wood chips, etc). It's safer (according to the experts), and also more accessible for wheels. The problem is that when older playground equipment needs to be replaced for safety, the newer surfaces are so cost-prohibitive that smaller towns are financially forced to just get rid of the playground altogether; they can afford a new swing set but not a whole new playground. I'm not sure what the perfect solution is, but - this is definitely a law with unintended consequences, and it's making playgrounds LESS safe (the town's insurance company is the one who decides when a fixture is officially "unsafe"). (My own kids grew up playing in our neighbor's back field . . . VERY similar to the junkyard playground, haha! Who knew it was cutting edge?!)

Some rural communities have a CERT - Community Emergency Response Team - that performs these sorts of functions.

Understood. But even off grid, a phone is a camera, downloaded maps, downloaded first aid instructions, even a "panic list" saved in photo albums (what to do if lost, music to listen to if needing to unexpectedly spend the night somewhere, etc). It's not going to get her out of every tricky situation, but it can be an extremely useful tool, even off grid.

And honestly, for a beginner in the style you're describing, a backup charger for cell phone should be essential, too.

(Sorry, I went back and linked - https://www.nps.gov/articles/10essentials.htm )

Start with the 10 essentials! Adapt for specific region, and maybe add a cute backpack? (Beginner hiker doesn't need a fancy backpack; a sturdy Jansport style will work perfectly.) (Example of adaptation: I don't always carry a full change of clothes, but I do have a clean pair of wool socks in a ziplock bag; they can double as mittens if need be.)

Taxpayers pay for AP exams? Our students (who I realize are taxpayers) each have to pay their own testing fee - home schoolers AND public schoolers. Whether they pass or fail. (On the other hand, the community college near us has a dual enrollment deal that offers 1 free STEM course *if the student earns a C or higher; all students pay to sign up, and then get a refund if they "pass." That makes good sense to me, both as a parent AND as a taxpayer.)

Ours are indoors, in our furnace room (perfect temp). Sometimes little flies do come into the box sometimes, but they don't come out of the box. (Our furnace room is off of a workshop.) We bury the food scraps under a layer of dirt, though? In addition to shredded newspaper. We've only had the vermicomposting box a couple of years, but I am just over the moon for them. (And I can't say that out loud to too many people IRL, ha.)