I think that sometimes they are staying the last night after the competitions are done before traveling home.

I just cannot get myself worked up about this issue. I cannot even imagine asking for this because I do not see these products as equivalent to toilet paper. And I am pretty darn sure I could not find a college anywhere that would not give these products freely to any student that showed up at the health center asking for them because they could not afford them. There are universities that have FOOD BANKS. Much bigger fish to fry. The university I work at has more men than women. The building I work in was built in the 1960s when there were even less women. Due to this, the building has a men's room on every floor but a women's room only on every fourth floor. Now it is really not a big deal to have to walk up or down a flight or two of stairs to use the bathroom and I have never heard the female students complain. If anything, I welcome the opportunity to move my legs a little more periodically throughout the day. But there have been many a heated philosophical lunchroom discussion amongst the faculty and staff about it. What is the answer? Do we spend millions of dollars re-arranging the walls, plumbing, offices, and lab space to add women's bathrooms to each floor? Do we re-assign some of the men's rooms to women's so that they are "even" despite the fact that the occupants of the building at any given time are 90% male? I don't see any good solutions there. I am reminded multiple times a day as I hike the stairs to use the bathroom that I am not "equal" in the eyes of the people that designed the building but I also don't want to see scarce resources being poured into taking that reminder away rather than using those resources to recruit and retain more females to the profession.

I asked about this once because every group we have ever traveled with has been all over instead of in a block. The manager explained that it is an effort to discourage "group partying." That if the rooms are not near each other maybe people will just stay in their own rooms and not take over a whole hallway or floor or whatever. I can kind of see the logic but also see how it can backfire.

I had my phone in hand and was prepared to do just that if dh's last-ditch effort to ask the kids to knock it off did not work. He asked and they either quit or went somewhere else in the building where we could not hear them. I figured that all we wanted was quiet. If the hotel employee did not care that these kids were trashing the place, that was not my business either. We got the impression that the employee was afraid of the kids and parents. In the morning we learned that almost every member of our team had called or gone to the front desk to complain. Why that employee did not call the cops or at least for a supervisor, I will never understand. Had the crazy continued, I would have had no problem calling the police. We actually debated it after the parent/coach/whatever made it clear he was going to do nothing. But we also calculated that we had 3 more hours to sleep and how much of that was going to be eaten up by waiting for the cops and dealing with them.

Dh has partially worked from home for most of dd's life and I also partially work from home. There are challenges for sure, but overall it works very well for all of us. We would not have it any other way....except maybe being wealthy and not having to work at all:) Dh and I are both into what is becoming a new work model I have heard called the "gig economy." While one of dh's jobs is a typical "full-time" job, it involves a great deal of travel and almost never requires that he work in a specific location or at specific times. So he will be working away at midnight or on a Sunday afternoon, but might be at the beach on a Wednesday afternoon. His employer and co-workers do not know or care when he does his job as long as it is getting done. When in town he splits his work time 50/50 between his office and home. His other job is part-time and even more nebulous since he is a small business owner and is his own boss. He also does about 50% of that job from home and 50% elsewhere. My two part-time jobs are also 50/50 home/elsewhere and I also really do not "report" to anyone other than myself most of the time even though I very much have "supervisors." And, we have an only child who is now old enough to be self-sufficient when necessary and has always been very "well-behaved" and flexible. She has spent her entire life immersed in our work lives so she is used to it and is willing to do her end of the compromise in order to have the adventures that go along with it. I think we would have a lot more challenges if we had more than one child or a child that was not generally cooperative by nature. For instance, I was able to set my then-4yo up with snacks and coloring books in the back of my university classroom for two hours of lecture with no problems. Not once did she distract me or my class. She even took herself to the bathroom when needed. I know that is not typical. Pros: Flexibility in which parent is doing what parenting job at any given time. We get to maximize time together when both parents (and the kid) are super busy. While dh does very little with homeschooling, he sees first hand what we are doing and is therefore more understanding of the challenges. Dd is not left alone as much as she would be otherwise. I can fit in my work projects between homeschooling tasks which is a better use of my time overall. Dh has more distractions at his office from co-workers than he does at home. Dh and I can fit things in like exercising and meal prep tasks in work-lull times. Dh is NOT a morning person and cannot seem to make it into work until 10am. However, he is perfectly happy to do two hours of work IN BED while drinking his coffee. That is time that would otherwise be 100% wasted. We all can be in our PJs any time we want:) Cons: We do not have a dedicated space for anyone so sometimes there are noise issues. Dh and I use headsets for phone/conference calls which helps but we have a very small house and sometimes someone has to be quieter than they want to be. Our working train-of-thought does get interrupted sometimes which decreases efficiency. I still find attending meetings via phone/web difficult at times. The person who suffers the most from distraction in this situation is dd.

