DH family counts kids as kids until 18. If you are 18 at Thanksgiving you are considered an adult for gift giving purposes. It's very clear cut so no one gets their feelings hurt. Of course, that only applies to those living close by; our family has never received a gift from them when we weren't present at the holidays...we are never present.

I don't mind them so much, though I prefer the ones that aren't about gag gifts. Gag gifts seem like landfill crap that I would rather not contribute to just for the sake of a laugh. I do, however, hate them for kids. The disappointment when your child brings home junk after actually putting effort into something is just not something I want to experience at the holidays. Plus, when every activity they are in decides to do one it just becomes a pain. Several years ago I decided it must be consumable so we aren't just loading up someone else's house with stuff.

It saved my MIL. I don't talk to the woman, but things were found and she's still with us.

Does he have a leatherman multi tool?

I wish I knew...he says he doesn't need anything and I am not spending the kind of money it would take for the things he wants. I do have a few little things, but it doesn't really feel like I've gotten him much at all. Getting gifts is not all that important to him, especially during the holidays. He is much more into the other stuff...cookies, lights, decorating, movies, games, etc. As long as we bake cookies every weekend, watch all the usual movies and cartoons, decorate and he gets a chocolate orange in his stocking he's pretty happy.

My tween's lesson is 45 minutes. Always has been. Every time a new teacher tried 30 minutes it took exactly one lesson to go back to 45. My tween started with his new teacher about three months ago. He is starting to complain that 45 minutes is not enough time so I suspect we may be moving to an hour soon.

As I was reading through this thread I wondered, if you send cards to families, do you add the adult children of your friends to your Christmas card list when they move out of their parents house? In other words, if you have been sending Bob and Susie a Christmas card for the past 10 years and you have met and spoken with little Johnny and little Johnny, being not so little anymore, moves out do you add Johnny to your list of card recipients?

I think you need to talk to your kids, especially the older one.

I'm not exactly sure I understand what you are looking for, but I wanted to suggest a day where everyone writes down something they love about everyone else and puts in a jar or envelope for each person. Everyone could open them the next day or whenever works.

We wrap everything except candy. It's just fun! I just use the bits of left over Santa paper as I go.

DH always gets a chocolate orange in the toe. The one year I couldn't find them there were gripes. So I start looking in October. That's it. Stockings are my favorite part of the giving and receiving because it's just little surprises and often things you don't think to ask for or remember to buy for yourself. Luckily, I was pretty clear about how much I like them early in our relationship so DH does a great job. Usually he goes overboard, but he doesn't seem to mind.

So true. Let the production begin...

What about the movies, the cartoons, the hot cocoa, the games, the little things that make the season. The presents are just one day. But then we're just headed into the teens so maybe I'm in denial of the future.

Not a chef, but particular here. I would want to shop for myself. I want to know it feels in my hand. Maybe you could get the roll and put a note in it to go to lunch and shopping or something like that.

Isaac Joseph was my first thought Sarah Elizabeth, but you said no to Elizabeth. Sarah Annabelle or Sarah Adeline

I have offered to help this pack four times. I am attending the committee meeting on Thursday. It is the first one I have been able to get information for at this pack. I have served on both pack and troop committees as well as served as a den leader and merit badge counselor. I am familiar with what it takes and how much falls on the volunteers. And I am willing to volunteer. I can't, however, force them to let me. I didn't know if this was normal for packs across the board. If this level of lax is normal finding a new pack wouldn't change much. I do work to have my children meet the requirements as written. I'm not sure I would call that stricter than the current requirements.

For this child, yes.

Depends on how much work you want to put into it. You can get gluten free steel cut oats. Add some fruit and nut options and you've got healthy and gluten free while being vegan. They make gluten free pretzels and tortilla chips with gluten free salsa. There are a lot of salad options. Minestrone is vegan and can be gluten free if you skip the noodles. Baked sweet potatoes topped with beans. Avocado dip with gluten free chips. Quinoa.

We haven't met many people here. But working backward hasn't worked. We tried that. I said we didn't get a reason...what the email said was the pack wasn't a good fit for our family. Having just met us, I didn't feel it was their place to make that assessment so in reality they didn't give a reason. District didn't have an explanation either. I had to reach out to them to get contact information for another pack. We went to this pack but as my son puts it, "In the beginning it seemed like a good pack, but now it seems they just want to have fun without learning the stuff."

I knew the requirements were changed mid-year last year. I didn't pay much attention to Bobcat as we were past that by then. Thank you for that information. I agree with you that the program was weakened. We've already been told not to come back to one pack. I was not given a reason, but I did ask a lot of questions (Do you have an assistant den leader? Are you using the latest requirements? He seemed to be following the book very closely, and a few other questions about the pack and den.) and I did say I would consider stepping into a leadership role. Another has disbanded. The other had less than 10 boys in the pack which didn't seem very appealing for the new kid in town. We are running out of packs to try in our area.

We just moved and had to change packs. There is a big difference in the approach to the requirements. In our old pack the kids memorized the law and oath for Bobcat, they knew the sign, salute, and all that and could tell you what those things meant in their own words. Here new members were told "You don't have to memorize it, we have time. You just need to do your best." All new Scouts are participating in the Bobcat ceremony next week regardless. My son went to his leader and asked if he could recite the Outdoor Code which he did, but the other boys in the room were making comments about it and the co-leader made a comment about needing to get the other boys caught up. Yet, the others have already been awarded the beltloop the requirement falls under. At our last meeting they counted saying the Pledge of Allegiance as a "participating in a flag ceremony" and signing their name on a store bought thank you card as writing a thank you note. When I asked my son about the meeting he said "It was OK. Signing your name doesn't seem like that much of a thank you." He as since asked to write his own note to send. I'm trying to figure out if this is the normal of Cub Scouts and we are being to by the book, or if this pack is being overly lax and we should look for a pack that is a bit more by the book.

Oldest usually gets a book series for Christmas, or at least a couple of books. Any suggestions? Preferred reading material is usually mysteries of some sort.

OMG! Thanks for posting this. I have been having issues this month...issues I have had before but not for a long time. I just switched brands last month. I hadn't even made the connection because I try not to change brands of things like this. I cannot thank you enough for bring this to my attention today.

Thank you all. I left her a message asking for her to email me what she believed I needed to provide so I would have a written record of what was requested. I received the email which included a request for birth dates and immunizations. There was no mention of the past education of the oldest. I sent the information though I have no received any confirmation that she received it. Is there any reason I should take further action?

How big of a water bottle do you carry?