Our night: 7yo decided he had enough at 8pm. He got himself a glass of eggnog, declared it midnight, and asked to turn on the Netflix countdown. 10 minutes later he was passed out. DH and I were scarred for life watching Dick Clark's NYE countdown. Between the pimpin' style of Florida Georgia Line, the very choreographed moves of a K-pop band, and adults talking about wearing diapers out there in the square, we threw in the towel at around 10:30. DS18 stayed up gaming with his friends, oblivious to the world. I'm not even sure they stopped to do the countdown. We skipped the downtown celebration this year because it was in the single digits (or for you Celsius folks, very solidly in the negative teens). Just as well, since even though they do the fireworks early, the countdown would have been too late for the 7yo.

This, too. If I'm not interested, my child is less likely to be, too. So I had to approach lessons with developing an interest in the beauty of mathematics and delight in the stories and wonder in science...making it so that it feels like I'm sharing, not teaching. And I outsource areas where I have no interest at all (like music).

Of course I'm better. I've had years of practice. :lol: Things that have helped me over the time: -I stopped believing in magic curriculum. I had to trust myself, but more importantly, I had to see my kid for who he was and give him grace. -I focused more of my energy on child development and developing those small, but important foundation skills. -I got more organized to maximize learning opportunities. -I instituted teacher/student conferences. We sit down once a month (or oftener during hard years) with pastries and tea, and go over what I think is working, what he thinks, what each of us would like to change, and putting a plan in place, tweaking as we go. -I started to treat this as a job, one where I'm paid to tutor. I keep it in the back of my head, "is this something I would send my child to? Are his needs being met, better than our other options?" A lot of that ^, it was trial and error and a lot of mistakes along the way. It was honing skills over years and finding a rhythm that fits us.

I wish she could. She has twins, and because they wanted one more, a set of triplets. And her life came crashing down this year. Her husband had his own business that relied on his 100% participation, so not only was there an immediate loss of income, but they also found out that the secretary he fired for embezzlement had been very sneaky and cut out paying some of the bills he wouldn't notice in order to pad her wallet - and one of those was the life insurance through his company. She is in constant survival mode. Even covering all expenses for the trip she'd still have a loss of income during that time. Thank you all. I'll write her a short note with those sentiments, and I have a way to give in her dh's name, but it all feels so....not enough. I hate seeing people hurt.

Pfft! Different seasons of life. Let me tell you about the year I woke up while sleepwalking and couldn't figure out what I did with the baby. :scared: Thankfully me getting up with him was only a dream, but since I had been doing it every 1-2 hours for months I was so seriously sleep deprived that it was all I could do to function on a minimal level. This year my youngest is 7. I am enjoying the time for hobbies and other things now.

Thank you. It just doesn't feel *enough*. I really want to be angry for her and fight her invisible battle. If anyone has a case for God being a sadistic a**, her last 20 years would convince any jury. Life isn't fair.

I do this about every other year. This year I have a monthly goal and a book to read. January - no spend / Moby Dick February - find joy every day / Treasure Island March - garden daily / Scarlet Letter April - learn new skill / Bullfinch's Mythology May - train for a bike race / The Princess Bride June - eat local / The Jungle Books July - volunteer / Burgess' Seaside Book August - organize & declutter the house / The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon September - hike the trails of the state forest / Walden October - learn to sew / To Kill A Mockingbird & Go Set A Watchman November - make candy / Beowulf December - celebrate Christmas every day / undecided Some of the books I've read before, some are in serious need of a re-read. :)

My friend was widowed this year. On the holidays/special days of the year I've been sending her a little note, just to say I'm thinking of her and wishing her peace. Tomorrow is her late husband's birthday - a day they used to love celebrating together. I cannot put into words everything I want to tell her - I know it's hard, I hope the pain eases, I'm here if she needs me, I want to wrap her in a cocoon of warm and safety and keep her from any more sadness.......okay, that last isn't feasible in the least, but I wish I could. Wordsmiths, help me say what I'm trying to say in my heart. If I could be there in person I absolutely would, but I'm about as far away as I can get and still be in the same country.

A lot of my friends have had anniversaries this week. The most I can figure is that it is because when they were young, they all knew they'd get to take vacation/leave during the holidays and made the most of it. This, and June seem to be the most popular.

I struggle with this. I agree wholeheartedly when it comes to ideals, but I can see it going too far in one direction or another. I think it is easiest for me to say that much of what a child does should be child-directed, while slowly being incorporated into a community in which he/she is relied upon to be part of a unit - and at that point, academics should be more encouraged, but in small units, either play or work based. By work, I mean, something the child gets fulfillment from, not a worksheet meant to prove knowledge. Rather, more like Montessori, where skills are developed in hands on ways, but the tools are chosen specifically to help a child develop in a progression. DS7 learned to read when he was 4yo, in roughly three months. And I do not mean he learned to read CVC words, but that he was reading any and everything. Yes, I taught him, because he wanted to learn and he decided he was ready. It was also the year I carefully crafted an age-appropriate introduction to the world, with art, music, geography, dance, food, stories...yet when a well meaning friend asked him what he did for school, he balked and very much informed her that he doesn't DO school, he plays, tyvm. Nothing was forced on him, it was all presented as things I wanted to share or activities he could do whenever he liked without any interference. To outsiders, his life still looks very academic. To him, it is a rush of learning about everything and anything - he LIKES to learn, he LIKES to grow more capable. It doesn't mean he doesn't play (this morning has been a whirlwind of snow angels, Star Wars battles with all his figurines, and painting), but that he has never seen school as something bad or having to sit down for. I agree that a child's life should have a lot of creative play in it. I just think it can be taken too far, like Waldorf, and keep a child from developing when a child is ready or interested.

