[For Those with Flat-top Stoves]

We've been renting for the past decade and have had gas, coil, and flat glass. Glass top is easier to clean than the others. It's flat, so you just wipe the gunk or oil off, no need to lift up burners or anything like that.

One time, DH put plastic down on the glass burner. It was a sour cream or yogurt lid. The printed image was transferred to the burner, but once we got brave enough to use it again, the image burned away. It's only been about a month since it happened, and it looks normal now.

We use heavy cast iron on a daily basis. Works fine on the glass top, and I haven't seen any scratching. Burnt stuff around the edges is easy enough to scrub off if you use the right stuff (special glass stove cleaner(or baking soda) and non-scratch sponge).

I don't like that my oversized pot is too big to cook evenly on one burner, but too small to benefit from being on two burners at once. That's the only down side I've seen, I think. Well, that and that the burners stay hot for quite a while after turning them off.

[Doctor's office issue, what can I do?]

With the allergy I'd also want to see the vial so you can verify which vax it is yourself.

[What does "cool iron" mean?]

16 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

 

Thanks! I never realized that it was a melting issue that determined the the temperature for ironing. I guess if I had thought about it I could have figured it out but I suppose when you are allergic to ironing it isn't something that crosses your mind. 😀

oh yes.. I wear a lot of polyester (formal clothes and scarves especially) and my husband (cause I'm also allergic to ironing and try to delegate it to my husband when I get the chance) has melted a lot of my clothes 😞

[I need new meat meals]

17 hours ago, Scarlett said:

I love Indian food. Can I just google those dishes you think?

yeah - I highly recommend the food fusion youtube channel though. I've had too many total misses with other websites.

[I need new meat meals]

I usually use thinly cut beef in asian style stir fry. Or larger cubes for stew dishes - I primarily make Indian food, so nihari, haleem, shami kabab are my go-tos for non-ground beef. Food fusion (youtube) has good recipes, just use a little bit less chili powder/cayenne powder if you don't like a lot of spice.

[Opinion discussion: How do you feel about public schools distributing]

I don't believe sex before marriage is ok, but I support condoms being available to teens, even through the schools. It would be great if they were more available - I worry that some would feel embarrassed to ask and would take the risk of going without.

I plan to make them available to my kids when they become teens, even though we are strongly, religiously against pre-marital sex. Kids make stupid choices sometimes. The presence of condoms isn't going to encourage them to have sex, but it can prevent them from getting STDs or pregnant if they do find themselves in that situation.

[Math curriculum for kids who might be under challenged conceptually but whose work is a hot mess]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:17 AM, HomeAgain said:

This is why we supplement.  I like ds's program well enough - there's a lot of variety, and it encourages exploring topics different ways.  It just gets a little wacky at times  or we need a break.  I use the Life of Fred books to bring in a different aspect.  We're about to switch programs to Gattegno (which goes up through middle school) and yes, I'll still use LoF to get a "break" from the usual work.  For middle school, I have these supplements:
Patty Paper Geometry
This Is Not A Math Book!
Perfectly Perilous Math
....and I'm sure more, I'm just not downstairs right now. 🙂 But these we will definitely be using between Fred books.

Have you done the quiz at the Math Curriculum Selector page?  That might help you narrow down exactly what you want and what might be good options to fit.

 

I was going to recommend the bolded and similar books. Perfectly Perilous was the only one I looked at (library.) My 9yo DS, who is actually a bit below grade level in math loved it. he didn't know the math involved, but was willing to give it a think. I enjoyed the puzzles too. Murderous Maths was a hit too, but it might be better suited to kids closer to 9. I don't have it in front of me so I don't recall what exactly was in it.

We both like Fred, and I appreciate that it introduces concepts that aren't typically taught at his age level. And it's more story+lesson than practice problems. At least in the elementary levels.

 

Regarding the Christian content in LoF: We're not Christian and still enjoy it. Fred is a 5yo Christian living in the American south. Sometimes the Bible gets brought up, but it took 8 books for him to go to Sunday school (where he learned about how God made bees or something like that.) DS was old enough by that chapter that we took it as a lesson in comparative religion. There was something mentioned in an earlier book that I decided to skip because it felt preachy without really adding to the story, but I don't remember what it was now. Really just a paragraph or so.

 

 

 

Of course, the case might be something totally different with your boys, but I grew up thinking I hated math, and scared of math, while still doing well, but making "careless mistakes." Took me years to realize that in my case, "careless mistakes" equated to mild dyslexia/dyscalcula, mixed with ADHD. I'd get 4 mixed up with f and 5 and instead of writing "8459.034" like it said on the calculator screen (I was in precalc/chemistry by this point), I would accidentally write "8549.054" or when typing stuff into the calculator, I'd type "843*490" instead of "834*590" and get the answer mysteriously wrong even though I understood the concept.

