Yes, sometimes "where are you from?" can be a loaded question. Not always for reasons around race. Sometimes I feel like it's a way for locals to categorize you as an outsider. I don't always offer my birth place for that question. Sometimes I just say the last place I lived, but I know sometimes the reason they ask is because I do not have a Southern accent. I want to ask a new friend where she's from, but I have held off because I'm nervous it might come across as offensive. She is Asian and has an accent. I'm not a huge fan of all alternative question suggestions for "what do you do for a living?" but I think the concept of pushing that question aside and getting to know someone with other questions is nice. I don't know that I'd say, "what are you passionate about?" but I might ask something similar. Depending on the person asking and how the conversation was going, it may not seem like such a strange question. If you just shook someone's hand and they said, "hi. What are you passionate about?" that would be really awkward to me lol.

Exactly. I have heard that people are so used to introducing themselves and immediately asking each other what they do for a living, but should probably try other questions to get to know someone. I even found a list here: https://open.buffer.com/27-question-to-ask-instead-of-what-do-you-do

:grouphug: For my own personal records I circle school days based on if we got enough done minutes wise and/or material wise. Many days I didn't circle because we only did like one thing. So I looked it over and we'd need a lot of days to get to my goal and it really upsets me because there's no time. I'm just hoping we can finish our math soon. We're finishing up ch. 8 and there are 10 chapters. : / I have to babysit my 8 yr old! Next week he begins meeting with a college student twice a week. I figure maybe this way I can focus on the toddler and someone else can oversee his school for a few hours a week. I hope you can wrap things up soon and take a breather.

My responses are in blue, though I know these comments weren't addressed to me.

Wanted to add I consider my spouse a workaholic and even if I didn't have young children at home, I would probably wonder why he's running late/maybe call to check in. Maybe TMI but I'm gonna throw this out there. I've gotten jealous before about him spending too much time with female coworkers. You basically just said that he works with a bunch of women... so, think about that.

She probably does the crap that I should be doing. You know, like having a hot meal on the table when dh walks in the door. A clean house. Laundry not only clean but folded and put away. Or I dunno, maybe she orders take out lol. I really probably don't know much more than you do, though. I doubt he shares everything. Maybe he actually has a big ego and thinks that he can be the sole provider and the idea of her working = he didn't provide enough. Really, do we know how he feels? All we know is his wife wants to move and it's going to be inconvenient for travel reasons? Is it possible she used to earn a living and has savings from it? Or needed a break from working for some unknown reason? I kind of feel like she's getting a bad rep based on lack of the full story.

Interesting. I know I said it once already, but I do think Times Tales is very helpful. We watched part 1 last week and part 2 today. Ds has already learned several times tables. They don't cover every mult. fact, but a good few up to 9. The list of which facts are covered is on their website. I might have dyscalculia which I think has something to do with my ability to retain numbers/facts. But I don't know. Never been formally tested. I did fine in math classes so long as I wasn't called on to answer a mental math ques. Just a little slower with some things. In many cases calculators were allowed so it maybe didn't slow me down all the time so long as I knew what I needed to plug into the calculator. It's possible she has dyscalculia. The book Two Plus Two is Not Five (addition facts up to 18) has been very helpful. I mean, I'm an adult that didn't learn all her math facts well and it's helping me. I recommend it.

I don't know. I am sure there are a lot of factors to consider. We're anticipating ds taking a placement test at a school this summer. We had concluded that if for some reason he doesn't do well on the test and they want to hold him back, we'd rather not enroll him. I don't foresee that happening. But, if there are areas in which he doesn't do well we'd work our best to get him caught up. I would like to believe that catching up is possible with the right motivation, time and resources. But not everyone has that. And it depends on how behind they are I guess. Maybe some things are too overwhelming to truly catch up on. The child is in upper elem. and has many gaps with basics and/or has learning obstacles. I have an optimistic bias since I skipped K and went straight into first (K-1 classroom, actually. Teacher aid worked with us first graders) and I was behind. Due to a move/birthday cutoff and lack of communication I guess between the school and my parents, we didn't realize I should have already been reading. I did catch up and excelled in school later. But had I been a weak reader in an older grade I think it would have been more challenging for day to day work. For Part 2 of your question -- I would use homeschool tools to my advantage. I have found so many useful tools recommended here that I think might help fast track a child's understanding in a given area. For example, I'm trying to "catch up" ds on times tables. Technically we aren't done with second grade yet, but since that placement test is coming up I'm trying to speed things along. We're using Times Tales to learn mult. facts and he's already memorized several in the past week. I wish I would have had exposure to that when I was a kid! I'm an adult that never learned all her math facts. I don't really know what happened there. I still mix some up or blank out so the videos are helping me, too. For language, I would work heavily on phonics. Phonogram tiles, Doodling Dragons book (LOE product), looking into an O-G program if necessary, etc. Nowadays there are so many engaging and alternative ways to learn (maybe some have been around a long time, but new to me). Educational games either purchased or made. Educational videos (Leap Frog, etc.). The hardest part I think would be making time and not burning the child out.

In my case it was stuff like "tell time with roman numeral clock" (which is easy to teach, but not something that occurred to me to include as it wasn't in our math). Also, I've noticed recently that different schools have different requirements about mult. facts learned in second grade. I had no idea that sometimes kids are expected to know times tables up to five before entering third grade. Thank goodness or Times Tales. We're zipping through them.

I've read a lot of "your child is 7, you don't need to do much" type posts in this thread. Here I am kinda freaking out (telling myself not to) because of the list of things in the second grade scope and sequence at this school we might send ds next year for third. I'm seeing what we missed and trying to check off items. Most of it is not crucial stuff, though. I think nowadays there's a huge range of what is taught in second. It can vary so much from school to school. Likely you are hitting the main points, though.

