Years ago when I worked in a state hospital, the standard (cheap) treatment for foot and toenail fungus both was footbaths in strong black tea.

Based on recommendations here, I picked up (and finished) A Quaker Book of Wisdom. What a lovely read, like sitting down for the afternoon with tea and an elder relative or mentor and listening to them riff on life. I am familiar with Quaker belief and culture already, but enjoyed the reminder and the particular spin. The Quaker's have such great phrasing: Let your life speak, where way opens, that of God in every person. I have a child headed to a Quaker university in the fall and I am personally hoping to find a way to attend a nearby retreat center for a few days.

Life is too short not to be an embarrassment. 😆

I have a book related question that someone here might be able to help with. I am looking for a book which covers the neurology of adolescence to use in a human development class for high school students. I read The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. Loved the information. But the tone: Ouch. The author geared it to parents and I found it condescending. I am concerned the students will find it patronizing and respond with snark rather than learning the material. Anyone have a better suggestion?

High five, Kareni.

Martian goes hiking. Gets left bit by bit on trail. He's badass like that.

I work a part time job not traditionally thought to be family friendly but I have a measure of control over my hours and it's specialized enough to pay well. High hourly pay is the ultimate in family friendliness because you don't have to work many hours provided you manage not to get caught up in the rat race. My own experience has led.me to think much more broadly for my own daughter. If she enjoys the schooling and training, the investment may be worth it even for a part time career.

Interesting, regenetrude. Thanks for typing that out. At the time we lived in Norway we had an elderly family member living with us and it was not the cultural norm. Most elderly Norwegians lived independent of families with plans for long term care in care communities in place. It was considered strange to have an elderly person who planned to stay with the family forever. It is interesting to me the European concept of a professional. I am likely way over generalizing, but they seem to have specific training for jobs that here in the US would be more DIY. For example, my husband is an engineer but good with construction and he has done all kinds of construction that most Europeans would find strange. Even early childcare is professionalized in a way it is not in the US. (Licensing for day care in the US is typically more about health and safety, less about educational credentials of the teachers.) Except for house cleaning. Not a professional job. The lines between the two seem fairly arbitrary to me. Because I can think of many jobs of about the same skill level that are professionalized. Really, I think the issue is that with high labor costs, it's just not the norm.

It depends on the kind of law. I am not an attorney but work in legal world and know several women who have made it work. They are often self employed and avoid corporate work.

Question for regenetrude. I heard similar ideas when I lived in Norway. The idea being that people should do their own cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. Yet, they were quick to outsource elder care and care of disabled children because there were viable options not available here in the US. How does this jive? It's an interesting paradox where self care is prioritized but care for others is encouraged to be done by professionals. Not sure how this works in Germany?

I don't share this guilt at all (and yes I do scrub my own toilets). To me it is no different than eating out (someone has to wash those dishes!) or getting a pedicure. (I hate the thought of a pedicure and have never had one, but would scrubbing someone else's feet be inherently demeaning?) I can't think of much work that I would find inherently demeaning PROVIDED the worker is compensated fairly and provided safe working conditions. It is perfectly legitimate to choose to spend your time elsewhere. Otherwise we would all.be involved in large scale food production and knitting our own socks.

My perspective is that if you hire help and pay well, you are providing a job. :-D In some cultures, not providing the job would be selfish.

An investment account and a prenup?

Well, most parts of the US don't have a climate suitable for pomegranate and citrus. I try not to rub it in. I laughed at your potato growing story, btw. Growing potatoes is a big hairy deal in dh's Midwestern family. Planting must happen on St. Patrick's Day. And it must be above ground, covered in straw. You can then tell everybody you "made garden." Months later, one bag of seed potatoes yields one bag at harvest. I loved The Martian, but the potato growing part was not plausible. :-D

When we landscaped our yard, we focused on fruit and nut trees. Because California. I will say those have been more cost effective than most crops grown in the garden, especially pomegranate, Meyer lemon, pistachio, and cherry. I suspect asparagus would be cost effective as well, because it's another one you plant once.