It is a mix for us. I like the ease of credit cards and we get airline miles for them. BUT we are also huge supporters of small local businesses and we own a small business. Those cc charges really bite small retailers. So at any small, non-chain or local business, I write checks or pay cash. I don't have a debit card. I need an actual paper trail and to be forced to write down each purchase because we are usually close to zero in the bank account. I CCs, I at least have time to plan how and when it will be paid so I do not have to keep exact track of each cent like I do for anything that comes directly out of my bank account. If any of you are members of a grocery co-op, PLEASE use cash or checks! Our local coop paid three times the profit it made last year in cc fees. It was really eye opening when spelled out like that.

Early June or late June? Every year in the early summer, the mayflies come through that area. Usually late May or early June. Biblical plague does not even begin to describe it...... However, the advantage to early June is missing the crowds. So it might be worth the risk.....

We are a much smaller family (of three) but for some reason, all three of us eat far more than what I see others eat. I don't know why. 9yo dd eats as much as we do and she has had to order adult meals at restaurants starting at age 5 because the kids meals were simply not enough food. Anyway, we spend about $125 a week for all groceries, including all household items/cleaners/toiletries/etc. And that is 100% organic and as local as I can get it. That is what we have to spend so I cannot go over on a regular basis. I do meal plan and map out meals for the whole week. I could list all sorts of recipe ideas and tips but there was one single thing that really helps me keep the budget down. I save every single receipt. Even for single items that I may have had to pick up between grocery days. Once a month or so, I sit down with a highlighter and study every receipt. I circle anything that seems to carry a big sticker price and then analyze what it was for (even if it means going back to my meal planning notes) to see exactly how far it stretched. I don't do this to cut out ingredients or anything. It is just very good for me to know which ingredients cost the most, what we got out of it (be it nourishment, comfort, fun, etc....), and take note. I have discovered some interesting things from this exercise over the years. And now in this day of shrinking packages and increasing prices, I have more tools for stretching dollars. Some basics I learned: 1. Spices/herbs in bottles can run up to 4X the cost of bulk. I buy all from the bulk bins now. Another big plus for this method is that I can just buy a little bit of something new if I don't know that we will like it. Or if I won't use it often and a whole bottle would go stale. 2. Tea in bags was killing us. We are big tea drinkers. Again the individual herbs and teas in bulk (organic to boot) are 1/2 - 1/4 less in cost. And I can make my own blends:) 3. Seemingly similar veggies can vary widely in cost. I was appalled to find that I paid twice as much per pound for cauliflower over broccoli when broccoli would have worked just as well in the recipe I was using. This changes seasonally, but now I have an idea in my head what things cost at any given time and substitute whenever I can. 4. Again, bulk bins. All legumes and grains are much cheaper this way and I can buy only the amount I need rather than having partial packages sitting around. 5. Large volume stores are not my friend. Sure, the cost per pound of many items are far cheaper, but if they are taking up valuable space and/or going bad before I can use it up, then it is no bargain. I have a small kitchen and I prefer simplicity. I just buy what I need aside from staples I know I wiil use up. 6. Local farmers often have better prices and even when they do not I find that their product typically lasts longer and is less likely to spoil. This is especially true with milk. 7. Almost anything where some of the processing has been done for me costs much more than it is worth. Like baby carrots. I can make carrot sticks for 1/3 the price. Same with cheese sticks. I buy the cheese and cut it myself. There are things where the cost of convenience IS worth it to me but knowing exactly what it costs is empowering. 8. You probably already know this, but almost any processed grain is a rip-off. It is not good for you, it costs a lot, and it does not keep anyone satisfied very long. I quit buying it all. And I do mean all. That is a big lifestyle change for a lot of people and I won't say everyone should do it. But for my family when it came down to eating well and breaking the budget, everyone agreed we could do without cold cereal and crackers. A bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast or a slice of homemade whole wheat bread to hold up that slice of cheese is far cheaper and more nourishing. And sometimes it is worth the cost. I keep a few boxes of mac and cheese in the pantry so we don't totally traumatize dd's friends. I also have a secret box of cereal stashed away for sleepovers. Dd's poor friend just about starved when we had local eggs over a millet pilaf for breakfast. With home-fermented veggie on the side to boot! Poor kid! It was a last-minute event and I felt really bad. That was honestly, the most "normal" breakfast I could throw together. And I did omit the fermented veggies from her plate (we eat them daily as an immune booster) but she still looked a little green about the "weird grainy stuff." Whoops. I won't let that happen again!

I would recommend checking out St. Ignace which is across the bridge from Mackinaw City. You can also catch the ferries from that side. We like the hotels on that side better. There are a lot of cute little mom-and-pop type places that are less expensive, friendlier, and have more character than a chain. But we are not chain people so YMMV. Tripadvisor can help you see which ones people have had the best luck with. There was a putt-putt place in the city but I am not 100% sure it is still open. There was a big outdoor watermark, but it just closed this year. The waterpark hotel in M City is a bit iffy IMO. I stayed there once and do not plan to return. It could have been an off night though.

I used to do it all the time with homemade almond milk. It was quite good. I used a store-bought soy yogurt (the only non-dairy option available to me at that time) for the first batch then just used a little from the previous batch for all the future batches. It was a little runnier than commercial non-dairy yogurt, but was still a hit in my family. I have since switched to dairy yogurt as we now have a source of local, clean, dairy. I have learned a few more tricks that probably would have firmed up the almond yogurt. I make my yogurt in quart-sized mason jars and I use a small picnic cooler to incubate (this is how I made the old yogurt too). But now I "flash-sterilize" the jars and lids first by pouring boiling water over them. The theory being that you are taking down some of the "bacterial competition" in the yogurt. It really does the trick. I use no thickeners, just milk and a little yogurt from the last batch and I can turn the jars upside down and the yogurt stays. So, I would try that. I also learned that my ancient single-cups yogurt maker is not as effective as my cooler for temp. I think my yogurt maker was running a little high in temp. The switch to cooler in the almond yogurt days did a lot to thicken my batches.

I am curious about this too. And are there any drawbacks to taking zinc?

My 9 yo is now in her third year on team. I do regret allowing her to start and we are working on an eventual "exit plan." I really had no idea what we were getting into. We have a pretty low-key team so the financial and time commitments are nowhere near what I know is normal at other gyms. However, it is still quite disruptive to our family time and difficult financially. Especially the travel to meets. Another factor for us is that dd has changed quite a bit since she first began. It turns out she is going to be quite tall which was not apparent when she started. She is already struggling with the height issues and it will only get worse. Without prompting from us, she has come to the conclusion that she will not be able to continue into the higher levels. She for sure wants to finish out this year and probably one more, but she is experimenting with other physical activities to transition to when she decides to leave the gym for good. Right now, she is still enjoying it and has a lot of fun with her teammates. It is going to be a hard decision for her. I am secretly glad that she is coming to this on her own because I am not OK with the upper level team commitment, risk of injury, or cost.

Ouch. I have stayed out of this conversation because I honestly have no idea what the solution is....other than NOT shaming. For the most part, I see it as none of my business. But seriously, I cannot see how the comment above is any less offensive than picking on overweight people. I am 5'8" and 110 pounds. I do not have a medical problem. My doctor is not concerned. I do not think I would look better with 20 more pounds on me. I like the way I look and I feel good. And I certainly do not have an eating disorder of any type. I have always been thin despite being from a family of obese people. I eat a balanced diet with occasional treats and I exercise daily....not to lose weight but because it is good for me both physically and psychologically. Not that it would work anyway.....I am nearly 40 yo and my weight has been the same, other then when pregnant, my entire adult life regardless of eating and exercise habits. And it is comments like this that get people instantly taken off my list of people I might want to hang with. Why is it any more OK to speculate and comment on a person's weight just because they are thin than it would be to do the same about someone overweight. I cannot imagine saying to anyone "You're right, you would look better with 20 LESS pounds on you." Do you know the poster this was directed at IRL? How do you know she would look better? And who cares anyway?!?!

This is what I do and I swear it is MAGIC. If I miss the first inklings of the sore throat, I keep a small mason jar of the mixture with me and take it as necessary. I swallow it rather than spit it out, that way it does not have to go past my tongue twice. I have found no other remedy that works as well.

I do a lot of canning so I have hundreds in different sizes. However, it did not occur to use them until we had a large summer BBQ party several years ago. I did not want to use any disposable products and was able to borrow enough plates and silverware....but what to do about glasses? Then I spied the box of canning jars on the floor..... We have been hooked ever since for all of the other reasons already stated.

