I liked having two strollers - one that stayed in the back of the van, and one we used in our neighbourhood. The van one was like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kolcraft-Cloud-Sport-Lightweight-Stroller-Orchard/51745088 The picture there is really blurry, but the lower basket is really big. There is a cup holder for mom and one for baby, Folds up quite flat. Cheap enough to not worry about it. Lays fairly flat too (I started using it when my child was quite young). Small enough to get around in most stores easily. I used a bigger, inflated tire stroller for our neighbourhood. It rides better, but was really awkward in stores (BIG) and then the dirty wheels didn't get in my car either (we are rural so there are horses and all sorts of things that make our paths dirtier and bumpier and it would be a pain to wash it off all the time to put it in the car, but I wouldn't be able to stomach having horse crap in my car either). (Phil and Ted stroller - love it and it is so durable, but not good for what you were wanting).

Since you are homeschooling her, are you allowing her to be challenged in her subjects? It sounds like you are keeping her in her "grade." If she is advanced, let her advance to a place where she feels like she is actually learning something.

I think of shyness as more being embarrassed, whereas social anxiety is anxiety about social interactions. A person with social anxiety might be really good at giving speeches, and comfortable. They don't have to talk with someone. They just talk. A shy person would find the idea of being exposed to a crowd difficult and overwhelming. Of course shy people give speeches, but the exposure is the frightening thing. I have a child who was not shy for years, but was socially anxious. People would often label them as "shy", but they didn't become shy until years later when they had a deeper awareness of expectations of others and they started to feel embarrassed about their difficulties or slowness in response. They went through a shy phase, but I think they are barely shy now, but still very socially anxious. It may look the same to people outside of it, but internally they are very different things.

Yeah, us too. Although if it hadn't been in December (when we and everyone we know is busy with all sorts of other things) it might have been more possible. I think my child would have benefited from completing it. Maybe next time.

You need to define "start". Does completing Dragonbox 12+ count as doing algebra? I don't really remember, but a lot of it has to do with opportunity and exposure as well as readiness.

The smells can be awful - it can be someone spreading manure, or the rotting cabbage field nearby, or the chicken barn you can't even see from your house, etc... People are often very friendly, BUT they already have their social networks established so they aren't really interested in integrating you. It's not that they don't like you, they just don't need you and are busy enough with their lives and the friends they already have. People let their dogs roam all the time so they attack your dogs if you go on walks and they crap in your yard. You don't really know what they are spraying on that field over there - but you hope it won't mutate the children and you imagine it isn't organic (or if it is, see the first comment about nasty smells). Even if city people drive just as long to other things in town, they will think driving the 20-30 minutes out to see you is too far and they won't do it much (so if you want your kids to have friends or maintain relationships, you have to do the driving). If you have lived urban, this might really disturb you - people you know may honk at you and pull over if you are out for a walk. I just about died when this first happened - frantically searching for somewhere to flee from the attacker (who turned out to be a nice guy from church just saying Hi). Oh, and the dirt. It is just in the air more - the house isn't just dusty, the farm fields get plowed and the house is literally dirty. Even if you have the windows closed, it comes eventually. Or it gets windy. Dirty. It isn't all bad, of course (we're still here). But you wanted some lowlights. :)

I visited relatives out of town for a couple of weeks during our "sale with small kids and dogs" time. We also donated and boxed a lot of stuff before showing. It all worked out okay, but a piece of me died/went insane during those weeks/months. I have never completely recovered. I am not the same mother I was before. It made me totally neurotic. No matter what I did, there was always more I *could* do, and running out of the house with a crockpot, two dogs, kids and a laundry basket to eat supper in the park, worrying that the prospective buyers might not like the smell of chicken... I think I'm having flashbacks and I'll have to stop now. You can move first. Please, save yourself and do it.

In the 200ish size church we attend, there will often be an invitation to the ceremony for everyone, but not the reception. They word it nicely, but I don't remember how. If the reception is at the church, it has then included everyone and the reception is very simple.

I read a TON of parenting books back in the day - they ALL say they are THE RIGHT WAY (and most put in digs about the other methods as well). The problem with any method that has any sort of structure in it is when people take it to an extreme. Just like if someone reads the WTM and feels they have to do the exact charts/everything. Just like SWB says NOT to do. My favorite parenting book was a mock anthropological study of various groups and how they raised infants.

We have a budding composer around here too. For now, it seems that getting a good foundation in music theory helps (for instance, if the child has their scales, triads, etc. etc. down pat, they can more easily just build a song that works). Elementary Music Rudiments by Mark Sarnecki is what our teacher recommended to us (not guitar, so perhaps not a perfect fit, but it is basic theory).

