Whether to hang or not often depends on what kind of storage space is available, and personal preference. In our house: DD: hangs most shirts, jeans, sweaters, jackets, skirts, and dresses. Underwear, socks, leggings, and plain tank tops go in (plastic) drawers. She has a large closet to herself and no dresser. DH: Hangs shirts, including his undershirts (compression shirts, which we mostly hang to dry anyway). Everything else, including pants, gets folded and put in his dresser. GF: Hang work shirts, her few nice non-work shirts (nice means not stained or full of holes; she's a home body so not many of these), work pants. Everything else is folded and put in (plastic) drawers or storage baskets in cubbies. She and DH share the master bedroom closet. Me: Hang work shirts, work pants, any casual shirts that are presentable (i.e., no stains or holes), kilts. Socks, undershirts, underwear, grungy/pj T-shirts, pajama pants, and shorts get folded and put into a couple of bins of the sort made to go into storage cubbies in my closet, or on a shelf in my closet (larger items). I have a closet to myself, but much of it is full of camping gear, sewing stuff, homeschooling materials, office supplies, boxes of old photographs, etc. I have no dresser. DS: All Shirts, hoodies, and jackets get hung. Pants, shorts, and pjs get folded and put in cubbies. Socks and underwear get folded then put in a basket on the closet floor. In order for DS to reach the hanging items, we have this organizer in his closet (the cubby sections are where the folded clothes except socks/undies go): https://www.walmart.com/ip/4-Section-Closet-Organizer-with-Rod/637073329 . Except for the section wehre this hanging organizer is, DS's closet, which is the smallest of any of the bedrooms', also houses a cubby shelf for toys and books, and up-high storage used for miscellaneous things he doesn't need access to.

I'm pretty sure this is why both my kids tend to trigger headaches in themselves when they throw crying tantrums.

That does sound lame, but it's good practice so that the buddy system is ingrained once they go on camp outs and such. It can be implemented in an unfair way...my DD was forced to go on a hike on her first encampment, when she really needed to rest, because none of the other girls were willing to be her buddy in the cabin during "free time." That was only one of the problems she had in that troop, though.

That is for Lions and Tigers. I.e., Kindergarten and first graders. The PP said her son was 9.

She'd have lost her mind on one of our pack's family campouts. The boys are required to have buddies, but are told how far they are allowed to roam in the area around the campsite...and then they do! Near a river, a cliff, or possibly hazardous wildlife, depending on the location. And IIRC, Boy Scouts work their way up to doing a solo hike at some point. Overnight.

Honestly? I would let him walk to the meeting with a letter stating that he has parental permission to walk home after the meeting, that he can sign the attendance sheet for himself, and that if there is any information they need to provide to you, the parent, they have your email and phone number. The scout leaders are simply NOT responsible for him after the meeting is over. That is ridiculous.

You overreacted. That is a perfectly reasonable age for a pair of kids to walk home to check on the dog.

I don't actually recommend the treatment that got rid of my mom's toenail fungus. It was eliminated in the course of chemotherapy for breast cancer. Mom is good at finding silver linings in the storm clouds of life!

I would love to have a large laundry room with room to hang up everyone's most frequently-worn clothing. As it is, our laundry "room" is also a hallway between the kitchen and half bath, with a tiny closet in it that has no hanging rack. I hang things on the door as I fold laundry, then immediately have to disburse them to their owners or there's no room to hang things from the next load. This sounds like a fantastic idea to me, and if I was you I'd go for it! Be prepared for it to only last a season, though. As your girls get older, they are likely to 1. develop their own senses of style and taste and 2. get possessive about clothes. I recall a particular incident in which one of my sisters (they are twins) threw a birthday or Christmas gift of a dress back at the other, saying something like, "This is your style! I don't want it!" Another sister used to get VERY annoyed when the twins would raid her closet without asking. Socks were the one thing we kept largely communal growing up. At some point, there were like 5 or 6 people in the house all in the same size socks, so mom just bought basic socks in bulk and put a basket of paired socks in the linen closet for all to share.

The thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is the general failure to recognize that there is a difference between someone struggling with that sense of wrongness of their gender assigned at birth that has been labeled "gender dysphoria" or "gender identity disorder", who as a result of that and/or the stigma faced by transgender people, then grapple with depression that is largely situational, many to the point of suicidality, for whom transition and acceptance is going to heal their depression, and someone who has anxiety and depression and a poorly formed sense of self, who reaches for answers based on the experiences of others and isn't going to have their imbalanced brain chemicals fixed by medical or social transition, which are going to be present regardless of gender. Never mind someone who may be transgender and have a mental illness which has nothing to do with their gender. The DSM has no guidance for professionals to suss this out.

I got my step goal today, cold notwithstanding!

Bluebird Botanicals, as I said upthread.

TravelingChris, this is not accurate. CBD oil made from industrial hemp is legal. They can concentrate CBD from both types of cannabis plant. https://www.al.com/news/2018/12/alabama-ag-says-some-cbd-from-hemp-now-legal.html So far, DD has tried the CBD capsules twice. The second time was last Sunday, and she commented that she thought it was making a difference, because we were doing a cookie booth and she was on her feet a lot, etc., and wasn't getting sore as fast as usual. For now we are keeping it for use on days that we expect to be particularly taxing, because it's expensive!

