We have found diagramming terrifically helpful. Oldest D'S used the skills he learned in sentence analysis to voluntarily diagram a sentence from his Scripture reading in order to better tease out it's meaning (the apostle Paul used a LOT of clauses! 😉) and seeing him do that made me a firm believer in its importance and effectiveness. That being said, it's still just one tool in a student's tool box. It's a handy and effective tool that I personally wouldn't want them to be without, but that doesn't mean they can't get the job done without it.

When my 20 yo was living with us during quarantine he did his own laundry and helped the other 2 older kids with dishes every night. On Saturdays he took the recycles into town to the recycling trailer and helped DH with honey do items. He was also very willing to do other misc tasks as asked. Same with the 18 yo, although he hasn't moved out, so I still do his laundry along with everyone else's.

Where does one but a corset? Do they still have strings and whalebone and you have to have someone tighten/tie them for you a la Scarlett O'Hara? I'm intrigued.

!!!!!!!!! That's $1000 per kid! Not gonna lie, I'm judging that mom.

Normal 5th graders are not going to remember details about history. They will remember things they found interesting or unusual and if they can tell you what they found intetesting in a somewhat connected paragraph-ish kind of way I'd consider it a win! @EKS 's approach is what we do too.

My kids are/were similar to yours. Hours of imaginative play with no direction from me other than telling them to keep the volume down or switch locations. I think they learn a ton from it; I consider it important, even essential, for their development; I don't think kids in school or kids whose schedules are packed with adult directed activities have enough (any?) of it; but I wouldn't call it their education. To me, if a mom or a teacher or a coach came up with the idea and is in charge of implementing it, it's not play. It may very well be worthwhile and important and it may be lo

Dp

$1 per tooth. They know the tooth fairy is me and they always have, but it's still fun to pretend she's real and get money under your pillow 🙂 The tooth fairy has been known to be forgetful around here and sometimes needs a reminder or two to do her job. The first time it happened D'S wrote a cute note explaining that he should get more money for having to wait and she gave him an extra quarter and a note in return saying he got extra this once for ingenuity but not to expect it next time 😆 The tooth fairy has also been reminded who sleeps on which bunk (top or bottom).

It has an "easy access gussett for when nature calls" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 So yeah ... no water on photo day

So .... I ordered this in nude. If I like it, I might get a black one. I knew I couldn't do the high waisted kind because it would just roll down without the straps https://www.spanx.com/shapewear/thinstincts-2-0-open-bust-mid-thigh-bodysuit Speaking of things that roll down, does anyone have good underwear they like that hit under the belly? I found some maternity ones from Kindred Bravely that I liked at first, but they are kinda stretchy and bunch down over my butt by the end of the day. sigh. Why does clothing myself have to be so hard???

Thank you everybody! Please keep the replies coming! I know these options won't make me skinny. I'm not that delusional 😂 And I definitely don't plan to wear them often. I just want to not look quite as fat and lumpy every once in a while on special occassions. Especially in the expensive family photos session I have scheduled for the beginning of October.

Oh, and I forgot 1 other thing - we paid off our mortgage this year! Woo hoo!

Yeah, yeah, I know, diet and exercise. I'm working on it. But I'm 46 with a thyroid condition and it's slow going, so until that great and glorious day, I would like to not look like a garden gnome around my middle. Part of the problem is just my body type. I am extremely short waisted - as in, I have less than 1 inch between my bottom rib and my hip bone. So there is literally nowhere for the extra weight to go except in a big man-beer-belly. And when I'm pregnant, there is literally nowhere for the baby to go but out so I get huge and after 6 pregnancies those muscles are d.o.n.e. My le

I got to have oldest DS home for an extra 5 months since he decided to quarantine at home with us instead of at college and then his summer internship turned out to be remote instead of in person. I didn't expect to ever have us all 8 live together again, other than maybe Christmas breaks, so that was an unexpected blessing. He and youngest DD really had time to bond, which was an answer to prayer ❤ DH has a big innovative project in the works at his job with the potential for him to share in the big profits at very little personal risk for us. It means a lot of long hours, but he is ener

Whew! I was so glad to read your post as I was starting to feel like we are dirty, dirty, dirty people lol