We do a block schedule for English and history. Ds has one music class every day at the local ps, and one foreign language class every other day, so he gets home at 830 2-3 days a week, and 1030 2-3 days a week. He does math and science online, a little each day (one hour normally, sometimes more or less). Those are preplanned out by the online school schedule. Then I schedule either English or history for 2 hour ish blocks, 2 days a week one week, 3 days a week the other. I flip flop them so on long "at school" days (the 1030 home days) he alternates which subject he does so neither is always shortchanged. Normally he has prep reading for English, and history, to complete over the weekend, and if a paper is due (I try to alternate so only 1 due a week) it is due on a Monday so he has the weekend. Next year science will be a once weekly outsourced class, I have no idea what the workload will be daily. Hopefully everything will work as it did this year, it went well having only one "big" subject per day.

Well since this is only the list for the first year of high school, I expect by the time he graduates an admissions person may give a scholarship just to stop reading through the list! I'm going to gather and list the periodical reading and documents/letters/speech reading, just to have it in one spot.

I am (finally) organzing all the transcript type stuff for the two non-outsourced/outside graded classes we did, US History and English. English is pretty straightforward, as far as a works read page...except its pageS. Like 4. Size 12 font, MLA style...4 pages!And I did not include the reading done for a Keystone online Creative Writing class, I figured the transcript from Keystone wouldn't need to be broken down like that, unlike my "mom" classes. This seems like an awful lot. Will anyone really want to see this list? And part 2 of my reading list question- History. I have over a full page of just books. I have not gone back and gathered the weekly current events type reading he did (usually 2-3 times a week) in periodicals we get at the house- mostly the WA Post, Foreign Policy and the Economist. I did not always write down everything needed for a full MLA type citation, either- maybe the article name and page number or date, but not the author of the article. Recreating it will be time consuming. And what about excerpts or full historical type documents read- letters, speeches, etc? Do I list those as well? Its actually quite impressive to me to see everything he read (not including what he wrote, discussed, watched) listed out. But since I am his mom, I expect to be impressed- a college admissions person though...not so sure. Advice? Better to list it all somewhere in case someone needs it someday? Stop the madness and just stick to books?

Well...at risk of sounding like a feline whatevertheoppositeofmisogynistis....yes. Male cats are kind of dumb. But sweet, friendly, not usually neurotic, and well behaved. Poor male kitties, victims of evolution- they don't have to live long enough to do more than spread their love around. Survival of the species is in the hands of those wily, crafty female cats...which if gone missing overnight is a bonus!

I had to learn when a company car was in the shop and they had only a stick shift to replace it- it was do or die. Think scary, 3rd world roads, and me having to navigate them and learn at the same time. I pity that poor jeep cherokees transmission, but I learned! We don't have any stick shift cars currently, but I'd like my kids to learn, just in case. You never know when they might find themselves on the amazing race, lol!

My secret fantasy is "what I'd do if my kids were in school". I have it all planned out. We are going on 11 years home schooling, so it isn't like I haven't figured it out with some success, but I still have that secret fantasy. So, I can't judge. I've been actively imagining all the things I'd do with the kids in school for going on 11 years now!

Female cats are smarter- I've had probably 20 cats in my lifetime, and the female cats all outlived the males. Our male cats have been inside cats due to lethargy and well, dumbness, lol. So that is in kittens favor, she is a clever girl! And 5 months is not really kitten, she can fend for herself at that age. My bet is she will be crying at the door tomorrow morning, at least I hope so!

Fiscally responsible! I love it! That commercial is darling.

Yes, thank you. I am finding it a sort of frightening world for Ds and his friends, really. Candy- he had candy. My kids love candy, and are teens, and often walk to the store at night. I just can't get my head around the candy, for some reason. Drives it home. I don't pray, per se, but I am thinking of Trayvons mother very much tonight, and have since the case broke. May he rest in peace.

I agree it sounds like a kid version of "go to he'll" unless they are known for extreme religious beliefs. It's hard to navigate the line between overbearing and letting them work it out with guidance- got no advice there, we moved frequently and that always solved the problems, lol!

My youngest liked to pull my shirt down over it, he called it his "club". More specifically, he called it his "booby club"! My dh joked the baby wanted some "booby", and wouldn't you know, at 6 months the bugger had his first word...booby. That was it, no nice euphemisms round here, it was "I want booby"! At the top of his toddler lungs. And his preschooler lungs. He finds all these stories uniformly horrifying now at 12, of course.

