Exactly! And I ALWAYS forget where the cash payment came from. I have no system for that. And I lose checks. Not my phone it keys, but hand me a check and all bets are off! 🤪

Oh! I have 5 locations around my house where I’m allowed to put down my phone. When I move to a new house, I observe my natural behavior, then assign myself locations. I almost never lose my phone because it can only be on my person or in one of those places around the house. I also have assigned pockets for keys and phone in my purse and backpack. I always, always, always put my keys on their hook. I hang any clothes to be reworn back up in the closet immediately. I wash work clothes separately. It’s an extra load, but then I don’t ever have to think about whether there are clothes that can’t be dried mixed in with a load of laundry. I write down all appointments/things to do immediately. If I can’t write it down, I set a reminder on my phone to write it down later that day.

I wash my hands every time I walk into my house (and my kids do to). Hopefully, it cuts down on illness. Not a tiny habit, but I clean my kitchen every night before bed. Actually, it is a tiny habit because the only thing I require of myself is to start the dishwasher. I end up doing the rest (lauding dinner dishes, washing pots, wiping counters) most days too, but the only required piece is to run the dishwasher. Subsequently, I empty the dishwasher while making coffee. So, it’s ready for dishes all day. I always have a bottle of water. It’s very dry here, so it’s necessary, and I’m not interested in buying water. I’m working on making billpay and straightening up habitual instead of a decision. Not there yet.

Oh. This made me cry, instantaneously. That poor mother. Your poor friend. I’ll copy others. Evaluations. Elimination diet to identify food intolerances or allergies. One of my kids cries nonstop for 3 (yes 3) days if he eats beans or other legumes. All of my kids go bananas if given gluten or food dyes. One has severe eczema (bleeding) if eating gluten or dairy. And one, we’ve just discovered is insanely angry/sometimes violent/always defiant if consuming citrus (seriously, he’s a whole new kid after removing the citrus). A friend of mine has a daughter who has severe anger when she eats corn/corn biproducts. As for manipulation. My middle guy was born sad. When he was 1 day old, the postpartum nurse blustered into our room and said (I’m not kidding), “What is wrong with that baby? I’ve never heard a newborn cry like that!” He was screaming. He never had a newborn cry...it was screaming at 2 year old tantrum volume from birth. Yet, I had OTs tell me I just needed to be more consistent (I AM. Here’s my story for that: when he was 17 months, we moved to a new house and gated the kitchen. Every Single Time I went into that kitchen 50 times a day, I’d close the gate. Every single time I closed that gate, he fell to the floor screaming. 50 times a day for 1 year (except 1 time. It was a miracle moment. I texted all my friends. 1 time about 6 months in). He could see me the whole time. I was always consistent. Didn’t matter. What stopped the screaming? He learned how to scale the gate so we took it down.) I had speech therapists tell me I just needed to TEACH him to sit still. I tried. Every day. And then there are the other parents. 🙂 This wasn’t a manipulative child. This was a child who Could Not Cope. And I was consistent and loving and done. Didn’t matter. I had pediatricians write down that he was “stubborn” as they told me he’d grow out it or that it was “just” ADHD. Finally got an autism diagnosis when he was six. As well as severe anxiety (we knew that) and ADHD. Evaluations. Food intolerances. And maybe give Mama a hug.

It’s delicious! I’d half forgotten about it until this thread. So good.

I grew up in rural Ohio and now live in Denver. I have thoroughly entertaining conversations with friends from back home about “traffic” (getting caught behind a combine) and how distance in miles generally equals the number of minutes it will take to travel that distance. Having said that, I did spend 3 summers in NoVa as a nanny back in the day. There is very little out there that can rival NoVa traffic. I don’t miss that.

We use Textbook plus Intensive Practice only. It works really well. 🙂

Not sure I understand what you’re asking? Do you want destinations? Or just ideas of how others do it? I drive 23 hours (and back) once a year. That 23 hours is with stops....more or less. I always do it in two days because 1 is impossible for me, and my children stress me out in hotels (loud!), so I don’t want to torture myself in hotels more than necessary. 1 night in a hotel each direction So, I leave early. Say, 5am. I drive as far as I can, aiming for 14 hours the first day. That gets me there around 7pm. I’ve fed the kids in the car (I pack tons if food), so we unload and head to the pool. We swim until they stop screeching and start to calm down. Usually around 9:30pm (which is 8:30 in our time zone. Then, we pajama and turn out all the lights to sleep. Me too. Next day, I leave slowly. Wake up when we wake. Eat slowly. Roll out. Often, it’s 10 or 11, but I only have 9 hours left. Totally doable. I stop at a playground at least once each day. We eat at rest areas so we can run around. Everyone goes to the bathroom Every Single Time we stop. No exceptions. I use devices judiciously. Mostly, we listen to audiobooks together. My kids, who are generally nutty and crazy, are spectacular travelers (except at the hotel).

School - done Vacuum - done Costco run - done ABA - done Untangle the mess that is medical bills from a certain provider who likes to take my payments, lose the records, then bill me again. - almost finished. Just have to email billing with my arguments Set up a detailed, easy to use tracking system for that conpany’s billing so it’s easy to prove my payments in future without collecting all the credit card statements and what-not. - done Dinner - done Bedtime - done

No, I just blend the bit I’ll use that day (I have a stick blender), then stick the rest of the can in the fridge. For the separation, I shake it really well before I open the can, then mix it up a bit. I’m also ok with just dumping a bit of the water out if there is a lot of it. I’m with you on the cashew milk, and I don’t like almond milk in my coffee either.

