Well.....we got 12 inches and still counting today and there was NOT snow in the forecast. We can handle it. It is normal for us this time of year. But usually we know we are getting it. Dd was winter camping last night and is still trying to dig her car out. Lol! We are supposed to get 36+ inches Thursday-Friday. No special prep but aside from the pain of moving it all, I am happy we will have a white(r) Christmas.

We are a one-at-a-time, everyone watches family. At home that is a 30 minute affair. There are only three of us and we are low key with gifts. One to each of us from each of us and one additional gift to dd from "Santa." While this was not always the case, gifts from outside of the house are pretty limited now with no small children in the house. We have stockings too, but those are opened all at one time earlier in the morning. If we had a lot of people and/or a lot of gifts, I would not have patience for this. While we like the gifting tradition, in moderation, I would have a real problem with it becoming a focus of the day that took up a big chunk of time. We have other traditions on Christmas day that are a bigger priority for our time. My solution would be to try to cut down the number of gifts rather than have a chaotic feeding frenzy.

This is difficult in my house. The only (very small) closet we have is in our bedroom and our house is small....we use every space. I have had to become very crafty over the years. The dryer is my short-term place to stash something that I have to hide quickly. I just have to remember to relocate before anyone does laundry. I do the same with our big recycling bin on the front porch. I can toss something in there but need to remember to relocate, again, before anyone goes in there for any reason. For longer term, I have to do an almost-in-plain-sight strategy. The one closet is the most natural location but it is so tiny that the footprint is only large enough for a laundry basket and two suitcases. And dh goes in there daily, so hiding his stuff is hard. But I found that the suitcases are perfect for hiding. I stash gifts inside my big stock pot, which lives in the back corner of a cabinet. I have put items in the chest freezer (I'm the only one that venture into it). I can put smaller items in the bottoms of my clothing drawers. Our camping cooler is another sneaky spot. My dh has it good because he can use his work office. I work from home so I do not have this luxury.

This is getting off topic a bit, but I would like to know how people in the past really hung their clothing inside without causing moisture problems. As I said before, I line dry mine outdoors when I can....even when I work (I just put them on the line in the morning and take them down when I get home), but the amount of snow we get makes it pretty impossible in winter. I mean, even if I could use my snowshoes my clothesline is only a foot or two above the snow line in the dead of winter. Not at all practical. So, I used to hang everything indoors. But we started having moisture problems (mold growing on the walls of the room I used for hanging) so I switched to drying about half and line drying the other half, which seems to have solved the problem. But I have a small family and not much laundry. If I had more, I cannot imagine. I am guessing people just washed less in the days of yore. But that also is not practical in modern times. There is a house we pass when traveling that has a super high pole and a pulley system from the house. Even in winter you will see clothing flapping up the line all the way to the pole that is probably about 40 feet tall set at least 100 feet from the house. That is a pretty neat solution....but my neighbors think we are weird enough..... And I also wonder about wind. At least once a summer I am picking my laundry out of the neighbors yards when I get home from work and the wind has kicked dup during the day. With it way up high like that, I would have to have some kind of vice-grip clothes pins!

That does not even make any sense..... First, Where's Toto's ds has not noticed anyone staring. Second, my person doesn't wonder because he doesn't care. Third, I'd guess anyone with face tattoos knows why people are staring....even though..... Fourth, staring is rude. Wearing a skirt is not. Fifth, and so is demanding to know why (and how often) a boy decides to wear a skirt when it is none of your business. Why do you care? Which you did not answer the first time I asked. Why do you care why he wears skirts? Why do you care how often he wears skirts?

I actually DO line dry most of the year. We get 300+ inches of snow in the winter, so during that time, I line dry about half of our things indoors and use the dryer for the other half. This is actually one of the issues. Anyone that would do laundry for me would just chuck everything in the dryer no matter what season when I have a lot of items that should never go in the dryer. I have no problem with people seeing or touching my sheets, towels, or even undies. I mean my undies go on the line in my yard, in the middle of town, where literally everyone that drives or walks by can see them. In fact, my laundry photobombed the google earth shot of my lot!

