Our go to is a Lord of the Rings marathon. We get as far as we can on NYE and finish up on NYD. Big ole cheese tray and a dessert tray.

In both my parents’ houses (growing up and now) gifts to and from family are under the tree as they arrive or are wrapped. Santa stuffs stockings and brings wrapped presents on Christmas Eve. Stockings are real gifts, and some of the contents are wrapped, some not. In our house, Santa got smart and delivers the presents (wrapped) straight to the playroom on Christmas Eve. He also delivers stockings for everyone - adults included - to the toy room. Santa coming to the playroom gives great motivation to get the toys culled and organized ahed of time (because Santa won’t leave toys in a messy playroom) and gets the toys where they would end up anyway. Family presents are under the tree and opened later in the days in as leisurely a manner as can be achieved with kids under age 8. This year we’ll Zoom in various family members and unwrap gifts via Zoom.

That’s the recipe I follow for birdseed ornaments, minus the flour. They don’t get moldy because the birds in our backyard eat them in about two days. We made some for neighbors this year.

We’re doing stocking exchanges for Christmas this year. The men in my life (husband, brother, dads) are getting Beard oil (for preshaving, not facial hair) Flashlights New bands for fitness watches straps for sunglasses water bottles for hiking (thanks increased outdoor time) matches jars of specialty pickles A variety of popcorns for popping

Yes, fennel seed. Not the veggie! I find 12-15 minutes in the oven, but I try to get chops that are at least an inch thick. The crust sticks without any binder, but I do coat the pan with oil before I sear them so the spices don’t stick to the pan.

It's easy! The crust is a ratio of 2:1:1:1/2 of whole black peppercorns, whole fennel, dried rosemary, and kosher salt. Grind in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. I find that starting with 2 tbsp of black pepercorns is enough rub for two thick cut chops. Crust the pork chops, pan sear for 3-4 minutes per side, and then finish in the oven @ 425 until desired doneness. It is a bit spicy, but unbelievably delicious.

I do every year, including this year. I send out about 150. We usually get quite a few in return, but this year has been slower. I imagine more will trickle in, because there are definitely postal delays. Participating in the Hive exchange this year has been so fun and a welcome addition to our card mantel in a lean year.

We always have spaghetti and meatballs on Christmas Day. I make the sauce and meatballs earlier in the month, freeze, and there’s nothing to do on Christmas except defrost, boil the pasta, heat up some garlic bread, and toss a salad.

I make spaghetti and meatballs for Christmas every year. It’s not a day I want to cook. I pre make homemade marinara sauce and meatballs, and that’s Christmas dinner. A big salad and some garlic bread, and everyone is happy. If I wanted to do a meat and sides kind of dinner, I would probably either do thick cut porkchops (crusted with fennel, rosemary, black pepper and salt) or roast a chicken.

Eating/drinking tons does sound like a possible thyroid problem. My kitty was skin and bones, eating tons, until a vet finally diagnosed him. He also was a frequent floor pee-er. We did the transdermal medicine and rubbed it in his ears. He tolerated it fine, although I wouldn't say he was thrilled with me. He lived to the ripe old age of 27, and the floor peeing improved. I could tell when he needed a med adjustment because he would stop using the litter box.

I'm already baked out. My homeschool pod has been traveling the world through Christmas cookies this December, so I've been baking with six kids under 8 in the kitchen. We've made Anzac cookies from Australia, Puto Seko cookies from the Philippines, coconut macaroons, Herzog cookies from South Africa, ma'moul from Lebanon, Pryaniki from Russia, kolaczkis from Poland, and gingerbread cookies. I've foisted a bunch off on my neighbors. Next week we're supposed to travel to South America, and then at this point I'm pretty much deciding Santa's going to get slice and bakes at our house.

Beef Wellington is our usual Christmas Eve dinner (for the adults). I make individual Wellingtons, not one large one. They freeze beautifully, so I always make two extra for Valentine's Day.

Yours did, too.

Why does the Hive cost me so much money???

Checking the mail is so much fun now. My kids are having a blast seeing if there are new cards. I have received cards from @Loowit, @Kimberly in IN, @The Accidental Coach, and @school17777. I'll take a picture of my card mantel soon (it currently also is housing the stash of empty toilet paper/paper towel rolls for an upcoming project - that homeschool life, you know).

Oh, I agree. My oldest was reading fluently at 4. He’s not as advanced at math as your DD (and doesn’t have the advantage of a natural math teacher) but is certainly above grade level. I’m only responding because OP started by saying that her DD at 4 is struggling with blending. Some kids are more than ready to blend by then, but if OP’s daughter isn’t, then waiting 3-6 months for her to be ready isn’t going to be a detriment to her long term academics and shouldn’t be a cause for anxiety.

