AGREED! ESPECIALLY those classes that SAY it's required... but when the class actually happens, they never use the d@mn code. WTH?!?! We don't have money to just throw to the wind like that!!! The cost difference for one of dds classes (anatomy) is a $17 used textbook vs $299 with the code. We're waiting to buy it at the school bookstore if she can find out if she really needs that code or not. We did buy the statistics book that was $250 with the code vs $45 without. :cursing: For a MATH book?!? MATH DOESN'T CHANGE!!! There's no reason for a $250 MATH book! I don't get it. DD says there are quizzes, etc that they are supposed to do. I have a feeling she didn't even bother last year (even though she used the codes, I didn't investigate how much she utilized the activities - but they really sound like "optional" or "enhancement" activities, which she usually doesn't need). How did teachers manage to teach BEFORE this without these stupid programs? There used to be checkpoint quizzes IN THE TEXTBOOK! Why aren't those good enough?? growl. It makes the books ridiculously expensive and zaps the resale value to $0. (obviously grouchy because we just finished paying for a whoppingly expensive semester as far as books go... :glare: )

I agree - this is a common conversation in our house. My dh is a(n amazing) tradesman and finding GOOD workers is nearly impossible for his company. But - beyond tradesworkers - I see incompetence in nearly every avenue of our lives. From the insurance guy who gives us incorrect information, to the clueless veterinarian I just paid $300 to for absolutely nothing useful, to the doctor who canceled a vital appointment with my daughter the week before she heads back to school (dr canceled so she can "spend more time with her kids before they go back to school..." as if their going back to school in late August is a sudden shock to her or something?? It should've been in her schedule 3 weeks ago when we made this follow-up appointment because dd needed that follow-up).... to the health insurance nightmare I'm dealing with that began as someone's mistake on their end (but it's going to cost US money in the long run...) Anyway. It's not just tradesmen. It's everywhere. It's a discouraging trend.

I love this thread! 😂 My oldest also knows all the things. She doesn't lecture me, however. She just gets tight-lipped and her eyes glaze over when I start to talk about something of which she is the obvious expert. I've just stopped talking mid-conversation and either changed the subject or stood up and unloaded the dishwasher - she doesn't seem to notice either way. I've learned I get along better with her when I just prattle about without watching her reactions or waiting for a response (if there's a topic that needs discussed... otherwise I just stick to non-wisdom-imparting conversations). I sure like who she's growing up to be though. :) Just having to find new ways of communication to get us through the next few years. :) she listens when other people tell her stuff though. So I guess it's good she's still learning from others :) . And sometimes I see her taking action on something I prattled on about (when she wasn't obviously listening to me...) I think this is why some little old ladies are kind of senile - talking to the air without really caring if anyone is listening. They've raised (older) teenagers. lol

I'd wondered the same thing and just today renewed an AP course I won't be needing this year. Good to know for future (although 2018-2019 year is the final year I'll need this particular class, so I'll be renewing it anyway!)

We are Toyota loyalists and are considering a Subaru for our next (soon) purchase. Everyone we know who has had one has given us glorious reviews.

Agreeing - have her test-drive the ACT and see if that yields results that might be in her favor. Also - our experience with OOS private vs IS public is shared with those above - which blew me away when we started to realize that fact. My oldest is OOS private right now - even with her stellar stats, the IS public wound up being one of her MOST expensive options. WTH. :huh: :glare: Best of luck to her and to you guys figuring it all out! :)

I empathize completely. With that said - my dh was in similar shoes to your son when he was being homeschooled. His mom went back to school and eventually his education was on the back burner. He is still resentful of that. He was left at home while she was busily involved in her classes and study groups. Worse is that she never finished that degree... that really stuck with dh. He doesn't understand why she didn't just put him into a public school if she wanted to go back to school herself. So I would urge you to start classes and just take one the first semester. You're then ON the path, but still will have time/energy to pour into your ds who sounds like he really needs that guidance and encouragement and motivation right now. I like the previous post - do this for one year - throw yourself into him this year and help him be prepared for 8th grade in school. Then you both go back to school together. :) He'll feel like your teammate vs someone left behind. {hugs} i really understand that restlessness though.