I run with a friend group (chosen family, really) that speaks this way at all times. Most of us have known each other since college and we spend time together several times a week so the banter and humor has developed over a long period of time. But I also naturally lean this way. It is actually quite fun and witnesses are often both confused and fascinated. We have a few grown children out in the world now and they have learned the hard way that not everyone rolls with this. It sounds like your ds could use a few talks about not crossing the line into being mean, even if he thinks it goes over heads. But if you are not getting complaints from teachers or parents, I'd let him figure it out for the most part. I used to teach university classes and my dry humor was lost on most of the classes but I would get a comment or two on my teaching evaluations each semester about enjoying my dark humor. It's almost an inside joke for the ones who have the "gift" while not harming the ones that don't.

I know I shouldn't take the bait..... A male that I am very close to enjoys occasionally wearing items that are considered "feminine." Why? Because he wants to. He likes them. He is irritated that men don't get to wear pretty things. I can assure you he is 100% heterosexual. And he gives zero f#^@s what anyone thinks. As he should. Why does it matter *to you* why Where's Toto's ds wears skirts? Does there have to be a reason?

Why not?

For those that think it is strange to feel protective of their laundry, do you not have items that need special laundry care? Even within my own house, I am really the only one that does the laundry because I am the only one that knows which items must be washed on hot or must be washed in cold or gentle or soaked or or or..... Same with drying. Some must be dried on hot (kitchen rags) while others must be line dried. During my cloth diapering days, I remember feeling like I had to hide the dirty diaper bag when I was visiting my ILs because my well-meaning MIL would try to "help" by washing the diapers. But her idea of washing was to dump in a hot wash with no pre-rinse and dry everything on high...even the covers that should not even go in the drier. And she would put fabric softener in it all! A big no no with cloth diapers. This is just an example, but you get the point. I have had guests use my laundry facilities and I am 100% fine with that. I just be sure to show them the ropes and have them sign the waiver form freeing me of liability if my washer eats one (or more) of their items. I also make sure that there is nothing of mine in their way so there is no chance of them having to handle my laundry. My washer and drier are also in a public space so when I do laundry, I do it and clean it all up as quickly as possible so this is not really even something I have to worry about. I have also done my own laundry as a guest in others' houses many times. And I always ask first, then ask if there is anything I should know about how to use their machines, and what I should do if they is anything in the washer or drier. I also offer to do any laundry but have never been taken up on it. All that said, I feel like the OP's situation is not really a typical situation in so many ways that none of this applies.

We have a "Becky" named Yvonne. I could walk up to any random stranger in town and ask them if they know who Yvonne is and I would get a 50% return rate of "YES, that's the slow, cranky cashier at XXX store!" I think there are support groups for people who have been tongue-lashed by Yvonne.

I do not want anyone doing my laundry. Ever. Unless I am in the hospital or something. On a practical level, I have an old and fussy washing machine that takes special care to use, so that alone is good enough reason. Doing anything "wrong" will result in not-clean laundry, at best, and a no-longer-working washing machine at worst. So, I have my reasons. But even if that were not the case, I would not want anyone touching my dirty laundry. I don't want to touch anyone else's either. Like the mildewy towels, I might have a certain way I wash them to make them actually come clean whereas if someone just washed them normally, the mildew might become permanent in the dryer.

Yep. Iceland was one that got me. I now just give myself a pep-talk on the way in: "I am going to mess this up, I am going to have to get help, I am going to feel like an idiot, I will never see these people again, just be patient and grateful for help....."

They just make me feel like an idiot, LOL! None of the stores I frequent locally have self-checkout so it is not an option for normal shopping. In fact Walmart is the only store I know of in the area that has it and I have never set foot in that store and never will due to ethical concerns. I hate shopping in general so it is not like a recreational activity when I am traveling. So, my experience is mostly when grocery shopping in foreign countries. Language, different practices, and self check-out usually has me comically flustered. In theory, I would prefer it as I prefer to pack my own bags and don't really like small talk. I have used it maybe a total of 5 times elsewhere in the US and something has gone wrong each time, but I chalk that up to inexperience. I'm not sure that there is much of a jobs difference. For every self-check-out, you still have 1/4-1/2 of an employee assisting/monitoring. Then you have the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance jobs, software/hardware engineers, auditors, security people, etc...... I suspect that companies that are moving to this are doing so more out of trying to streamline and reduce employee errors/theft than actually saving on wages.

