The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[MySmallWorldof4]

Have you read the books? There are a lot of things like that....knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Grimauld Place=Grim Old Place, etc.

Guess I didn't read into those places too much when I read them. I read them as written and didn't think too much about them. Now I see the play on words. Ugh, so dumb.(slaps self) Mind you I have read the series so many times over.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Groundhog?

Not an actual groundhog. We blame the groundhog for our lousy winter.

 

[21stamps]

View attachment 268418

I love this. I’m saving the photo.

Oh, I'm so glad there's no Chuck E Cheese here! We did parties at home the first couple of years, but once DS got out of kindergarten, we couldn't find enough kids who would come to his birthday party. He didn't have 6 friends. Rather than disappoint him by telling kids didn't want to come, we encouraged him to have it at an indoor trampoline place, where we told him he could invite 3 kids...one was excited, one was resigned, the other bailed, so we asked someone from his soccer team who was enthusiastic. It worked out great. The next year, the kid who had been resigned the year before told DS they weren't friends. Now that he's at a new school, he had 6 friends and we were so excited that he FINALLY had friends to invite that we let him invite them all to the trampoline place. We may have to think of something different this year. DD always had hers here at home and we did crafts....making jewelry, one year we made our own lipgloss, we decorate cupcakes, and play old fashioned party games...I drew a giant Cinderella one year and we played pin the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot. Now DD is a bit more mature and doesn't like how loud and busy the parties get, so last year she invited 2 friends over to watch Netflix instead of having a party. I'm kind of glad to be past the party stage! But I'd consider doing an escape room or something...just no more at my house!!!

My kid doesn’t have 20-30 ‘close friends’ for sure.. all of the boys at school appear to get along great.. so everyone has just been inviting all the past couple of years.. I really do think this will be the last year for it. They’re starting to form their little ‘groups’ now.. there’s a handful of kids who my son does repeat play dates with..but I think the bday party is just a time for all of the kids to have fun together in a non-school or sports environment. Although we do have parties after the end of every sports season as well, a parent will volunteer to organize, not the coaches. Those are a lot of fun too.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I love this. I’m saving the photo.


My kid doesn’t have 20-30 ‘close friends’ for sure.. all of the boys at school appear to get along great.. so everyone has just been inviting all the past couple of years.. I really do think this will be the last year for it. They’re starting to form their little ‘groups’ now.. there’s a handful of kids who my son does repeat play dates with..but I think the bday party is just a time for all of the kids to have fun together in a non-school or sports environment. Although we do have parties after the end of every sports season as well, a parent will volunteer to organize, not the coaches. Those are a lot of fun too.

It is also tough to give out birthday invites at school and not give them to everyone in a class when they are young. Feelings will get hurt for sure. When they are older and have their little group of friends you no longer need those invites, but can just speak with friends’ parents.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

There is still a call for snow Wednesday of 1-3”. At least the snow for Saturday has disappeared. Headed close to your neck of the woods @StarWarsGirl Saturday. This is the competition weekend at Coppin State. Got directions from Google. Seems that I take I-70 most of the way and am only driving a short distance from there to the school. Shouldn’t be too bad. I will remember to make sure the car is totally filled so I won’t need to stop for gas in Baltimore.

 

[21stamps]

This is exactly what I thought of when I read the post with that link!! I was like Wow....that gives a whole new meaning to Logan's gift! I had never heard of a Birkin bag either!

I’m not a fine jewelry gal at all. I buy silver or costume jewelery, I’ve always been a fan of multiple bracelets/bangle bracelets, fun earrings.
I am a handbag girl though.

So I used to hang photos of handbags on my ‘wish list’ on my pin board.. always as a goal (and doubled as a reminder to my boyfriend and then husband ). He never had to guess what to get me for my bday or Christmas One day before our wedding I jokingly said, “You know that diamonds are not a girl’s best friend, right? Hermès bags are this girls best friend.” He laughed..I told him ‘Just wanted to save you a trip to the jewelery store, forget shiny things, look to Birkin or Kelly instead.”

Ha ha.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Teacher in service days are the worst for me.. at least on holidays kiddo can attend a camp.. but the random off days? Most of the time he comes to work with me now that he’s old enough to sit by himself.
The principal awarded the school with a No School Day! on the day after the Super Bowl, from surpassing the goals of one of our September fund raisers.. Kiddo came to work with me on that day too.

The practices.. oh my gosh, this is the first year that we don’t have any practice or games at 4-5 pm on a Weekday. Almost all of his baseball games were on Friday’s between 4-5, practices at 4:30. I know someone has to play at those times, but wow was it tough.

This year all of our practices will start at 6..games on Saturdays and Sundays.. it will be much easier.

Our school is open nine days out of the year where I am not off work. That's insane.

 

[21stamps]

Not an actual groundhog. We blame the groundhog for our lousy winter.

Ah ok!! Whew, that’s a relief.. I was worried that I missed a new delicacy.. one that sounds horrendous.