I LOVE making schedules and plans... but boy, do I have a good hearty laugh when I uncover an old "4-year plan" in a notebook or on the computer somewhere. :lol:

My daughter just took blue tent's honors English 2 for her sophomore year and I can't say enough positive things about the class. She loved the class and learned so much. It was rigorous but not overkill or busy work. Two gigantic thumbs up!!

I LOVE posts with vacations, trophies earned by kids, etc. Love love LOVE it!! I'm not a jealous person by nature*, so perhaps that plays a part... but I genuinely love to see the happy glimpses into people's lives. However, on my facebook feed, it seems most people have gotten self-conscious about posting those particular things. So - there are lots of complaints about the everyday struggles... which is tiresome. Bring on the happy posts!! :) Go to the Caribbean and let me live vicariously through your photographs!!! Tell the world about Timmy's spelling bee trophy that he worked for weeks and weeks to earn! Post those pictures of your college student presenting their research project!!! Share the happy stuff!!!!! I can read about the drudgery of life on any news website I choose. I live with my own laundry and certainly imagine others do to. I don't need to see it in its technicolor gloriousness. (unless you're gonna make it funny somehow! I am HERE for some laundry humor!) *(I've put a couple people on ignore. Mostly they are people with more money to burn than me... and these particular people burn it on their dogs - super-expensive vet treatments for every single itty bitty ailment. That irks me after the tenth or twentieth post about the pooch's treatment because we can barely afford medical treatment for ourselves and our HUMAN children and it's hard for me to see constant posts about little dog's depression therapy and how much it's costing them. Also - they will get outpourings of sympathy from friends for months over something dog-related while I see others with ill children get ignored by those same people. I guess that wakes up the little green monster in my head. So, I put them as "acquaintances" and I'm much happier now in my ignorance of their dogs' daily ailments and immediate/emergency care)

DD had both our health insurance and her college health insurance last year. This year, I planned to change our health insurance to a plan that would cover her in her university's state. But there was only one option for OOS coverage at the time, and it was an additional $400/month (and a higher deductible, office visits, etc)! So, we stayed with a less expensive plan - but now have to pay nearly $2k for her to again have university's health care insurance. Do your health plans cover Out of State students? Everyone isn't doubling up on insurance, so what are we doing wrong? Is it that the plans we have available to us are more limited than others have? I'm perplexed beyond belief and frustrated that we pay for a full-time at-home plan (and she's only here 3 months out of the year) and a school-year plan. There are no in-network carriers in her state on our plan. Health care is confusing as it is - but I remember one dd was ill when we were traveling years ago and our health plan at the time covered the urgent care facility we took her to. Why is it different now? We are shelling out thousands for her health care and she went to the doctor during her first semester - and that was IT! It's beyond frustrating, but I'm not sure how to fix it. DH has insurance through his employer, but for the family to be on the (BCBS) work-plan, it's nearly three times the monthly cost of what it is to get a (BCBS) plan on our own. I'm guessing the work insurance is so expensive because it's a micro-company and the boss's wife has had some extremely high-cost, serious health issues over the past five years. So. What am I missing or not understanding about this process? Or is this just - it? :huh: She has to know by the 1st if she's signing up for the school's health plan again...

