It’s funny- people tell me I need to get a job! Apparently, that would solve my problems by giving me an identity outside of home/family. I don’t agree- but sometimes I think it would be nice to work!

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I can't find it. Is one of these significantly better than the other? Also, is 8/7 good enough to go into Algebra after? If you have other suggestions, I would love to hear them! Thanks!

It has the heart rate monitor. That was nonnegotiable!

This is what I was afraid of. This was a problem the last time I tried this- but that was when fitbit first came out. I'm hoping they've gotten better. I ordered the Versa last night. I guess we'll see! The price difference was negligible, until you went up to the Versa 2.

I would really like to get an activity tracker that is particularly good with sleep tracking. Anyone have advice on which one is really accurate with that? I'm not sleeping well due to anxiety and I'd like to really get a clear picture of how much sleep I am getting. Also, what my heart rate is at night when I'm not sleeping. I feel like it's too high to relax completely. Obviously, I don't want to buy top-of-the-line of that's not necessary. Thanks!

I am sad about this. I think he is hilarious and I was planning on going to one of his shows next year. I don't know exactly what his sin was. If it was assault he should be prosecuted. If not, well, I don't see why he should "step down". He's not a spiritual leader- he's a comedian. We don't need to have higher expectations for comedians like we do for pastors. He makes fun of Christians because he is one. He's part of our world and he has funny insights about it. I know many people who think he is funny. I hope he's already filmed the netflix special and that doesn't get canned.

Of it was done well, I think it could be great. Unfortunately, I doubt it will be done well. I think the motivation behind this is basically for free childcare. I don't think it's worse than going to daycare after school. But- imagine if it was done well! Recesses/lunch could be extended. Thhy could offer intramural sports, have an open art room where kids could create, the library to hang out in to read, get tutoring, have quiet time. they could have science clubs, history clubs, exercise clubs! They could have a school garden. There could be more field trips. Honestly, serving an optional dinner just before they leave would help some kids get more food than they woukd otherwise have. But it would have to be done well. I used to design schools for fun in my mind. I was such a nerd. Now I don't even have time to do that for my own kids and I only have 3 of them!

If I had the slightest indication he wanted out of the relationship, I would encourage that. My previous answer was thinking that he was pretty determined to pursue the relationship.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Clearly, if I was the parent of the girl, she would be in therapy. We'd be having LOTS of learning to self-care. I would be forcing outside time, exercise, healthy eating, journaling, etc. While not suicidal at the time, I had a major depressive episode in college- I dropped out for a semester and that is what my parents did with me. I withdrew from all social relationships during the episode though. I would strongly discourage my daughter from any relationship, but not by forbidding Hy-Vee simply by making it inconvenient and difficult. I would really, really stress to her that she needs to be healthy before she can deal with relationships. If I was the parent of the boy, I would get him in therapy as well. It is traumatic to have someone you care for attempt suicide and he needs support and an objective person telling him what is healthy and what is not. I think forbidding a relationship would backfire, but I might make sure his schedule was full. I would talk, talj, talk about how he is feeling. Talk until I'm blue in the face. Share personal stories - anything to let him know I am in his side. I would especially stress that if he thinks she will hurt herself or try again- he needs to TELL an adult. That if he really cares about her, he will watch out for her and NOT keep secrets that could hurt her. Stress that she needs professional help- not just friend help- and caring about her means putting her and her health first. I haven't dealt with this personally, but mental illness runs in my family. We talk about coping skills- the need for sunshine, exercise, taking the time to be thankful, etc. Good luck.

Thanks for the examples. It's so good to see how other people accomplish this. My ds is 12 and we just wrapped up a season of cross country. So he generally runs about 3 miles/day. He has martial arts 2 nights a week and does YouTube workouts that I think are fairly intense! BUT- since CC is over now, the competition factor isn't there and his motivation has nosedived. The weather doesn't help either. I wish he could walk more places, but we're in a small town. He can run all over, but most activities require driving.

I saw that your trip is over, but wanted to suggest The War that Saved My Life as an audiobook. I just listened to it with my kids and really enjoyed it. The narrator was fantastic and the story was sad, but sweet. It is about a girl with a birth defect living in London during WW2.

I don't have any ideas. I have a child who is similar. I was wondering if you'd share how he gets his exercise every day. I'm always looking for more ways to wear my 12 yo ds out.

I'm trying to look into Dolciani- I couldn't find it on rainbow resource and Amazon only had crazy prices for used copies. Where do you buy it?

Thanks for sharing! That was interesting. I think I'll buy some humidifiers this year.

We have been doing Saxon for a few years and ds didn't like it much. He's a pretty good math student, so I had hoped we would be able to use AOPS- I was hoping to change the attitude about math in our house- that it's drudgery. He does love puzzles and chess, etc. And he doesn't dislike AOPS as much as he disliked Saxon. However- he still doesn't particularly like it, plus it is taking waaaay to long and too much of my time. I don't mind working through some problems with him, spending time teaching BUT I've been doing too much of that and he's not really taking ownership/responsibility for the work the way I'd like him to. So- anyone have recommendations for something not as dry as Saxon, but not as intense as AOPS? Thanks.

If YouTube is an option, look up Homeschool Pop, Ted Ed, or Scishow for kids.

I dislocated my knee practicing for a halftime show. I ended up having to have surgery. The doctors kept saying "oh, you're the band injury!"

I have a crossbody Lily Bloom that I love! I got it at Meijer for maybe 30 bucks. I haven't had it for very long, so I can't say that it will last forever- but I also have a tote bag and a suitcase in the same brand that have held up well. It has a couple pockets.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunrise-Nature-Digital-Control-Function/dp/B07PVMS19S/ref=sr_1_14?crid=2QZ74QUO7TLK5&keywords=daylight+alarm+clock&qid=1568860083&sprefix=Dayli%2Caps%2C339&sr=8-14 This is pretty similar to what I have. It shows the time in the middle and the light around the edge.

I'd look into a sunlight alarm. It gets gradually lighter before your alarm time. Mine has farm animals as the alarm sound. (I've never thought to see if it has other choices) but I am usually awake a few minutes before the alarm sounds.

Someone I know didn't realize her stomach hurt until after she was on meds and it stopped hurting. It was just so normal for her, she didn't realize it wasn't normal. I also tend to have a "stage fright" feeling even when there is *nothing* I can point to causing anxiety.

My MIL insists that everyone come to celebrate her and FIL birthdays on the nearest weekend. This is sometimes infuriating because my son's b-day is really close to FILs and this has resulted in FILs party on my son's actual b-day. We don't do grandkid parties because there are just too many- which is totally fine, but it is not cool to have an adult's party on a kid's actual birthday. My b-day is a week away from the same kid's and I have no problem putting him and his celebrations first. Ugh.

We know a couple with 8-10, but 6 is probably the biggest family where the kids know all the kids in the other family. We know lots of families with 4 kids. Even families that don't homeschool. In our homeschool circles, it's much more common to have 3+, than to have 1 or 2.

One thing my kids liked when they were little on airplanes were lift the flap books. And the books where you find things. Like where's Waldo for littles.

Our freezer died recently too. I was putting off getting a new one, when I saw someone I knew was selling their refrigerator on facebook. I have always hated our fridge (a side-by-side that was here when we moved in) but couldn't justify buying a new one since the old one worked. But I could justify buying a used one! So we bought it and put the old fridge in the garage to use as extra freezer space. Just an idea.