We use it in inhaler form. My son has both private insurance and Medicaid due to his disability. Apparently, it's not on our insurance formulary but they will cover it if we can prove Albuterol will not meet his needs. For some reason, we have to do this a few times a year. The pharmacy handles it all, so it's not too big of a deal for me.

My sister-in-law was fully vaccinated with Moderna in March-April timeframe. In late May/early June, her daughter was quarantined due to a Covid exposure at school. SIL had cold symptoms and tested positive. Her illness was fairly mild, but I'm grateful she was vaccinated as she has underlying conditions that could have made things worse. Niece also tested positive but was completely asymptomatic.

Nope. I have a disabled child who will likely need care for the rest of his life and I can't imagine who would want to take that on. I'll have him and a cat.

My complex son's pulmonologist is awesome. (My kids who just have mild asthma see our pediatrician who has special expertise in asthma management.) We use Xopanex instead of Albuterol because my son also had a congenital heart defect and Albuterol caused his heart to race. Insurance doesn't routinely cover it, though, so we routinely have to do prior authorizations to get it approved.

Yes, my son has had this. He's kind of an extreme example though -- he has a pretty complex medical history including tracheostomy and numerous intubations for respiratory illnesses. IV steroids, sitting upright as much as possible, nebulizer treatments, oxygen therapy and percussive therapy all help. It sounds like your son is on a good path and recovering well which I'm glad to hear!

I agree that Derek Owens is an excellent option - it worked very well for my oldest!

My mother-in-law in her 70s just had both eyes done and it went very smoothly!

We lived in a townhouse when our kids were younger and we just had two of them. At the time, I desperately wanted a back yard for them. We moved into a single family home and honestly, it hasn't been as much of a benefit as I'd expected. At the townhouse, we had a pool, lots of walking trails and parks nearby, as well as a library and a few stores within walking distance. I kind of miss that. The one thing they have used a lot at our house is a basketball hoop in the driveway, and I don't think we could have had that in a townhouse. Townhouses are definitely more economical - but also factor in the monthly association fees.

I have two kids who will be in high school and both will be fully vaccinated by that point. My 11 year old daughter will be homeschooled but she'll be vaccinated once she turns 12 in September. Our youngest is 9 but is at higher risk for multiple reasons. He started back to summer school and I'm kind of waiting to see how that goes before making a final decision. He's in a self-contained special ed classroom with 6 kids and 4 fully vaccinated adults and won't be mixing with other kids very much. His immunologist and pulmonologist, who encouraged us to keep him home last year, have ok'd his return to school. Masks are optional but he will be wearing a high-quality one regardless.

I have a childhood friend in her 40s who openly announced her opposition to the vaccine at the time she came down with Covid. She ended up in the ICU for more than a month, on a ventilator most of that time. At some points, it looked like she was not going to make it and it made me SO angry to think that she could have lost her life -- and her children their mother -- due to all of the lies and misinformation surrounding the vaccines. She did survive, although I think she has quite a bit of rehab to return to her previous state of health.

We just have 4. We had fertility issues in the beginning, having to see a reproductive endocrinologist, going through numerous tests and procedures only to be diagnosed with "unexplained infertility." I got pregnant naturally sometime afterwards, and then the next three came in pretty rapid succession (4 in 7 years.) We had planned to stop after #3 but didn't take any permanent measures. #4 had a very traumatic start to life and while he is an absolute joy, he is also profoundly disabled and requires a lot of care and attention most 9 year olds don't. I was 37 at that point anyway, but we could not handle any more "surprises."

I am also looking at it. We tried the sample lessons last spring and my daughter loved them. That's saying a lot for a kid who typically hates math. I might give it a try.

I have an 11 year old daughter and HORMONES is right. It is so hard sometimes! I don't have any advice but I imagine that those dynamics are very challenging!

I personally really like CLE and find it easy to teach. I do allow my kids to skip some of the review if it's clear that they have mastered the topic. I regret having moved away from CLE with my kids for greener grass elsewhere and have always come back to it.

I went to grad school at the U of Chicago. It was intense, to say the least, but definitely helped open doors for me in my career. It is a very academically-focused place with not much emphasis on sports or other extracurriculars. I personally felt that most people there didn't have a balanced life and after completing my master's there, I would never go there for my Ph.D. Not to say it's a bad place - it's certainly very prestigious, and I have friends who have done very well for themselves after getting master's and doctoral degrees. It just wasn't the place for me, long-term.

I like digital scrapbooking and used to be pretty good at it but I don't do enough of it. I also used to do a lot of photography but now my kids are older and aren't willing subjects. 🙂 I'm really enjoying kayaking this summer. I'd like to try stand up paddleboarding. I used to run quite a bit and am getting back into that. Over the winter, I did a lot of indoor cycling using the Peloton app. I also try to do some strength training but that's more because I know it's good for me. I don't particularly love it.

If you really like the MP format, they sell editable versions of it. Just search for Editable Lesson Plan Template on their site.

Echoing that MP has excellent customer service! We used mostly MP for one year and have used other bits and pieces over the years. It is academically solid, to be sure, but wasn't a great fit for my kids' learning styles. I needed to add more hands-on, interactive activities to meet their needs. We also did a LOT orally. MP has a ton of writing.

Go as light as possible on EVERYTHING! My DH started out backpacking with a big sleeping bag and big backpack and very quickly realized that he needed to minimize the amount that everything weighed. He bought a lighter sleeping bag, a lighter backpack, lighter cookset, etc. He even cut his toothbrush in half. You don't have to go that extreme, but try to minimize how much he'll be carrying. It'll make a big difference!

So tent camping? Will they be staying in one location or backpacking from one location to the next?

My SIL was fully vaccinated when she got a mild case of Covid in May. Her daughter also had it but was asymptomatic. She apparently brought it home from school - she'd been quarantined due to a case on her bus. We have saliva tests here, and they can even be taken at home, so it makes it easy to test.

I totally get this. I'm in a very similar spot. I had three kids home this year and will just have one next year: DS 14 is going to high school, as previously planned, and DS 9 is going back to public school due to his profound special needs. DD 11, who is very outgoing and social, will be the only child home. She was in a half-time homeschool hybrid program at a lovely school prior to Covid. We kept her home this year out of an abundance of caution. Most of her friends from the private school also stayed home, but we were all very cautious due to vulnerable family members and her friend group didn't see each other very much. We did attend a co-op, which was helpful, but it was only every other week -- not really enough time for DD to make good friends. Returning to the private school is an option, but not likely for a few reasons -- namely, none of her good friends are going back either. Also, there are some academic gaps that I've found and I'm not convinced that the school can best meet her needs. I'm hopeful that we will be able to see friends more often, now that things are not quite as dire, but I will still need to be very intentional about finding many more social opportunities for her. We looked into a one-day homeschool tutorial and it looked perfect on paper, but it's too far away and winter driving conditions here can be pretty dicey. I'm hopeful that church and youth group will be in-person, as all three of my older kids have definitely missed it and need those connections. She does play sports, and that will continue, but she needs way more social time than I do and so it's a constant challenge to fill up her schedule.

My mom had it, I think on two eyes at different times. She had it covered by insurance because she was getting repeated infections. She saw an opthalmologist.

Ditto this. My kids loved it!

In the case of special ed students for whom such a long break would result in regression, most districts around here offer ESY (Extended School Year.) My son will attend ESY this year for four weeks in July-early August. There is also regular summer school offered to students in all grades who are at risk of falling behind academically. They have to be referred by a teacher but there is no charge to parents. It's usually more laid back and just a half day for 4-6 weeks.