:giggle

I'd steer them toward something in which a friend of family member had some familiarity with the field. And away from something in which we had no insight into that world. That doesn't really narrow it down much since our larger family has some insight into engineering, law, finance, medical, academia, marketing, forestry. No teaching, but at this point I'm not seeing that in any of my kids. Actually, my kids are all little young for me to be participating in this conversation at all..... My first love was economics. If I could have gotten a degree in economics and spent the rest of my life in a think tank I think I would have been happy. But the things is, you have to know people or live in that world already to get a think tank type job. I was told economics degrees made economics teachers, and I didn't want to teach. So I went with something practical, accounting. It works for me and it's very marketable. :)

I meet DH during his lunch break at the YMCA on T/TH. The kids are in Childwatch. It kind of throws a wrench into our homeschool day, but we continue because it's the only way DH and I have found to actually be accountable for exercise. It has helped me stamina-wise, and it's nice to check in with DH since sometimes we feel like we barely talk without children trying to be heard over us. How do people exercise at home?? Where's the space and the peace?

To which list are you referring?

You should ask, since the range can be very broad. Mine is in a 3T, but people consider her to be on the smallish side, she's not as small as my second was at that age though. She's wearing a 8/9 shoe, depending on brand.

Each child picked out 20 of thier favorites and the rest go to dh's work.

Is living near(ish) to family important? Are they East or West coast people?

There's a sort of paradox here. In a neutral situation, I would be comfortable sitting on the periphery too, watching, listening and enjoying myself. But the thing is a at party, you feel that tension where you know this is just not socially acceptable. It's a party, so the assumption is that if you are on the periphery, you are uncomfortable, awkward, not enjoying yourself, and since you are aware that's the assumption, it becomes true!

I like it when people come up to me and talk about their interests. Especially if they suspect we have something in common. I can't say that I've ever had anyone come up to me and ask questions that I felt were too intrusive. Well maybe once or twice when the person's temperament or social skills revealed that this was just their normal. Didn't bother me much. More often than not its just hi how are you, nice/awful weather, these decorations are beautiful, well nice meeting you as they waltz further into the room to their comfy friends. Example. I met a homeschool mom recently that was talking to me about halloween outfits, and then she wanted to show me a picture on her phone of her pony dressed as a ninja turtle with her kids. Turns out she's a riding instructor. She's happy to keep on talking about horses and dogs, and I'm happy to listen. I know a bit about both, enough to encourage her. She passes the time well during YMCA PE and I've learned a few things about our larger homeschool community from her. :) I've had men talk to me about lawncare. No joke. And while I couldn't care less, I found it fascinating that they could care so much . And I learned a bit from it.

Haha! true - you can't win you know. ;) I've found it helpful in some situations to assume that everyone is introverted. Helps me find the guts to go first.

Nothing sends me into a near panic attack faster than this scenario. I'm sorry, I wish for more extroversion too.

We're like homeschool twins! We're using stacking plastic storage bins in the dining room for cubbies, not pretty, but functional.

ohhhh! a globe! yay! :)

Chicken tetrazzini from the freezer, broccoli, leftover birthday cake.

I'm so sorry, that sounds so miserable. Definitely try something else. I don't feel like I can advise you in any way as this is my first year too, but I started out by reading A Well Trained Mind and worked my way out from there in terms of choosing starting point curriculum. Also, people tell you that a third grader can do school in 3 hours, but I haven't found that to be the case since I have two other little people needing mommy. Perhaps if you count up all of the *actually engaged in schoolwork* time it would equal about 3 hours, but it's pretty much a full school hours affair around here. I don't see that as failure, just reality. :shrug. HUG.

Sounds like it's a matter of time and experience from what you all are saying. And learning to live with that much more clutter. :sigh Did I mention managing clutter is not one of my strong points either?

Just wanted to clarify, it's not so much the expense that was getting to me as much as the shopping around (new, used, free or library) and the volume of books, papers etc hanging around the dining room. But mostly the shopping - not one of my strong points. About expense, I think I'm pretty savvy, and when I worry about the money, DH assures me that he trusts me and that it beats private school tuition. :)

This might be what we are dealing with here. I bought level 1 of AAS for my third grader and as you can imagine we flew though it and are on level 2 now, since we liked it. Also I only ordered one semester of math and he flew through that, we liked it and so now I've ordered the second semester. Then we had to replace chemistry - he wanted chemistry but our first attempt didn't work (in this case, not yet developmentally appropriate.) I bought a bunch of items for the labs and experiments. For K, my daughter stated with the second semester of Horizons K (she had already done enough math in preschool that the first semester seemed insulting), and after a while I thought I needed the teachers manual and bought that used. Now I'm pretty sure I just don't love Horizons for her. We are not going to dump it, but we are also trying something to do alongside. Also she's already used up her handwriting book so we need more. Surely it will settle.

I can usually find what I need at Big Lots, especially in the fall, when they put out organizing stuff for back to school. It's a little late for that, but I'd try Big Lots and dollar stores to find bins before looking at pricier options.

I was really careful only ordering what we needed to get started this year, as it's my first time and I didn't yet know what resources I liked. But good grief, do any of you feel like you are constantly ordering new stuff?? I'm on my third order to Rainbow Resource, second to Amazon, and have bought things from several other places along the way. We are not even through one semester, does it slow down?? Adding that we are not really trying and discarding curriculum, the only real throw out we've had so far is Elemental Science. We're just going through stuff quickly.

My chest freezer is FULL and I am so pleased. Dh just commented the other day at how the grocery expense for this month is really down - that's because the freezer is full. :) I feel like a squirrel ready for winter.

Pay down the debt, contribute to the kids educations as much as you can in real time. My parents were in the same boat I think and they were able to pay for me to go to community college for my first two years and then I easily transferred to UGA for my specialized coursework (Masters of accounting). At that point I was on my own and took out loans. They are paid (by DH and I) now. Student loans are not the end of the world if you/they make savvy educational choices. ETA: I said on my own, but not really. Mom and dad were still shoving some cash in my pockets on the way out the door when I visited. :) :heart

Thank you everyone for your help on this, especially JadeOrchidSong, who sold me the book. RSO Chemistry turned out to be just right.

The last of the purple potatoes.

This might be a crazy question, but do you think I could mix this in my food processor (probably a half batch)? I'm pretty much an All Free and Clear + borax girl, but if making my own was super easy. I'd try it at least once.