Are there any other creative ways to gift diapers to a new mom? A good friend of mine is having her first and I just happened to find 1/2 of a giant box of Huggies in my basement. The package is unopened but I would like to gift it in a nice, creative manner, if possible. I do know she is not going the cloth diaper route. :) What can I do with these diapers for her?

I only have a moment to post from my phone but I wanted to thank everyone for the input. I have seen several areas where I can make some changes/cuts and some of you gave me a lot to think about. :) I really appreciate the feedback. It had been tremendously helpful.

Nm

On the bright side, at least you know it's something you really wanted, right? :) (this coming from someone who has bought three copies of the same novel lol)

And unfortunately, my 7th grader is one who struggles the most to get it all in. :( Math takes her usually close to an hour and a half. It's not an easy subject for her and she has to approach it slowly and methodically or she will get everything wrong. It is a good, no great!, day for her if she gets math done in an hour. - she will actually do a happy dance of joy if math only takes an hour. Some days of WWS take her a while too but others don't so I guess it averages out to about an hour each. I have started doing grammar orally with her but sometimes I wonder how much of it really sticks. She's not an auditory person. Time will tell on that one. On paper it really looks like it should be getting done but in practice, I don't know what is going on. She's diligent and motivated and wants to get her work done. Something is off. I would very much like for her to be doing formal Logic and getting that Latin done but she shuns it. I try to pay attention to what is going on but with so many kids to keep an eye on at all times things are slipping through the cracks.

I have purchased through the co-op and been using the online lessons for 6 years now. My kids of all ages have thoroughly enjoyed them. We have gone a couple of months of no use mostly because I forgot about them but the kids ask to do them a lot and I have seen vast improvement in their drawing abilities, especially my current 5yo. My 7.5yo loves these lessons. I've always used Mac and never had any issues. We use the computer or MacBook. I don't believe they work on iPad although I have not tried it.