She does not have a cell phone and I know she lives far enough out of town that she would not have enough time to drive home and back during the party. Otherwise, I absolutely would have called her immediately. Not just because I felt she was a little nuts but because her 2 yo son was unconsolable for at least half of the party and the 4 yo never got over her anger over the treasure hunt. The 2 yo spilled lemonade all over himself and the diaper bag did not contain a change of clothing. Even if they had been invited, I would have called the mom under those circumstances. The mom who stayed to help even tried to help me brainstorm where she may have gone so we could call those places. Then we realized how nuts WE would sound asking the grocery store to make an announcement looking for this woman. That is how bad it was..... During the pick-up, I did not mention that I thought she was rude or that her other two kids were really not invited (especially since they were standing right there), but I did tell her in what was obviously an irritated tone that her kids were miserable while she was gone. It did not seem to register at all which was why I decided right then that our kids were not going to be socializing under my solo watch again. We still see this family at group events and as far as I can tell they are pretty normal people. This was three years ago so maybe they have changed their policy. But I am not taking any chances! I like this woman a lot and I don't think she was purposely trying to take advantage. I think she really just thinks this was OK. And really, it was my bad for not being 100% clear when she first informed me of her family's "policy." I should have been more firm that the party was for a certain age range and that I was not OK with adding additional, younger children. I know she was rude to even ask and leaving the 2 yo was over the top, but I do share in some of the blame. Dh even pointed out that I should have expected the 2yo as he was "covered" under the family "policy." It did not even occur to me when she called that she meant the TODDLER too.

People like the convenience of credit cards but do not realize at what cost. One of our local natural food stores spent more on cc fees last year than they made in profit. By a factor of three! It is a really hard choice for small businesses. Either lose potential business because you don't take ccs or pay huge amounts for the privilege. I wish more consumers knew this. Once I was in the know, I make an effort to use checks or cash at all small businesses.

That is too bad....it is my favorite recipe in the whole book. The whole family loves it and it is so easy.

I did not. There was no point by then. I had already promised myself I was not inviting this kid over ever again for anything. I realize I could have had a rational discussion and perhaps changed the situation so that we could again invite dd's friend to things, but I was far too angry at that time to be rational. And frankly, her idea of OK and mine are just so far apart, I did not see us every agreeing on this.

Please don't ask. My dd's 7th bday party was the first time we had a drop-off, all kids party. In the past we had the whole neighborhood and whole families. Dd was very excited to have a "big girl" party. I sent out the invites and one mom emailed to inform me that her "family policy" was that if one kid attends a party, the siblings must also be welcome. Her daughter has a younger sister who was 4 at the time. I begrudgingly responded that the 4 yo was welcome even though I was not pleased about it. I warned the mom that the activities were really directed towards the 6-8 yo crowd and that the 4 yo might feel left out. In addition, I was going to be the only adult there and we live on a busy corner with no fence.....this was to be an outdoor party. I was worried about supervising anyone younger than 6. Much to my shock, she dropped off her 6 yo, her 4 yo, AND her 2 yo son (with a DIAPER BAG)! I did not even see what happened. I saw them arrive, I welcomed the two girls, mom got in the van and drove away. It was just as she left my sight down the road that I noticed she did not take the 2 yo with her. He was just standing there with the diaper bag next to him, blinking at me. Then he started crying because he missed his mom. I spent the entire party chasing the 2 yo around! The 4 yo was also miserable and hid behind a tree the whole time. She was mad because the opening game was a treasure hunt that involved reading and she did not feel included. I was livid over the whole experience. Luckily, another mom took pity on me and the situation and stayed to help me out. She ran most of the party while I babysat. Unfortunately, despite the oldest still being friends with dd, she has not been invited to another party. She has not even been invited over for a playdate. I am too worried that an invitation will require the supervision of all of the children and I just cannot deal with that again. I realize your situation is not nearly as extreme but the hosts know you have a younger child and if they did not include her in the invite, it is for a reason. Not a bad reason, just an age/space reason.

I get this sort of comment with 9 yo dd and team gymnastics. She started at the positively ancient age of 7. People are probably right that starting that late does rule out being an olympian or getting a college scholarship. But, that does not happen for MOST gymnasts regardless of when they started. And who wants that anyway? I even had a distant acquaintance on FB tell me I was being cruel to allow her to participate as she must be "the oldest Level 4 in the state" at the age of 9. Ummm....no, she has teammates who are older....which just led to jabs about her gym being "obviously" inadequate. And again, who cares? She is happy and having a good experience. FTR, I see lots of older kids and adults in the beginning skating lessons at our rink. I also see a lot of crying 3 yos who are just confused and uncomfortable. We have classes that are just for beginning adults, teens, and older kids.