If I didn’t hike/camp with my kids without my husband, we wouldn’t hike/camp. I have a very hard time hearing about someone being coerced into carrying weapons they are not comfortable with or trained for (I carry pepper spray, no guns. Ever. For me. YMMV) or not being permitted to go enjoy nature, which we humans are meant to enjoy. I’m sorry. I suggest more conversations with your spouse in this topic to hopefully find a reasonable compromise. I have an great aunt like this. She is so fearful of abuctions, etc. and never let her children do anything she deemed dangerous. It’s been interesting to watch her grandchildren have all kinds of (reasonable) freedom in driving, hiking, camping, traveling and how hard that’s been for her.

I use canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream (which was my go-to before I realized I couldn’t tolerate dairy). I heat the coconut milk, then blend/whip it with cinnamon before adding my coffee. Delicious. I know you said no bulletproof, but this is closer to what you were doing before with heavy cream than bulletproof which includes extra butters/coconut oils, etc.

I have really tall children. My middle son is literally a full head taller than any other child in his 2nd grade class at co-op. And he has a May birthday, so he’s one of the youngest. My other children are tall too, so I’ve been the parent hearing people muttering about my kids who are “too old” for the team. They aren’t. I do correct those parents, though. 🙂 I’m interested to know where you live. Everywhere I’ve lived (4 regions of the US), Rec leagues are set by age, not grade. We’ve mostly pulled out of Rec now because my kids can’t keep up with their same-age peers (who are smaller than them, but not autistic and motor-delayed) and the leagues don’t allow kids to play down (understandable). I’m sorry this is happening to you and your son.

Tackling. too discouraged to make a list. 😞 I guess that means my priority today is my attitude, doesn’t it?

I’m really impressed with you!

I’m working part time outside the home again after 8 years at home full-time. Doing well there is my biggest resolution and it’s going well. I’m also working to add an extra 15 minutes of housework daily to make up for the hours I’m at work when (ahem) nothing seems to get done.

It’s fun to see your progress, everyone. Nice work! The kids and I decluttered the basement/toy area yesterday. Three bags of trash (WHY do my children keep everything??) and a bag to donate. Yay!

I, too, have decluttered frantically when I’ve watched that show (and won’t watch it anymore because it’s sad to see the exploitation of mental illness. I liked Clean Sweep more because it was less extreme/seemed less exploitative). I’m a minimalist except in 2 areas. Food and books. Books, I combat by refusing to buy more shelves, not allowing myself to stack them, and decluttering regularly. There isn’t a huge emotional component to books though, more the IDEA of the possibility of learning they hold. And I can declutter that when it becomes clear that we won’t use that book, or that I no longer need that topic. Food is a bit different for me. I grew up food insecure because my father had a hard time holding a job and wouldn’t allow my mom to work (she was amazing at barter and work for trade as a result) or food stamps, etc. So, I tend toward food hoarding and work hard to keep my food storage in check. I’m very proud of my progress in this area (I look pretty normal when compared to other friends who have kids with huge appetites like mine), but it takes effort for me to maintain that “normal.” My preference is to have 4 bags of oatmeal, but I work hard to have only 1 until it is half gone. I buy my rice in a 20 pound bag at Costco (lasts about 2 months here), but I have to fight the desire to have a back up bag (or 2-3) in the basement. I don’t HAVE a back-up bag, but I WANT one. There’s mental effort there that I wish I didn’t have to go through. (One of my brothers stores much more food than me and is candid that he’s preventing his kids from every being hungry like we were). Our other brother (younger) doesn’t store at all - if asked, he doesn’t really remember food insecurity).

Daily straightening is what we do (my older two have EF challenges). If I let it get bad, even I’m overwhelmed. Daily straightening is really straight-forward. Stuff on shelves, pillow/blanket on bed, clothes in hamper, art supplies on desk, trash in trash can. They have this listed on paper, tacked on their walls because they get overwhelmed and can’t remember what to do. My oldest can do the daily clean up alone now (10) IF we do it daily. I have to help the younger guys. I also go in once a week (yep) and work with them to fully straighten up (books with books, toys with toys, clean under the bed, etc). If I don’t maintain the weekly straighten, the daily quickly becomes too much for them (and if middle is overwhelmed, he gets paralyzed, so we try to avoid that). Every couple of months, we declutter. Only takes a few minutes. I know this sounds like a lot, but really, it’s three minutes a day (per kid) and ten minutes once a week. It’s worth it to me. Especially since oldest is a collector of collectors like your DD.

This is the problem, yes. So, I’m devluttering books, but very carefully. I’d rather still have too many than not be able to find what I want/need. The collections seem to be shifting more and more to very current works, and when books are lost or retired due to damage, they aren’t replaced. I worked on my closet (one of the post-move dumping grounds) this week and made some progress. Relocated some things and threw away/donated three bags of randomness that I haven’t touched since we moved in. 🙂

I’m unloading books too (yikes!), but I’m struggling because in the last few years, I’ve noticed a significant drop in the library’s retention of the old books, even the really well known ones. I’m trying to be brave. I have way more books than we can reasonably read in the next 10 years of schooling. 😂

Hugs, Jean. Menu plan put away ski stuff declutter one drawer fold all the laundry (also, wash three loads) school kid to PT make dinner decorations off of the tree

I went through the already pretty minimalist kitchen and found a few things to give away and donate. The kids’ rooms (also pretty minimal) yielded a couple grocery bags of trash. I’m looking forward to getting my closet and a couple other areas that have been the dumping ground for “I don’t know where that goes (after the last move)” decluttered in 2019.

Best fiction: Cutting for Stone Best children’s: House of Sixty Fathers, The War That Saved My Life (beautiful support of a traumatized child - made me cry to see her guardian hold her, give her what she needed to handle her panic), Inside Out and Back Again. I have to check my booklist for other category winners.

Colorado (dem run state, for what it’s worth). $2.04 a gallon yesterday. Georgia (republican run state). $2.16.