Yes, shelving and shelf-reading books at my local library as a teenager. Despite being boring it was a great first job; flexible, low stress, paid better than minimum wage, and looked good on college/scholarship applications.

In the homeschool families I am around, I would say 1% possibly even less. I'm not really sure that those that are not actively educating their children really utilize homeschooling resources (enrichment classes, co-op, etc.) I do know several, several families that have pulled their kids from school because their child/children were behind often do to learning disabilities and the families were not getting adequate support or resources from the school. The children were already behind and then there is the learning curved for the homeschooling parent. However, all these families are actively educating and are looking for support where they feel they are falling short. Only one family I know is very blase about education, but their children are very early elementary so that may or may not change. There is another family that struggles to homeschool. Honestly the family has so many things on their plate and homeschooling is suffering. This family homeschools for religious reasons and would not even consider other schooling options. I'm not sure that their life will get any easier and I fear their children continuing to fall more and more behind.

Been there. Lots of hugs. My oldest especially needed it, but my other two craved it as well. My oldest is why I took up babywearing. As much as I would have liked to put her down, she would just scream and then vomit (even today she has a strong gag reflex) so to survived DH and I would just wear her. At 10, almost 11, she is still quite affectionate and likes to sleep with weighted blankets so I imagine it was a sensory thing for her. Sometimes you just gotta do what you need to survive. :tongue_smilie: Lots and lots of :grouphug: because it is very draining even if you want to do it and enjoy it for the most part.

If we are taking the car, garage for sure because that's where the car is located. Otherwise we use the front door or back sliding glass door to come and go when being outside around the house/neighborhood.

My DD has just learned the value of check numbers. It was something she didn't want to do before, but now that she is doing multi-step problems it has helped her fix mistakes before getting to the end and then having to redo the whole problem because she didn't know where the mistake occurred. Once she learned how and why, I didn't require her because it would have been a battle. Currently, she was tired of having to redo so many problems that she started to use the check numbers on her own. I think like many tools in RightStart are not needed when the problems are simple, but can really help when they get more complicated or have more parts.

When DH and I were dating, I made it very clear that I would not even consider moving our relationship to physical intimacy until he had an STD panel (I had no previous experience as well as having annual physicals that already ran tests)and showed it to me. It wasn't said as an ultimatum but rather in a coversation we discussing about my not wanting to move to fast into the physical realm. A couple months later he showed me his tests results. It was still quite a long time before our relationship moved into that realm, but I was not going to sacrifice my health or potential future fertility. One can be a carrier and pass on an STD without ever being aware of it. Having past partners, not the specifics, was something that I felt was imperative to know because it does relate to potentional STD's and possible unknown children, but I expected that would be something discovered during the dating process. I would not be compatible with a partner that was not open to discussing such matters. Sexual abuse was something I wanted to inform my partner. I didn't know how it would affect my inimate relationships or even what, if any triggers, I had because I hadn't had any inimate partners before my DH. I knew it may affect that aspect of a relationship. This was something I didn't share right away, but more so when dating started to turn more serious. Plus, my father was in prison for the abuse so it kind of comes up when asked about your dad. Granted I always took a long time to "get to know" someone which is why my DH is my one and only. I generally learned past boyfriends were not for me (as an inimate partner as I am still friends with one or two of them) before we were physically intimate. It's a good idea to share items in your relationship which may directly affect the other person. Demanding to share the nitty, gritty would have made me run the other way and it is something I don't wish to know. Although I would be willing to listen to as much as my partner wanted to share.

I have mixed feelings. Many girl scouting troops in my area are not rigirous or avoid the outdoorsy stuff. I think much of this has to do with the leaders. I know in my girls' troop there is a divide over how cushy camp should be because of the mom's going that don't want to rough it. However the majority of our girls really embrace the oppurtunity. On one hand I think there is a benefit to the child to be gender segregated, but there is a benefit to being co-ed as well. In my area, scouting is one of the few activities (other than sports) that gives boys (in particular) the oppurtunity to be around just other boys. Scouting in particular encourages the involvement of adult men as well as embraces the family. Girls have many more oppurtunities (around me) for this so in some ways I think it may be the boys that lose out. We shall see. My son isn't quite old enough to to join scouting, and I'm not all that sure my DH is interested in taking him. I know I could do it, but I'm the lead in all other child activities and adding one more thing to my plate is not in the cards. Plus I think it would be great for my son to have something he and his dad do together.

