We have never tried it and there is no way I could sell the idea to my 14 yo, but I can say that uniforms would help with focus and discipline in our house. Dd spends half an hour every morning finding the "perfect" outfit that only I (and maybe the mailman) see. She has an athletic practice every day after our studies at home so she changes out of that "perfect" outfit before seeing anyone else. It is maddening. I would be very happy if she just stayed in her PJs during school. Or a uniform. At this point, she is losing 2.5 hours a week dealing with clothing. More when you factor in the extra time needed to clean up her room after her morning ritual of emptying her drawers and closet. Had I seen this coming, I would have been very tempted to institute a uniform policy from the get go.

We had the loose rule (made before we knew anything about raising children) that dd must be involved in one arts activity and one physical activity at any given time. At 7, that meant trying out different things, always with her input. Dd was always eager to try just about anything. Had she resisted, I would not have forced it. She "specialized" in an art right away at age 4 and is still pursuing it as a high schooler. She hopped from one physical activity to another during the 4-10yo stage and settled on one main physical activity at age 10 that is year-round but relies heavily on cross-training. She still dabbles in others whenever the opportunity arises. I did insist on swimming lessons until dd passed at least level 4. That was a fight but worth it as we are on water almost daily in the summer. Ironically, she ended up choosing to try a whole year of swim team at one point. She ended up not loving it but obviously got over her resentment of the forced swim lessons enough to temporarily embrace the sport. And she made some good friends. In your case, I would drop it aside from safety or PT concerns. Life is too short. A little nudge here and there is worth a try but I would not drag an unwilling child into any activity unless I had very good reasons to do so. A "good" reason in my book includes knowing your child might need to be dragged once or twice but ultimately ends up embracing activities once the initial resistance is overcome.

No idea but that is way cheaper than what I did to fix that problem - LASIK. Seriously. A big factor in my decision to get the surgery was so I could see when swimming.

I always maintain two pairs. I do not use them for anything other than working out. I buy a new pair every year and those become my primary pair for the year. I only use workout shoes for about 7 months of the year as I only ski and swim when there is snow for the other 5 months. So my "season" is typically May-November. I buy my new pair at the beginning of the season. The previous year's shoes become my "seconds." I buy whatever shoe is on sale as I do not have any foot issues that require fittings or special shoes. But this also means my new shoes might be quite different from the old shoes. So I will alternate my new shoes with my seconds for the first few weeks of the "season." Once I am confident that my new shoes are broken in and that my feet are not going to revolt, I only use the seconds for particularly dirty workouts or when my primary pair is still wet from a previous workout. I put about 500 miles of running and an unknown amount of other activities on my shoes each year. That is WAY over what is recommended but I really saw no difference with more frequent changes. By the end of the season, my seconds usually are worn enough to no longer be safe. They then become my yard work shoes. Aside from swimming, I do all exercising outdoors so my shoes are pretty trashed right away, even if I did want to wear them casually. I usually wear nothing but snow boots (in winter) and Chacos (in summer) for casual day to day footwear. I even hike and do all-day-type walking in Chacos unless I am hiking with lots of weight or the weather is colder when I will reluctantly bring out my hiking shoes.

That does sound about right. And likely much less expensive than getting it yourself and no risk of breaking down on the way. It is probably not worth that much on paper but knowing it's history, low miles, and no snow, it is "worth" more to you. I'd do that myself, but I'm sure others would not.

I'm not vegan but often prepare vegan foods. "Vegan Planet" is an older vegan cookbook that has very simple recipes for just about anything you can think of. Most of the ingredients are readily available in regular grocery stores.

NM - Mis-read.

Dd's dumb phone will not receive group texts. We don't know why. It is a problem. Until she upgrades, which will be a while, I have to have my number also on group texts for activities that communicate that way. I can then forward the text to dd. It is a pain for me but certainly not the organizer's problem that dd does not own a smart phone.

Could you have it checked out by a mechanic before committing or at least before flying out? We inherited an older car years ago. It had been sitting for two years and was already 15+ years old. But it had super low miles and had been a southern car. At first we declined the offer but after thinking on it, we needed a car and it seemed dumb to not at least try it. We also had a situation which required a long drive to get it to us. Dh checked it out himself first as he happened to be in the area for business travel. Once it passed his initial inspection, he took it to a shop. It did indeed need some new hoses and belts due to dry rot. We made a plan to get it on a later trip knowing there was a possibility that something could go wrong on the way. It made it and we drove the car payment-free for five years. Then sold it and still see it driving around five more years later. Would it be possible for someone local to take it to a shop before you decide? And how flexible are your plans should you have car trouble en route? Do you have other reasons to make the trip? These would all be factors in my decision. I would hesitate to make the trip and take the gamble for a 17 year old car unless I had other business to attend to and could handle a change of plans during travel. Having it shipped may be cheaper and less risky in the end if you can find a carrier that will charge less than the value (to you) of the car.