There are too many subjects that my kids are doing and yet I do not know how to cut them out or fit them all in. I could use some advice because when I drop things I feel like I am failing them in certain areas but if I make them do everything, we do school for far too long each day. Here are the subjects I have for my kids: 7yo, grade 2: Math- Singapore, 45 min avg per day Math- speed drills, 5 min, iPad Typing- one lesson per day- 5 min Grammar- Rod and Staff- one lesson every other day Spelling- AAS- one lesson every other day Reading- CLE 2 reading - one lesson per day Writing- IEW Bible Heros- 1/2 hour each day Writing- WWE- 2 lessons each day- one narration, one copywork or dictation - 1/2 hour each day Science- RSO Chem. try for 1 hour each day but sometimes this gets dragged out and I can't quit mid lesson History- try for 1/2 hour each day, not a subject of interest Geography- Expedition Earth- 1x per week, 1-2 hours. (I need to do this or countries would never get covered and this child needs to gain a larger awareness. He actually likes this program so it works that we do it even though it takes time) I add in 1/2 hour of assigned reading- meaning he has to read a novel at his reading level. I don't choose the novel but it's not "free" reading in that he can read anything including comics. It has to be something like Charlotte's Web or whatever that he can read easily but wouldn't touch if I didn't make him. This child would not read if I didn't require it of him. :( But he reads without complaint when asked to put in his 1/2 hour or 3 chapters (for books with shorter chapters) I would like for him to start on MindBenders but there simply isn't time. He's also "supposed" to be starting a second language- French- but I can't even get in what is above that adding more seems crazy. I don't know how to ever get this child to do French. 9yo, 4th grade: Math- Singapore, 60 min avg per day Math- speed drills, 5 min, iPad Cursive- 15 min practice per day Grammar- Rod and Staff- two-3 lessons at a time, every other day (1/2 hour or so total) Spelling- Phonetic Zoo- every other day Vocabulary- one page each day, plus a bit of review (15 min or so) Reading- CLE 4 reading (one book to be completed each month) Novel study- when not doing CLE Reading (there are only 5 books) Writing- IEW Ancient Based Writing OR Classical Composition - 1 hour each day Writing- WWE- 2 lessons each day- one narration, one dictation to keep skills up and ready for WWS next year Science- RSO Chem. try for 1 hour each day but sometimes this gets dragged out and I can't quit mid lesson History- try for 1/2 hour each day, not a subject of interest Geography- Expedition Earth- 1x per week, 1-2 hours. (done with sibling and the program is quite enjoyed by both) Instrument practice for lessons- 20-30 min per day, required by teacher I add in 1/2 hour of required reading but I admit that the above takes so long that she doesn't always get around to assigned reading She is supposed to be doing French but is only 8 lessons in because we can never find the time and start Latin this year but I can't find the time to add this in either. Same for Logic books. When the heck to build those skills? 12yo, 7th grade: Math- BJU 7- one lesson per day Grammar- 2 lessons, every other day Vocabulary- VFCR, 15 min every other day Reading- CLE Reading- one book per month (only 5 books) Reading- Windows to the World when not doing CLE Writing With Skill- as directed in book Science- BJU- 45 min per day (or she'll never get through the book) History- 1/2 hour per day Mapping the World with Art- we aim for 2-3 lessons per week (not done on days history is done) Instrument Practice- 20-30 min per day as per teacher French - BJU French not getting done at this time Latin- not getting done at all at this time I am not happy that I am not getting to Logic with the kids at all. All those thinking skills, which they are lacking in, I can't get to. But there are not enough hours in a day and I don't know what to cut out. Latin, French are not getting done and that really bothers me. I should start the day with Latin but then other things don't get done and I'm having a tough time with prioritizing it all. I spent somewhere in the ballpark of $600 on BJU science this year, including the online lessons and all the lab materials so she needs to get through that program or that will have been an epic waste. I barely have time to read aloud to them. The only time I can is during lunch but only if I don't eat. There are no free afternoons. We start at 9 and go until supper. The kids drag things out like crazy and each day feels so... bleh. Crafts, documentaries, fun board games, who has time for any of that? Free reading? Not in our house. I wish I had time to do read alouds but when????? I also have a few who are K and under that I need to tend to. The kids get a novel read to them at bed time so that's about 30-45 min of reading most nights. But just today, my 7yo told me he doesn't even know the story of LIttle Red Riding Hood. :scared: I totally feel like an awful mother. :( :thumbdown: So many gaps despite my trying so hard. What am I doing wrong?? I don't think any of these subjects are "extra" in that they don't need to learn them. How can I never do history or geography with them? My kids didn't know where most countries are and I found that abysmal. I am teaching them slowly and they are getting a better grasp at geography but that is coming at a cost of second language. My oldest really needs to work on her critical thinking skills but we never have time to get around to that. What on earth? They are learning, but man, how to fix this. I feel like we do so much but at the same time I feel like we do so little. I can't sort through the fog of it all.

We are Mac users here and I use Typing Instructor with all my kids. They seem to enjoy it and it gets done daily without much prompting- in fact they argue about who will get to use it first. My 9 and 7 year olds still do the program but my 12 year old is beyond it now in terms of her skills. I may get her the adult version but she types up all her compositions and does a fair amount of typing for WWS so I hesitant to add one more thing to her subject load even though she could use some work on her speed.

The best thing to do is to use their placement test. One of mine transitioned to Saxon after SM4b and tested into well into 7/6. I had my reservations about that and we ended up doing 6/5 instead. It ended up being a better fit. She was also 9 and I didn't see a need for her to be in 7/6 yet and the reason we switched to Saxon was because she was struggling with math so the higher level placement seemed a bit much. One more year of review and practice ended up being what she needed.

I'm trying to do a simple spreadsheet to use as a checklist for my kids every day. I have the first column that lists all their subjects and the rest of the columns are the days of the week. I just want them to see the list of subjects and check each box as it is completed each day. Simple, basic. No brainer. Except I have been doing this for over an hour and I'm getting frustrated. I first made the table in a text document but I could not for the life of me get the text (for the subjects) to center in the middle of the cell instead of at the top or bottom.- not center horizontally in the cell, vertically. :) I knew the spreadsheet feature allows this so I switched to the spreadsheet. I got everything done and formatted and go to write the names of each day across the top- and for the life of me, the program will not leave the names of the days of the week in caps lock. It will let me caps lock all my subjects but it auto corrects the days of the week. :banghead: I'm going to lose my mind. Yes, this is a hill I am willing to die on. I want the days of the week in caps. :glare: I have tried turning off all the autocorrect features but none affect the caps lock. Why does this darn computer think it is smarter than me and is telling me what my table should look like. :cursing:

May I ask which essential oils you are using and how? Thanks!