One of our local girl troops does it as their main fundraiser for the year. I believe it is a Daddy/Daughter dance but the flyer specifically states - fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and other adult males (I can't remember exactly how it is phrased.) Mom's run the dance and all the behind the scenes. The boy troop also hosts a Mommy/Son dance later in the year, and the dad's (other males) run the dance and all the behind the scenes. They often do a theme - like square dancing, line dancing, swing dancing, etc. As a general rule they don't have any "slow" dancing, although I think one year they had instruction on the waltz. It is dress to the occasion, but it is a lot more casual than what you are seeing. That would really bother me too. My girls never been because it conflicts with a prior family obligation every year but I think they would really enjoy having a fun evening with my husband, especially since my oldest loves to dance and get into costume. In our area the girl troops are almost exclusively run by the moms so I think events like this are a great opportunity to spend that "special" time with dad (or other male) and vice versa. Although a lot of moms are involved in the boy scouting often because there isn't a significant male role model in the boy's life. It probably makes a difference that in my neck of the wood's the term "date" is not used exclusively to mean "romantic."

Not sure what the weather is like by you, but here the kids can play for quite some time with sand, water, sticks, shovels, mud, plants, rocks, etc. Water is probably the most time consuming for them. Even washing dishes could be an hour long endeavor for my kiddos at those ages, especially if there was a nice pile of suds. I just place some towels on the floor, give them non-breakable things, and then use those wet towels to "mop" the kitchen floor. Clean up was fairly quick and worth it for those clean dishes and an hour of peace. :) Hopefully you will find some suggestions that work for you. Those ages, for me, were an energy drain.

I do not wear make-up. A CVS job, I would look clean and neat, but no make-up. An office job may care about image so I would wear light powder foundation, a hint of blush, light to no eye shadow, and mascara. As for lips, I would probably just do lip-balm or lip gloss. I wouldn't like it, but this is the bare minimum I'm willing to do for a job. Things to even out skin tone and maybe enhance my eyes (as that's what I'm hoping they look at while talking to me) so that I don't have anything that draws their attention away from ME at the interview. Once hired, I would abide by the dress code or general office culture. They would get used to me not wearing makeup or I would get used to applying minimal makeup and consider like a dress code.

I start when reading and writing are fairly decent. We use All About Spelling and it starts with CVC words which is why writing is usually what tips the scales. My son(1st grade) is struggling to form letters right now although he reads CVC words great so we haven't started spelling. My older girls, I was able to start at the 1st grade level. The first 10 lessons were actually pretty easy for the girls, but they were able to get used to how the program worked, and they spent more concentration on forming the letters vs how to spell the word.

No, but I wouldn't wear white pants before Labor Day either. :)

As of right now, DH and I decide. We are open to having that discussion with our kids, but we don't want to decide from one year to the next. I feel like having a disjointed education isn't the wisest choice. My oldest is 10, and she has just started asking about what it would be like for her to go to school. She hasn't given an indication that she actually wants to go to school as much as she is just curious about the experience. High school we are definitely open to sending them to school. Educating an unwilling teenager seems like a disaster to me, but I'm not there yet. So I'm open to the possibility, but right now my kids aren't consulted.

I understand. In general DH and I are pretty compatible, but when it comes to house projects - all bets are off. Hence why to many house projects haven't even been started. Good luck! :)

I'm okay with certain things as leftovers, but I don't want to eat it the day after. I will often cook something, say a whole chicken, and use the leftovers to create a new meal like chicken noodle soup. If I were to make a large batch of soup, we will have soup that night, but then I will freeze what's left in smaller batches to pull out periodically for a meal. Generally I cook enough for one meal and leftovers for my DH to take to work unless it is something everyone will eat as leftovers. About once a week we will often have a "leftovers" dinner - what's in the fridge is open for the taking. Child A likes this leftover, here's your dinner. Child B likes this leftover, here go to town. And on down the line. My dislike of leftovers comes from having a terrible of a cook mother. On Sunday she would make a big batch of whatever meal. We would have the leftovers for every meal until the leftovers were gone. All of the leftovers would just be reheated day after day.

Expenses mainly. Most of our travel is by car. The Canada border is within an hour so we have gone to or driven through Canada several times which is why I maintain our passports - well really the enhanced drivers' license. When I was employed I used to have to cross the Detroit/Windsor border several times a year so my employer actually reimbursed the cost of my passport. I'd love to travel to Europe again as well as some other international places but right now it's just to expensive for us. Right now our vacations typically consist of camping near home.

