Hmm. I won't say you're mistaken, but this is not my experience. Back in 2010-2015 (so, perhaps outdated info) we made less than $40K for a family of 5, no assistance qualifications. When I got laid off in 2016, we did not qualify for Medicare/Medicaid, or SNAP, not even the kids, until we had slipped much, much farther down and used most/all our savings. The few things that we should have qualified for -- for a family of 4+ making less than $48K our electric company was supposed to have assistance programs -- they never got back to us. No matter how many times I filled out the form or called the number, we mysteriously never heard back. This may be area-specific, so it's completely possible in your area things are handled differently. I certainly hope there are areas that have that type assistance available, especially if it is HCOL.

My sister got married on Tuesday! I attended via Zoom. ALL the kids are playing together nicely, actually for the past 2 hours and let me sleep in.

We only have 4 kids, so idk how this all would scale up. But with the business, we've had to streamline where we can. On laundry, everyone has a day they do their own clothes + one other load: Monday the 6yo does his clothes and cleaning rags Tuesday is the 9yo, he does his clothes and the boy sheets Wednesday is 11yo, she does her clothes and the 3yo's clothes Thursday is 9yo/me, we do bath towels Friday is 11yo/me, we do girl sheets Saturday are my clothes + whatever still needs to be done, like large blankets or whatever Sunday is DH Nightly, we do the kitchen towels (on occasion we skip it for a night if it isn't necessary.) This is the 9yo's job, but the others help folding and putting away. SNACK TRAYS HAVE SAVED MY LIFE. In morning, put cut veggies onto pie plates. Put pie plate on table. Anyone that complains about hunger is directed to the pie plate. Also have a fruit drawer in fridge they can eat from IF the veggie tray is done. YMMV on the rule part, the main idea is just to get people to stop asking if we can have a snack or when is snack time or what can they have for a snack or is there any possibility of maybe just a teensy weensy snack or did I know that their snack is already gone and.... 4-5pm, while I'm making dinner*, is clean up time. They can have free time in the evening if the house has been cleaned up. It's really not that much to do, and a whole hour to do it. The main problem is goofing off, but again, no free time until it's done, so it evens out eventually. *I've actually started to make the mornings my kitchen time, where I do EVERYTHING in the kitchen before lunch. So make snack trays, dinner, get lunch ready, water filtering, make the cold coffee, clean out the fridge, etc. So that way after lunch I'm free of the kitchen except reheating dinner (10 min max). This works for me because otherwise it feels I'm in the kitchen constantly with only small breaks to put out other fires. Would be harder to make it happen if people were less independent -- the 3yo wanders between me and her toys and the 6yo usually goes outside since it's the coolest part of the day and he needs a solid 2 hours out at least. Week 6 of this experiment, going well so far.

No advice, or ideas, just commiseration. My DH has ...noticed.... that I am growing chin hair. Like, hard not to notice chin hair. Yesterday he disagreed with me by saying, "Not by the hairs on your chinny chin chin." He left the kitchen before any true damage could be done to his person and stayed in his office for the rest of the day, lol.

There is no "Congrats!" reaction, but that's awesome!!

Here's the face shields I love:https://mypowis.com/blog/portfolio/myshield/ Can be worn three ways, multiple pattern options for different looks, easy to clean, easy to see through. Overall I think face shileds + masks are best, if you can handle the stares. Since he can't do masks, seems to be better than nothing. If he has to go out, the shield will give more protection than nothing, and meet mot places' requirements on having face protection. They do seem geared more to helping the wearer than those around, which in this case doesn't seem a bad thing.

I haven't listened to podcasts for about a year, but these were my favorite: Stuff You Missed In History Class is something I listen to when I want to learn something completely unrelated to daily life, more an escape. They usually put a warning if there are triggers in the particular episode, too, so that's helpful when I want something a bit lighter. NPR Planet Money is actually really, really, really interesting! Don't let the name throw you off, it completely pulls you in and is well produced. There may be a slant sometimes politically but not preachy about it, at least the last time I listened.

Please pray for my cousin, total kidney failure. 4 kids, salt of the earth, and no big health problems known before. When he heard I was moving into my current house this time last year, he drove the 4-hr roundtrip for 3 days to get the plumbing done for me (he's a plumber), completely redoing the kitchen plumbing, outdoor pipes, and fixing what could be done on the rest of the house, for free, just because "that's what family does." So even thought we aren't close-close I hold him very dear and this is the only way I can really help. (I did not ask if it was related to another illness.) Thank you.

Pro tip: it's easier to agree what to do with your money when you don't have any! j/k, it's actually much much harder. We agree on goals, usually on routes. When we don't agree on routes, we don't tend to compromise (little funds = little room to do two things effectively or make sense to split the effort) but choose one route for a set period of time, then reevaluate to see if it got where we expected/wanted, and then either try the other person's original or continue on the same path.

YES!* *maybe oh man oh man I want to join but that's 5pm on my side and my life is unpredictable at that time of day. Will see what I can do tho! Fingers crossed!

Whatever you do, don't make it, "I've been thinking....."

I would be so so so ticked and depending on your area and the type of tree there could be compensation to be had. Hopefully the loggers have insurance etc. Who is responsible depends on what instructions the neighbor gave. If it's just one little tree I didn't care about my response would be different but still ticked. Established trees would get full attention. In almost all circumstances I would escalate and get a lawyer involved and document as much as I could immediately. They could at least let you know your best options. (edit to to be more clear)

This looks like a wonderful way to never get anything else done again! I love it!

Yes. I feel like a paid shill at this point but I promise I'm not, lol. I love these because they can be worn 3 different ways, lots of different styles fashion patterns to choose from, and easy to see through and clean. https://mypowis.com/blog/portfolio/myshield/ If you wear it around your neck every so often it might catch on the side of your glasses if glasses are a certain style (happens to me, not to DH). Worn around the forehead there's no issue at all. I usually wear around neck anyway. edit: for clarity

remind you of anywhere? lol

Everyone needs to use the bathroom when I do! It's like they sense that I am walking towards them differently (faster, lol) and immediately think, "Yes! I need to use the bathroom too!" And since the school room is the one connected to the bathroom... I always just see the hair of a kid as the door closes in my face. Have they no compassion?!

Ok, so I responded: "Good luck as you decide! We have been strictly staying home due to Covid and have not been visiting anyone. Let me know when you have plans in motion and we can reassess then. Good luck!" Her response: "I am glad you all are well! Just in case someone you know gets COVID, There are medications that have been around 50 years that treat it. South American countries are using Ivermectin one or two doses. and antibiotic Azithromycin with 96-100% recovery. Please let me know if anyone needs help with those medications. " I'm not going to respond to that, so I guess it's over for now.

I just asked: "congratulations, where you do you plan to move to?" Her reply: "Not sure yet." 🤨