I can't wear progressives or bifocals, so I have regular glasses and reading glasses. Progressives give me terrible motion sickness. Bifocals give me motion sickness and terrible headaches. My cousin also cannot wear those, so it might be a weird genetic thing. YMMV

I think navy and ivory go together great. I would not add a whiter white. Although I love navy, I am concerned about painting the inside of a closet a dark color. It makes it harder to find stuff, IMO. The inside of my kitchen cabinets are dark brown, and I plan on painting them white. Light makes a big difference. JMO

WTM does it again! 🙂 I just ordered those Birdies flats for my dd, who is a nursing major but occasionally has to look "business professional" for symposiums and whatnot, Inevitably, she has to go to the lab right after these events so her shoes must be closed toe, closed heel and very comfortable for trekking across campus multiple times.

On Rainbow Resource, Remember the Days is listed for Kinder thru 6th grade, so no I don't think you could use that for high school. What about Horrible Histories for your 6th grader? Books and/or videos. We loved them at our house. Sounds like he is not engaged, and this might get him there.

If your lighting is brushed nickel and your appliances are black stainless, I would use one of those colors for the pulls. Black stainless, I am thinking.

Imagine your story for that age range makes me think of the ability to literally make pictures in your head of the story. Since this has been a struggle for family members, it's something I keyed in on. Therefore, I would do suggest things like reading a story to children and then having them draw pictures from that story. Or even having them draw while they are listening to the story. Or doing a craft related to the story afterward. Like if it was a book on stars (a picture book of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, for instance), then doing a craft afterward showing them how to make or draw cool stars or some kind of star mobile. Stuff like that.

I love dark bronze and hate brass (just so 80s to me, even though I know it's back in style), so there's that. I like the grain in the bottom picture better. I don't want it minimized. Love wood grain. And the color brown is so gorgeous.

I think OP's basic position is what we all experienced before we had kids. We knew everything about how to parent, and we would never .... OP is very confident she knows how things will be if her kid wants to be in college -- sink or swim buddy! tens of thousands of dollars in debt for that privilege! Time will tell. It gets us all. FWIW, my dd chose to go to our local university because she knew she might need help. Not only is that saving us $40,000, we are also able to help. I assist her with her to-do list. OP thinks that makes me her secretary and that I am "doing college" all over again. Not so. I also do her laundry, bad parent that I am. And she is making the highest grades right now in her very tough Anatomy class (I am not doing any of her work, in case OP that is your thought. Bones and gunk, ew.). Next semester, or maybe next year, she will be able to manage her to do list all on her own. It's called modeling and learning. It's a good thing, and she needed it, and she had the foresight to know that she would which is why she went to school locally. YMMV when you get there.

I mailed my dd's transcript to her university the old-fashioned way.

I already own a rice cooker. I love it. I have two crock pots. Hubby has a pressure cooker. I own a tortilla press, a belgian waffle maker, a fake george forman grill, a bread machine... I love me my kitchen appliances. I don't have an Instant Pot. I think I've got that covered with crock pots and the pressure cooker. Plus I have one of those kitchen counter ovens because my dd is scared of the big oven, and it's very handy anyway. Turkey roaster coming soon. Heart emoji

Thanks, everyone! I just ordered a turkey roaster!

I bought the Apologia video instruction dvd and did not find it helpful in the slightest. We went with a homegrown physics course, and for the math part, we used this workbook: https://smile.amazon.com/Intro-Physics-Classical-Mechanics-Coloring/dp/1548482749/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=physics+coloring+book&qid=1573075526&sr=8-1

I'm sure it varies by school, but we found that calling was much less effective than emailing. Emailing was prompt and got things done. Calls were answered by people who knew nothing and whose information was not accurate.

At my dd's school, the accelerated program is only if you already have a bachelor's degree, plus the prereqs of anatomy, microbiology, etc. Then the actual "nursing school" program is 4 semesters. Contrast this to the traditional bsn, where you are in school for 4 years, and the last two years (five semesters) are considered "nursing school." I don't know what it's like at other schools.

I think this might be a good year to plan a fun out of town trip over Christmas! I hear the mountains are lovely... so are the beaches. 🙂 ((hugs, Quill)

My dd is a freshman in a pre-nursing program. Executive functioning skills are critical. Some things she does: Color coded notebooks and folders for each subject (ex: history is yellow, english is red, etc.) Running to do list on a white board, organized by due dates. Larger assignments are broken up and assigned staggered "due dates" as well, to meet the final due date. She takes a picture of this every morning to have it on her phone at school. Calendar hanging on the wall with test dates and project due dates. Color coded. Things that seem obvious but she has found her peers don't always do: Show up with a writing utensil. Take notes. If the teacher finds it important enough to put on slides or write on the board, you should write it down too. If the teacher says, "This will be on the exam" or "This is very important," you should write it down and star it. If there are Supplemental Instructions sessions in addition to regular class, you should attend all of those.

They can rip out chunks of your hair. They can beat you. They can make you eat disgusting stuff, and if you throw up, they make you eat that. Seriously. It's shocking. It can last 6 to 8 hours. And if you want out, they don't always let you go right away. I really am surprised it's legal.

No, I googled it. They are allowed to physically torture you. For hours. For real. They can lock you in a coffin with spiders. They can bury you alive. They can nearly drown you. They can break bones. Supposedly legal because you have to sign a waiver before you go in. And they have a wait list. Insane world.

I am thinking this is bothering you so much that you should just say no. FWIW, I took my dd's senior pictures in a local park with her iphone, set in Portrait mode, and they were amazing. And I am no photographer. That Portrait mode is unbelievably great. Then I uploaded the pics to Shutterfly, and ordered the sizes I wanted. Easy peasy and way less than hundreds of dollars.

It's been a long time since I had a 5th grader, but I did want to mention that over my dd's entire homeschooling career, she never had to finish work at night or on the weekend. That is very specifically one of the perks of homeschooling, in my opinion. 30 minutes of reading to herself was always done at the end of the school day on the couch. Her day, including the reading, never went past 3pm and usually ended closer to 1:30. Again, all throughout her homeschooling.

I think if the teacher says open book tests, then you should allow open book tests. FWIW, my dd is in college this year (freshman), and two of her classes have open book tests.

((hugs)) I have no other advice other than to listen to your mama gut.

I didn't realize you were gluten free. That certainly complicates things. Potluck is out. Hoping others chime in with better suggestions!

Hosting is a thankless job. Hosting brothers is a particularly thankless job. I can't help noticing, brother, that you require me to cater to your specific "needs" yet will eat out anything anywhere at any restaurant and don't have them cater to that. Hurrumph. My vote is do what you need to do to remove the resentment. Buy disposable plates, cups, utensils. Tell everyone it is potluck. You are providing a turkey. They can bring a side or a dessert or wine in a disposable dish. (or plan on washing their own dish). Seriously. Take back your holiday for you. You still get the family time, but you can enjoy it too.