I have read some of your posts and I think we are in a similar situation! Well, not 100%, but I also live in an area with poor public schools and have a toddler at home. I cannot manage the home and schooling right now. I am seeing a psychiatrist this week and know living here and trying to juggle things has taken a toll on my mental health. We are anticipating having my son take a placement test this summer at the private school which we can barely afford (I'll start working part-time the few hours a week my husband goes into work late so he can watch the toddler while I'm at work those mornings). And we know that if we send him to the private school this year we probably can't afford to do it the next year and will be back to square one. The tuition goes up after the first year. I would consider after schooling if that's possible. So maybe send the kids to the public school, then try to do some after schooling with them where you can? Or maybe just helping them with homework you can see what they need help with. I'm not sure but I feel like from reading your post that the public school by you might not be too terrible.

Maybe get one of those special pens to check the money or take to bank to have them check the cash? Actually, you don't need the pen. Just hold up to the light and look for the strip down inside the bill and also the tiny red/blue hairs on money. At least, that is what I did at my last cashier job.

If I'm really bad off, dh will bring me soup in a cup or something like that. I really really don't like messy foods in the room LOL

It's actually a sore topic here lol. I hate it when dh and ds bring food into the bedroom (the master bedroom where the other tv is). This week they brought some crumbly dessert item and I found a piece later the baby must have held and dropped in my bed. I was like this is ridiculous! I stripped the bed and changed the sheets and told ds this is exactly why I forbid food in the bedroom. Yes, on rare occasion I have eaten in there, but I avoid items that make crumbs. Like a bowl of cereal and then take the bowl to the kitchen when I'm done. Basically if I want to eat and watch tv I just stay in the living room and urge everyone else to do the same. My parents didn't eat in the bedroom and didn't want us eating in the bedroom. I do remember taking a bowl of food into my sister's room sometimes (she had a tv) but again I would try to be careful what item I brought in there and not leave it there. My dad was very strict about food and computers, too. We had to wash our hands before using the keyboard and weren't supposed to eat by it, but when I got older I'd eat by it with things that weren't crumbly. By my own computer, anyway.

Please link this woman to perfectpotluck.com.

I just read the part about the latest email and when I got to this I laughed out loud. After that email I don't know if I could show up. I might suddenly not feel well.

You guys are nice. Only put out if you don't have the ingredients. Psssh I'd be put out regardless LOL. I find pot luck prep a chore. Even if I pick an easy to make item and have everything. I think the most annoying thing about the request was she was asking you to bring two items. I'd be pretty annoyed and wonder if she was trying to compensate for someone falling through with an entrée. If so, I think given the last minute situation, she should just buy something or make something herself rather than dump the chore on a guest. What would I do? I'm not sure. I guess email back and say I wish I had known so I could have signed up for an entrée from the start and had time to shop. Now unfortunately it is too late. Do you still want me to bring the dish I signed up for or are there too many salads?

Oh no. I will have to tell dh to wear his shoes. He'll buy a few at a time and then often not wear one or two pairs until the first falls apart (not falling apart in the same way as described in this thread). I was very upset one time a pair of platform shoes broke while I was wearing them. Not the way you might expect, either. It was a vertical crack if you were looking at them from the side. I loved those shoes.

I have mixed feelings on the counseling in one scenario vs the other. I don't know that I'd stick around an office for an hour of any kind of counseling that I didn't request. Stick around after tests results for some more info, sure. But if someone was going on for an hour and making me uncomfortable I think I'd need to excuse myself. I cannot imagine the ob/gyns I've met push abortion, though I've never been in the situation in which it would come up I suppose. I live in the Bible belt and I just cannot fathom that. I mean, there was a Bible in the waiting room in at least one of the offices I went to.

Yes. This is what I'm telling dh who is worrying about things two school years from now.

I vote for follow up again, deal directly with manager and explain that he inquired about the job on day X and now it's day Y so he's trying to figure out what's going on. If he's not going anywhere with that place he should at least inquire about the paperwork with personal info. I think in the future he should call (not text although that has the advantage of a paper trail. Just seems too casual to me) and ask when the manager will be in. Then go in person to speak with the manager or call back during that time. That way if he has to hand over forms or anything he's always dealing with someone in charge. They seem really disorganized and I'd be worried about where the forms ended up. I'd also make sure he learns the names of every person he interacts with and keep a pad of paper to write down their names/titles immediately. You may have already advised him of this. Can he work retail? Not food? That way he wouldn't be dealing with meat. Clothing store, sporting goods, electronics, music store, etc.

This should be a bumper sticker or something lol

Yes, it would bother me. I've done similar, not gotten around to using certain things, but usually they are not very expensive items (my scrapbooking stuff. Guilty!). Santa gave ds a video game and ds only played it for a few minutes. It was not cheap. It was a download. We think he was scared of it, but he had asked for it and doesn't scare that easily. I noticed the game rating later and said I would not have been on board with it had I known sooner. I agree about scaling back on the gift and also agree that an Amazon card might be the way to go. Does she not use the camera because she relies on her cell phone camera? Maybe she could sell the camera/return it?

I read this from this angle... "you made it all the way through sixth grade?!" Pat yourself on the back. I told dh last night that even if it comes down to the second vehicle vs. private school, I think we have to do private school this coming year. Ds and I don't have a very healthy relationship right now and I feel like every day is a battle. We haven't even gotten half as far as you.

Mine is almost 18 months and does the same things!! I'm half-heartedly trying to potty train her. She hasn't gone in the potty, but she constantly removes clothing/diaper. And there really aren't any clothes that are safe, either. Just a deterrent, really ha. I have not tried putting on the clothes backwards.