DH does an app game that had really cool Star Wars fair isle-like pictures at the end of each section during December. I created patterns based on them and will be giving each person in my family large lap blankets with that on one side and cozy fleece on the other.

Potato soup Beef stew Enchiladas Chili (both a chicken and a beef, though dh and I have a mini war over the beef chili and how it should be made :laugh: ) French onion soup Barley "salad" (barley, yogurt, cucumber, carrot, onion and spices to make a thick, creamy side dish) Biscuits and gravy Ravioli stuffed with butternut squash puree and done in a brown butter sauce Gnocchi At this point, if it has fat and carbs, my family will eat it ravenously. It is so cold people are skating on the ponds.

I can only answer for myself here, but when my kids were little they were so hard on their shoes that we had to go for quality to make sure they weren't destroyed in a month BUT they were still destroyed 4 months later. We measured how much youngest ds walked in a 2 week period- 97 miles. And that was just with an adult wearing a fitbit was with him, not all the little walking bits. :huh: I didn't complain about his shoes after that. At 7, he has different shoes for different activities so they get less wear overall, but even so his daily sneakers need to be replaced after 6 months. DS18 can make his stretch for about 8 months but he does a lot of activity, too.

Very interesting! I may read over it again, more slowly, and see if it is something that we can use for playing with math here one day.

2004: The Tightwad Gazette and a reading comprehension workbook for grade 2. And then I didn't order another thing for 5 years. :huh:

Ours went down 25%. DS is home for 3 weeks and dh is just realizing how much he eats when the food is good. :lol: I made a 5lb lasagna the other night that would usually last us for at least 3 days, eating the leftovers for lunch or dinner. The thing is so stuffed with veggies that it hardly fits in the pan. By the time we got done with dinner that night only 2 slices were left. I honestly don't know where he puts it! DS's school requires all freshman to be on the 'all you can eat' dining plan if they live on campus. It's a good thing - I can only imagine how it would be if he was limited. He doesn't like the food nearly as much, but he'll eat it. He lamented he hasn't come close to putting on the Freshman 15, which he was so excited for when he heard about it. :laugh: I told him if he didn't spend all his time in the gym his food might have a chance to catch up with him!

I go through this every year, looking at Memoria Press and other packages that are so tempting......and Memoria is so pretty...... But the truth is, I could never do it. I like picking out the subjects based on skill level and what he'd enjoy or goes in a direction I envision. He is so asynchronous that it is hard to find a package that fits. If you are scared to do your own thing, know that making lesson plans is EASY. Most items come divided into 36 or 140-180 lessons anyway, so you plan weekly or daily. Others will tell you straight up that it's meant to be used 2-3x a week (like ELTL), or come with a lesson plan ready for you. I input them all into Skedtrack and voila! I know exactly what we're doing and have subjects tailored to be done on certain days while other subjects are done every day.

Very easy to learn - read the directions on the card, or pair up two without directions and use them to steal a card. Play as many cards as you want and draw to end your turn. It's one of the few games here we all could sit down and play with less than 10 minutes of learning.

I don't know if it's unreasonable or not. For a while I kept a budget book - a ledger and month's worth of receipts in a folder. I would go through at the end of the month and highlight the things we spent frivolously on (a candy bar at the check out, for example), and see how it added up. But I knew where every penny was going. It was how we figured out dh's coffee habits and ways around them. I have no idea how those budget categories break down, but the numbers sound decent on paper. We spend $800/mo on food for a family of 3 here because of prices and convenience (I get Blue Apron about 2x a month). $1100 isn't unreasonable at all.

DS18 lives in a dorm. When he is here, he falls right back where he was. He takes care of chores/personal care, does some stuff with us as a family, but takes his own space, too. He always has the option to do things with us, but I'm not going to force him if he doesn't want to or exclude him if he does. Sheryl, I think it's sweet that your kids are still so connected. :) That's our hope for ours, that they always want to do things with us.

To be fair, Scarlett isn't asking for help. She's posting to vent. There is nothing in the OPs that ask for help, and though it is given, it is fought against every word of the way. I can see where Sneezyone is coming from, though I don't necessarily agree with her sentiments.

Tiny goals. I can't eat an elephant in one sitting, but I get a rush every time I finish the smallest goal I set for myself. For example, my current book is Moby Dick. It's not a bad book, just long. I set a goal of 3 chapters or 30 pages for myself a day, which is easily manageable in 15 minutes with coffee. And I leave the book on my chair so I have to physically touch it each day. It becomes easier to guilt myself into doing it. :lol:

From what I see, the book packs for intermediate use general books for the 4th-6th grade reading level. I think some would be over a young child's head (thinking of Oxford University Press books I see and the David Macaulay books like Castle) Have you looked at programs like Wayfarers, where it gives lesson plans for various ages following the same plan?

We are having a snow day, and therefore, probably loaded potato soup and fresh bread.

I carry a pretty small purse. In it is usually: card wallet phone keys an emergency $20 + loose change bandaids nail clippers safety pin hair band chapstick wet wipe kleenex pen and mechanical pencil That's it. I don't carry a sewing kit, but my sister does. I figure a safety pin will do the trick until I get somewhere. Now, if you want to talk about the super organized compartments under the trunk panel in my car, that's a whole different story! :lol: