Maybe. 😄 Kind of a Woodstockesque, free flowing, we make our own rules kind of vibe...but just giving the illusion of that while also being perfectly sanitary and within the health codes. If they think there is a market for that, more power to them!

My current 9th (rising 10th) grader is a good, but reluctant, writer. If I assigned that in 8th grade he would have revolted. Writing from a "food's perspective" would have been regarded as ridiculous, patronizing, mumbo jumbo. If I asked for a straight forward, five paragraph essay about the digestive system, he could have easily cranked it out in two hours. HOWEVER, he spent nowhere near an hour a day on science. So those two hours of work would have been spread out over 3-4 days. Since my DS liked science, and decidedly didn't like writing, I avoided science writing assignments. We use Lantern English for writing. DS did "Choosing and Using Sources" at the end of 7th grade. In 8th grade he did "The Research Paper" which produced a 2000 word paper on the atomic bomb over 8 weeks, "Creative Worldbuilding" which only required 3-5 paragraphs a week, and then The Expository Essay 1 & 2 over a semester during which he wrote (with a lot of scaffolding) 6 three page essays (on topics of his choice) with sources and parenthetical citations. That was pretty much the extent of his writing. He chose to write on some scientific and historical topics, but I did not assign writing across the curriculum. Not by 8th grade, but, yes, in 8th grade. Prior to 8th he was using sources and producing bibliographies in MLA format. But 8th was when he actually learned to attribute specific writing to particular sources, use quotations, and stringently avoid plagiarism. This was all done by Lantern slowly and steadily.

But what makes us think that management isn't deliberately managing it as they see fit? The assumption seems to be that the only two options are either 1) the server is breaking the established dress code and management hasn't cracked down on them, or 2) management is slacking off and hasn't established a strict enough dress code to start with. But what about the option that management is fine with what the server was wearing and doesn't think it negatively impacts the business they are trying to build? Maybe they think that type of clothing makes the servers relatable to their primary clientele. Maybe they think it establishes a friendly, laid-back atmosphere. Maybe they are courting younger clients and think that style will send that message. Maybe they are purposefully trying out a Seattle grunge aesthetic for the shop. In this thread we have heard of several coffee shops whose servers are dressed in bikinis. That is clearly a deliberate management choice that will alienate and drive away some customers and draw others in. The same as my local hair salon allowing/encouraging edgy clothes with profanity. Or a local kids' gym that has employees wear company t-shirts that prominently feature a biblical verse. For better or for worse, all companies send subtle signals about who they are marketing to. That kids' gym can't forbid my atheist children from participating, but they can let us know through music, decor, slogans and employee uniforms that we are not their target audience. That doesn't make their choices wrong or inappropriate.

I'm not sure what nefarious deed you are accusing me of. I honestly did not even notice that two of my posts included quotes both from you. Two posts. It's not like I quoted you 15 times in a row anything. Actually, my first post in this thread included a quote from Catwoman, not you.

A customer deciding not to visit is having a say for themselves. Just like a Muslim deciding not to drink is making a decision for themselves. A customer trying to insist that an establishment is inappropriate for a group larger than themselves because it does not align with their personal standards is, in my opinion, overstepping, just like a Muslin trying to insist that drinking is inappropriate for everyone because their personal religious views prohibit it. Obviously, everyone is entitled to their opinion about how the world should work and how the other 8 billion inhabitants should behave, but in my opinion, clinging to the idea that other people should follow your preferred (often arbitrary) standards is the definition of pearl clutching: "The practice or habit of reacting in a scandalized or mortified manner to once-salacious but now relatively common things, events, situations, etc." https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pearl-clutching It seems like your DS's girlfriend works in an establishment that has different rules than the one from the original post. That's fine, and isn't really relevant. I recently took my 8 year old to a hair salon that had a different employee dress code than I was anticipating. The stylist who worked on her hair was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word FUCK across it. I think it is a very positive thing that if I has determined that salon wasn't a good, appropriate fit for us that I could have taken my business elsewhere and found an establishment that offered a different environment. But I would have considered it pearl clutching on my part if I had moved beyond "this isn't a good fit for us" to "this isn't appropriate because my standards of propriety are more important than the employee's or employer's".

I used "Okay, Boomer" to refer to my own hypothetical attitude in my example that I got to determine what was appropriate for other people.

