I went to half-day kindergarten at a woman's home who had her classroom in what I suppose was a large extra living space. Outside, we had a rectangular in-ground trampoline, as well as other things, like a walk-in playhouse, etc. We loved that thing. I think it was probably hard to clean out below it, because I do remember it collected leaves under it. This was before the days of many people having backyard trampolines, so it was a novelty to all of us.

They don't need them as much any more though, because...laptop.🤷‍♀️ (pencils and pens, I mean)

I'm sure rooting for you! This has certainly been a long slog. When I think back to your posts a few years ago, and how far you have come, it's pretty amazing! I am hoping for a great job with a future that you really enjoy.

Theoretically, I wanted to have a real classical education. But realistically, it didn't work very well in our homeschool.

We didn't spend a lot of time on Latin. With my older kids, I just used the cards from English from the Roots Up, which were helpful for vocab roots. However, they were living in a culture where they had to learn the language and use it everywhere but in our home. Then with the younger ones, there were more Latin resources I became aware of, and we did a little, but there was very little interest, and I was trying to learn along too, without much time to focus on it. In hindsight, I think a familiarity with the roots, and something like Getting Started with Latin is helpful, but as far as further study, I think it is best to choose a language the student has the most interest in and the most likely chances to use it (if it is a living language). My children have studied a variety of languages, except for the youngest, who has dyslexia and concentrated on computer courses instead. I do think language learning is important in general, because it uses the brain in different ways. If one has the opportunity to learn the language further, beyond the classroom (or homeschool), so much the better!

Yeah, there are lots of dogs that enjoy a good run, but that are not in the "super energy" categories. It sounds like one of those would be best, because the BIL will be having it during the day, and may not be able to handle a high energy dog with a baby, as well. ETA: Our mini-golden doodle's dam was an English Cream golden retriever, and the sire was a miniature poodle.

I forgot to say that he weighs about 30 lbs.

That is a lot to take in, Melissa. I am so sorry you are going through this, but it does sound like they are on top of your care. I am praying for you and your family.

I know they get bad publicity from breeders who call them mutts, but we love our mini-goldendoodle. He is half-and-half., and while you might call him a mutt, he is a great dog. He is easily trainable, for the most part (he still jumps on us sometimes when he gets really excited). He is gentle with little ones, was house trained pretty quickly, likes to go running and hiking, loves the water, but also usually sleeps all morning. Ours' coat is more like an extra-wavy golden retriever, so he sheds a little, but he also doesn't get a matted coat. We have him cut pretty short in the summer, and he looks like a mini-golden retriever then. His breeder took the puppies through Puppy Culture, and I believe that helped a lot with nervousness around noise like thunder, fireworks, etc., because he doesn't react to those at all. He is very much a people person, like most doodles. Even for a mutt, you have to be careful with breeders. One dd wasn't as much, and her doodle is quite anxious. She is a good dog, as in gentle with the children, etc., but she has horrible separation anxiety. She is fun to take on walks, though, as she prances like a horse, and it is beautiful! If you get a beagle, make sure your ds knows that scent takes over, so if it isn't on a leash, it might just keep on going, nose to the ground. They are really sweet dogs, though. My dad had some as hunting dogs when we were growing up, but they were outside in a large fenced area. He didn't actually hunt with them much, but he would take them out to traipse through the woods and run rabbits. They had the silkiest ears!

Sounds great! The dog will be happy having people to be with during the day, and your son gets to have a puppy! Lots cheaper than doggy day care.

Huh. I am in my 60's, have always been an avid reader, and I don't remember ever having seen it spelled dilemna. I mean, it's quite possible I saw it in a book like Robinson Crusoe and just ignored it, considering it was a language quirk of the time, but I certainly wasn't taught that spelling.

I forgot that last year, one couple wanted a state park parking pass for part of their gift cards, and another wanted a state park gift card that they could use for camping.

It continues to morph. We have six adult children, three in-laws, and seven grandchildren so far. We want to give to our children, but have to limit even though we wish we could give much more. It got to be too much, figuring out gifts, etc. So we give each adult a gift card to the place of their choice (or we split between two places if they want). Then we give a gift to each grandchild. Whoever spends Christmas with us will also get some stocking goodies, but we don't usually mail those. The exception is that I sometimes do mail things to the adult who is single and lives far from family. The adults like to draw names, so I do it for them around Thanksgiving (we mostly live far apart from each other), and then I send them a text letting them know whose name they got. I expect that to eventually die out. Dh and I do not participate in the name drawing because we want to give a little something to each one. Our gifts from the kids are usually something small or homemade. Sometimes stocking gifts are mailed between the adult kids and sometimes not. When some are together at Christmas those usually do stocking stuffers for the ones who are there.

