The hospital wants to get paid. There's always room for negotiation directly with them. And I'm so sorry about this! Majorly frustrating.

I like to have both for CE. The teacher's book shows the answers for the crosswords, analogies, etc. So if you only had the teacher's edition, you would not be able to use the crosswords, for instance. It also includes quizzes for each lesson, and I like to use those.

Yes, learn French. While I have nothing against learning Spanish, French has many of the same advantages and even has an edge over Spanish in some areas. 1- French is a research language, meaning that it is used for publications in an academic setting. So is German, English is a huge one. Spanish, not as much as the others. 2- Literature. So much great stuff in French. 3- All continents have a country with French as an official language. 4- It's in second place as the most-learned second language in the world. Meaning that with English and French, you can get by in a lot of places. 5- Culture. She loves it already, and any good French program is going to teach about the culture of France (and sometimes Quebec and Africa) as well as the language. 6- English literature often uses French terms, so it will support her literature studies at some point. 7- Ballet, music (it's an operatic language as are German and Italian, Spanish isn't as much), cooking. I could go on. My mother is a French teacher, so I'm pulling some facts from memory of many conversations. But the basic point is, French is useful. Do the language she loves.

Lost Tools of Writing - it's designed as a 28ish week program but could be accelerated. It starts with a very simple essay and moves on from there - it's excellent at helping students internalize how to find topics and subtopics for essays and how to organize an essay.

A communication book is a great idea. And I'd just decide on a couple of signs you want to use and look them up. It's not about using real sign language at this point. It makes sense to start from a real sign, but a simplified version will work. A sign the baby makes up will work. Anything that baby can and will use. Just model the sign every time you say the word. I usually include a lot of signs from the beginning with my kids, but since you have a specific need, you might start with just the urgent ones. Of course, this will work best if the family is also supporting the sign language and/or the communication book.

This.

Honestly, you could start with pre-cooked chicken strips. Chop them and throw them in whatever. They're expensive but if you're only cooking meat for yourself, it would make sense. Another way to ease into eating chicken is crock pot cooking. Chicken tortilla soup or BBQ chicken, maybe. Cook some boneless breasts or thighs slowly in a soup or sauce then shred. Easy.

Throw them in the oven over a bed of quinoa and chicken stock. Cover it while it's cooking. We like mushrooms, squash and zucchini grilled. Usually put the mushrooms on skewers. Then serve it with bread and salad. Either of those I'd serve with fish, too. Usually salmon on the grill or in the oven. And yes to fajitas! Always popular.

OP, your one good thing is huge! Congrats!

Jos. A Banks or Brooks Bros. Pricier than the others mentioned, but worth it for us. They last and have non-wrinkle options.

Yes! To The Philadelphia Story and the Thin Man movies. I think Bringing Up Baby is an even easier b&w comedy to get into, so add that to the list. The Absent-minded Professor got a lot of laughs here. We're working through some of the suggestions in The Best Old Movies for Families by Ty Burr.

For many people, the level they achieve in high school is as far as they will progress on the instrument. So I'd think about it in terms of adult playing - does she play well enough to confidently try out for a community orchestra, for instance? Does she know how to learn a piece independently? Can she work her own fingerings, bowings and interpretations? It sounds like she might be able to do all that already - I don't regret quitting cello lessons and orchestra during my senior year of high school. I wasn't passionate about it, and I play well enough to use it. But I grew so much as a pianist during my last couple of years at home. So I can see an argument for both sides, for sure!

I don't really have anything to add, except that a kid of mine was crying recently because she was worried that if she played Risk with the family, she'd win again and her older brother would be mad at her. 😂 We had a nice little lesson about the consequences of being a poor winner or loser: no one wants to play with you!

Huh. My feed is mostly full of pictures of my friends' moms. Which makes me feels guilty for not having a childhood pic with my mom scanned and ready. I love Halloween on FB. Also back-to-school pics. Not so much Mother's Day, Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day. (wait, you made your kids a scavenger hunt to find the pot of Rolos? Ugh.)

Everything that others have said, plus I'd switch him to only high-fiber foods that promote good bowel movements. It'll help it along now and keep things moving in the days after he has a bm. No: cheese, refined flours, white rice, bananas, potatoes, applesauce, etc. Yes: most fresh fruit and veg, raisins, shredded wheat, Fiber One products, juice, etc.

Salt helps me the most. Eating a salty snack raises my BP enough to take away the dizzy feeling. And yes to drinking more water, also.

Sometimes there are advantages to being off the cycle - for instance, if you like to link your literature to the time period, hitting ancients during your 9th grade year is tough. Early modern or modern would be a lot easier. So I wouldn't worry about it too much - just do what you like!

Get your advisor involved if the prof doesn't want to let you in. I had several issues like this smoothed over for me by a great advisor. Or talk to the head of the department. And if that fails, yes, take the afternoon class. It's worth it to be done!

Little House on the Prairie, Caddie Woodlawn - I know that Nauvoo, at least, focuses on daily life on the frontier. So any book about that would work.

How does a group situation go? I'm thinking more about playing in an orchestra rather than group lessons, although that could work as well. I know that's not a possibility for everyone, but we have an awesome orchestra for young players available to us in our area. One of our friends did orchestra only one year - lessons had become stressful, so she just practiced her orchestra pieces for a year, and then she happened to find a teacher she's comfortable with through that group. She's progressing nicely now. I also think online lessons would be worth a try. And I'd set parameters about what your son needs to do in order to continue with lessons. Not as a punishment, but just to set his expectations up properly. If you wanted to go that route, I'd have him skype a grandparent and have a pretend lesson a couple of times to let him try out what that would be like. Then I would interview possible online teachers together with your son. Anything you can do to start him out feeling in control of the situation. Or do some counseling. Or try choir. Or just give yourself permission to say no. I'm a huge fan of music instruction, but this sounds painful for your child. I fully understand why you're hesitant to start lessons on an instrument again!

Yes! Totally agree that it's worth it to see their solutions.

Following

This is us, too! I'm just grateful to be married to an introvert. We spend a lot of evenings reading in the same room - together time! ;)

I agree - I feel such a need to do something meaningful with my time! So I homeschool and am devoted to my religion. I spend time volunteering. Yep.

Hmm. I'm definitely an INFJ - have been since I first took the test many years ago, but I have gradually veered toward E and T. Apparently you get more balanced as you age, but your core preferences aren't supposed to change? Anyway, homeschooling is magical for me. I definitely feel the conflict between my relaxed, idealistic side (Michael Clay Thompson feeds this- let's sit down and read this lovely book about grammar) and my detailed-oriented, rigid side. Yeah, it's never going to be quite what I want, because a day that makes part of me happy frustrates the other part. Ha! This year we added a time in our school that is fully satisfying, though. After lunch we have quiet reading time - we all hang out in my room (I get the bed, they make nests in the floor) and read for a set amount of time. The kids read literature I've assigned them. It's amazing. I get to read books that I want to read AND have school at the same time. Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie spoke to me, making me want to embrace my idealism and focus less on the checklist. We'll see how that goes this year. In terms of always researching and needing the next thing, that's 100% my life. I just go with it - right now, I spend my research time on new classes I'm teaching at our co-op, and I'll be adding some music lessons for me in the summer. I figure I'll drive the kids nuts if all my need for change is focused on them. ;) Edited for a typo. Phone typing, bleh.