I hate rules like this but can totally understand why they are made. My dd's sports' team stayed at a hotel a couple of years ago that happened to also be occupied by a large hockey team. We had to be up very early in the morning for competition. The hockey "chaperones" were up drinking and loudly partying all night. The teen boys were loudly running the halls. At 2am, we called the front desk. They said they would take care of it. At 3am, the noise was even worse. Dh went into the hallway to find the boys had taken all moveable furniture out of their rooms and were throwing mattresses down the stairwells! Dh went to the front desk to ask why it was not being "taken care of." The poor woman at the desk said she was there alone and couldn't do anything. Dh tracked down the adults in charge, who were wasted. The "spokesperson" for the group, who was at least twice dh's size, told dh to "make him" do something about the situation. Dh finally begged the boys themselves to just stop, which did work. Mere hours later when we were checking out, I demanded our money back since we were not able to sleep more than an hour or two. The hallway walls were wrecked. There was food smeared on everything. Soda was even sprayed on the ceiling. They would not refund our money. I was livid (and exhausted). I appealed all the way up the chain of command of the hotel and got nowhere. All I got was "boys will be boys" and "we have to defer to the adults in charge of the teams in these situations." I did not fail to mention that we were also there with a team of kids that were all under control at all times. I will never stay at the hotel chain again. I am now 100% in favor of such rules although I doubt it would have made any difference in our situation. How they could only have one employee on staff overnight who was too chicken to call for back-up OR the cops, I will never understand.

After getting rear-ended by a tailgater last year, I have started just pulling over and letting them pass. Way less stress for me and safer for everyone. In my head I hope the offender just feels stupid but if not, at least it is not my problem anymore and it does not contribute to road rage.

We are big campers. We have a tiny, ancient pop-up (no bathroom or water or anything) that we use for some trips and tents for others. I take dd a lot without dh and we always tent and we usually use a tent for late-season camping because it is easier to stay warm in a small tent than a pop-up (we seldom camp where this electric for a heater or anything). Two summers ago, dd and I camped for 8 weekends in a row. Dh and I used to backpack a lot and dd has done so with others but we no longer have enough gear to outfit three people at the same time so have never gone as a family. Dd and I will frequently pack up our backpacks for a night or two on the beach. It is not really "backpacking" since we only walk a mile or two down the beach, but it is nice to have the gear to make it easier to haul. The work part has been an issue. I used to spend a great deal of time prepping, cooking, and cleaning. I had a little temper tantrum about five years ago when I found myself washing dishes on the ground in the dark with a headlamp. It was 45 degrees. I changed my philosophy after that. For many trips, especially when it is colder, we tend to eat only things that can be cooked on sticks, in tonka pie cookers, or foil. I still mostly avoid disposable plates/napkins/silverware but there are FAR less dishes than there used to be. I pre-cook and prep as much as possible. I still get cranky when all I want to do is lay in my hammock with my book, but it is far better. Thermorests are non-negotiable for me. Dh even has one of the super-thick ones. I find them to be as comfy as my bed at home and far more comfortable than the "mattresses" in our pop-up. We camp in a lot of rain. It seems like we have bad luck with that. Three years ago we invested in an REI canopy with detachable sides. This has changed my life! Having a place to cook and store things during rain has made my life so much easier. I cannot even count how many times I have huddled under our pathetic little side-less pop-up awning trying to fry eggs while getting drenched from rain being blown under. Or spending the first hour of the day moving around our soaking wet chairs into sun spots so we can use them again. Never again!

About 20 years ago, I came out of the grocery store to find my car GONE. I did note that there was another car in the parking lot that was exactly the same color and model. I called the cops and they were able to track down my car by running the other car's plates. An older man had my car. He brought it right back as soon as the cops called and was mortified. Our ignition key worked in each other's vehicles and I never locked my car so the door was unlocked. Both cars were clean and pretty empty inside. I could totally see myself having driven off with his car except that it was in a very different area of the lot. It was a small town and we bumped into each other several times. I always made triple sure I was indeed in my own car after that! I live in a college town and our house, along with many of our friends' houses) are in areas with lots of student rentals. I have two friends who have found random drunk people in their house within the last year. No one locks their doors. One found a girl undressing in her dd's bedroom! She was able to redirect the girl to her own house across the street. The girl came over the next morning with many embarrassed apologies and specifically apologized to my friend's dd for scaring her so much. The other family found a drunk young man eating cereal in their kitchen at 3am. Again, he left willingly and came back to apologize. But the funniest one is somewhat of a local legend. It happened many years ago. Drunk young man wanders into an old lady's house, strips, and put himself to bed on her couch. She is none the wiser until morning when she finds the naked man on her couch, snoring away. Instead of freaking out and calling the cops like any sane person, she washed his clothing and then made him pancakes and coffee! They ended up cultivating a close friendship and he shoveled her driveway for the rest of his school career. It made the paper, photos and all. As warm and fuzzy as that all is, I now lock my door at night and try to remember to lock my car.