When my mom was a server at IHOP, circa 1970, the uniform included a dry clean only minidress, starched cuffs, and a bobby pinned "hat"/head band/tiara like thing. Over the course of 40 years, my dad's job went from requiring a full suit and tie every day to dockers and a short sleeve polo shirt. Times change. There are still people who consider dyed hair, tattoos, nose rings, black nail polish, etc. inappropriate for work...and those clearly are not health issues. So I think the only people who have a real say in what is or is not appropriate work attire in a given setting are the health department, the owner/management, and the employee wearing the clothes. I totally respect a customer deciding not to visit an establishment because it is not an environment they personally are comfortable in...there are many restaurants I will not go to because they are too loud for me. But it seems like pearl clutching to announce that an aesthetic choice is not "appropriate"...like if I tried to proclaim that it wasn't appropriate for a sports bar to have a bunch of TVs blaring because the appropriate dining environment is quiet so you can have sociable conversation while you eat. 🙄 Okay, Boomer.

It wouldn't bother me. An orange stain on an old, ratty shirt could be a spaghetti sauce stain from 10 years ago - totally not a health issue. And a server with a pristine shirt could have just used the bathroom and not washed their hands. 🤷‍♀️ I guess I just assume that us human apes are fairly filthy and that hygiene is a bit of an allusion. Obviously I support rules about cooking meat to safe temperatures, storing foods in appropriate conditions, etc. But I also accept that perfectly safe food has bug parts in it; that there is almost certainly fecal bacteria on the salt and pepper shakers, the cash register keys, and on the ice in my water; and that realistically I put myself at far more actual risk driving to the restaurant than consuming whatever disease-laden food they serve me. I think this is one of those areas that the gross-factor overrides science and logic in many people's minds. Like how sitting on a wet toilet seat in a public restroom squicks many people out, but scientifically isn't linked to a real health risk. Food poisoning is indeed a real health threat, but I doubt it correlates strongly to whether the person serving the food is wearing a shirt that is too thin or stained or shorts that are too short. If I wanted to judge how hygienic a server was, I would focus more on how often and how well they wash their hands.

I would be very picky about the quality/feel of the labels. My sensitive kiddos can't stand tags and labels that are scratchy or have rough edges - I have to cut off almost all tags and instead try to buy clothing and blankets that are tagless.

This probably isn't helpful, but here is how it has worked for us. Step 1 - Be desperate and make an appointment for your most mentally ill child with any therapist your insurance will pay for who has openings. Hate them, but muddle through until they realize your situation is far more dire than they thought and pave the way for you to see a psychiatrist. Step 2 - See the psychiatrist. Start the child on the meds they recommend. Realize the psychiatrist doesn't have a clue what they are talking about. Make sure they know your life is getting worse, and you are in daily danger, until they refer you to a more experienced psychiatrist who regularly deals with the really disturbed children. Step 3 - See the new psychiatrist and for the first time ever experience talking to a medical professional who actually understands what you are going through. Start a whole new med regimen. Get referrals for the only three therapists in the city who can handle your level of disfunction. Step 4 - Wait. And wait, and wait, and wait because those three therapists are booked solid and can't fit in new patients for 6+ months. And then, as they have openings, get yourself and all your children scheduled as regular patients, even though that requires driving all over the city. The whole process took us over a decade, but now I am thrilled with our mental health providers.

We like the phone app Tempo (icon looks like four teal circles on a black background). Not free, but really cheap. We like that if offers a setlist feature - we can set time signatures and metronome tempos for multiple songs that Spencer is working on, and he can just click to switch between them instead of constantly having to remember what speed he is supposed to be using for a particular piece and then manually setting the metronome. It lowers the hurdle just enough that he is more willing to actually pull out and use the metronome. We like that is offers more complex time signatures. When Spencer was playing a Bartok piece, it really helped that the metronome could actually be set to (2+2+3)/8. And while Spencer doesn't use it very often, it does offer an interesting feature to help wean off of needing the metronome. You can set it to mute itself periodically. So, perhaps play with clicks for 5 bars, and then mute itself for 1 or 2 bars. That allows you to see if you can hold the steady tempo on your own. Alternatively, you could have it muted for 4 or 5 bars, and then click for one bar just as a quick check.

