Rachel
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Posts posted by Rachel
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What would you say to a school that decided to give uniform pants to the girls, but not the boys?
As a mom of two boys, I'd be upset. Why do the girls get something free? As a mom of a daughter, it's one less thing to buy for her. I don't think you can do it unless it is for everyone.
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Can you require khaki or black pants that have belt loops and aren't stretchy?
A lot of the schools around here have uniforms. They usually require a solid colored polo and then uniform pants/skirts/shorts. Gap, Old Navy, and Target all carry them.
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Glad to hear she is ok, I've been wondering about her too.
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Northern Illinois here, five bedroom drafty old house.
Gas - $51 year round. Still can't believe this. Sometimes Nicor lowers it to $30 a month. Whatever. Gas furnace, water heater, stove/oven, dryer, yet bill stays low.
Electric - $80s winter, up to 250 summer, depends on need for a/c. Note - ComEd keeps sending us notes on how we are using more electricity than our neighbors. Seriously? Our neighbors are either in much smaller houses and/or single retired men or smaller families, and half the houses are empty during the day and do not have central air like we do.. I have five adults living here and rarely is no one home. Of course we will use more electricity! We are signed up to get a $30 per month discount during summer months since we let ComEd finangle a doohicky so they can turn off the a/c for 15 minutes every hour if they need to to avoid area brown-outs.
Water - about $75 - 80 (all those showers!)
Cable/phone/internet = $175ish now. Hubby needs to call and get it reduced.
Trash is part of property tax bill, which we pay as part of mortgage payment each month, so no idea.
Individual cell phones - about 30 - 40 bucks each. Everyone pays their own bill.
Natural gas prices are at all time lows right now.
We more than doubled the size of our house yet our electricity in the summer is about half what we were paying when we lived in a 50 year old house with a similarly aged ac unit. We may have actually replaced instead of repaired the thing if we had realized how much money a more efficient unit may have saved us.
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Where I live they bloom in early spring, they are smallish for a tree. The flowers are kind of a purplish pink.Wow, Chelli, I love your blog name! Very appropriate name! And the content looks wonderful!
Eastern Redbuds are nice but are they a bit small? They bloom in early spring I think? We have a pink crepe myrtle near the house. It would be kind of neat to have one pink tree blooming in one part of the season and another blooming later!
I do think in my heart though I like the idea of a Sycamore just because it makes me think of my dad. And I would like some shade in the yard. There really isn't much. But of course I have to get dh to agree. Thanks for all the ideas!!!
One more tree I like is a dogwood, it's not a very tall tree either though.
Go with the sycamore, it sounds like it has special meaning.
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I am sorry for your loss.
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I would like a ginkgo (not a male because they stink), blue spruce, a magnolia, or a tulip poplar. I would also love to line our driveway with crab apple trees but my husband doesn't want the apples dropping on the driveway.
We have a birch, they grow quickly but it doesn't offer a ton of shade. I would not recommend a Bradford pear, they are pretty but they smell horrible when they are in bloom and they are not sturdy trees.
If you have a nursery, go find out what grows well in your area, then get the biggest tree you can afford.
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We were gifted with a week of HelloFresh. The food was good, it was stuff I wouldn't normally make. The tomatoes, green onions, and cucumber all went bad before I used them. In fairness I didn't make the first meal the day it arrived, then skipped the second meal, perhaps if I had prepared everything right away the produce would have been fine. There was not much meat, but it was appropriate portion sizes so if you are trying to control portions, it would be good for that.
I felt like it was really expensive for the quantity of food. The box I received would have been $69, I can make $69 stretch pretty far and even with young kids we could eat out 2-3 times at a decent place for that price. The packaging was ridiculous, even with most of it being recyclable, it was too much. I'm not overly obsessed with being green either.
It was a nice change of pace and a way to try new foods so overall it was kind of a mixed bag. My sister in law works full time and has an hour commute daily, she loves it. She especially appreciates not having to plan meals. She lives in a much bigger city so her food may not ship as far either.
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Just realized I forgot internet, I have no clue what we pay for it, more than I want to pay for sure.
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Electric averages $125 in summer, $175 in winter
Water/sewer $80, includes epa fines
Phone $55
TV $35 (sling tv and netflix)
Garbage $100 per year; includes recycling and rental fee for the trash can
No gas, cable, or landline.
Someone recently asked about electric fees on a local Facebook page. It is all over the place in my town. It seems newer houses use a lot less electricity even if they aren't LEED certified. There were multiple people with 1000 square foot houses paying $200+ per month for electricity, one person over $400. Our house is more than double that size and we paid less, lots of people said the same thing. It seems newer meters, ac units, and windows (even if cheap ones like ours) made a big difference.
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I'd say something. I recently overheard a camp counselor being pretty gruff with a group of preschool aged day campers. I said something to a worker I knew along the lines of, "This worker was speaking pretty roughly to these kids, she may have been having an off day and I only witnessed a small portion of that day, but it didn't seem appropriate." I later found out I was the third person to say something, it was addressed, and the next time I saw her around kids she was fine.