Valid? Yes. Realistic? Increasingly, no.

I agree with others to make some contacts. Often schools consider GPA with time gaps different than a applying-right-out-of-school GPAs. Especially if you have a school in mind and can make a connection with a faculty member you might want to work with. That person can advocate for you. I have worked in admissions for non-traditional students and we considered their applications very differently than traditional students. Statistically, older students do far better no matter what grades they might have earned in the past and schools know this. If direct application looks doubtful, most schools will allow people to take classes as a non-degree-seeking student so that you can establish a track record to reapply. Those classes can still be applied to your degree after acceptance at most schools but do check those rules before investing significant time and money.

I have done both but now buy it. Our local feed store carries Nature's Variety raw food. It is expensive. It cost about $5 per week per cat. That does not seem like much but is far more than dry food and most wet food. But, like you said, it is far less costly (and traumatic) than vet bills. Neither cat has been to the vet in the 5 years since we switched and these are "elderly" cats, 14 and 16 yo. The year before we switched, we paid over $2000 in vet bills. Both cats were in multiple times. It was terrible. And I am pretty sure the Science Diet was a significant factor. I have also bought whole raw chickens from local farms and processed them myself. That was about 1/2 the cost (yay) and likely better quality food but a colossal job with a side of traumatic mess (not so yay). I did it for a while but decided that letting someone else do the work was worth every penny. I would do it again if I had to in order to afford it.

I am pretty convinced that the same monster that lives in my dryer that eats only one sock per pair vacations at the pool to eat goggles. At the last swim meet several parents were talking about the goggles that ALL of our kids have lost and where they possibly could be. There is a box of "community goggles" at the pool that anyone can use when they forget theirs but they are the super-cheap-fits-no-one dollar store types and not the lost goggles. So one does have to wonder, where do they go? I know dd checked the lost and found for her lost pairs. She even went back to look each day for a week or so in case someone found them later. But they never appeared.

Raw food was the only fix for my crystal-cat. We tried Science Diet per the vet's instructions which did seem to keep the crystals away but caused a whole host of other problems. Within two months on it both of my cats had flakey skin, dull fur, vomiting, and constipation. We tried grain-free wet food which quickly resolved all the secondary issues but the crystals came back. Someone here (I think) recommended raw. I really REALLY hate dealing with raw but they are healthy and no crystals for now over 5 years so we keep at it. There are now many types out there. We had to try a few different ones before we found one both of my fussy cats liked.

This is even worse for us. Dd had a recital where they were supposed to wear "spring dresses." It was right after Easter so I think the assumption was that people would have them already. We (along with a lot of other families in this group) are not religious and dd HATES dresses. I would MUCH rather buy concert black that will be used over and over (and can be passed along to other musicians) than a frilly dress dd will only wear once....after I tackle her and force it on her. Dd ended up borrowing a not-very-spring-like skirt and we called it good. Some of the older teen girls showed up in jeans. That was when the attire requirements changed.

