:grouphug:

All except the oven in the kitchen do. In the other rooms there is variation (deep freeze washing machine etc)

Adorableness in spades...

I resorted to iPad time to get it done. It's tough. Unless your mum homeschooled she probably just didn't realise.

I thought it might be time for this "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."... Seriously though I'd probably just grab a needle and thread and tackle it myself...

We are setting up a schoolroom this year too. I'm excited. We had one during my couple of homeschooling years but I didn't use it much because it felt cold and shut off from everything. I suspect we will still work on the main part of the house often but I'm trying to make it cozy and nice so we want to be there. Plus just having all the stuff in one room will help keep things tidier I think.

My just turned 11 year old is like this. I am not always with him as I have two younger kids but I stay at the table the whole time. If I don't mayhem breaks out or someone gets stucksðŸ˜

No I think cake smash usually references giving baby the whole massive cake and photographing the results and I don't get it either. Just yuck... I also don't get into messy face photos. Maybe that's because clean faces seemed to be such a rare event when mine were babies!

Another water flavour option is to add a slice of lemon or a couple of mint leaves to a jug of water at the beginning of the day.

It's been a while since I read war and peace but I feel like Andre and Pierre provide such a powerful contrast to each other - one is so driven by ambition and intellect and the other is so unambitious and so driven by feeling. Ultimately Andre learns a level of calm and compassion and Pierre to be a little more stable and balanced. I often wonder with Tolstoy how he gets into the head of so many different types of people so effectively. Even quite unpleasant people's emotions and reactions are well described and understood.

In light of the sappy theme iBooks has a number of first in series romances and fiction free for the next week.

Yeah I'm the same ... I have stuff I've been meant to sell for about 5 years ...

Can you resell the booties for more than $17?

I hear you on the organisation thing. And the anxiety thing... I think doing everything when you homeschool really isn't possible. I flip between allocated timeslots and do the next thing mode. Overall timeslots works best but leaves me stressed and do the next thing helps me complete tasks but leaves me not getting to everything. I have to bake today for our church camp on the weekend. I don't have much time for it but I'll have to squish it in somewhere.

I tell the story of the boy who cried wolf to one of mine on a regular basis... In other words no answers but I feel your pain.

For those interested on the saturated fat and cholesterol thing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2943062/ It's not real clear cut and this summarises recent advice

Combination ... The genetic and chemical makeup make the predisposition to overeat stronger and then it requires and almost impossible level of willpower to not overeat. Most scientific studies I've seen reviewed recently support this view. I know at least one person who is morbidly obese but has a great level of self control and self discipline in all other areas of life. The book "Why diets make us fat" I referenced earlier does a good job of examining the way this works.

Our local news said the winds were at 297kph! I have no idea about hurricanes thankfully but that sounds super scary. Stay safe everyone.

There are some tips on the beginning of the well educated mind on reading more efficiently I think. Isn't there an app out there that flashes the words up that is supposed to increase reading speed? We're not there yet but I worry that this will be an issue for my late reader. On the other hand I am a fast reader but tend to miss stuff. If I have to read non fiction where every word counts I tend to slow down.

Also it may be worth using a basic safety gear type mask for a couple of days. Annoying but better than ER visits.

I'm assuming they are following the usual advice of stay indoors, close windows and vents etc.? Just stating the obvious in case with all the stress it's been overlooked.

That would be hard. I think when I was in the office all day I used public transport and discovered that walking instead of using one the connecting buses worked, however I didn't have kids at the time to drain any excess energy. I did have one of those fitness balls instead of an office chair for a while.

This is my ideal but I seem to be in a bit of a slump. Yoga in the morning then some outdoor activity with the kids. Maybe Spring will help.

That's pretty motivated.

Exercising with the kids (playing backyard cricket or basketball or just bushwalking is exercise I actually enjoy). The two hours of housework is basically vacuuming mopping, grocery shopping and library and outdoor maintenance/ pet care etc. plus admin stuff for running a household. Realistically more often than I like it's catching up because I dawdled over breakfast and morning chores and didn't get that stuff done.