I think that I would be uncomfortable with the two year old being outside under those circumstances without an adult. And that would be an adult within arms reach. The risk of drowning or the risk of getting lost in the forest would make me very nervous. I understand that this might not be popular or normal, but I have major issues with possible drowning.

In high school I played softball and then I continued to play in college. (Division 3!). I played mostly right bench and got next to no game time. I enjoyed practices and I enjoyed being on a team, but I can't say I was ever very good. I might have been better but getting glasses for the first time at 16 really messes with your ability to hit a ball. Then after I graduated that there was no place for a not very skilled player to play. The only teams that exist at the rec level are coed and playing with the guys is beyond awful when you weren't that great to begin with. So I stopped. For my birthday the year I turned forty I started looking into other things to do. There is a rock climbing gym close and I tried that, but my upper body strength is not up to the task. But in an effort to build up that upper body strength I found weight lifting. And that I do enjoy. There is no one complaining that you struck out or missed the ball. The weights are infinitely adaptable to whatever your skills are capable. And improvement is possible. I am still working on the goal of being able to do a pull up. But now I can dead lift my body weight. And I know what cleans and snatches are. And I can do them too. It has been almost five years since I walked into that rock climbing gym and while I have moved to a different place since then but I am grateful they were there when I needed them.

Not possible without taking a lot of tests.

My older kids are taking it today soon. They said their were lots of people in the lines. Good luck to all the test takers!

Lifting weights, heavy ones. And flipping tractor tires. Preferably with loud music on.

My daughter went to German camp for two weeks last year. She is going back this year and spending four weeks. My older son is going to Spanish camp and younger son is going to Japanese camp this year. Both boys are going for two weeks. We managed to get the timing so all of them will be at camp for the same two weeks ( and daughter will be there two weeks more). Excited parents are we! We are in California and camp is in Minnesota so we are definitely flying the kids there and back. No issues with the planes last year and I don't expect any this year either. Ask any questions you would like...

Our group does not. But we are a support group and no money is charged for anything. We meet at the park. The kids play or talk. The moms supervise or talk. I would think if there was money or classes or something that would be different, but for us it isn't necessary.

Thank you all for your help. I think right now we are going to concentrate on school and having fun swimming and revisit this later. Right now his goal is to get the eight dolphin kicks before surfacing after a flip turn that his coach wants him to have. My goal is for him to enjoy doing something active. Together we will take it one day at a time.

Thank you for the information. I will think about it some more. Part of the problem is he is very unlikely to stay below full time for the time at the community college. If he does want to swim in a division 3 school when he gets there (likely when he gets to a more typical age for being away from home) is that even possible?

This is a very hypothetical situation but if it is going to be a problem I need to be prepared sooner rather than later. Ds11 enjoys swimming. He is currently swimming with a year round swim team and having a great time. He is in the group below the kids that are making A and AA and B and BB times. He is not producing competitive times at all. He is getting stronger and better but is not motivated enough to swim super hard or super fast. He is mostly an 11 year old boy that likes the water and the friends and his swim coach. Here is the problem. Big brother started community college this year at the age of 14 and is being successful and doing well. I completely expect that ds11 will be ready in a few years to do the same thing. That is, he will very likely go to the local community college very young. This community college does not have a pool or a swim team. There is no way he could swim for this school. He would most likely continue swimming with his current swim club in whatever group he gets placed in. They have several levels for kids that range from possibly going to Olympic trials to swimming mostly for fitness and fun. Even for the high school age kids. So I don't think he will want to do division 1 swimming and at this point he is not capable of division 1 swimming. But if he suddenly decides that swimming is super important and that he wants to swim fast and swim division 1 what effect will starting community college early have on his eligibility? Sorry for the long question. I don't know how to come up with a shorter way to explain.

My Mother-in-law had lung cancer. From the time we found out there was a problem until the time she died was 14 days. I strongly suspect that she knew that something wasn't right earlier than that, but because she did not have insurance she didn't go to a doctor. She was extremely determined that she was going to fight it and win and started very aggressive chemotherapy. Ultimately it was complications of the chemo that she died from. As I remember it was a potassium problem and it caused heart problems. It was many years ago and I hope times and treatments have improved. I am sorry that you and your family are dealing with this. It is horrible.

I sought professional help when my kids' needs outpaced my abilities to figure out what to do. For my oldest that was when she was very young. Like four and then again when she was ten and twelve and even now. For my middle one, it was when he asked for help that I could not provide. For my youngest, he hasn't asked and I haven't had a need. Yet. Did it help? Yes. For my oldest, it was a life saver because I was confused, overwhelmed and lost. She has needs that I could neither articulate nor understand. I needed an outside view of what was going on because I was so deep in the trenches that I could not find the sky. For my middle one, it gave him control of the situation so he felt like he was in charge of his own life. Empowerment in the extreme. He is happier and it shows. For my youngest, not yet. But I have more experience than I did when the older kids were this age. Where to find? Word of mouth. The testing we did when the kids were young helped us know who to talk to later. Connections were made. And then living in the San Francisco Bay Area helped too. There are lots of crazy smart kids here. It is not quite as one in a million as it is in some other places. I hope that helps.

I think it depends on the child. I have a particular child that was the hardest at every age. Child was the hardest as a newborn and hardest as a two year old and hardest as a six year old and hardest as a ten year old and so on. The other two do not compare.

We moved out and then listed. It sold empty in less than a week in December in metro Phoenix. I don't know if we could have made more money any other way. The reality was we only had one month of paying both rent and the mortgage and that was important.

Casey at the Bat

What do you already have and what do the supervising adults know? (I didn't need to outsource math or physics because I could do those myself with a good textbook. I did need to outsource foreign language, English and history because I don't have enough subject knowledge to do those well even with a good textbook.)

But the scale makes little difference! It is all about how the test is designed and how the points are given/taken away. I could write a math test where the average grade is anything I want it to be. Or an English report. Or any other subject. The numeric scale means nothing.

Officially you need to either file with the state or enroll your children in a school within two weeks of arriving in California. However, no one is going to go looking for you if you delay or don't do it at all. To file with the state, you fill out a Private School Affadavit and then you are your very own very small private school. You choose the curriculum, the testing, the days off, the everything. You also get no money from anyone. Or you can enroll your children in public or private or charter schools. These have various requirements depending on the school. Public charter schools that have no campus are popular. These are the ones where they look like homeschoolers and are given money by the state, but they are public charter school students. Be aware of what you are signing up for, Ask more questions if you have them. And welcome to California!

Please look into the regulations for your state and the details about high school. In California a student can take a test and then use that as a proof of high school proficiency so that the schooling options stay open as long as possible. I know a young lady locally who passed that test and is now working in a preprofessional ballet company and hoping to continue with that for a long time. The test is the CHSPE, the California High School Proficiency Exam, it is only in California but if you are in California it could be a good option.

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards is my new favorite. It is YA science fiction.

Sudafed and antihistamines. I have had this issue before and that is the only thing that helped.

I would start with sending out resumes and getting a new job lined up. Then if it happens in time, you can take the new job and the bonus from the old job and have a great start at a new place.

I would do math (probably Right Start) and handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears) and reading (Dancing Bears) and then field trips, library books, park days, and playing for everything else. I would not worry about any other subjects in first grade.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus.

There is a group of ducks that hang out in the creek near us. They make me smile just by being there.