I agree that taking away the planned activity is not really effective or appropriate. However, barring EF issues, I would take a hands-off approach. My 12 yo dd was on the swim team last year and managed to lose two pairs of goggles and a swim cap. She does not have any EF issues other than being 12. I anticipated this issue ahead of time (because practices take place at a busy pool where left-behind items were not likely to be recovered) so when I bought her the goggles, cap, and swimsuit (along with the significant cost of being on the swim team) I explained that I would not be replacing any of the items during the season unless they were defective or worn out from use. I was willing to drive dd to the store so she could buy a replacement if necessary. Sure enough, the goggles went missing during the first week. As much as I wanted to question dd to see if I could help find them, I refrained. I simply remarked that it was too bad and would she like me to make a time to drive her to the store. She declined because she wanted a a chance to try to find them. She went to practice goggle-less and lived to tell about it. Then she asked me to take her to the store. I did not even go inside. She used her own cat sitting money and bought a new pair. The next week the new goggles and cap went missing. She did not even tell me about it but just asked for another ride to the store. This time she was low on cash and had to buy cheap goggles and cap. That cured her. She made a checklist herself to keep in a ziplock bag attached to her swim bag. After earning enough money, she asked for yet another ride to the store so she could upgrade goggles to the original type I had purchased. She has not lost anything at the pool since. I really stuck my ground on this one because dd has lost far more valuable items that she could never hope to be able to replace herself. Because we replaced them for her, I don't think she could internalize the importance of taking steps to help ensure she did not lose items. Everyone loses things sometimes and that is normal. But to allow the same type of loss to happen repeatedly when some simple steps could help avoid it is frustrating to watch but nearly impossible to instill in someone else until they have incentive to do so. I saw the swim stuff as the perfect opportunity because it was all affordable enough that dd could replace items as needed. We do still take a very active role in helping dd to ensure more expensive items are not lost (phone, library books, musical instrument, etc....) but I feel dd is now much more receptive to this help after the "great goggle incident."

That seems pretty standard. I'm always just happy when they don't spring it on me with less than a week's notice. I find that there is an assumption that everyone just already has these things but it seems we never do and I'm scrambling. If I have long enough lead time, I can usually keep an eye out at thrift stores and get what I need well in advance. My dd's music ensemble has a dress code of black pants and shoes with a long sleeve t-shirt provided by the organization. The t-shirt has tight cuffs and neck but is too wide around the body. Dd is one of those really-picky-about-how-her-clothing-feels kids. She physically cannot stand to wear the shirt. She was willing to quit the ensemble over it. I talked her into just showing up for the performance in a plain black long sleeve shirt. No one noticed, or if they did, they did not say anything. Dd is a "rule follower" and she was so worried about not following the rules. Then there was the time I didn't realize she had outgrown her black shoes until minutes before we were supposed to leave. I just had her wear black socks. Again, dd was mortified....but at least comfy. All that to say that I am guessing you are not the only parent who might be unprepared.

I finally got a gas stove but did a TON of canning (both water and pressure) on my glass top stove with no issue. I also used cast iron daily. No problems and no scratches. Had the oven not quit in a spectacular way, I would still be canning on it.

I do but I write a lot of checks. I use them for many of the things others have mentioned: lessons, paying people back, gifts, our backwards city's water bills, etc.... We also use checks at restaurants and for groceries. Even gas sometimes. Checks are less expensive for small businesses to process. We shop and dine at small businesses so we use a check whenever we don't have cash.

I do think you are right and it is what I have suspected. The breaks always happen (or at least start) on the empty part of the plate. Sometimes it is between different foods or in the last plate's case it started on the rim just outside of the food. Somehow dh has been making nachos on these plates right under the broiler for years with no issue. I know that is a no-no. I also often pop a stack of empty plates in the oven to warm while whatever is for dinner is baking. That has never been a problem. We are dish abusers.

So, my plates are Lenox. I also have pie plates and casserole dishes from the same Lenox family. I always thought those were meant as "bakeware" which is why I assumed the plates were OK to go in the oven too. It is only the plates that have broken, never the bowls or serving dishes. I am guess plates are more vulnerable because of their flat thinness?

Yep, you are understanding correctly. You might ask why I don't just always pre-heat with the dish in the oven. Which I am fine doing. I just worry that it is coincidental that I have never had a break with that method and want to avoid it ever happening when dd is home alone. Temp is usually 350. Plates are room temperature.

I just wish there were something like this that was more plate-like. It is hard to cut up things like lasagne when they are in something with sides. Obviously transferring the food is the answer to that but I swear if my household produces any more dishes than it already does, I'm going to have to get a second dishwasher.

Those dishes look like a good alternative. Thanks! I have a friend who has also had a new pyrex pan shatter. She was so traumatized that she got rid of the rest that she owned. She also has a gas oven like I do although I'm not sure that is a factor at all. She was telling me something about new (manufactured after 1998) pyrex that has a different composition is more prone to shattering. I do not know the details though. I can say it is about the biggest kitchen mess I have ever dealt with and very loud.

My two pyrex shatter incidents were new and not obviously damaged in any way. Both casserole pans. One was fully loaded with a potato gratin and the other was a bunch of whole potatoes being baked. My old stuff and more bowl-like pyrex has never been a problem. So why does my Lenox plates say "oven safe" on the back? What would you say a "mini casserole dish" is? Pie plates might be a good choice. Does it matter if the entire surface is not covered in food (think a square of lasagna in one spot, a pile of broccoli in another...)?