You know, I have always been just flummoxed by weight charts and how they don't take frame size into account. For things like military weight tables, wrestling weight classes, ballet weight charts, etc- never once have I seen frame size referenced. But it's such a big thing! I am 5'7", and yes, I'm very thin. But my weight is in the really underweight category...except I'm not. I have tiny, tiny bones. Tiny wrists, tiny ankles, tiny knees. My mom is a bit taller, and also thin, but is a good 60 pounds heavier, because her frame is much larger. Side by side, we wear the same size clothes for the most part and look like we would weigh about the same. Bones weigh a great deal, and I suppose there are average frame sizes most people fall into. But if you don't, those weight tables are going to be completely off. And no one tells anyone this (or at least no one told me!).

I have a funny blood donating story, actually. When I was in the military we had a blood drive day. Those that donated got in line and donated and were off. Those that didn't- many could not due to recent deployments to risky areas and whatnot- had a general field day type day. Painting stairwells, filing papers, raking leaves, that sort of thing. Well, who doesn't want a day off? So I donated anyway. Big mistake- huge. I was completely wiped out for a week, my "day off" was a waste since I slept all weekend. I drank gallons of water to try and help, but it was not a nice feeling, and the next blood drive I just buffed floors and didn't risk it! Ds has already gotten scholarships to the 2 summer programs he tried out for, and to a residential school. But they are partial, and not for the room and board part of the expense.He just started this year, and we hadn't planned on him getting to programs or really liking it (and doing so well with it). In the future if it pans out and he wants to really do this, he will I'm sure, but for the next few years it's an expense we will have to bear. His school tuition- yes, I could probably get it reduced. But we can pay it, and it's a small school, the main teacher and his wife (both Russian immigrants) have 3 young kids and also work second jobs delivering pizzas, plus dance in local production when they can for extra money. They are wonderful people and while I know they would do it to keep him, I don't feel right about that. If it was the only way for him to keep dancing, sure, but it's really matter of finding income for the extras. And those dumb slippers he burns through at a pair a week! Thank you all so much, I have real possibilities to explore now thanks to this thread. Feeling a bit more hopeful I can find a way to make our budget not so darn tight. I've said it before, but gosh darn I love this board!

The dog care idea is quite intriguing- lots of agencies advertising for walkers and in home care. We have a big fenced backyard, two older kids who love dogs, and a congenial but elderly lab who spends 23 hours a day sleeping in the cool basement. This could work! I could watch dogs daytime or for vacations, they would get walks, playtime and can sleep and hang out with us, no kennels or scary boarding. And this area is ga-ga for doggy daycares and such. I found an agency that provides insurance/bonding and you pay them a percentage of anything you make, you solicit clients via a profile. Anyone (long shot) have experience with this? I'm very knowledgeable about dogs, willing and able to understand common behavior problems (we only adopt from shelters, so I've run the gamut) and...this could really work!

I don't weigh enough to donate blood (so embarrassing!) but perhaps plasma is different? I can't think of any skills I have that aren't terribly outdated for tutoring- we live in an academic pressure cooker area and hence, tutors are $$$ and have masters and doctorates. I speak several languages, but am not a native speaker, and I am not particularly qualified to teach anyone elses kids anything, for this area. Not crafty. Tell ke about dog walking- I could do that in a two hour stint in the day, or in the evening. Does one hang up fliers around advertising? I thought about doggy daycare/home boarding dogs (they can sleep with us! And play! No kennels here!) but the insurance implications make me nervous- like daycare, are there a ton of hurdles to jump through? If I do it informally, do I risk getting sued?

Dh actually had an old truck years ago I really, really, really wanted to convert to using restaurant oil! I found kits and plans online, I'm telling you, I could totally do it with my 2 years of auto shop in high school. But he wouldn't go for it. :-( I thought about babysitting, but I don't really want to go through the hassle of getting background checks, license for care, all that stuff. Maybe an informal type thing would work? I'm not sure working weekends at retail would be enough money to be worth it- it'd be 16-20 hours a week, tops, that's including Friday nights which still have obligations for kids to be places, but dh might could pick them up as he leaves fairly early Fridays. Earlier, anyway. Tell me more about this cleaning offices at night thing, please! I am a grade a neat freak and generally great cleaner, and I (sickly, I admit) actually would enjoy that. Late enough in the evening (7-11/12) would work. What do I look for in a job listing? A cleaning company who does this? Tell me more! I can't really make anything...I don't think. I don't bake. The pizza place idea is intriguing. I may have to think on that and put myself "out there" it doesn't hurt to ask, eh? He has 2-4 hours at dance and its not very feasible to come home and waste gas...hmmm. But still, not much money. I need to win the lottery, but I suppose that's out since I never even buy a ticket.

