Two habits that make the tidy-up easier, especially if you have lots of littles and are easily distracted: 1. Take one thing with you: each time you leave a room, take something with you to put away. A mug from the office desk to the kitchen sink, scissors randomly in the bathroom back with the art supplies, and sloppily discarded socks into the hamper - all easily put away, rather than hanging around and mocking you by their out-of-place existence. 2. Finish the job: this means PUT THE LAUNDRY AWAY after you fold it; PUT THE BOOKS ON SHELF IN ORDER after you bring them to the school room; and all of those other jobs that you just can't quite finish. Laundry does me in.

So a few other points to consider: - If you are going in the spring, be prepared for snow or wet. Really, with the amount of snow they've gotten in the Sierras this year, it could be very, very wet, depending on the time of year you go. - There are delightful, easy hikes around the museum and visitor's center. - We love going on the road out toward Moro Rock. It's where the iconic drive-through-a-tree is, as well as a nice loop around a meadow and a peek inside of a cabin used by John Muir. Have fun! Sequoia is one of our favorites.

Check out the Montecito Lodge. It's very reasonable, all inclusive, a super family-friendly vibe, great for kids your ages (lots of indoor and outdoor activities they can do themselves).

$20 for sick, $0 for well, $50 + 20% for ER up to our $500/person $1000/family deductible.

Ask her to imagine a world issue - the Syrian war? - and describe the mental image she has. Is she there, on the ground, navigating rubble as she walks to get water? Or does she see the scene from as if on top of a building, watching those below at work? I might be missing something, but this question doesn't feel very normative. I quite like it in that regard. Positives to both perspectives - are you a big picture thinker, or capable of deep empathy?

Tips I didn't see mentioned in my quick read: - remove all saved credit cards from online vendors, even Amazon. You spend much less if it's harder to purchase, even if that difficulty is waking to your pocketbook and pulling our your wallet. - get serious about reducing food waste - all of it.

I have found that sometimes the publisher Americanizes English in books like these. Perhaps that is happening here?

As much of Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman) or works by Tversky and Kahneman that your DC can handle. The Paradox of Choice (Schwartz) the Marginal Revolution blog Freakonomics - books, podcast, movie, blog

I came upon Nourishing Traditions in a time when our family was struggling to figure out what a "good" diet looks like. I came to it on the heels of reading about the China Study, the works of Esslestyn, and the Cleveland Clinic. I resonated with Nourishing Traditions and WAP-style diets as I contemplated the diet we fed our newborns and infants - high-fat breastmilk. While we no longer follow a WAP-type diet, the emphasis on high fats came at a very helpful time in our family. My youngest son has ASD, and we have anecdotally found that a high-fat diet has helped take some of the rough edges of his behavioral tics away. We tried GFDF diets, and the couldn't hold a candle to the efficacy of the high fat diet. ETA: So NT isn't just a high fat diet, but incorporating lots of full-fat animal products in our diet was our lasting takeaway. That and homemade pickled veggies :)

Suggestions I didn't see that were hits for my son: Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales (graphic novels about different disasters in history..."Donner Dinner Party" is the title of one) The "I Survived.." series

Suggestions I didn't see that were hits for my son: Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales (graphic novels about different disasters in history..."Donner Dinner Party" is the title of one) The "I Survived.." series

The problem sets in the textbook tends to be a little more challenging than the workbook, and the practice sections are a little meatier as well. We prefer to use textbook, workbook, and challenging word problems.

https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Science-Mineral-Sciene-Bundle/dp/B00WHCFDAQ/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1484720158&sr=8-8&keywords=rock+samples We purchased these and they are TINY. Do not recommend.

There is a great episode of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast about this (http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/05-food-fight). Lots of money goes to programs that enhance student life, like cafeteria food and dorms. (He stated that an unnamed university was building a new dormitory where all rooms are singles with **double beds,**) Designing self checkers, coding and programming, and building them? Each sounds like a step up from cashier.

Binders. By nature I'm a spiral-bound notebook girl, so I rejected her binder suggestion. If you have kids prone to perfectionism, those spiral-bound books end up with 15 pages by the end of the notebook...and lots of torn out, crumpled pages in the recycling bin. We still go through a ridiculous amount of paper, but our organization and emotions are a little more under control. I also ADORE when she says the schedule she put in WTM was at the publisher's request, and that no one should ever follow it. Whew!

I think it's also important to consider the personalities of your children. For example, my September-birthday daughter has always been mature and precocious, which has made us think she should be pushed ahead, but she does not do well when she is the youngest in a group. She thrives on being older and being able to care for younger children and set examples, and so we keep her down more often than we'd expected.. You could easily have a child who operates in the opposite manner, so that he prefers to be one of the younger ones in a group.

We exchange canisters at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's $15, but there is always a coupon. I often use the $5 coupon (ask neighbors for extras; friends keep theirs for me). In my state, we have can and bottle deposits, but it's kind of a PITA to return them for $$. My BIL lives in a state where you can return them to the supermarket for a refund on your deposit. In CA, you get whatever the scrap dealer is offering. So for us the soda stream is a much better value.

We are local to Cal Poly, and know several HS students who were accepted and attend. All, without exception, received a high school diploma from a charter school or a Kolbe Academy-type school.

I wonder if it's millia: https://www.google.com/search?q=eyelid+milia&biw=1242&bih=557&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwju77jWibfRAhUmrFQKHV97B0MQ_AUIBigB Although I'm not sure what the difference between KP and millia might be.

Not our experience, but a family in my son's therapy group recently transitioned from B&M to HS back to B&M because HS was causing significant family friction. I'd consider if school provides a needed respite.

Which pants are they?

I'm not googling the right words to find the answers I'm looking for, so to the Hive I turn: I'm wondering what English words are not simply translated into other languages, much as words like "hygge" require several words to get the full meaning. The only words DH and I have brainstormed are not nearly as inspiring as hygge. We stalled out after "fleek."

The kids love a baked oatmeal. I'd google "baked oatmeal" plus whatever ingredients/flavors you're partial to.

My mathy 4th grader really loves Rat-a-Tat Cat. We appreciate how quick it it.

It's mostly an observation that I'm so rarely fertile (fertility is slow to return, and we quickly seize it's fruits), that ovulation seems as likely a reason for my sudden discomfort as cancer.