 

[21stamps]

It is also tough to give out birthday invites at school and not give them to everyone in a class when they are young. Feelings will get hurt for sure. When they are older and have their little group of friends you no longer need those invites, but can just speak with friends’ parents.

Very true.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Have you read the books? There are a lot of things like that....knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Grimauld Place=Grim Old Place, etc.

Guess I didn't read into those places too much when I read them. I read them as written and didn't think too much about them. Now I see the play on words. Ugh, so dumb.(slaps self) Mind you I have read the series so many times over.

Yeah, I've also read them a million times and didn't notice it until last night

I think reading them in an American accent plays a part too, though. Like Grimauld Place... I know auld is old, but when I read the books, I pronounce that one Grimwald Place.

 

[21stamps]

Our school is open nine days out of the year where I am not off work. That's insane.

This was my dilemma with Kindergarten. Preschool, PreK 1 and PreK 2 were at a “school”/early learning center that was open til 6pm. He stayed there all year round for the ‘summer camp’ as well. I registered him for Kindergarten there, but I also registered for K at our current school. I was on a wait list anyway, kept going back and forth with the decision, and part of me hoped the wait list would make the choice for me.

Well we got a call that March to come in for an interview.. I was still undecided, mostly because I knew he would have more days off and obviously earlier dismissal at the K-8 school. Finally, mainly because of his shyness, I decided to just go ahead and make the switch, I thought it would be easier for him than to come in to first grade with kids who already knew each other.

He did stay enrolled for the after care at the early learning center, and he has continued to do their summer camp ever since.. but this summer will be the first that we aren’t doing it. We’re doing a variety of other camps instead.


That first year of kindergarten was such a shock and adjustment to my schedule after what we had previously!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Ah ok!! Whew, that’s a relief.. I was worried that I missed a new delicacy.. one that sounds horrendous.

Just a thought here, but, if you look at a list of the stuff @figmentfan423 actually does eat, groundhog doesn't sound that weird.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thank you to all of you that expressed condolences. You are all the best.

 

[21stamps]

As a side note.. if I was to ever have another child (which isn’t happening), I would never invest the same amount of money into “early learning” as I did with T. (some of the ridiculous preschool/PreK schools, not all early learning centers) I’ve expressed that sentiment to friends/family members with new babies when they’re stressing over enrolling at infancy, it’s the biggest scam (for lack of a better word) in the US, I think. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what he learned during that time, he would constantly surprise me with facts that I didn’t even know that he knew.. but now that he’s in second grade, I don’t think it gave that much of an advantage, not enough to justify the insane amount of money spent, or the stress of the decision when he was a baby.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Oh no!! Condolences to him, too! Were they just too late in catching the cancer when it came back?

He fought through cancer in his mouth and throat area last year. His dentist first noticed it and he wasn't a smoker or tobacco user. Around Thanksgiving this year things were going well, and then less than a month ago he started feeling out of sorts and went back in. He was set to do intensive treatments starting this week, I believe. He was about 38 years old and had a lovely 3 year daughter. It is just so sad.

Hubs is dealing ok with it, but he didn't sleep much and I didn't sleep much worrying about him. We will probably have to miss the funeral, which Brad is pretty upset about. The funeral hasn't been announced yet but we are assuming it will be Saturday and we will be on our way to WDW that day. I really hope for hubs sake the funeral is on Friday. I won't be able to with him because it was announced a week ago that we don't have any subs for that day but at least he could go.

 

[21stamps]

He fought through cancer in his mouth and throat area last year. His dentist first noticed it and he wasn't a smoker or tobacco user. Around Thanksgiving this year things were going well, and then less than a month ago he started feeling out of sorts and went back in. He was set to do intensive treatments starting this week, I believe. He was about 38 years old and had a lovely 3 year daughter. It is just so sad.

Hubs is dealing ok with it, but he didn't sleep much and I didn't sleep much worrying about him. We will probably have to miss the funeral, which Brad is pretty upset about. The funeral hasn't been announced yet but we are assuming it will be Saturday and we will be on our way to WDW that day. I really hope for hubs sake the funeral is on Friday. I won't be able to with him because it was announced a week ago that we don't have any subs for that day but at least he could go.

Omg. That’s absolutely devastating to read. I’m so sorry for his family.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

Sorry. Our Mice were no where near the house and it was unnerving to me also. Then again when I had ants march in my kitchen I vowed that would never happen again. I don't cope well with unwanted guests either. The upside is they likely are not in the house or you would have seen signs of it already especially over the last few days. I wonder how long her kitty cat has been taking care of some of those mice over time since it seemed to know where to go get it trap and all.

Up until a few months ago, the cats were not able to go downstairs under the porch. I had put up a cat gate that prevented that. However, I removed the cat gate, and now they have the entire run of the back stairs, from the attic upstairs to the back door downstairs. Twice now, the female cat has collected the mouse and brought it home to the tenant's 2nd floor apartment. I am going out today, and getting some more glue traps. Let the cats keep roaming, and hopefully the mice will get caught by the traps, or the cats. I don't really like cats, but her female cat is obviously a good mouser. I think the shelter where she came from, told my tenant that she was a feral cat when she adopted her. My tenant has two cats. One male name Ben, and the female named Maggie.