It may not have been my place to speak up, but by hearing from more than one person, it validated that something was going on at needed to be addressed. Teens may complain a lot but they also may not be taken as seriously by adults in positions of authority because teens do tend to complain a lot.
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I personally prefer week long breaks but we do occasionally have a single day break due to illness, a field trip, or family visiting. The week gives us all a chance to reset. A single day break at the beginning of the week tends to mess up our rhythm but I think it could be great for some families.
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Get the shoes! It sounds like you need and want them.
I spend less per pair than my husband (size 15, narrow foot).
I probably average $100 per pair, but with the exception of my running shoes, I wear them forever. Prior to this summer all my non-running shoes were close to 10 years old. I try to stick to quality brands that last. As far as having shoes resoled, my husband has had dress shoes and work boots done. The prices vary but his work boots are most expensive to redo running about $50. They started out at $200, so it's still a deal. I had new heals put on a pair of shoes a couple months back, that was $7.
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Around 9yrs old for ds. Dd was probably about the same. I knew they were ready because we worked our way up to it: can the child behave responsibly when a parent is napping? Do they know how to phone and text? Do they reliably do as asked? Can they be trusted to stick to family rules when no one is watching? If left alone for 10 minutes do they respond to 'check in' texts quickly? Are they mature enough to discuss potential risks (e.g fire, strangers, Mom doesn't arrive back home as expected) without becoming distressed or panicked?
I think this is a good guideline.
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This is not a simple answer. I left my son once for 15-20 minutes, at his request at 7, nearly 8. I knew both next door neighbors were home and I let a friend know who was down the block. That friend has since moved and the neighbor who is usually home during the day has a job now, so I haven't left him recently.
I will leave him and his younger sister while I walk the dog around the block, but we are in a quiet residential area and it's a 5 minute walk. I also let them walk the dog around the block by themselves.
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20-30 minutes for a weekly activity that is at least an hour. I might be willing to have a longer drive if it's a drop off activity that's a little longer if I can run errands at the same time. Anything more than twice a week needs to be closer, I don't like spending all my time in a car.
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With a nearly three year I would probably get a sit and stand. The three year old probably won't be in a stroller much longer and double strollers are a pain because they are so bulky.
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I wish I would forget from time to time!
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It sounds like the aunt was not minding her own business and like your son has improved a lot. 6 year olds are still pretty young.
With my own kids, if this behavior was bothering me, I would say something like "Hey, I understand your frustration. That's the rule and we need to respect it. I need a break, can we talk about this later?" It doesn't always work and sometimes you can tell a kid just needs to vent.
If that wouldn't work for you, maybe set a timer on your phone and give him 5 minutes to get it all out, then request quiet. Later you could help him write a complaint to the company.
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I hope you are feeling better in no time!
Corrected typo.
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I didn't mention it above but exercise for me helps a lot too. I use the YMCA child care for the kids especially when my husband is traveling or working late.
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I think a lot of this depends on the ages and personalities of your children. What works for us is having routines. I help with breakfast and getting everyone ready for the day then I expect them to handle themselves while I get ready. Our house is very open so it's easy to supervise even when I'm cooking and they are in the living room. When I need a break, my kids can play quietly together but if they can't get along they get separated. For my family it works well to alternate between supervised and unsupervised time. It isn't perfect it it helps me to not have to be "on" all the time.
I believe lots of outside time is important and we go for walks regularly. This summer my two older kids are on swim team, swimming an hour every day. They also play outside regularly. Tired kids have less energy to misbehave.
As far as housework, my kids are just getting to ages that they are actually helpful. I'm still figuring things out but I do keep up with dishes and sweeping my first floor daily. It helps the house feel cleaner even when it isn't. I give my 8 year old lists. He has written instructions how to clean the bathroom etc. I give my 6 and 4 year old one job at a time and help a lot. My expectations are lower than they used to be. I recently had a weeks worth of laundry to be folded that was driving me crazy. We dumped it all on my bed. I had the bigger kids fold theirs and put it away. It wasn't perfect, but it was done. The little one folded underwear, napkins, and washcloths. We got the whole thing done in 30 minutes. I was shocked but it was a good reminder that things don't have to be perfect and I don't have to do it all myself.
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I agree with what was said above.
What does a typical meal look like? Do you put a lot of emphasis on treats? I have a few thoughts.
Are you the same poster that was having trouble with the boys destroying things outside and getting into dad's tools?
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You will be dressed perfectly for a Louisville wedding."He packed a suit, a pink Oxford, and a white w black polka-dotted bow tie. I will be wearing a sleeveless (dude, rocking the arms with powerlifting!) princess-seamed floral-printed (white background, shades of pink and fuschia) dress and nude heels.
Thanks!
So excited to see our friends :party: (Let's ignore the 10 hours we have to drive tomorrow :lol:)
Placement testing for charter school. Results: I'm a failure.
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