Yeah, my sister just didn't want to put in the effort--there wasn't anything else going on. That makes a difference.

Yes, my mom did something similar with my sister. The rest of us wanted to drive, but she had no interest. My mom told her that once she was old enough to drive, she needed to get her license, because she (mom) wasn't going to be driving her places anymore. Sis said she'd just call her friends, and mom said no she wouldn't, either! Like ffh, we lived where it was a necessary life skill. Sis learned.

I'm not a "pink" person, but those are adorable! My girls had similar, but in brown.

Just going to say that even if you make a bedroom just a guest room, I don't think a dresser is necessary. I don't unpack as a guest, unless I plan to stay a week. Having one of those folding luggage holder things is sufficient, even if I stay a week. (Unless you have guests that you think would stay a month or so.)

Oh sweetie, that is a lot. Hugs.

Sometimes you just realize there is a whole other world out there that you haven't explored yet, and you'd like to start doing that. Or even just have the freedom you didn't while you were doing the thing.

Also, as to your comments that you think he might have stuck with it if he had stayed in the States: he might have, and he might not have. It is very common for people to leave behind their earlier interests as they near or enter the college years. He might have been injured in the U.S., or might have decided even earlier to quit. You just don't know. On the other hand, he may find his living in Poland has opened his eyes to other things that develop into interests or opportunities that he would never have had in the U.S. There were years I wondered if my kids were missing out on certain American activities or opportunities I thought they would have enjoyed. I have no way of knowing, in reality. On the other hand, they took lessons and learned about things overseas and had opportunities that they wouldn't have had in the U.S. So...🤷‍♀️

When our kids give up something they have loved, and we have loved with them (or because they loved it), it sometimes hurts us as well, when they give it up. It was part of the kid we knew, and now they are changing and messing with what we thought we knew about them. But it is all part of growth, and of their process of exploration into who they are and who they are developing into. Even now, in my 60s, there are interests/activities that I have loved and seen as part of my identity for years, and I am having to admit to myself that I no longer love those particular things. Our kids grew up overseas, and sometimes they mention things they don't like about that upbringing. Yet, from the perspective of lots of years, I can see how they have benefitted from it so much, and how it has shaped them into who they are, with mindsets that they would not have developed, and empathy toward other people and other cultures--it is a richness that they may not appreciate yet, but they do at least get glimpses of the way it has formed them. You have given your children a gift, even the 16yo.

Change is sometimes needed, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes re-orgs are just attempts for new leadership to make an organization reflect their ideas, and they don't always work. In the corporate world, they sometimes happen before the previous system has hit the "productive" stage, and it just rolls everything over again into the re-org turmoil. I believe there is a process that has to take place before a new system becomes effective, and part of it is that people have to understand it and get used to it before it can run smoothly and start seeing the benefits. The organizations that are constantly in re-org never reach that point of productivity, and it leaves people unsettled and unhappy, and never reaching the point of seeing the returns from their labor. Personally, we have moved a lot, and after a few years, I start getting restless for another change. I have become so used to it that I look forward to it. I don't expect to move more than one more time--though it could happen, I suppose. But we have now been in this house for 5 years, and the town for 6. That is the longest we have lived in the same house, ever (since we married--our childhoods were very stable). We have lived in towns/cities longer than 6 years, though. I'd be up for moving to a place of our choice in a heartbeat, if we could support ourselves well. ETA: I meant to include that I do sometimes long for the town of my birth and childhood. It would be nice to be in a place where someone knew me as a child, and knew my family and my background.

In the environment where I took it, we were already hired. But we would be working with others in often highly stressful environments, and we needed to know how to work together. Knowing our types was not a weapon. It was emphasized that there are not "good" personality types, and "bad" personality types. (In truth, any of us can weaponize our own type and use it to harm others.) The test was a tool which actually helped us to appreciate and understand each other more, and in my own case, to understand myself better.

Actually, I am a strong introvert who thoroughly enjoys public speaking.

And this is where I hop over to the "T" side. I am an "F" who is close to "T", and things being logical is important to me.