I also have a tiny daughter. As much as I don't like it... I'm agreeing with the suggestions of considering light makeup (even just a bit of mascara and lip gloss) and/OR wardrobe updating. Doesn't need to be trashy stuff at all - just updated stuff that will make people take notice as "something is different with so-and-so." A new haircut. New nail polish. New shoes. Obviously, if she's absolutely anti-makeup - then that's a no-go. This isn't about doing something she's genuinely uncomfortable with!!! My daughter was more afraid of the idea of it in the beginning than anything. She was adamant she wouldn't wear any... then started playing with it at home (on her own), growing comfortable with it until she wore it out of the house one day (shocking us all). I've told my girls so many times that sometimes, to achieve the goals they want to achieve, they have to start out working with the reality of the world as it is - not as they want it to be. And people's perceptions CAN be changed... but it often takes a mighty strong personality to do that without changing some element of ourselves just a tad bit. If you want to be taken as a serious business-person, for instance, you have to dress the part (or be such an outlier that it doesn't matter). If you are a young lady who wants people who've known you for years to SEE that you are growing up ... but your physical stature is destined to remain slight... you just might have to give those people a strong, obvious nudge to visually realize that you are growing up and not a child anymore. People can be dense and sometimes you have to force them to see what's right in front of them. If she hasn't physically changed dramatically over the past couple of years... and she is still dressing the same (I know how that is - my daughter still has clothes from when she was 10 years old because she barely grew after that!) ... then people aren't being given the traditional mental triggers to SEE that she's changed inside. The dramatic reaction when my dd simply got a slightly different haircut and wore non-baggy clothes after one summer ended and school stuff started up again ... was shocking and immediate. (before that point, she was a pony-tail girl who wore basketball shorts and t-shirts. Her "big change" was a simply styled haircut, *slightly* fitted t-shirts and jeans/khaki shorts. You'd have thought she was dressed like Cleopatra with the reaction she received those first couple of weeks. :rolleyes: ) There was lots of visible mental shuffling by people as they reassessed how they interacted with her - both her peers and adults alike. So - while I don't *like* it - I will say - it was a direct approach that worked quickly & dd was much more in control of her own persona after that. (Now dd dresses like such a girlie-girl that her younger self would scoff at her older self. But, both her "selves" were equally happy with their appearance... so it's all good... lol)

YES! Apply! When the aid packages are announced varies by school - but APPLY if there's a school he's interested in that "seems" out of reach financially. In our case, the public in-state university was one of the more expensive options for dd due to the amount of financial aid + academic scholarships she was offered at other schools - pricey schools we never would have otherwise applied to had I not played with their financial calculators beforehand and realized we qualified for significant financial aid at those schools. Run the financial calculators and see if that gives you any insight on those schools. That won't always determine the true outcome, however, as many of their scholarships aren't automatic and you have to wait-and-see. Most of the universities announced dds scholarship offers WITH her acceptance. The only exceptions were those where she was invited to compete for a large, competitive scholarship with interviews, essays, etc involved. (However, always look at the fine print on offered scholarships. Some require maintaining a 3.7 GPA... so important to fully know this beforehand) PS Just read some posts above - if SUNYs are your in-state options, then it is going to be hard to beat that price. Our in-state public universities are notorious for lousy financial aid unless it's for NMF students. These universities offer more aid to neighboring-state students than for in-state students. <_<

Argh. I remember shopping when my girls were that age. It was so painful!! They liked loose, easy shorts like your dd prefers - and POCKETS!!! What is WITH the lack of pockets for girls??? But finding those in bright, "girlie" colors was nearly impossible. So, I made some. I used the pattern linked below and they were perfect and SUPER easy to sew. Favorite Things Little Smarty Pants pattern: https://sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/19294 Now my girls are older teens. Short, tight, denim, athletic, whatever - it's all good now. lol

When I am that age, I hope to have one lovely "going to a wedding" dress hanging to my closet. It will be what I wear to any shindig worth getting dressed up for. My grandkids/great-grandkids/whoever can just play "where's waldo" with all the various wedding group photographs and search out grandma-in-her-dressing-up-dress. If my kids drag me out shopping simply because some grandkid doesn't want me to show up in the same dress I wore to so-and-so's wedding, I'm not going to be a happy grandma and will insist that Bridezilla herself and her parent-that-I-raised be the ones to take my grumpy self shopping. No need for anyone else to pay that price. :D If they can't be bothered to take me shopping, then they won't be bothered to see me in my same dress.

oops! :o {deleted}

For dd2, she is practicing/going to practice writing essays over this entire next year using prompts from this and previous years. And I will help her grind those essays to a polished gemstone. When it's time for the actual essays, I'll help her brainstorm if she asks - and then she'll write new/mix with old/whatever is needed and I'll read over the final essay as a pair of "fresh eyes." I'll point out any glaring issues or omissions that I see, but it'll be up to her what she does about that in the grand scheme of things. I won't have her just write-and-send unless there is a major surprise deadline that pops up.

