I'm a fan of Mucinex (the one kept behind the pharmacist counter that you have to sign for version) Also The cold and Allergy version of Advil that is also signed for at the pharmacist desk. Beyond that nothing much works for me over the counter.
		
		
	 
I used Mucinex and Tamiflu when I had the flu a few weeks ago.. the Mucinex helped tremendously!
	
		
	
	
		
		
			Can't imagine paying double what I did. Lots went into me opening my own business raising those kiddos. There are pros and cons to both. Hindsight, I can't say which would have been better, more it worked out in the moment and my kids turned out awesome for it. I'm still in the camp that there is not a right answer. Given how our government flip flops every few years on its values and allowable deductions etc., it is an in the moment consideration. Everyone needs to make the right call for their family and their family at the moment they are in. Every couple years it is going to be a whole new world. Not any right or wrong call overall.
		
		
	 
Parents of 3-4 kids could be spending $40,000-$80,000 per year on infant care and beyond. I think that’s one reason why we’re seeing a lot more women choosing to stay home.  I’m one of 3 full time working mothers in my son’s class.
I hope it stays left to the parents to decide what they want to do until the children are age 5.. I don’t think anyone can (should) mandate what’s right or wrong for an individual family.
The new tax law will help me tremendously with school.. it was a huge relief.. I just hope the government doesn’t change their mind about the new allowances with 529s anytime soon... at least not over the next 10-11 years. 
	
		
	
	
		
		
			You have to learn to work the system if it works against family time. Not all families have careers that allow for vacationing during the schools set times. Many corporations bid their vacation on seniority, a problem we had as a young family. Try bidding Christmas or Spring Break with zip seniority! The powers to be in Education (certainly not the teachers) fail to take into consideration the break time for their profession vs the rest of the world.  Thanksgiving week, 2 weeks at Christmas and a week for Spring Break and Summer is not how the balance of professions a lot closed time.
Plus even in my area not all Spring Breaks happen the same week(s) So a teacher maybe off week #3 for Spring Break and their kids maybe off week #4. There should be flexibility. Flex to the student vs teacher makes more sense to me, less of an impact.
I learned the truth failed me. I learned to lie as they aged. I took them out a day earlier, Friday to make up all the freak'n homework before we left plus that weekend immediately crunched to it. Really the only subject I found to keep in step with at an early age was math. Reading, spelling, history not so much of a deal breaker. Math built. If any child walked away from math for several weeks that would be difficult to pick up on where they left off. Frankly I had several teachers that had a no worry attitude, as parents they got it. I had more issues over the decades with few teachers that were in their dawning retirement years. The majority worked with us and wished us good times.
As it should be.
		
		
	 
That’s good to read. I love how our school views vacations, I just wish they would allow us to bring the work. Maybe in older grades they will, I’m not sure.  Right now sports are determining our travel plans.
	
		
	
	
		
		
			Years ago I saw a post that went somewhat like....
Garage: The place where people store worthless crap so their $30,000 vehicles x 2 could live outdoors.
An eye opener. I had a 3 car garage. Minimum 2 cars fit. Sometime 3.
		
		
	 
That’s so funny.. and true!
I have a 2 car garage that is ridiculously filled in the winter. Bikes, Pitchback, Rebounder, Soccer goals, etc etc...so much carp.  I also bring in my lawn chairs, small tables, larger table and chairs, and umbrella.. a piece of a tree fell  onto my deck during a winter storm two years ago.. broke my last table.  My deck isn’t covered, Easier to just clear it for the winter now... maybe, now I’m second guessing it.
	
		
	
	
		
		
			Did you manage to get to bed early last night?  I had some sort of stomach bug yesterday, so I went to bed early...still feeling a bit meh, but not as bad as yesterday...I think the sleep helped.
What does "Minimal assistance" even mean?  All DH did for the kids was teach them the commands. They had to do it all themselves, and they told him what he wanted and he told them how to do it, but it was all their own work.  DD especially fell in love with PowerPoint.  She does it for fun now.  She just made one to remind DH of how much fun we had in WDW to convince him we need to go back.  I don't know if there's a way to post something like that here or not, but it was really cute.
		
		
	 
I went to bed at 11ish, thanks!  I’m sorry you’re feeling bad, hope you feel better soon!
For ‘minimal assistance’, I had to sign a pledge that “I will let him make his own mistakes but can provide minimal direction and supervision without overbearing influence.”  Still not exactly sure what that means.lol.