I absolutely do not. It is obnoxious and because so many communications are duplicated over so many groups, we tend to miss messages in the fray. Dd is in one group that texts, emails, and FBs every single thing. It drives me bonkers.

I have been the communications volunteer for several of dd's activities over the years. It seems that the more technology we have, the more this issue seems to come up....communication preferences. To the poster who says all groups should have two means of communication....OK, I have done that in all of my volunteer roles, but there has always still been the family that says, "We don't do FB and I never check my email, so can you just call/text/passenger pigeon the messages to me?" I currently have a family in a 100+ kid organization that does not do any electronic communication. No email, FB, texts, etc..... They want me to call them. This is a group in which 5-10 emails go out a week. No. I am not going to call you 5-10 times a week. Sorry. Find a buddy family in the group that is willing to call you 5-10 times a week or bow out. It really doesn't matter how simple you think the request is. It is extra steps for the volunteer and they are well within their rights to decline. As others have said, one tactic would be to offer to take over the communications and then you can have as many avenues as your choose. Or have your son join FB. Another idea would be to send a text 12 hours before each calendar event confirming the times and basic details. The text can be worded in a way in which the leader does not need to respond if the info you have is correct and only responds if something has changed. This is a way to assure yourself that you have the correct info and a gentle way to remind the leader if there has been changes she did not yet relay to you. Not perfect, but the only easy way I can see you getting info without relying on someone else to remember to inform you.

I have a 14yo who is bright and generally easy to deal with. But she cannot work independently. At all. Some kids just take longer to develop independent study skills. I have to be right next to her for most of her subjects. I leave the stuff I know she likes for when I have to be at work. Or I will leave specific assignments that must be done by the time I return. If they are not done, they become "homework" and must be done at night, cutting into her free and/or social time. The computer was also a BIG problem. Dd takes two online classes and some of her other work requires the use of a computer. I discovered she was wasting time every day messing around online. We changed up our WIFI system so that I can turn hers on and off from my phone. I can even do this if I am not home and can put time constraints on it. So, if I am at work and I know dd has a class from 1-2pm, I can have her WIFI off for the whole day but it will turn on 12:55-2:05 so she can take her class. She has to request WIFI access when she needs it for other things. I trust that sometime before graduation, dd will be able to better manage her studies on her own.

I doubt you will find any school that will not require at least 30 credits before issuing a degree. And even if such a school existed, it is also doubtful that all of your credits would transfer to that specific school. That is just the deal. No school wants to put their name on a diploma in which none/few of that work was done at that school. Many schools also will not transfer credits after a certain time period from when the classes were taken. Ten years is common, FYI.

The time my friend and I thought it would be awesome to have 9 kids, ranging in ages 4-12, make and decorate full-sized gingerbread houses. Two adults, maybe too much wine, and 9 kids "patiently" waiting for an adult to help them frosting together their creations or rolling and cutting their gingerbread shapes with piles of candy (AKA ammunition) at their disposal to "help" them be "patient." Neither friend nor I are very skilled at any part of this. What we thought would be a two hour activity ended up being eight hours. We are still finding candy bits and frosting blobs two years later. But the kids still recall it as "the best day ever."

Around here we call this "not enough delta." When you feel colder inside because it is not super cold outside and the warm air is not traveling out as quickly, making you feel cooler. We are currently experiencing "not enough delta" as well. However, I'll take that over "the air makes my face hurt" weather that we had up until yesterday.

We are eagerly awaiting the thermometer to read over 0 degrees F before heading out to shovel the roof. Sigh.

Crisis diverted! I knew I could count on the hive.

I just KNEW I had seen this before. I cannot tell you how many times I looked at that chapter today and somehow missed this. Thanks!

Thank You!!!!

Dripping is not normal. I live in a very cold climate in an ancient house. We have a mix of modern-ish vinyl inserts, slightly older cheap aluminum deals (both of which are double pained), and a handful of single pane windows. We got the dripping thing one winter and I knew something was up. It turned out that my furnace humidifier, which we never turn on, had malfunctioned and was going at full tilt. Once corrected, it took months to dry the house out. A little condensation/ice around the edges is normal. And I will get dripping wet windows if I am boiling a lot of food and forget to use the fan, but otherwise, I think something is not right.

That sounds like a fun exercise....guessing the temp by the squeak. I'm totally going to make a contest out of that one!

I am terribly old fashion AND teach engineering students. The combo means I have never let dd use a calculator. I will. Someday. Maybe.

I am feeling less defeated by the post. Thanks!

I swear that I remember covering this at some point but that could be in my head. I was just sure that I was missing something obvious! (which is still possible, I realize)

I'm with you on this one!