 

[DryerLintFan]

This was my dilemma with Kindergarten. Preschool, PreK 1 and PreK 2 were at a “school”/early learning center that was open til 6pm. He stayed there all year round for the ‘summer camp’ as well. I registered him for Kindergarten there, but I also registered for K at our current school. I was on a wait list anyway, kept going back and forth with the decision, and part of me hoped the wait list would make the choice for me.

Well we got a call that March to come in for an interview.. I was still undecided, mostly because I knew he would have more days off and obviously earlier dismissal at the K-8 school. Finally, mainly because of his shyness, I decided to just go ahead and make the switch, I thought it would be easier for him than to come in to first grade with kids who already knew each other.

He did stay enrolled for the after care at the early learning center, and he has continued to do their summer camp ever since.. but this summer will be the first that we aren’t doing it. We’re doing a variety of other camps instead.


That first year of kindergarten was such a shock and adjustment to my schedule after what we had previously!

We're fortunate that my husband works from home, so when A starts actual school she'll be old enough to be home with him before and after school without inhibiting his ability to work too much. Right now, working from home with her around is like working at a dog park while wearing a suit made entirely of bacon.

As a side note.. if I was to ever have another child (which isn’t happening), I would never invest the same amount of money into “early learning” as I did with T. (some of the ridiculous preschool/PreK schools, not all early learning centers) I’ve expressed that sentiment to friends/family members with new babies when they’re stressing over enrolling at infancy, it’s the biggest scam (for lack of a better word) in the US, I think. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what he learned during that time, he would constantly surprise me with facts that I didn’t even know that he knew.. but now that he’s in second grade, I don’t think it gave that much of an advantage, not enough to justify the insane amount of money spent, or the stress of the decision when he was a baby.

We pay more for A's school than we do for our mortgage. But she's also at her school for 10 hours a day. Her teachers spend more time with her throughout the week than I do, so it's worth every penny to know I'm sending her to a good school with trained and skilled teachers. It's expensive, but worth it. Not necessarily for an educational advantage, but for the peace of mind I have at the office that I know she's loved and happy and healthy during all the time I cannot be with her.

 

[21stamps]

We're fortunate that my husband works from home, so when A starts actual school she'll be old enough to be home with him before and after school without inhibiting his ability to work too much. Right now, working from home with her around is like working at a dog park while wearing a suit made entirely of bacon.



We pay more for A's school than we do for our mortgage. But she's also at her school for 10 hours a day. Her teachers spend more time with her throughout the week than I do, so it's worth every penny to know I'm sending her to a good school with trained and skilled teachers. It's expensive, but worth it. Not necessarily for an educational advantage, but for the peace of mind I have at the office that I know she's loved and happy and healthy during all the time I cannot be with her.

This part I agree with, once T started early learning at age 1.. I specifically chose a school that integrated sign language, because we signed at home. It was cute, we had to purchase “school bags” from the school, and the kids came home with rings of words they were learning, as well as the signs. I can’t rave enough about his teachers there.

But once we switched to preschool/PreK, ages 3-5.. it was nuts. Homework at age 3 was crazy to me..BUT, I was on the bandwagon that we had to do this to get into kindergarten! And my kid was going to have an advantage in life!
Fast forward til now, I don’t think it matters that he could read at age 3..or that he had science and geography at that age. They all learn the same subjects now, kids got into his same kindergarten who went to different preschools.
Like I said, at the time I thought it was great. He does well in school, but I can’t say it’s because of the PreSchool/PreK days..example- Kindergarten in geography-when they did the continents, great, he knew them already, but he’s just repeating the exact thing that he already did 2 years before.. so I’ve asked myself in hindsight, was it necessary? Looking back, and looking forward to his future, I would have been better off choosing a different path, and put half the money in his high school fund where I think it will make more of a difference.

I’m friends with a married couple who’s daughter is 6 months old, they’re arguing over preschool enrollment right now, ongoing argument for the past 3 months.. husband thinks the amount of the school she wants is crazy, wife thinks it’s necessary to be in that specific school. I’ve gave them my thoughts on it- Find a happy median. There are plenty of schools that have teachers with early education degrees, I definitely wouldn’t choose any less...but not all are strict curriculum/homework/shocking tuitions. Parents shouldn’t need to make that decision and get on wait lists for their child during infancy, and I’ve yet to see any proof of kids having a major advantage.. even though they “sell” us on the promise that they will. (I should add that he was happy at his preschool, so was I..this is all in retrospect)

That’s just my personal thoughts/regrets when looking back now that he’s been in elementary school for a couple of years. Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess.

 

[Songbird76]

Guess I didn't read into those places too much when I read them. I read them as written and didn't think too much about them. Now I see the play on words. Ugh, so dumb.(slaps self) Mind you I have read the series so many times over.

I think it's brilliant......It's right there, but it's also masked so not everyone makes the connection right away...so clever. I can't even count the number of times I've read the series. Love love love it.