I'm planning to go back to school this year and, reviewing my transcripts and test scores, I should place into Calculus. I'm terrified, but working hard to review and perhaps get ahead before the class starts. And I got a copy of Life of Fred: Calculus so my favorite 5yo (well, so far, he's only 3 days old in the Calculus book, lol) can teach me about something I've been terrified of for over a decade. I will say, there is a ton more practice questions in the calculus book than there is in the book intended for 4th graders.

[Do you have two eyes that are very different vision-wise?]

Without glasses/contacts, I can't make out writing (or faces, or anything, really) if it's further than a foot away from my face.

My eyes were only slightly different for the longest time (0.25/0.5 difference between the two eyes. Still are probably, but it's barely noticeable now and I can get along just fine with the same prescription strength (contacts) in each eye. Simplifies the contact wearing process for me a teeny tiny bit.

[S/O Laundry Detergent...What things do you make from scratch that others typically buy? (Food, cleaning products, make up, skin care, etc.)]

35 minutes ago, JaLeSherman said:

Just a shout out warning to those making homemade detergent (powder) ... if you do so with Fels Naptha or Zote as the base ... it can build up soap scum in your washer and eventually have that scum build into a tube that leaks and destroys your motor. And, if your luck is like mine, GE will then inform you that using homemade detergent violates the extended warranty and now all that money you saved is now buying a new washer. *sigh* I know people that haven't had issue, but I seem to run on a good run of bad luck so if you're like me, just avoid it.
😂😂😂

Well, that's great /sarcasm

I made powdered laundry detergent for 4 or 5 years. Recently switched to store bought liquid for convenience. I've been telling myself I ought to make it again, but now you've got me rethinking that...

[A slightly different "would you eat this?"]

4 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

Our vacations growing up were backpacking trips--a week in the Sierras with 1 or 2 other families, 7-12 kids, lugging all our food, clothing etc. We all had what we called "Sierra cups", a little aluminum 1-2" deep cup with a little handle that you could loop over a belt or backpack strap. I still have mine. That cup was used for drinking from streams (giardia wasn't ever mentioned in the 70's), all meals were served in it, we made slushies from melting snowpacks, etc. We never ate from a communal pot. But I would eat a communal cookie with family or responsible adults (not the continually snot-dripping kindergarteners that I worked with last year that got me sick over and over).

 

Mentioning metal cups reminded me of when we were in Pakistan. At this one monument we went to, the only water they had was in a water cooler, and the only way to drink it was a metal cup that sat on top of it. Dozens of people had probably used it that day, if not 100s, and if my memory is correct, I was thirsty enough to drink from it too. Didn't even get sick, lol

[A slightly different "would you eat this?"]

Not if it's a potluck or community event where kids are involved (especially because i've seen parents at these kinds of events take food out of their kids grimy slobber-covered hands to put back on the tray - sometimes with a bite taken out of it!) Particularly near the end of the event, and particularly if the tray was within kid reach and it was out of sight most of the time.

But in our culture - Muslim culture - and particularly Pakistani/Indian culture, we sometimes eat rice or salen/curry off the same plate with a group of 5 or so people (using bread or fingers as the utensil). That I wouldn't do except for immediate family, but dry food is no big deal. It's common practice, even at big 400+ people functions to rip a piece of flat bread into half and put one half of it back on the bread platter.

In my house, a bowl of m&ms, mukhwas, or a giant cookie probably wouldn't be served with utensils. Actually, mukhwas usually is set out with a spoon, but I try to avoid it, because my 3yo has a tendency to put the spoon in her mouth before putting it back into the communal bowl...

[Aggressive men]

On 1/11/2019 at 12:24 AM, MercyA said:

I have to ask--what does "showing his Cheerios" mean??? 🙂

 

I'm wondering the same thing. I feel like it means "showing his strength" or "showing his manli-ness" but how does that relate to cereal?

 

 

Oh! hang on! I'm seeming to remember old cheerios commercials with men and little boys flexing their muscles -- is that where the phrase comes from? And is that a common phrase where you live? or just a family thing? I've never heard it and I'm in the midwest.

 

I was thinking of commercials from the 90s, but found this along the same lines:

 

[Graphic Novel Suggestions]

My library has a huge section for kids graphic novels and I'm always finding new and great things there.

My DS liked Tin Tin (they are almost 100 yrs old now, so watch out for questionable themes that were common in that era- misogyny, smoking, racism, swearing - seemed common in the books we found, so I pre-read and chose to either not let DS read those ones or explain why that was written into the story, depending on what it was exactly.