I will also suggest getting involved on the parents FB page if you can. I am local to my dd's university and am on our FB page. I have stepped in and helped several students over the last two years. Many others have as well. It is a pleasure to be able to assist knowing that it could be my own kid that might need it someday. I have delivered food and medications, pulled strings to get kids in to see doctors that are not taking new patients, and have driven kids to appointments and the airport. And I hope you can get there soon!

Anyone in my house on Christmas morning gets a stocking regardless of age or relationship. Anyone out of the house does not. I do have to remind dh to put something (anything) in my stocking after a very awkward year in which mine was the only empty sock. He, dd, or both had managed to do something each year before that and I don't know if they forgot to make a plan or what. I was not hurt so much as embarrassed and had to kind of sneak the stocking out of sight so as to not call attention to the situation. I am always the first person up so now I keep a handful of pre-wrapped items that could be for anyone that I can toss in my stocking in case it happens again. So far it has not although most years the items in my stocking are very clearly from the open-on-Christmas-Eve grocery store. Lol! Dh is not a planner......

You are all wrong about the wrapping. Santa DOES wrap all the presents, even stocking gifts. And he does not use the household paper....because who has time to break into a house, find the wrapping paper, and wrap everything? No no no. What happens, you see, is that every year Santa picks up and saves comic pages from newspapers all over the country as he is dropping off gifts and uses them to wrap gifts the next year. And it truly does have to be Santa because no parent would be dumb enough to start a tradition that involves soliciting year-old funny pages from all over the country every year. And what parent would now be in a position of STILL doing this because their grown-ass kid still expects it? And what parent could have predicted that newspapers would die and it would get harder and harder for Santa to collect them? Doh! Anyone want to send me Santa your funny pages for next year?

I have a lot of things to negotiate. The ashes thing is just what is listed on their large-company website rules. I will be asking more questions for sure. The typo is only on the cemetery records. I have already started to process to get that corrected. The death certificate was also wrong originally, but my mom fixed that decades ago.....thank goodness!

I'm on day 15 and I feel worse today than I have the entire time. I have a huge and important presentation at work tomorrow and I am starting to freak out. I can mask but the coughing fits can take me completely out for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Thanks so much everyone! Consider your posts "liked" by me. I have learned a lot already. I did get some new information from the cemetery. They will not allow additional ashes to be buried in my dad's plot and the marker is not a double. They don't allow that either. There is no marker for my mom yet, so I will need to keep that in mind. If things happen the way I think they will, I would just transport the ashes myself, by car. While 10 hours away, we will still be within the same state. The cemetery does require a vault for ashes as well. She was very involved with her church and still is whenever I can arrange for someone to transport her to and from services and events. I am quite certain we could do a memorial there, which would be ideal......anyone who is still alive and well enough to attend would be people associated with the church. I think my next step is to talk with a local funeral home, as TechWife suggests. All are privately owned so I will likely have a better shot at candid conversation that I would working with the cemetery. The reason they even contacted me is because a large company took over the cemetery and they are trying to get people to pre-buy stuff under the guise of "confirming our contacts." That is annoying but at least I now know where to start. Scarlett, I think we may have discussed trying to find my dad's plot years ago when I tried the first time. It turns out there is a significant typo in his name which is why I could never find it before. I should have checked as this typo has happened before....... I'm not sure what, if anything, I should do to try to correct it.