I just reviewed all the Algebra 1 review workbooks available on Amazon and ended up buying this one for DS3 to use over the summer. It covers everything I want without a lot of extra stuff (arithmetic review, tricky mixture problems, etc). I like that it has short explanations and some example problems, but not so many that the book is overwhelmingly long. And each topic only has 10ish practice problems presented in a large, friendly way. And I like the variety of problems in the sample - not trivially easy, but also not unnecessarily tricky.

Yes, my kids have not yet had to miss any doses of their Focalin, though to get continuous supply we have had to switch between several pharmacies. On a regular basis, we fill (in person, or through the mail) prescriptions for Focalin 35XR, 30XR, 15XR, 10XR, 10mg (not XR) and 5mg (not XR).

My kids are part of a shared time program through the public school that pays for extracurriculars and requires that we primarily use Bookshark (secular Sonlight). I put up with Bookshark because the public school funding ($3000 x 3 kids) is worth a lot of aggravation. But, for us, Bookshark is not rigorous or delightful, and we do as little Bookshark as possible so we have time for more individualized education that is more enriching and less busywork. This year we are using Bookshark History B and G, ELA 3 and G, and Science E. My kids find the history books boring, and I don't like that they don't seem to include any differing perspectives, primary sources or logic stage thinking skills even in History G. I find many of the ELA assignments ridiculous, boring and counter-productive. We are entirely doing our own, separate ELA on top of Bookshark's, and doing the Bookshark assignments together as practice in how one can create meaningless, teacher-pleasing drivel quickly without fixating on the inanity of the exercise. The science is so, so dry, simplistic and surface-level, and every year more or less covers the same topics. I agree entirely with Clarita that, "all-in-one curriculums do similar things over and over again through the year and the years".

My kids are all pretty close age-wise - 2 year gaps between each - but they are not particularly close playmates, especially those closest in age. #2 has too many mental health challenges to really be a good playmate to anyone. #3 is off in his own classical music world and has little interest in other play. And #4 is an outdoor, sport-loving, worm digging girl in a family of indoor, bookish boys. So it is entirely possible that you could have another baby and end up with two lonely, needy littles who don't want to play with each other.

I mostly focus on what my goals are for "socialization". I want my kids to... - be comfortable in a group setting with a teacher/coach other than me. - have opportunities to play/interact with other kids of various ages. - have other adults in their lives who know them, value their interests, are positive role models, etc. - have one or a few closer friends to invite to birthday parties and the like. - be able to function in the adult world - ordering food, answering questions about how they want their hair cut, etc. - have opportunities to practice group planning, decision making and small conflict resolution. To this end, I try to give them some less structured group time, such as open gyms, board game groups, nature days, etc. Times when they have the space to disagree and try to broker a compromise. My kids have wildly different socialization needs and styles, so rather than ask "is it enough" or "is it too much", I instead ask "are they moving toward my goals" and "are other priorities being crowded out".

Is coop going to offer a science with labs next year (like they offered physics this year)? If so, I would be very tempted to take them up on the lab part, even if you did the rest of the class on your own at home.

This is where I am. Around here, most highways have 3 lanes, and the right lane is primarily for large trucks and for cars entering and exiting who are traveling a bit below the speed limit. I spend most of my time in the middle lane, driving 5-10 over the limit, but I don't hesitate to safely switch to the left lane (leaving plenty of following space) to pass around slower drivers or if that lane is a better match for my speed. I feel it is safest when everyone tries to match their speed to the traffic flow in their lane, so if I decide to move to the left lane to pass a slow driver in the middle lane, then I will increase my speed a bit when I move left so that drivers behind me don't have to abruptly slow down. I will say that not driving too close to other cars can be a bit of a luxury. Here in suburbia where I do most of my traveling mid-day, I can always wait for large openings in traffic. When I used to commute around Boston during rush hours - forget about it - sometimes you had to start changing lanes when it didn't appear there was any space, much less enough.

At those ages we really liked Mr. Q science. The (online) texts are conversational and funny, but also introduce deep science concepts. There are optional worksheets, lots of ideas for experiments (don't feel like you have to do all of them), and some of the experiments are extra in-depth and take kids through the scientific method (as opposed to many elementary "experiments" which are actually just demonstrations that don't really test anything). The best part is that the elementary life science book is entirely free.