My 9 yo dd was able to do this on her own at about 8.5. She has really long hair and it has to be washed carefully or it turns into a giant tumbleweed. But, if we are at a hotel or someone else's house, I have to help her because the water pressure/angle is different and somehow she misses a bunch during the rinsing process. I learned this the hard way.....

Nope. It is the one food-like thing I actually forbid. The HFCS is the final straw with soda in general. I also never buy juice for the house but dd may have 100% juice (no HFCS) when out or at a party, but that is very rare. I also am OK with an occasional draft rootbeer or one of those natural sparkling waters with a little fruit juice mixed in. Dd is 9 and we have talked about it together. She also is prone to dental decay so her dentist has also instructed her to stay away from sugary drinks in general. She knows why we don't allow it and is fine with it. She is allowed to have coffee and wine in small quantities whenever it is being served and she asks.

Seeing as we currently pay $10/hour to babysit one child who is old enough to take care of herself (but not quite old enough to be left alone at night) PLUS any meals and snacks that occur during that time, yes, I would probably put up with what you are. I might find it annoying but if it is your only option, do it. A night out once in a while is worth it. Our sitters tend to leave a mess too. I can never figure out how so many dishes get used by two people over the course of four hours....even when I prepared the meal ahead of time. I am counting the days (and dollars) until dd is old enough to be left alone once in a while.

We are currently using Sequential Spelling and have since the beginning. We are halfway through Book 3. Dd is beyond bored with it. She is naturally a decent speller. She was an early, mostly self-taught reader, which was awesome. But I have noticed as she has been working on spelling that she does not always have a firm grasp on phonics. She will often substitute incorrect vowels in longer and more complex words. I do not know how much of that is normal or if it is a real problem. I only preface with this info in case someone reads this and thinks I might be making a mistake. I would like to move away from SS and to something more fun and independent. A program full of spelling rules is not going to fly with dd right now. She really just needs to play with spelling and start to enjoy it more. Any recommendations for online spelling games? I would be especially interested in games that use word groupings similar to SS.

Thank you all. There is so much to think about! I know for sure that we are going to back off, starting today. I am not sure "rigor" was the correct word. Dd's education seems far more rigorous than mine was and what I see her schooled friends doing, but far from rigorous when compared to others here. I really do not know how I am going to change things yet but I want to find a way to allow more "space" to explore and be flexible. Just thinking about this all night, I have come to some realizations. Dd does not like to be hurried....she is a sniff the flowers kind of kid. I am NOT like that. This might be the very root of the problem. In my effort to cram in as many wonderful opportunities as possible, dd is suffering. I do have so many dreams for her. I want her to have all of the opportunities I did not. But then I look at my life and am happy with it.....I guess I did not need those opportunities after all. And like many, I feel the pressure of disapproval from peers and family. I feel pressured to make sure dd has better "outcomes" than she would in school to counter the disapproval. I just have to adjust what those "outcomes" are. I have a lot of thinking to do.

I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you posted this! I am going to read it to my dh.

And lastly, I am just feeling sad and like I am failing her. There does not seem to be any love of learning here. She is not enjoying this. I know many/most kids do not enjoy school. I am quite sure she would enjoy more "fun" or a performance on my part....but when it came down to focussing and actually applying the knowledge, we would be right back where we started. This rushing, lack of focus, and lack of attention creeps into everything else. She is constantly losing her belongings (then freaking out about it). She will see a project in a magazine and get all set up to do it, then give up after 10 minutes because it is "to hard" or she runs into a challenge. She has been playing violin since she was 3 and unless I am sitting right with her, she will play through mistakes and just keep going.....or worse yet, skip parts she knows will be a struggle. She is just not very motivated. And I am not sure I can drag her much further.

I am pretty organized with a continual eye to managing our time well so we are free to do other things. We "school" four days a week from 8am-noonish. On those days, dd will have anywhere from 0-60 minutes of independent work to do on her own in the afternoon. This is typically correcting mistakes from earlier. On good days, there is none. Lately that 60 minute max has been creeping up and up and up. The fifth day is reserved for her violin lesson, errands, appointments, and playdates. I am not a extras kind of person. Dd is clearly already miserable so I am just trying to get what has to be done in as little time as possible while still being effective. We used to do projects from SOTW and extra reading books. Those just became too much of a chore and she never seemed to enjoy them so we quit. This is what we are using: Latin for Children B Suzuki Violin SOTW 4 Sequential Spelling 3 FLL 4 WWE 4 Singapore Math 4B Science - outsourced to a weekly class at this time

This is good to know.....in case I cannot find a good solution soon.