I haven't received a response yet. I'm trying not to obsess about what that means. (Are they still working it out privately? Are they just ignoring the email? There are multiple organizers: it couldn't have ended up in everyone's spam.)

There were years in my marriage where I and a nursing baby slept together, while my husband slept in another room.

If your young child idolizes a celebrity who is now getting a lot of media attention for absolutely awful behavior, what do you do? I am monitoring his media consumption to make sure that my kid does not stumble across explicit descriptions of the appalling behavior, but I'm not really sure how to handle it. I really want to discourage his continuing admiration of this celebrity, without going into details. Any advice?

No, but I also don' t have a home large enough where we would have a guest for that long.

My father watches my kids two afternoons/evenings a week and one morning a week for free. He had retired years previously, so he didn't give up an income. I am very grateful, for I make very little money working out of the home. If I paid a fair wage for watching my kids, I wouldn't make anything working out of the home.

Seconding that you should branch into hard ciders. I especially like McKenzie's.

I was a vegan from 15-22, and I struggled with anemia. I found taking floradix with OJ (vitamin C helps with absorption) but nothing else (as calcium can interfere with absorption) was what worked best for me. Hema-plex might also work and is much cheaper.

My firstborn hated kindergarten. I spent so many days physically forcing her into a carseat to get her to school. She is a highly asynchronous child and just did not thrive there. So, we pulled her. We continue homeschool in large part because my children have faced an overwhelming amount of change in the last year, and unfortunately, that will continue into this year. I want to try to keep as much normality and stability as I can for my children, and while I can't control some of the other changes, at least for the time being, I can continue homeschooling them.

I forwarded the email where the hostess asked me not to come to the organizers and now anxiously wait for a response. Thanks for all the kind words and support.

This is amazing!

I like mei tais for the very early days, mostly because I can wear them on my back as soon as they have some head control, around 2 months.

What would you do if you were asked, by the host, not to attend a homeschool group event posted publically but in a private person's home? Would you contact the organizers? Edited to be less identifiable.

Up until recently, my annual clothing budget was $400/year, including shoes, swimsuits, etc...., but of course, I wasn't growing (other than kids, but after my first kid, I reused maternity clothes). I can't do thrift stores due to environmental allergies, but I also was a SAHM and didn't really care about being fashionable. My budget for clothes for my kids excluding shoes, coats, etc... has been $200/yr: we tend to shop in spring for warm weather clothes and then again in fall for cooler weather clothes. They are still happy to shop at Walmart, where I can often get shirts for $3-5 each. Pants are a little more pricey, but even then I'm looking at under $15.

How do you handle your kids buying things that you rather they not have with their own money? I'm not talking about dangerous things: just things that are likely to break, things they are unlikely to have the maturity to care for, etc... that will surely end up in tantrums and tears?

For sure: It's So Amazing The Care and Keeping of You Maybe Now (or Maybe Wait a Year or Two): Below Your Belt: How to Be Queen of Your Pelvic Region

I babysit, as an adult. If I don't have my kids with me, I charge 15/hr. If someone is doing a sitter share, I add an extra $5 per family. If I have my own kids with me, I knock it down to $10/hr. Teenagers often make less, but I still couldn't imagine paying a sitter less than $8/hr.

10.5% of our gross income went to food. This includes the food that went to hosting parties.

My middle child's violin teacher mentioned that she thought he was a visual learner (which is interesting to me, as he has some vision issues), but I've never been asked.

Team medleys are always in the same order of back, breast, fly, free for all ages. Individual medleys are always fly, back, breast, free. I don't know why both don't start with backstroke, though.

I wasn't thinking about reporting the family to DCFS.

The parents live in different towns. The school is in the district where the other parent lives, not where she lives.

You're right. I definitely didn't mean it like that.

We had an issue with this this spring. I couldn't believe a kindergarten league of any sport would have kids sit most of the game: they're babies! Whatever. It didn't seem to be based on talent, but rather who was the coaches' kids. We're going to do a different league next spring, and I'm trying to cajole my brother (who coaches this sport at a college level) to volunteer to coach my kid's team.

Well, I'm 29 and preparing to move back in with my parents. My husband left, and my parents wanting and being able to take us in is a godsend. A year ago, I never would have thought I would be living with my parents again, but life happens. At least I can take comfort in that a lot of people my age are doing this?

When I host, I have a lot of anxiety waiting for guests, so I rather be early than late. However, almost a half an hour is excessive. If I realize I will be more than ten minutes early, I will drive around the neighborhood to kill time (and worry the host will notice and think I'm a weirdo).