To me family heirlooms are items that have sentimental or monetary value as well as made of such a quality that will have the ability to maintain a good condition through generations. We have my MIL's dining room table. It is functional but I wouldn't say it is an heirloom because it is showing it's wear of two generation of kids. It is a soft wood that will continue to deteriorate as we use it. Even if it was only used for "special occasions" I think it would wear greatly as well. Trying to refinish it would further affects its structural integrity. It is just not of a quality that will survive handing it down from generation to generation.

We always park our cars in the garage regardless of their dirt factor. A lot of dirty things are in the garage - bikes, buckets, shovels, lawn mower, etc. Actually the lawn mower is probably the dirtiest thing in the garage.

We have only two or three deal-breaker rules. One of those is no smoking in the house, but we did provide an ash tray and place outside with chairs for those that smoke. The other is no pets in the house, but again we had a place outside in the shade and they could house them overnight in the garage if they wanted. So far no issues other than a friend choosing not to stay overnight due to the pet rule, but they were more than happy to come over for a few hours. When DH and I were dating both our parents had a no sleeping in the same bed rule. For us, not a big deal to be in separate rooms/sleeping spaces for a few nights. It doesn't harm or hurt us in any way. I prefer to be respectful of the rules someone else has in their home even if I were to think it silly. Only if said rule is harmful or a severe inconvenience would I choose not to stay overnight.

If your DH is fine with it, then sure just attend the reception. I don't think it would be a faux pas. When I got married, a few friends with littles just came to the reception. I thought nothing of it as the bride. Bridal parties don't really get to socialize and see people until the reception anyway.

Organic material - when I was a kid, yes. Now I don't even do that because it attracts animals to the road which can get the animals killed or potentially cause an accident.

In general no, but all three of my kids love stories. My oldest used to be very intimidated by the size of a book so I did pick some thick books (which I knew she would love one she started - Harry Potter being one) as required reading for school. It only took her one chapter to get hooked and then she didn't want to put it down. I did have a period when all three struggled with moving to more advanced reading, and I didn't push it. DH or I still read to them as well as the kids will check out audiobooks. Our bookshelves are all full of lots of books which they have free access to as well as DH and I read quite a bit as well. At bedtime, they have about 30 minutes of free reading time with book lights otherwise it lights out and sleeping time. The motivation to "stay up later" helped get us over the struggling readers. I'm not sure if this helps or not, but my kids have very little screen time and not a whole lot of outside, organized activities. I most often find them reading when they want some respite from playing outside or interacting with their siblings or friends.

I haven't heard "girls can't...", but I have heard "girls don't...." and every time it has come from men with just sons or boys. My oldest is 10 and there is a neighbor boy just a month older than her. He many times would say to my DD, "but girls don't do..." when she would make suggestions of things to do like climb trees, hunt for bugs, dig in the dirt, and even board games. Thankfully my DD is outspoken and fairly comfortable in her skin so her usually response is, "well I'm a girl and I like....so who ever told you that is wrong." I don't hear it as often as I did when I was little, but truthfully I didn't hear it all that much growing up either. It was often from peers rather than adults.

My one and only strict rule is that I will only cook ONE meal. If you don't like what I make, make something yourself. Granted we don't have to deal with allergies, nutritional issues, medical issues, etc. I generally consider dessert as part of dinner, you don't want to eat the dinner I made that's fine, but dessert is part of dinner. If dinner happens to be something that I know one of the kids really detests, I will usually allow them to have dessert if they make/get themselves a well-balanced meal so I can be lenient on that issue. Also, each kid helps me with one dinner meal a week usually they get to help pick what we are having for dinner. This way they learn skills as well as having a say in what we are eating for dinner. This has helped our household quite a bit on the complaining about meals, at least for now.

We have electronic/wireless readings now, but at least twice a year they send a person to check all the meters in a certain area (I'm guessing to calibrate them), but the prior month's bill states the dates they will be in our neighborhood. The person just walks through the properties with no attempt to alert the homeowner, but I have noticed they are very conscious to close any gates, etc. Once when my kids were playing in the fenced backyard, they ran inside and yelling about some stranger in the yard. The meter guy immediately knocked at the front door and apologized for scaring the kids just letting me know he was doing a meter check. A little courteousness goes a long way.