I have a child engaged in a very expensive extracurricular- ballet. Of course, he is brilliant at it, and needs to go away to summer intensives at the tune of 5000 dollars. And his brother plays three instruments and needs lessons. And he would love to do summer camps in forensics or archaeology or whatever. And we would all love to go on a vacation that didn't involve driving 14 hours to an unlovely Midwestern state and staying with relatives. But, we can't afford it. We can survive on one income, and pay for school stuff, and ballet school tuition...but that's it. Older Ds is teaching himself piano (he has years of music theory so it's not as bad as it sounds) and knows lessons aren't in the cards. No way a vacation is happening, if I can somehow squirrel away money, its got to go for a summer ballet program (and that is with scholarships- he will/has to get scholarships). I need a JOB! But- when!? Dh is gone 6am- 7pm, with the hellish commute. Ds needs to get to dance every evening from 5-7 or 8, and in the morning older Ds is dual enrolled and needs to be at school at 7, then picked up at 830 some days, 10 others. And home school band. And Chemistry class. All things during the day that make carving out a 4 hour shift (doing what?!) impossible. Help me, please. I can't squeeze our budget anymore (but you never know, ideas welcome) and I am at a loss for job ideas. But I really need one. Just 5-600 a month and we could do all the "extras". There has to be something I'm not thinking of. I am just like that picture you see of the guy on the Internet banging his head on the desk right now.

I'm pretty sure that is true about the cats.

THanks Gwen in VA, your post is timely for me. I totally forgot DS won a medal at a foreign language contest, and he has the certificate crumpled up in his closet or backpack somewhere. Need to pull those sorts of things out, and I hadnt thought of that stuff at all until reading your post!

OH. MY. HOLY HECK. That is awesome!! I never thought of that, its perfect, I need need the latest edition! We will use this but have to add to it, so I didn't want to spend a bundle. I bow down to your awesomeness. And I freakin love this board- I couldn't home school high school without it.

Oh hey- it did link! Go me!!

I really, really want this for history next year http://www.amazon.com/East-Asia-Cultural-Political-History/dp/1133606490/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_4NXV (I can't link) But-its pricey and I have found no used or cheap solution. I haven't ever really looked for used textbooks though, so any resources/forums/lists/sites you may have are much appreciated!

Can you get a word of mouth type situation to rent? A friend, acquaintance, relative type deal where they know you? Or maybe ask a church for help (you don't have to be a member) to get the word out you are looking for an affordable rental option? How about public housing- though I think the wait lists are astronomically long for that. Craigslist posting explaining your situation? Renting a basement or room from someone informally? I'm so sorry you are in this situation!

Mine is kind of tmi. I figured out or was told from a young age that babies came through the vagina to be born. I knew my other bits and pieces all had a function. I knew men and women had sex to have a baby, and it involved a @enis going in...but I didn't know where it happened. The only extraneous part I had was a belly button- that thing didn't do anything! Therefore I deduced this was where sex happened. It never occurred to me men also have belly buttons, I guess? I was an embarrassing 11 and in 5th grade sex Ed before that was cleared up! Thankfully I never told anyone, though when my parents tried to have "the talk" around 9 or so I assured them I already knew everything. Guess they ought to have asked, lol.

I am that lady you see in Target in her pj pants -I prefer to call them "colorful cheap yoga pants", but yes, I slept in them. I am occasionally in the dance studio in them, and nearly always in the car driving older DS to and from from school (dual enrolled for 2 classes at the high school)in them. On the bright side, when the mood strikes me and we go to a museum or the doctor or whatever and I am dressed nicely (I can dress quite well, I just...don't) and my hair is down and make up is on, I get many compliments and shocked looks. I am fairly sure the underlying thought is "why don't you do that all the time?!" as I am a fairly well kept specimen of my age. The reason is I'm just lazy. Also I have found that taking the 30-60 minutes out of the day to shower, dry hair, put on make-up...well thats an hour I could relax in (in the morning, prior to school), or clean the house in, or make dinner in, or or or...but mostly, relax. Time is so precious lately having a high schooler, I take what I can get. I'm also much more confident that eh, so I don't have make-up on, whatevers. I guess I truly don't care anymore, lol. DH is rather indifferent, honestly. He knows I look very nice dressed up, but he seems to like me just fine in my pj pants. At this stage its about more than looks, anyway, isn't it?