So...I'm dealing with some of this with my DD. I think part of it is that nonbinary gender identities and trends toward androgyny in fashion (which tends to be conceived of as reflecting an adult-sized person with preadolescent traits, i.e., no breasts, no facial hair, as opposed to a blend of traits such as breasts AND facial hair) are becoming more common among young people. My DD has not asked for a different name or different pronouns, and I would be extremely skeptical if she said she was FTM, because she is far from insistent, consistent, and persistent about it. However, she has said that she feels more confident some of the time with a flat chest, and as she is now at a 32DD, when she had a pretty much flat chest 2 years ago, that is understandable. We have been negotiating whether or not she should wear a binder some of the time--she has asked for one, and given that I wore one myself for several years, and have extensively researched the risks, etc., I insisted she try an athletic compression shirt first. She insisted it didn't work, and refused to try combining it with a sports bra or taking comparison pics of how she looks with clothes on over it. Which tells me that the part of this thing with her is really just a power struggle over getting me to spend money on her. I'm going to take the difference to buy a proper binder out of her allowance. The only reason I'm getting her the binder at this point is that it's less problematic than what some youth get up to to try and bind without the proper garment. I do think her experimentation with gender expression/nonconformity has a great deal more to do with anxiety & depression + desire to fit in with peers + discomfort with the changes that have come with puberty + not liking her body generally because it's not healthy (fibromyalgia), and attention seeking than with her gender identity/how her brain is wired. She got mad at me for agreeing when she said I think it's "just a phase." I told her we all go through phases in our lives in our relationship with our bodies.

I got my step goal yesterday! Today will be harder, I've come down with a cold.

I was on track to get my step goal at noon then started falling behind. Sigh.

My husband got me a Rocketbook Everlast for Christmas. It's fantastic! It lets me write things down with an actual pen, then I can easily upload the pages with an app on my phone and send them to various locations. I'm now using it for notes during court, work phone call notes, as well as personal stuff. The pages wipe clean with a damp cloth after uploading, or once no longer needed.

Last week I thought I'd posted an update on my progress, but it was still sitting in the reply box on the other thread! Oops! My overall reading goals are to take in a mix of fiction and nonfiction, spiritually enriching, informative, and fun selections; to keep up with the Druid book discussion/study group I'm in, to put eyes on words not related directly to work more often than last year, and to read books that I bought ages ago and still haven't read. My currently reading list: The Stand (unabridged) by Stephen King (on audiobook; it's over 48 hours long, so this will definitely take me more than a week, as I listen to audiobooks on my commute and when driving for work, about 6-10 hours a week). Update: I'm still on Chapter 45, 35 hours, 34 minutes to go to finish it! The Táin translated by Ciaran Carson Update: I've finished the second and third chapters, including, I should add, the end-notes for each of them. Odin: Ecstasy, Runes & Norse Magic by Diana L. Paxson (this is one of those "bought ages ago and still haven't read" books) Reading on Kindle, which isn't on hand, but I know I read at least some since last update. Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor A little over halfway through this one. Forgot my Kindle again this week so will have to check it out a second time to finish it. Books I've read for the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge this year (most recently completed first): 3. American Like Me by America Ferrera. Finished it last week! 2. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (third book in the Broken Earth series) Finished it last week! I am definitely going to seek out more of Jemisin's books, the trilogy was the best science fiction read I've had the pleasure of enjoying in a long, long time! 1. The Sky-Blue Wolves by S. M. Stirling Next Up: I think I have one of Kamala Harris' books on hold from the library on audiobook. Other than that, I'm not sure. Feel like I need to finish some more of my current reading list before I go looking for more! If anyone has a rec for a favorite science fiction author, especially one who's published in the last couple of decades, let me know! My 10x10 challenge categories: 1. humor 2. science (nonfiction) 3. fantasy & science fiction by new-to-me authors 4. LGBT 5. classic fiction 6. folklore (The Táin will satisfy this) 7. religion (nonfiction) (Odin: Ecstasy, Runes & Norse Magic by Diana L. Paxson will satisfy this) 8. law (nonfiction) 9. modern fiction in translation (i.e., originally published in a language other than English) 10. books by women of color (Stone Sky met this requirement) The books must of course all be separate selections, though they may fit into more than one category, they cannot be used for more than one, so that I read 10 books for it.

I got that bag of goodwill stuff actually to Good will last weekend, and also took out a bag of recycling from the craft room. Made enough progress that about half the floor space is now clear! I have to get it done Friday morning, guests are coming!

I listen to audiobooks while folding clothes. Reading with my eyes wouldn't work too well in that situation, I think!

I fold most of the laundry, except when I try and get DD to do it or when someone does a load mid-week and actually folds it all instead of just leaving most of it in the dryer. I put each person's stack on their desk/eating tray in the dining room/office. The kids' hang-up stuff I drape over the backs of their chairs. If it's in the way of a meal they usually notice it and eventually put it away. DH and GF's hang-up clothes I'll often go ahead and take upstairs along with my own, but that's because I've given up on them checking for it consistently and they'll just leave it hanging in the laundry room until they need it again otherwise, which I find annoying and no one else seems to. I've thought about draping it over the backs of their chairs, but it's less work to just hang it on the doorknob or lay it on the bed in the master bedroom. Once I get it that far, they put it away. When someone else happens to fold something of mine, it stays in the laundry room until I put it away. I usually have to re-fold it, too. If DH or GF re-fold their clothes, they're too polite to say so.

Honestly? If I had the slightest suspicion that DD or any of her peers that come over to our house were sexually active in a manner where condoms are of help, I would have them freely available, no questions asked, in the guest bathroom. If kids are going to be active, whether or not they have a condom on hand is unlikely to change their minds about it. But it might help them be a little safer, at least physically. I see no down side.

I narrowly made my step count yesterday. Today will be more challenging.

Last weekend, I made some progress in the craft room and filled a bag for Goodwill. Haven't actually taken it there yet, though.

It's not a matter of luck and chance. It's a matter of recognizing structural problems that are beyond individual control, but if changed could improve quality of life in broad, sweeping ways.