My DH and three of the kids were just outside of Indianapolis for the eclipse (had amazing weather), left right after totality, and are making great time coming back north to Michigan. They are almost halfway home, already to Fort Wayne, and at this rate the return trip will take about the same as driving there - and that didn't take any longer than any other day. The highway is flowing at full speed, and they should be home by bedtime.

Great Courses / Wondrium have a number of courses he might enjoy. Introduction to Paleontology is about the profession, the tools, and the fossil record...some dinosaurs, but a lot not. Major Transitions in Evolution has a couple lectures about dinosaurs, but mostly non-dinosaurs. A New History of Life is an interesting mix of biology, earth science and paleontology...most of it non-dinosaur.

This is pretty much exactly our experience with public school 5th - 9th grades. Plus, Elliot is HARD on supplies, and after we sent in the very reasonable requested supplies at the beginning of each year (one binder, a couple folders, a couple notebooks, a couple writing utensils), the school has replaced them as he loses and breaks them. He evens came home with a new backpack from school when he swung his old one around until the strap ripped off. The school offers free after school care for elementary and middle school, and free summer school for anyone who chooses to take classes. Breakfasts and lunches are free for everyone (through the summer too), fundraisers are entirely optional, field trips are reasonably priced and there is a plentiful scholarship fund to pay for anyone who needs it. Busing is usually convenient…and they have not pushed back against paying for special needs busing for Elliot For us public school is very nearly free.

Homeschooling is so, so, SO much more expensive for us. Lost wages are a huge part of that. I was an engineer before having kids (and hated it), and was making ~$70k. That would have gone down a bit in absolute terms when we moved to an area with a much lower COL before our oldest was born, but it also would have gone up considerably if I had been working for the last 15 years. But another big cost is extracurriculars. I'm sure my 10 year old would be taking piano lessons even if he was public schooled, but there is no way we would be juggling two piano lessons, one violin lesson and a music composition lesson every week if he were at school all day. We would not be paying for a full day of Spanish immersion every week. I'm sure my youngest would be in a sport or two (and she is too young for them to be through the school), but we would not be paying for team gymnastics + swimming + dance + yoga + skating every week. Oddly enough, I also lump therapy into this category, because around here there is such a shortage of kids' mental health providers, that before/after school appointments are nearly impossible to get. So my homeschooled kids can only get weekly therapy because we can go during school hours. Thankfully, we have a half-way-between public school and homeschool option. My kids are technically public school students, get most of their curricula purchased (from a list of approved providers), get big chunks of extracurriculars paid for, and get to attend on-campus electives if they want, while retaining most of the perks of homeschooling. The cost is bureaucracy and submitting evidence of learning...but, honestly, not much more than it sounds like are required of homeschoolers in some of the higher regulation states.

Well, my 9th grader is at the public school this semester, and he isn't really learning for much more than 2 hours a day. The school day runs for 6 hours and 40 minutes, but 40 minutes total is passing time between classes, and 30 minutes is lunch. So that gets us down to 5.5 hours in class, but his (school issued) Chromebook log frequently shows that he is spending 3+ hours each day playing games after his work is done, so that gets him down to 2-2.5 hours at most of learning. Subtract interruptions, announcements, passing out supplies, etc, and he is probably under 2 hours a day...and he is getting 95-115% in each of his upperclass, college prep courses. Last semester, when he was homeschooled, he was staying productively busy for 8+ hours a day, but much of it did not look much like "school". He spent on average 2 hours a day on math, writing, history reading and his DE science class. The rest of his days were filled with art classes, Lego robotics, reading literature of his choosing, hanging out at DE office hours asking all sorts of astronomy questions he was interested in, playing chess with his Spanish tutor, Dungeons and Dragons club, student teaching, watching Wondrium lectures, etc.

We do not get to select a delivery date. We have signed up for delivery summaries from USPS, Fedex, and UPS, so we typically know ahead of time what day they will be delivered. If we are not there, they leave a sticky note on the door saying they tried to delivery and couldn't get a signature. They try again the next day, leaving another note, and then hold the package at the post office/Fedex office for a week for us to pick up. I prefer when they send through USPS, because then I know pretty closely what time of day the delivery will happen (our mail tends to get delivered between 10:30 and noon). Fedex and UPS are much more variable, and could be at my house anywhere between 10am and ~8pm.