I am a DPOA and main "caretaker" for my mom, who has dementia. I handle pretty much everything legal/financial/medical. This arrangement got sort of dropped on me and I have spent the last few years picking apart decades of paperwork to get a handle on things, most of which I have. One big hole in all of this was deciding how to handle a funeral and the associated expenses. She will be going into Medicaid spend down at some point soon and I have read over and over that one thing to take care of ahead of that is funeral expenses.....which can be pre-paid before spend down. I knew that my mom paid for a plot in a cemetery back when my dad died.....which was a looooong time ago. So long that embarrassingly, I did not know what cemetery. I tried using various search sites but had no luck. Nor did I find any paperwork that would have been helpful to determine proof of a paid-for plot and/or WHERE. I put that all on the "worry about later" list and moved on. Out of the clear blue sky, I got a phone call last week from a cemetery confirming that I was the contact for these plots. They were "helpfully" explaining what additional things I could pre-pay. I am a little confused because my contact info has changed a LOT since my mom bought those plots and as far as I knew, my name was not on anything. I was still a kid at that point and cell phones were not even a thing. I have moved a million times since then. So, I am confused as to how they had my info but the place checks out. It is indeed the cemetery my dad is buried in and they do have proof that my mom does indeed own the adjoining plot. So....procrastination for the win! I at least have that info now. They are, of course, trying to get me to purchase $6K+ in prepaid items (specifically a vault, interment recording fee, and a memorial marker). I don't have to move on any of this quickly but I do have some questions that perhaps someone here can help me with. My mom is no longer capable of discussing her wishes with me but I am pretty sure that what she wants is the whole deal. Viewing, open casket funeral at the church, parade to the cemetery, a marker, etc...... This is 100% not my style and most of the people who would attend all of this are no longer living or fit enough to attend. There is also a logistical issue. While she currently lives in a facility near said church and cemetery, I am likely going to have to move her closer to me (10 hours away) once she goes to medicaid. This is almost certain to happen as she is others physically very healthy. Some things I need to better understand: 1. Let's assume for a moment that I attempt to honor what I believe her wishes would be. I would have to purchase the items the cemetery is peddling, along with funeral home services, church stuff, etc..... But we would be 10 hours away. Anyone know what sort of costs would be associated with transportation for a distance like that? 2. I actually expect to do a compromise of what I think she would want. Cremation, memorial service at her home church, and burial of ashes in the plot that she has already purchased. Anyone know if cemetery will allow burial of ashes in a regular plot and if so, I assume we won't need a vault but would still need the marker and maybe the interment recording? Would there be costs I am not thinking of (aside from cremation)? As I said, I believe this will be many many years from now, but the financials are something I need to get a handle on soon so any advice would be helpful.

There are no minor children in my house and even when there was, no one truly believed Santa was real, but somehow I still feel compelled to make it secret. Dh also fills my stocking and somehow does it every year with me not knowing when or where he hides the goods. It is probably a dumb thing to lose sleep over but here we are...... I won't even go into the heroic lengths I went to years ago when we spent Christmas Eve in a hotel every year.

Anyone else struggle to play Santa? Our house is very small and the stockings hang from the banister on the stairway. All sleeping people are within 20 feet of that location. I usually set an alarm in the middle of the night to fill stockings because I am also usually the first one in bed. The other people in this house stay up for hours after I do so trying to outlast them is impossible for me. But then I would be lurking around at 4am with crinkly paper and plastic bags and all the noisy things. One little game changer was to switch to pillowcases. I have one for each person....eliminating the need for me to try to read labels in the dark. And they don't make noise! In our case, they are also a first defense against being discovered since no one in my house knows I use the pillowcases. I keep them in the laundry basket out in plain sight and no one is the wiser. And speaking of laundry......no one in my house except me ever opens the dryer door. This is also a good hiding place for gifts. Even if someone got crazy and did laundry, I would have at least until the washer ended to rescue the items. So there is one (tiny) upside to my family's refusal to do laundry......

Wrapped for sure! If something is awkward shaped, it might go in loose but in general everything is wrapped. Since I am the procurer and stuffer of all things stockings and I live in a tiny house with no closets, I have to wrap everything as soon as I get it in the house or it could be discovered. In both my and dh's FOO, as others have mentioned, stockings were fair game before the rest of the house was up. So when I was little, the things in the stocking were selected based on what might keep us occupied the longest (puzzles, food, activity books, crafts, etc....). I theory that would also be true in my house before we were empty-nested, but my dd would sleep well past all adults, even as a toddler, and had to be awakened to open gifts every year.

If cold is not a trigger for asthma, then by all means, yes! I have a nasty cold right now and ski almost daily. I went back and forth yesterday about doing my daily ski while sick. I decided to try it and it was the best part of my day. I would not say it made my illness better or worse, but it sure helped my attitude! I am still pretty sick today but will for sure not skip my ski. I will just make sure to take it easy.