He's enjoyed a graphic novel version of Sherlock Holmes.

We've got a MaxAxiom book right now that is a hit - it's called Science and Engineering Activities. He liked the other MaxAxiom books too.

I try to stay away from super hero books, but have been pleasantly surprised with the # of graphic novels that aren't super hero themed. I recently found a My Little Pony comic book that he enjoyed a lot.

He also liked the Beast Academy guide books, just for reading on his own for fun.

Last time I was at the library, I saw a graphic novel version of The City of Ember, and contemplated getting it, but decided against it in the hopes that he will soon read the original version on his own (he's getting into reading small/larger font chapter books on his own and want to "save" something that I hope he'll love for when he's ready - I the series as an adult and enjoyed it)

They aren't graphic novels, but share a lot of the same characteristics. I found that my DS also really gravitated towards picture-rich non-fiction (eg. eyewitness books, single topic encyclopedias, etc.) He wont read a full magic treehouse book in one sitting like I would have at his age, but he will sit for hours with non-fiction sci/hist books or a book about lego building, etc.

 

 

 

[office key - new laptop, vent]

Oh that's cool, I didn't realize you could transfer the key/code.

I was annoyed that my new laptop didn't come with office included. Decided to go with libreoffice rather than buy a new copy of office. 

[who decides where to put things in a new house?]

If you're having a conflict about it, I think that's a problem.

Stuff gets moved around in our house all the time. Not in a "where did you put all the spoons today" sort of way, but in a "let's try out a new home for these items, and see if it works better."

We just rearranged the furniture in the living room today. And by "we" I mean "I told DH where to move the couches to while I was busy in the kitchen."

If I want to try out some new arrangement, he doesn't fight me on it. If he wants to move things around, I don't fight him on it - unless it will impact my daily function (eg. plates too high for me to reach)

But whenever he makes a crazy suggestion (like the time he wanted to put the mixing bowls I use all the time on a high shelf when they had a perfect home on a low shelf) I explain to him why I need them where they were, and since he is reasonable/not controlling, and we have a good working relationship, he either asks me to try it out for a few days, or he gives up his argument and realizes that I have reasons for putting things where I have them. Same for if he thinks I'm making a crazy decision - we try it for a few days, and if it's working, it works, and if it doesn't, we move things. It's not like things can't be moved later if it's not working.

They aren't glued down, so it's no big deal where they go initially.

[Marie Kondo Series on Netflix??]

You can hire someone to do your laundry? 😱 (Probably obvious to most of you, but it was mind blowing to me for some reason)

So... that's my takeaway from episode one.

Thanks for sharing, Umsami! I'm excited to watch more episodes.

[Are you able to fully function if you are]

My DH has gotten a thorough period-education these past 10 or so years. Before we met, he didn't know anything other than the fact that blood comes out and still sometimes surprises me with how little he actually understands about periods.

"But why do your legs hurt? that doesn't make any sense"

"Remember when I was giving birth and my legs were killing me? Same thing"

"But your uterus is up there"

[scowl] "just bring the heating pad and massage me!"

[Are you able to fully function if you are]

All through high school, I'd have a day or two where I really couldn't focus on anything in class, riding the school bus hurt, midol was my savior, but I'd still be totally wiped out by the end of the day. Looking back, I consider that time period a good one in the period department.

Now, I have less frequent periods. Sometimes it goes by fine, no problem, but usually the pain and cramping wear me out - for at least a few days. Even after taking motrin. And sometimes I'm just dealing with SO much blood SO often that THAT wears me out.

Most of the time I can deal with the kids until DH comes home. Sometimes I have to stick them behind a screen while I stick myself behind a screen with a heating pad and a bar of chocolate, and just hope we all survive before DH comes home.

[how long do you save curriculum for another kid?]

On 1/3/2019 at 9:46 AM, sweet2ndchance said:

I still have my original copies of Spell To Write and Read that I used when my oldest kids were in grade school / middle school 15 or so years ago. I had intended to use it their half brother who just turned 6 but then I discovered Logic of English and I'm considering getting rid of SWR and just keeping LOE in case any of the kids want to homeschool their own kids.

I have my original First Language Lessons that had years 1 and 2 in one book smallish but thick book. I much prefer that format to what is currently available for FLL so I am glad I hung on to it.

I have all my Five In A Row manuals and books with no intention of ever getting rid of them even though I don't currently use them. Again, I'd love to hand them down to my kids that I did use them with if they want them. If not, I'd love to be the cool grandma that reads classic books and does projects with her grandkids when they visit.