(((hugs))) I'm sorry for all your family is going through. :grouphug:

I never really thought much about it until a couple of years ago when I was talking with a friend on the phone. Her (large) family had all come down with the stomach virus (not her) and she was headed to the library to stock up on books and movies for them. That's when it sort of occurred to me where the books we use have been. :ack2: Since then I have spoken with a couple other friends who do the same thing- if their kids are sick they stock up on library items to keep them entertained while down (or still reading and learning at least). Ick. Ick. Ick. Flu/cold germs may not live long on surfaces, but stomach viruses do. Since I share library with some of these friends, I no longer go to the library during peak flu season or when there is a rampant stomach virus. No book or movie is worth all that sickness. I'd rather spend $20 and buy it. I tried to work out the cost once- of a stomach virus- running the laundry every 2 hours, all the paper towels and gloves and electrolyte juice, etc. It's much cheaper to just buy a few books. :tongue_smilie:

Is he looking for an experiment book or something to read? I recently picked this book up and while the kids haven't got too far into it, they do like it so far and are quick to share the neat things they've learned. :) There are also some experiments inside the book. It's really quite interesting.

Sounds exactly like what mine do (12 and 9) except they don't help with yard work, but instead they help with the ones under 3. :) Is there more that you are wanting them to do? Could you offer them cash incentives to do over and above? I have 2 others who are old enough to do chores (feed pets, water indoor plants) so they are starting to take the burden off the older two. I have started a sort of job for hire system where I list jobs I want done (like bathtub scrubbed, making loaf of bread in the bread maker for next day's breakfast) and the price I am wiling to pay to have it done. The kids are all able to sign up for what they want but the job must be end well. Also, they can all opt out of signing up for these extra duties and I will continue to do them myself.

My older kids chose to learn French so I'm simply going to roll with it for the others. :). I would like to get my second grader started on something but I don't know what to use. My 4th grader is using First Start by MP but there is no way my second grader can do the program with any kind of mastery. My 4th and 7th graders are having a hard enough time getting the grammar straight. :) He's not very motivated to do French, but at this point it's not up to him. :). I could really use some recommendations for a gentle introduction, even if its just basic vocabulary at this point. I would like him to do some sort of written work as I find it helps him retain information better. Oral discussions with no work seem to go in one ear and out the other with him. What's out there for this age group?

Are they a regular part of your schooling?- added in at x frequency? Reserved only for sick days? For a topic in science or history would you actually take a day off scheduled curriculum to stop and watch a documentary on the subject instead? Or would you watch the documentary outside of school- lunch or after to fit it in? If they are not important enough to you to warrant time off school do you make your kids watch even of they are not really interested in doing so? Do you require some sort of output after watching one? Looking back at my school days in PS I was never all that interested during movie days- I always viewed them as days that the teacher had nothing planned to teach and needed a back up. I fact, I think in high school I napped through most of them.