Whoa! That is really awful!! And that wasn't the name of the teacher your dd had? (Just making sure this teacher IS a new one!!!!) The class description for next year's class says she'll have required, live classes and that she'll return homework within a week. So- hopefully she'll be more on top of things than last year's teacher was! 😳 I'd forgotten that WTMACADEMY had an advanced theory class. I need to re-read their class description.

Yikes! We just returned dd's first rental. As of now, we've only received the standard confirmation that they know it was shipped back to them. I'll update if we get an unexpected response. Dd's textbook was in rougher condition than I expected. We had it shipped to dd on campus, so I didn't see it until it came home & wish she'd mentioned its condition to me earlier... 😶 So- we shall see.

Not my story, but a friend of mine is a very pale, Hitchcock-blonde. Her husband is Chinese. They have four children (3 girls, 1 boy) all very close in age. All more closely resemble the husband. When her kids were young, random strangers would frequently approach her and thank her for adopting those beautiful babies and giving them a loving home here in America. Or they'd ask her for information on adopting from China. Her responses depended on her mood at the time... 👿😇 A few years later, they adopted a baby girl from Russia (I think??) who grew up to look an awful lot like her adopted mama. lol No one asked her any adoption questions when they were out together, but the *husband* received a few strange/suspicious/odd comments from people when he was out with their youngest daughter.

Not my kid, but a friend of ours raised money for a mission trip by baking and selling homemade pies. She took pre-orders and made them all by scratch. She did this three years in a row to fund her trips to the same area of the world, where she worked hard while she was there, and I was amazed at her work ethic (before the trip and during) each and every time. She is a remarkable young lady. As opposed to our cousins/nephews who went on two different "mission trips" and just asked us flat-out for money. And never sent a thank you note OR bothered with a phone call or emailed "thanks." Grrrr. They sure posted a lot of pictures of them waterskiing and jet-skiing, etc while on those "mission trips" though!

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: That is fantastic!!!! So glad for a happy ending!!!

Has anyone used Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Music Theory class? I believe the teacher for next year may be new (Hannah Jackson)? Has anyone used the audit option for this class? Or - does anyone have suggestions for an AP/College-level Music Theory class? I was hoping to find someone local for my kids as an extra thing to do along with their music lessons over the next two years, but I've not had much luck yet finding someone who will present the information at this level (as opposed to "general" music theory or intermediate music theory... the kids aren't interested in a kinder, gentler approach and that's all we are finding locally) Both kids are heavily invested in music - but we keep hearing that once in college, Music Theory is miserably difficult and generally considered a weed-out class. So both kids have asked about taking it now, in high school, so that when they see it again in college, they won't die. :angelsad2: (I'm not sure what we're going to knock out of their currently planned classes for next year to make this happen - because I'm sure it's going to take a lot of time each week - so off to the drawing board again... :banghead: ) P.S. My kids have tried some of the online options - musictheory.whatever and we have gobs of books for them to self-study here, themselves. They're great about it for a couple of weeks, and then... nada. So accountability is a necessity in this case. We need a real-time teacher to keep them moving forward. I could ask their current music instructors, but I sort of hate mixing-topics, ifkwim? I'm afraid the instructors would get tired of seeing us so many times a week (dd has lessons 2-3 times a week and ds has lessons 1-2 times a week), so I don't really want to heave this upon either instructor. Plus, I have a feeling they would each tend to teach it from their-instrument-perspective, which also isn't what we're really looking for.

YES! The dancing!!! :scared: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! I feel kind of awful for Abigail Breslin, tbh. Some of the memes I've seen (while hilarious) made me cringe on her behalf. On no planet should she have been chosen for such an iconic role as this. Poor girl. :/ I hope she was paid really well, at least.

My girls & I started it and then pulled out the original DVD and watched it instead. The remake was so, so, so, SOOOOOO bad. The casting department should never be in charge of such decisions again. Baby was laughably wrong. And they cast Sarah Hyland as Baby's older sister? The adorable Sarah Hyland who never ages and looks forever-twelve? It was odd. I barely noticed the guy playing Johnny. There was zero chemistry between Baby and him, so he wasn't worth noting by the time we turned it off. lol Watching the original set things to right. 😊