Pretty much, if I love it just the way it is and I would be sad if it became unavailable in the format that I have it, I keep it. If it is a resource, like Story of the World, that the kids read for fun even after we finished using it for school, I keep it. Speaking of SOTW, I have the original audiobooks for 1 and 2 with Barbara Alan Johnson which I am SOO glad I saved since you can't get them any more to my knowledge and we much preferred her voice to Jim Weiss. Blasphemy to some I know.

I also prefer the small but thick format of the original FLL. I was so happy when I found a used copy (that had already been spiral bound - not sure if it was originally sold spiral bound).

I also prefer printable PDFs for that reason - you can print "booklet size" and it's a much easier format to hold and teach from.

[S/O...the type of garbage can situation that makes me roll my eyes]

3 hours ago, goldberry said:

 

Yep, she was fine.  But freaky scary though.  When I was little my mom used to tell me not to dig in the couch cushions because "there could be a razor blade in there!" (Hey, she's German, no explanation..)  I always mocked her, but secretly I think of it whenever putting my hand somewhere to dig for something.  Then when that happened with my friend...😨

A razorblade in the couch cushions? 😨 I think I'd rather stand if that's the case...

[S/O...the type of garbage can situation that makes me roll my eyes]

I was totally on board with you until I realized you're talking about actually pushing down on paper towels/garbage to squish the air out.

I had thought you meant those horizontal hinge-lidded garbage cans. For some reason I keep seeing those in bathrooms.

A paper towel isn't heavy enough to cause the lid to open up, and nobody wants to touch the lid to let the paper towels go down, so a pile of paper towels accumulate on the lid even though there is a lot of empty space in the can below. I have no problems with using a paper towel to push down the lid to let the paper towels fall in, BUT I'd never push down on garbage in a public place to try to make more room. Not without using a stick or something hard (not just because of needles, but broken glass or blood too.) I've never actually come across a needle in a public place.

I don't balk at picking up someone else's trash when I come across it on the ground, but when it comes to dealing with garbage cans and unseen-hazards - not my job/the person whose job it actually is can handle it.

[how long do you save curriculum for another kid?]

I'm keeping things, at least for now. We might have more kids. And the 3yo is, well, 3. But so far, she seems SOOOO much different than DS, and the materials that didn't work for him might work great for her.

Math is probably the only subject that I've purchased excess of. That and preschool/kindy workbooks. As for the stuff I have for grade 1 and up - I only have 1 history curriculum, 1 science curriculum, 1 grammar, 1 writing, 1 vocab, 1 phonics, etc. I do have an extra math program that I could get rid of, but I want to hold on to it because I think there's a good chance that DD will like it. I'm hoarding random materials for upper grades, but it's mostly because I found them for <25 cents at the library bookstore and I'm waiting for DS to get to the age where he might use them - I have a hard time understanding what kinds of things would be useful until we get there, if that makes sense.

The materials that I have are ones that I either put a lot work into - either through putting new bindings on the books, printing PDFs, or by stalking out curriculum sales and buying bundles of things to save money.

The stuff I do have might take me a long time to sell, and it might be difficult for me to find it at a good price again later. The only materials I've ever purchased new are ones that I plan to keep for quite a while.

Running out of shelf space is a problem for me though. I deal with it by getting rid of other books - picture books and other books I could easily get from the library, and donating them back to the library's bookstore.

 

 

 

[Don't make me blush, but...]

23 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Soma’s got a big sale right now if you want fancy underpants- 

https://www.soma.com/store/sale/panties-extra-50pct-off-when-you-buy-6-or-more/cat11889524

😱 Over $20 for a single pair of underwear. Gonna add buying a $20 pair of underwear to my bucket list 😂

And clicking that link reminded me to try boyshort style underwear one day. They look comfy!

[Don't make me blush, but...]

The grocery store 🤦‍♀️😂

[Can a non coffee drinker learn to drink (and even enjoy) coffee?]

I couldn't stand coffee for years. Not even coffee-flavored candies, etc.

Then I discovered iced coffee, and frozen coffee (eg. iced capp). Those I can tolerate and even enjoy. I can only drink it if it's iced, 90% milk and super sweet, and has added flavors (eg. vanilla, caramel, chocolate, etc.)

Still scared to try hot coffee. Had it one time at a function, without milk (or even sugar maybe? - in hindsight, what was I thinking?!) It was terrible. Had a little bit of a tickle in my throat and was hoping it would help so I wouldn't have to cough.

 

Not that I'm condoning the development of a coffee habit 😉

I was at the point where I was drinking coffee everyday, but that only lasted about a month before I realized it was amounting to a huge amount of sugar. Now I only drink it once a week.