:sad: History that is. I simply can't get my kids excited about history for the last year and a half and it has fallen to the backburner in a big way. I need to change this but I don't know what to do at an age-appropriate level. Since September my 7th grader has been doing Mapping the World with Art instead and has read several books on Rome- the Dorothy Mills book being one, the others, I can't recall, but I have assigned several. There has been little to no output in history relating to Rome- just reading. I'm not happy about this. My little guys (4th and 2nd and K) are slogging through SOTW. We do a reading per day with discussion questions afterward and a narration. I do assign the extra reading if they are interested but more often than not, they simply aren't. We don't do the map work as I felt like I was just dragging them through it, kwim? They're just not digging it at all. They have been doing Expedition Earth instead and are really enjoying the geography focus but I really want to get them back to learning about history too. We've been stuck in Rome for oh, a year now. I've posted on the Logic stage board but can't find my posts and frankly I'm lost. Everything else is going really well. The kids are not behind in anything else but I'm starting to panic. I mostly need some solid guidance for my 7th grader. I'm reading to move past the fall of Rome with her. If you were in my shoes... with 4 kids to teach history to, 3 of whom could really take it or leave it (and would REALLY prefer to leave it if given the choice) and one (7th grader) who is really interested but needs some guidance when it comes to what is required of her.... What would you do with them? I'm thinking of going back and having her read HO and OWAT but what to do for output? I try to do reading on these boards but then I get sucked in and hours have gone by and I'm still not clear. I need some solid suggestions that I can start implementing *tomorrow*. And my little guys? They just don't like SOTW. I don't think there's much retention. I'm thinking maybe HIW passport projects for middle ages and renaissance? Are those meaty enough for my 7th grader to join in on? Please don't say TOG. We did Y1, except for the last 6 weeks and it was too much for me. I can't handle buffet type materials because I have this weird need to do it all. I can't choose so I need to step away from the program for now. I'm sorry to ask again about this. Someone kick me in the *** and tell me what to do. :gnorsi: My biggest hurdle to getting done is not just the lack of interest in my littles (that can be overcome) but mostly that both my oldest and littles need me. My oldest is an independent (and motivated) worker but I feel that she should have me there to have discussions with her and go over things and just, well... talk. And my littles, well they need me to drag them through the program. It's not a pretty picture, but that's the truth. I need to read SOTW (or play the CD) but make sure they are all listening. They need me to hover over them and history is one of those things where I find it exceptionally difficult to be there for both levels at the same time. Probably because it's my weakest subject and I can't seem to do both at once (or with anything else going on- I can't do science with one and history with the other). Maybe I need to let go of the idea of doing history with my oldest but then I feel like I am shortchanging her education. Of course, on her own is better than what's going on now, but I do want to strive for better ideals. I could use a hand implementing a plan.

I need a checklist for my kids to use- both for chores as well as daily subjects. Things are getting swept under the rug and I need to put an end to it. :) I don't want to reinvent the wheel and spend hours creating a checklist if I don't have to. Please help me- where on the Internet can I find blank checklists? What ones have been your Favorites? TIA!

I need a checklist for my kids to use- both for chores as well as daily subjects. Things are getting swept under the rug and I need to put an end to it. :) I don't want to reinvent the wheel and spend hours creating a checklist if I don't have to. Please help me- where on the Internet can I find blank checklists? What ones have been your Favorites? TIA!

I need a checklist for my kids to use- both for chores as well as daily subjects. Things are getting swept under the rug and I need to put an end to it. :) I don't want to reinvent the wheel and spend hours creating a checklist if I don't have to. Please help me- where on the Internet can I find blank checklists? What ones have been your Favorites? TIA!

If you know a lot about Ugg boots can you please tell me about how much the knit ones stretch? TIA

How much allowance do you give each child? Also, at what age do you begin giving your child allowance money? We used to do $1 per year of age per week, but if we do so, we will be giving out $150 of allowance each month and that's only for the oldest 4. That seems to be a tad on the high side to me, but maybe that's par for the course for a larger family whose kids are getting older? I dread when they are all a few years older; I'm going to have to get a job just to fund their allowance money. :huh: So what's worked for your family? I could use a few tips.

I would go with NF for warmth and quality. That said, A $160 North Face jacket is not their high end winter gear by any stretch. I don't know that in that level you would see a significant difference in the warmth of the coat. The nice thing about NF is they offer a nice style (not bulky) without compromising warmth. Are you able to try on both jackets and see how they fit first? You may find that one fits significantly better than the other. I personally would buy a NF over Lands End.

Only use when you are coming down with something. It is similar to an antibiotic and you do not want to consume it every day as it will deplete your good bacteria. I supplement with a good probiotic at the same time. I use capsules to hide the taste. :) I have found it really helps me recover faster or not get sick in the first place- colds, etc. I've not used it for flu and never feel well enough with a stomach bug to even consider trying it then. My midwife told me not to take while pregnant but she advised me to use it one time when babe and I were dealing with thrush- it cleared it up real quick!