Take apart small appliances. Interesting ones I recall doing with the kids are a back massage-er and bread machine. We had broken things around, but you can also get cheap things at thrift stores or ask them for broken things.

I've had feelings like that with caffiene. I can handle it again now, but there were a few years there where it made my heart race like that.

I have one like this. It is hard. Hugs to you. We've had a few short seasons of peace, but they are always broken by seasons of tantrums. For my child, 90% of it is anxiety. The toothpaste thing could have happened here. On a bad day, it would have ended horribly. So much screaming and sadness. My child would not have been able to say they were overwhelmed by needing to clean up the toothpaste, but they would have been, and they'd be tired, so it would be over. These are BIG feelings in a little body. My other two were nothing like this. It is a whole different creature you are dealing with - be prepared to approach discipline very differently. If being left in her room gives her anxiety (which you said it did, so she would control herself because she was so scared to be in there), then if she does something "wrong" and she starts to feel big feelings she can see the train coming and knows her worst nightmare (separation, ALONE, increased anxiety) is going to happen, so she flips out even more. My suggestion is along with what some others have recommended - hand over hand help with completing the task (if you can do it nicely). I have learned a lot about giving extra kisses and hugs when I feel like my child is going off the deep end. It helps ME to give love and be positive and calm in the moment. It helps me to disengage and recognize that this tantrum is not really about me at all - even if it is directed at me, it is about my child having feelings bigger than they can handle. If I can wait through the upset, and if I can get my child to snap out of it and help them calm down (Kai Lan has some cute DVDs about that), we can work together on a solution. If my child is beyond hope of a solution, they usually just need to go straight to bed. No anger, it's just they are undone and nothing will help but sleep. So I make it happen as quickly and lovingly as I can. I hope this helps you a bit. There is, unfortunately, no easy answer. And for attacking your other child - perhaps your 4yo needs to be your shadow for a while so that doesn't happen. And talking about how important your 4yo is to you and you want her to be safe, then adding that in the same way it is just as important that the 12yo be safe. In general, I have to have eternal patience to deal with the upsets in a positive way. If I don't, my child will mirror and build upon any tension and it is a million times worse.

You don't have to pay for the freetime app - but you do have to pay if you want the freetime games and apps. They really should have used a different name for that change/add-on. I have been very happy with using freetime with my kids to control what they have access to. As a parent, I have a password to enter the kindle, and can do whatever. Each child has a profile they enter under (upper left corner when the kindle is locked, tap and choose - once they're set up). I put whatever I want into their profiles, and I have the internet blocked (and purchasing blocked). HTH ETA: Oh, and you can easily program both allowed hours and time limits. So ours blocks after 8 or 9pm and doesn't work until 7 or 8 am, and each child only has 30 minutes It can be shorter or longer - I think it can even vary by week vs. weekend, but I don't remember. You can also allow different time for "educational" things vs. games, but as I recall the way Amazon classified things didn't really work well for me.

People are the worst about this sort of thing nowdays. I don't understand why, but it is somehow the way a lot of people seem to function. I try to find the people who actually honour their commitments and schedule things with them.

Hard to go wrong with Lego minifigures.

Eddie Bauer Curvy.

The shelters around here will rarely let people with young children have their dogs. Have you looked into the rules in your area? I have often thought a Border Terrier would be a pretty great breed. A little more barking than ideal, but cute, minimal shedding (you get them groomed a couple of times a year), medium sized (25ish lbs, IIRC), smart.

CAP's Song School Latin 1 & 2 were fun for our kids. They liked the DVDs because of the silly monkey story. It's very gentle and fun.

Aw. I had a nasty thing this week too. Finally starting to come out the other side. I hope you feel less awful soon!

Yes you could combine them in CE. We have the teacher's manual and two student copies - one copy in bw and one in color. The kids each always hope it's their day for the colored one. They are essentially the same book. A few minor edits here or there. The color looks nicer for the pictures, but it isn't a big deal. FWIW, we could likely just use the student manuals on these, but I like us each having our own copy and there are occassional tidbits in the TM that are nice.

Wow, I'm so sorry. It all sounds so impossibly painful and hard.

My kids played some ridiculous Munchkins game with other kids on holidays and really had a good time. I don't know if it stands the test of time, but they loved it.

It used to really unnerve me that someone would study our family calendar intensely when they came over. I actually started taking the calendar down for a few years when I knew they were coming because it seemed so -rude? I mean, a glance or something, sure, it's on the wall, but reading all the days and seeing when my doctor and dentist appointments are... Now I write in code when it is something I don't want them to know, because I don't have enough time to hide my calendar all the time.

I only heard back about the CAT challenge. Does that mean my child didn't make it into the second round of the mathematics one, or have they not got that one open for round 2 yet?