I understand coming from a competitive environment, but can I suggest really thinking through why you are homeschooling and embracing the fact that you are stepping out of the box? Step way out. Your child isn't competing with anyone; you are helping her develop into her best self. Are you going to love her less if she's not gifted like you or your husband? Will her life be worth less? Of course not. But regardless of whether or not she is gifted, homeschooling will give you the opportunity to meet her where she is, give her plenty of time to develop and explore passions, and move at her own pace with excellence. Begin gifted does not guarantee success in life, but being grounded in self and having spent years pursuing knowledge for pleasure, personal value, and to the best of one's individual ability is probably a solid route to satisfaction if not happiness. For what it's worth, I'm one of 31 grandchildren. All of us except one attended college, and the one who did not is an olympic athlete who now owns her own training facility. Of the 31, 17 went to Ivy League schools; the rest to Tier 1 schools. Twelve have post undergrad degrees, and that number will grow since a good chunk are under 25 and still in first jobs or undergrad. High expectations for academics run deep in my family. One of my cousins and I had a long conversation this September because she is choosing to homeschool her children for this year. She said that she didn't really experience joy and passion until her 30s. All her memories of her teens and 20s are filled with stress about failing to meet expectations and pressure to check the next box to be worthy for whatever her peers were also competing for. She attended a very prestigious East Coast boarding school, followed by Ivy undergrad and grad, and then pressure to perform in her job. She's successful on paper, but not very happy. When we last spoke, she has already decided that this is the best year she could have given her kids: she's amazed at how much less stress they are experiencing and how much fun she is having. And learning is happening, too. You can push and push and push to force reading and create an environment where either reading becomes an unpleasant chore or the parent/child relationship is strained. And what would you have gained? The same is true for rushing math. Is it worth it to say your 5th grader is taking Algebra just to have him be like the calculus students @Not_a_number describes who are really missing fundamental understanding of math? Or would it be better to take Algebra in 7th or 8th or (gasp) 9th grade and have a really strong foundation? The pressure is real, especially if it is both familial and societal. But homeschooling can let you escape the box and have a world of opportunities.

Mad Mattr is a huge (relatively) non messy gift at my house. Generic capes and superhero masks. PlusPlus blocks are something my kids (who also play with magnetic tiles daily) LOVE. For those ages I would get the big size. Both are popular in my house. Playdough kits. Magical Momdom is a small business that makes great playdough kits. I sent them to nieces and nephews whose parents were struggling this spring with kids suddenly home full time. The tunnel is perfect for the one year old. Ours still gets used, and I love that it can fold up and slip away in small spaces. Also, B Toys has a set of (3? 4?) trucks that is fantastic; it’s my go to 1 ye old birthday gift.

Many first graders can’t read. I taught 2nd grade for 10 years, and every standardized test I administered required me to read aloud to the students for 90% of the exams. There was one section focused on evaluating the children’s own reading skills. Also, it would be beyond exceptionally rare for a child to fail a standardized test and for “them” to force the parent to stop homeschooling. I’ve never heard of that happening.

Just finished my cards and will pop them in the mail tomorrow!

I’m glad to see so many people recommended Kapla blocks. That’s “Santa’s” investment in our playroom this year, so I’m hopeful for many years of play out of them. I got a bunch.

They have problems unlearning that an equal sign does not mean "the answer is". I am working with a second grader right now, and I have to remind him daily that = means "the same as" or I get many wrong answers from him. I purposely write equations in a variety of ways to make him think through the problem, but if I don't prompt him and read the first 2-3 with him, guaranteed I'll get a slew of wrong answers because he sees an equal sign and immediately assumes the answer goes there. A problem like 2+3 = 3 + x will automatically get a "5". He's quite obviously accustomed to a page of cookie cutter problems requiring little thought, but it's astounding how many bad habits that has taught him. I'm shocked because I struggle with math and fret about teaching my own kids, and while I by no means feel sanguine about higher levels, I now feel pretty confident that I'm giving them a good base in early elementary math.

Yes, I've found that all my kids, but most definitely my toddler and sensory kid, do better with a tight mask. If it doesn't slip or need adjusting they are able to ignore it more easily. I don't know how much your little guy has been out, but I do think it has helped that mine has been in a mask since the beginning. She hasn't had to change behaviors since March. She's two but almost three. Once we found a style that fit well, the kids have several masks. They just got Christmas masks in their advent calendar and have been begging to run errands with me (they don't get to). We are getting a Christmas tree this weekend, so they will have a chance to show off their Christmas masks.

Meet her where she is and don’t worry right now about what high school or college will look like. As 2020 has demonstrated so well, we can’t predict what the world will look like 12-13 years from now when you are in the midst of the application process. I homeschool for myriad reasons, but a small relief for me is that I *don’t* have to worry about whether or not to red shirt my kindergarteners who have bubble birthdays. I teach them what they are ready to know, whether that’s chapter books at age five (my oldest) or still working on blending at 6 (my next). Knowing how much kids change and how unpredictable they can be, I am relishing the opportunity to postpone the decision of what grade they might be in an official transcript sense.

I do have everyday glasses and fancy glasses. My favorites come from Crate and Barrel. They have nice looking glasses that won’t break the bank or make me worry too much if someone might drop them.